Ontario coaches lack training and diversity, new report says
CBC
Most Ontario coaches aren't properly trained to instruct young athletes and handle critical issues like concussion protocols, youth mental health and athlete development, says a new report examining the overall landscape of coaching in the province.
The 2023 Ontario Coaching Report says only half of the province's coaches have completed some type of safe sport training, while over a third have not signed a code of conduct or completed a background check prior to coaching.
"Those that are trained and certified feel more confident dealing with some of the more challenging parts of coaching," says Jeremy Cross, executive director of the Coaches Association of Ontario, which authored the report.
But, he adds, it's not easy to impose training standards — or to achieve diversity in coaching — when three-quarters of the province's coaching force is made up of unpaid volunteers.
"Recruiting volunteers is difficult," said Cross, especially given high demand: roughly 300,000 coaches are needed on an annual basis to meet the demands of millions of Ontarians participating in sports and recreation. The report, which surveyed 1,000 people coaching 80 different sports across Ontario, says the coaches are predominantly white men.
One of those coaches, Aprille Deus, says she has benefited considerably from the country's National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP), which provides standardized sport education to coaches.
"It helped me understand a little bit more the areas of growth for an athlete as well as how to develop a program from the ground up," said Deus, a former competitive athlete who coaches junior varsity girls basketball at Crestwood Preparatory School in Toronto.
Only 42 per cent of Ontario coaches have completed some NCCP training, per the coaching report, while only 30 per cent have specific certification in the program.
Deus says the program — which helped her understand athlete mental health, strength and conditioning, physiology, and how to plan practices— is vital for improving the calibre of coaching across Canada.
The report says coaches with NCCP training were more likely than than those without to feel confident in handling issues such as concussions and return to play protocols, as well as taking action to end hazing practices.
Training costs time and money, and sport programs should offer mentorship, support networks and financial resources to their coaches to help, Cross said.
"We know that it is helpful and it makes more confident and competent coaches, but we also have to do it in a way that is manageable, so that we're not losing coaches right off the bat," he said.
"It's going to take a village to keep people coaching and engaged and running quality, safe programs."
Cross says athletes would also benefit if there was more diversity among coaching ranks.
Aggressive patients and lack of security are making nurses feel unsafe in a rural Western Manitoba emergency union, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.