The Coaching Association of Canada's Women in Coaching (WiC) program will hold its annual National Coach Workshop on March 26-28 at the Briars Resort, Jackson's Point, Lake Simcoe, Ont.
“The workshop brings together Canada's top female coaches only days after our most successful Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games ever,” says WiC consultant Sheilagh Croxon of Toronto, a two-time Olympic coach and head synchronized swimming coach at the Granite Club. Of the seven female coaches on Canada's Olympic coaching staff, six contributed to a medal-winning performance. Forty-one Canadian women won six gold, six silver, and three bronze medals (see full list below). At the Paralympics, two female coaches, one in Para-Alpine and the other in Para-Nordic, played significant roles as six female athletes won seven gold, four silver, and four bronze medals. “Incredible performances and vivid testimony to the talent and expertise women in sport bring to this country. Through the experts who will make presentations at the workshop, national team coaches and up-and-coming coaches will learn first-hand what it takes to excel on the world stage.”
Presenters include Xiuli Wang of Calgary, the award-winning coach of medallists Kristina Groves and Clara Hughes; Melody Davidson of Calgary, who coached the Olympic women's hockey team to the gold medal; Theresa Schlachter of Calgary, an Own the Podium high performance advisor who coached skeleton athletes to three medals at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games; and sport psychology expert Dr. Penny Werthner of Ottawa, whose clients at the 2010 Games included the freestyle ski team and the women's curling team, both of which won medals.
National and assistant coaches from cycling, ice hockey, athletics, triathlon, ringette, baseball, and synchronized swimming will be joined by former hockey star Danielle Goyette of Calgary, now head coach of the University of Calgary Dinos; Shauna Flath of Vancouver, national coach of the senior women's squash team; Paralympic rowing coach Anne-Renée Thibault of Montreal; national adaptive water ski coach Pat Messner of Ottawa; Carol Love of Peterborough, head rowing coach at Trent University; and Brenda Van Tighem of Calgary, assistant coach of the University of Calgary Track and Field Club. Also in attendance will be the five women coaches currently participating in WiC's National Team Apprenticeship Program — and representatives of several national sport organizations.
The workshop facilitator is Dr. Dru Marshall of Edmonton, the Deputy Provost at the University of Alberta, and an exercise physiologist whose coaching career at university, provincial, and national levels spans more than 25 years.
Canada's Female Coaches at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
Annie Barabé – Figure Skating
Elaine Dagg-Jackson - Women's Curling
Melody Davidson – Ice Hockey
Celine Feagan – Para-Nordic (Biathlon)
Brianne Law – Para-Alpine
Xiuli Wang – Long Track Speed Skating
Ingrid Paul – Long Track Speed Skating
Manon Perron – Figure Skating
Marina Zoueva – Figure Skating
Canada's Female Medallists at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
Cheryl Bernard, Susan O'Connor, Carolyn Darbyshire, Cori Bartel – Curling: Silver
Shelley-Ann Brown – Bobsleigh: Silver
Colette Bourgonje – Para-Nordic: Silver, Bronze *
Ina Forrest – Wheelchair Curling: Gold
Viviane Forest – Para-Alpine: Gold, Silver x 3, Bronze
Sonja Gaudet – Wheelchair Curling: Gold
Jessica Gregg – Short Track Speed Skating: Silver
Jennifer Heil – Moguls: Silver
Kristina Groves – Long Track Speed Skating: Silver, Bronze
Hockey Team – Shannon Szabados , Charline Labonté, Kim St-Pierre, Carla MacLeod, Becky Kellar, Colleen Sostorics, Meaghan Mikkelson, Catherine Ward, Tessa Bonhomme, Meghan Agosta, Rebecca Johnston, Cherie Piper, Gillian Apps, Caroline Ouellette, Jayna Hefford, Jennifer Botterill, Hayley Irwin, Hayley Wickenheiser, Sarah Vaillancourt, Gina Kingsbury, Marie-Philip Poulin: Gold
Clara Hughes – Long Track Speed Skating: Bronze
Kaillie Humphries – Bobsleigh: Gold
Ashleigh McIvor – Ski Cross: Gold
Heather Moyse – Bobsleigh: Gold
Christine Nesbitt – Long Track Speed Skating: Gold
Maëlle Ricker – Snowboardcross: Gold
Kalyna Roberge – Short Track Speed Skating: Silver
Joannie Rochette – Figure Skating: Bronze
Marianne St-Gelais – Short Track Speed Skating: Silver x 2
Helen Upperton – Bobsleigh: Silver
Tania Vicent – Short Track Speed Skating: Silver
Tessa Virtue – Figure Skating: Gold
Karolina Wisniewska – Para-Alpine: Bronze x 2
Lauren Woolstencroft – Para-Alpine: Gold x 5
*Colette Bourgonje was awarded the prestigious Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award at the Closing Ceremony. The award recognizes elite athletes with a disability who demonstrate an exceptional level of determination to overcome their adversities through sport and the Paralympic Games.
