2006 CIS women’s rugby Coach of the Year, and current Head Coach of the Queen’s University Gaels women’s varsity rugby team, Beth Barz is a brilliant example of the power of coach education.

Barz took her first National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) workshop in high school and credits her early introduction to coach education for her success in coaching.

“I was fortunate enough to have a forward thinking Phys. Ed. teacher, Kim Holden, in high school. She arranged for an NCCP facilitator to come to the school to deliver the old Level 1 technical course,” says Barz. “That course showed me it was possible to think about coaching as a profession and as an area where I could grow both others around me and also myself.”

Since high school, Barz has been dedicated to both learning and coach education. A Queen’s graduate from the School of Physical Education and a women’s rugby alumnus, Barz has completed her NCCP Level 4 certification in rugby and is a Learning Facilitator and Mentor Coach for the Advanced Coach Diploma program at the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario. She is also a Master Learning Facilitator and Evaluator in Rugby and is working towards her Multi-sport Learning Facilitator qualification. Additionally, Barz is an International Rugby Board Educator.

“Coach education is simply imperative,” explains Barz. “Without challenge, we do not change. Coach education provides challenges in many forms, particularly as coaches continue in the NCCP program.”

Barz’s education has guided her coaching practice, but it hasn’t defined it. Unanimously, Barz’s athletes agree that she is first and foremost an athlete-centred coach.

“Beth understands her players as people, not just as athletes,” says former Queen’s Gael, Nicola Lightstone. “She helped all of us in any capacity she could, both on and off the field.”

Marin MacLeod, another of Barz’s players, echoed the same message: “Beth has taught me not to be afraid of your own personal limits – real or imagined – in sport and in life.”

Just as her players are mentored through her coaching, Barz has been influenced and impacted by coaches throughout her own life. She credits Jim McCann, her first coach in elementary school, Kim Holden, Brian Adduono, Gary Inness, Ron Cobbett, and Tim Lem with moulding her into the coach she is now.

Barz’s advice to coaches: “Be a learner in every facet of your game: review, read, and ask questions to challenge your own thinking.”