Canadian Sport Institute Calgary’s Integrated Support Team Provides the Backbone to Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton
The Canadian bobsleigh and skeleton team kicked off their post-Olympic season last week with strong World Cup races in Lake Placid, New York. This week at Canada Olympic Park, the team will treat Calgarians to a display of their speed, size, and determination as World Cup #2 gets underway.
Adding to the already amazing event, Canadian Sport Institute Calgary (CSIC) athlete Kaillie Humphries will make history when she pilots a men's bobsleigh. Recently receiving the Lou Marsh Award naming her as Canada's best athlete for the past year, the two-time Olympic Gold Medallist is looking forward to showing her prowess on her home track as she breaks down gender barriers.
Behind the scenes, the CSIC is working hard to ensure that the bobsleigh and skeleton athletes continue to achieve and maintain world-leading performances through the use of elite staff members and consultants that have assembled into Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton's (BCS) Integrated Support Team (IST). The IST ensuring that the athletes are always functioning at one hundred percent consists of 8 sport medicine experts, including physicians, chiropractors, and massage therapists, 2 strength and conditioning trainers, a high performance dietitian, mental performance consultants, and a performance analyst. Although this may seem like a large group of support members, in a sport where medals are won and lost by thousandths of a second there can be no area left unattended. It is this philosophy that helps to guide the CSIC as it assembles IST for high performance athletes.
Head Coach Chris LeBihan notes that the IST has been vital to the success of BCS, saying, "The strength and conditioning team working for BCS at the CSIC's High Performance Training Centre, lead by Quin Sekulich, has been instrumental in elevating our bobsleigh and skeleton athletes' physical preparedness. Our athletes are not only achieving personal best performances, they are also achieving world leading performances. There is no doubt that the IST team and new facilities at the CSIC are world leading!"
One of the IST leaders, mental performance consultant Frank van den Berg, is adamant that the importance of teamwork and communication amongst the large IST is crucial to maintaining the function of the team. He notes that the planning and cooperation are always ongoing, saying, "in order to manage and facilitate a high-functioning interdisciplinary IST a comprehensive plan for off-season and in-season collaboration was developed and shared with all IST members, highlighting and explaining our shared philosophy, functioning, structure and strategies approach for support of bobsleigh and skeleton athletes. We're working explicitly towards our key objectives to make this IST work effectively and stay high-functioning: focus on common goals, ability and willingness to work together, effective decision-making, healthy professional relationships, and effective communication."
Be sure to catch Kaillie and all of the world's best bobsleigh and skeleton athletes competing this week at Canada Olympic Park! For more information, go to bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca
Stay in the loop!
Canadian Sport Institute Calgary: @csicalgary
Written by Brittany Schussler: @bschussler
Photo by Dave Holland: @csicalgaryphoto
