Passion fueled her journey from CIS champion to national team coach; now it fuels the work she does developing Canada’s best basketball coaches. Shawnee Harle, Canada’s only NCCP Level 5 basketball coach, and a Master Evaluator, talks about the importance of evaluation, certification, and mentorship in the NCCP in this edition of Meet the Masters.

You were a successful CIS athlete at the University of Victoria. What led you to consider transitioning into a coaching role from that athletic background?

I was a very average player on an exceptional team and I ended up getting cut. That was one of the most devastating days of my life. The cool thing was, my coach obviously saw something else in me, and after I got cut, she was the one who encouraged me to pursue the coaching path.

Your coach was Kathy Shields, a well known name in the basketball world and in coaching. Did being who she is impact your decision to become a coach more so than another coach may have?

No, because, you know how when you’re young, you think you know everything but you really know nothing? At the time when Kathy was encouraging me to get into coaching I didn’t have an appreciation for the legend she was about to become. All I knew was that I had learnt so much from her as a player, and I had so much respect for her as a person, that I thought, “holy cow, this Kathy Shields person thinks that I can be a great coach, I better listen and I better pay attention!”

You’re the only NCCP Level 5 coach in basketball, and you completed your Masters Degree in Coaching Studies at the University of Victoria. How was your NCCP training different from the more academic pursuit of a Masters Degree in Coaching Studies?

Without knowing it, looking back as it now, I think it was the perfect blend, the perfect recipe. I think that the two programs helped me get not just the science, but also the art of coaching. Everyone says to me, “oh your Masters Degree must have been the science of it,” and I’m like, “yes, but there were little pieces in there that were also the art.” Then people say, “well the NCCP must have been the art of it,” and I’m like, “well it was both!” I think if I hadn’t done both I would have missed the blend of the art and the science that leads to successful coaching.

You’re also a Master Learning Facilitator (MLF) and Master Evaluator (ME) with the NCCP - is there something that strikes you as a particular strength of the NCCP? Something that stands out, that really makes it what it is and allows the coaches to be as good as they are?

I know this is a biased opinion, but I truly believe that the NCCP, if it’s not the best in the world, it’s tied for first. I don’t know who they’re tied with but that’s how great I believe it is. What I love about it is I believe there is a blend of the art and the science in it and that’s really hard to get because you can’t learn coaching just from reading about it and you can’t learn coaching just from being on a court teaching skills. You need a blend of both and you need an expert Learning Facilitator because they’re the ones that bring the recipe together and bring in their experience; the successes and failures they’ve had; some of their best practices -- it brings some of the art into it.

I think another strength of the program is that you don’t get to just show up and sign a piece of paper and pay your fee and now you’re a coach. I love the fact that you have to demonstrate competency, because again, I think that’s what leads to greatness in anything we do. You don’t get to have a university degree without showing competence; you don’t get to have your driver’s license without showing competence; you don’t get to have a credit card without showing your competence.

Is there one particular difference that you see in certified coaches compared to those coaches that just go through the training?

I do. If you could just go to university and get a degree without having to take an exam, wouldn’t that be great? I call it the vegetables of life. We don’t always like to eat our vegetables but they’re good for us and that is part of the competency piece of the NCCP. The reason that I like it, is that it shows confidence, it shows that you’re ready to stand in front of a certified evaluator Evaluator and say, “ok, come watch my practice, here’s my practice plan, now watch me.” There is a lot of space for trained coaches, I don’t want it to sound like not being certified means you’re a crappy coach, but I think that when you’re certified, like with anything, it’s the difference between going through high school and you have your diploma, and getting a post-secondary education.

I just think it’s the best part of the NCCP program. What you get when you become a certified coach in my opinion, is mentoring. When you’re trained you don’t get that. If you want more, if you want different, if you want better, then that’s what being certified gets you. I think that anytime in life where we can get mentoring, it takes us to a whole other level, and that to me is what the certification process brings.

Do you think that sometimes it’s hard for coaches to see the value in pursuing certified status? They’ve taken all the workshops, they’ve acquired all the knowledge, but now there’s this extra step. Do you think sometimes it’s difficult to see that value?

No. I don’t think that’s what holds coaches back. I think an evaluation process of any kind is intimidating. Just think about exam stress. Think about taking a new job, going into the job interview. Think about anything in life like that. It can be intimidating and that’s why I’m wondering if there’s a different way we can spin it for coaches so that we can take away that intimidation factor.

Are there any tips you would have for coaches who are finding it difficult to get through the evaluation process so that it might be a little bit easier for them?

No, because with anything that’s worth having, there’s usually not a simple path. Tom Hanks says in A League of Their Own, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it was easy everyone could do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.” I don’t think that certification is for everybody. I don’t think that everybody has to have it, but it would be nice if they did. I think the ones that want that little bit extra, it’s going to demand that little bit extra. If you want more, you have to do more.