HP Coach Project
CAC and its partners require research assistance to compile, collect and organize data, as the foundation for a project looking at the preparation, qualifications and working conditions of high performance coaches.
The first task will be to design a process to store and share documents. The specific research activities (to be further developed) are as follows
1.
Current education level of Canadian coaches: what level of formal education
(university and certification) do Canadian high performance coaches have, and how does this compare to other countries?
-some countries require a coaching degree in order to coach (especially former socialist countries), and Canada is striving to make coaching more of a profession, which would normally require a coaching degree. This element of the project will establish baseline data on the current status of Canadian coaches in terms of their formal education.
Sources:
Status of the Coach report.
Determine if COC/CPC/OTP can collect education data on 2012 Olympic coaches.
Compare to existing studies on high performance coaches in other countries.
2.
Analysis of the National Coaching Institute diploma: its effectiveness as the foundation program for advanced coach preparation
Sources:
Quality assurance studies on two NCI programs: effectiveness of NCI delivery
Women-in-Coaching review of women scholarship recipients
NCI Atlantic interviews with 15 graduates (in progress)
NCI Graduate tracking (in design): who are the diploma graduates coaching, are they coaching full time?
Comparison of the NCI curriculum with international programs: how does the NCI compare to NL Top 5; German Trainer Academy; France INSEP; Australia UQ?
Sources:
New research - design the basis on which the programs can be compared; collect data from ICCE HP Workgroup
HP Coach (ideal) Profile vs Canadian coach strengths and weaknesses vs what is taught in the NCI
Sources:
New research - Workgroup 2 will be developing a model coach profile and assessing
Canadian coach strengths and weaknesses. Comparison of the NCI curriculum with this data, identification of the gaps?

3.
Advanced Coach Excellence (ACE) program: its effectiveness in bringing coaches to the international level
Sources:
New research - Case study of pilot programs
4.
Professional Development for National Coaches: what programs and opportunities exist for national coaches to improve their skills? What financial support is available for coach professional development?
Sources:
New research - Compilation of existing HP coach programs and activities from OTP,
CSCs/NCIs, CAC, CofC, COC/CPC, NSOs, Provinces; and of financial support for scholarships, PD projects etc
5.
Review of the Literature: identification of other existing studies, papers and best practice (sport organization program descriptions and policies) related to coach development, the effectiveness of coach education etc.
Also, support for other workgroups
- Coach profiles (workgroup 2): what is the profile of the HP coach and how does it evolve/differ from assistant to head coach roles and from club to provincial to national levels?
-Coach structures / team centralization / training centres (workgroup 1): coaching roles and responsibilities, and relationship among coaches, within the different structures.
-Coach employment (workgroup 4): Salary, benefits, duration of employment etc of HP coaches
- Coach effectiveness: how is coach effectiveness measured?
Sources:
Journal publications; job descriptions; NSO policies
6.
Other topic areas:
-University coach degree programs (Workgroup 5): Source – Woodburn study
- academic recognition of the NCI diploma
-Equivalency for coaches without degrees
-Certification requirements for university coaching positions

For this study, which focuses on the preparation, qualifications and working conditions of coaches training athletes to the highest level of achievement: a) a High Performance coach is one who is working full-time (no other secondary occupation) with elite athletes who are currently or have future potential of representing Canada at Jr. or Sr.
World Championships and/or Olympic/Paralympic Games. b) the coach may be employed by a NSO, PSO, CSC or Club (amateur or professional). c) in most circumstances, the HP Coach would have a minimum qualification of a NCI Coaching diploma (i.e. NCCP Level 4 / Competition Development Advanced) or University degree in coaching or physical education, or equivalent experience as an athlete and coach.