Blog Post: Bullying or Coaching: Are you pulling kids in, or pushing them out?
In a recent conversation with fellow coaches, we were trying to determine how best to support young coaches’ development. One of the questions we wrestled with is “what is good coaching practice?” We struggled with the the idea of Safe Sport and particularly “how do we know when something verges or leans toward bullying?” The example that arose was the idea of making an athlete ‘drop and give us 20’ when they arrive late to practice. This is a common practice at many club and…
Blog Post: Recovering from Abusive Coaching: From Surviving to Thriving
Recently, the Coaching Association of Canada was tasked with creating an updated Coaching Code of Conduct in order to address BAHD behaviours in sport (bullying, abuse, harassment, discrimination). Sport Canada and Kristy Duncan, Canada’s Minister of Science and Sport, introduced several steps to eliminating abuse of all kinds in sport including expecting NSO’s to create policy and third party reporting procedures, creating an investigative unit, establishing an athlete helpline, and funding preventative measures such as Safe Sport promotion and education. These steps toward prevention, recognition…
Blog Post: High Performance Sport is Good Sport
Recently, I attended a think tank supported by Canada’s Own the Podium (OTP), designed to explore what it will take to enhance the culture of sport and sport teams in Canada. Culture is an important high performance factor and presents an additional opportunity to enhance performance in our quest for excellence. OTP is a not-for-profit organization that prioritizes and determines investment strategies for National Sport Organizations in an effort to deliver more Olympic and Paralympic medals for Canada. What the leaders of OTP are finding is…
