The Alberta Slalom Canoe Kayak Team lead by High Performance Head Coach Michael Holroyd has been improving in leaps and bounds, thanks in large part to a partnership they have formed with the Alberta Sport Development Centre (ASDC) Calgary and the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary (CSIC).
The diverse training group that has been utilizing the partnership since 2009 is currently comprised of 18 athletes at various levels in development. The group consists of 5 high performance athletes, 3 athletes one tier below high performance, and 10 additional athletes who are targeted as future stars. All have seen benefits from the organizations' unique partnership pooling their respective resources in order to provide the maximum level of support possible as opposed to dividing their respective contributions up in a less effective manner.
Coach Holroyd, a Canoe Kayak National Team member for 10 years, retired from the sport in 2007 to begin working his way though the CSIC's renowned Coaching Diploma Program. After completing the Advanced Coaching Diploma Level 4 Program, he commenced work with the team and has seen amazing improvements in many of his athletes, including Haley Daniels and Adrian Cole, who came into the ASDC Calgary program as young athletes and have progressed to the National Senior and U23 Team, respectively.
The team's biggest success stories thus far, Jessica Groenveld and Ben Hayward, are looking ahead to the Pan Am Games in Toronto in 2015. With the inclusion of Canoe Kayak in the Games for the first time, Groenveld is confident that the services the partnership has provided will continue to garner incredible international results, with the ultimate goal being to win a medal at the home Games.
Holroyd, along with all of his athletes, knows that the biggest advantage the partnership has provided has been the opportunity to work with world leading specialists from the CSIC that they typically would not have access to. These experts include Sport Scientist Kelly Quipp, who conducts physiological testing on the athletes twice annually using a Kayak Ergometer in the state-of-the-art Sport Performance Laboratory at Canada Olympic Park. The team also utilizes the exclusive High Performance Training Centre a minimum of twice weekly in order to train with CSIC Strength and Conditioning Coach John Abreu. Mental Performance Coach Clare Fewster rounds out the group of CSIC experts that have actively contributed to the team's success through the partnership. Groenveld is convinced that these opportunities have enhanced her training, saying, "The collaboration of ASDC and CSIC has enabled us to access resources that are fundamental to athlete development and success. For myself, the strength gains made this year with John, and the ability to have specific training targets from testing with Kelly, are incredibly important."
Coach Holroyd is equally thankful for the world class teamwork that goes into his program, saying, "We are really lucky here in Calgary to have the ASDC Calgary help athletes, collaboratively with our provincial association, work up to the National Team level where the CSIC programs kick in. Through this system, we have been able to use the world leading testing, strength and conditioning, and mental training service providers from the CSIC and bring it to our developing provincial athletes. This gives us consistent long-term data from testing and ensures that athletes stepping onto our National Teams are doing so with good fundamentals. This linear, consistent support has allowed our programs to help athletes to the fullest."
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Canadian Sport Institute Calgary: @CSICalgary
Written by Brittany Schussler: @bschussler
Photo by Dave Holland: @csicalgaryphoto
There is an unfortunate reality within the realm of para sport that athletes have to contend with – they don’t always have access to services from their National Sport Organization, either due to a lack of resources or too few athletes to invest in a dedicated program.
“In para alpine skiing for example, there are not enough athletes to develop a specific para alpine training group and program”, says Reid Bilben, Manager at the Alberta Sport Development Centre (ASDC). “This gap has left many para athletes from several sports on their own, without a place to train or team to train with.”
Fortunately, the CSI Calgary, in partnership with the ASDC, is looking to change this reality with an innovative new program geared towards para athletes of all ages from any sport. The Para Sport Training Program is launching this fall at the CSI Calgary and will focus on providing sport science services to para athletes.
The central idea behind the program is to bring para athletes from a variety of sports together to form training groups that will have access to high performance sport services from experts at the CSI Calgary. Bilben says that the intention is to fill a gap in the system for developing athletes. “We are trying to get more athletes who are the only one from their sport in a training region, into a training group with other para sport athletes.”
Tessa Gallinger is an Adaptive Strength Specialist at the CSI Calgary and will lead the new training groups. She says the main goal is to bridge that gap within the para-sport system. “There isn’t a lot of availability of sport science to athletes prior to reaching the high performance level,” she says. “Most of the athletes I work with are already carded and on the national team. We’re trying to get athletes into the stream sooner.”
Gallinger, who is also pursuing a master’s degree studying muscle physiology in athletes with cerebral palsy, says that they are looking to help athletes build the right foundation in strength and skill in order to help ensure they have long careers in para sport. “We want to get these athletes in the program when they are in between sports and haven’t specialized yet, but still need functional strength work and help with structural basics,” she says.
This dedicated support will help the athletes stay healthy and strong in their sport for a long time. “We want to see them go to more than one Paralympic Games. We want their careers to be long lived,” says Gallinger. In a sport environment where athletes enter the stream at a later age and peak in their 30s or 40s, this program will serve to help younger athletes get started on the high performance path at an earlier age.
In addition to having a place to train, training partners and sport science support, one of the key benefits for the athletes is simply being in an environment where excellence is the main pursuit. For Gallinger, it doesn’t matter how impaired or abled athletes are, they all have big goals and being exposed to others with similar attitudes and goals pushes everyone to be better. “There is a huge development piece to this program,” she says. “Athletes can see other athletes who are where they want to be, and can see what it takes to get there.”
The Para Sport Training Program fall session began last week, there is still room for participants. Winter session starts January 9, 2017. For more information on the program or to register, contact the ASDC office at 403-440-8668.
Canadian Sport Institute Calgary: @csicalgary
Written by Kristina Groves: @kngrover
Photo by Dave Holland: @csicalgaryphoto
14/09/16
L'équipe de canoë-kayak – slalom de l'Alberta dirigée par Michael Holroyd, entraîneur-chef de haute performance, s'est grandement améliorée, principalement en raison de son partenariat avec le Alberta Sport Development Centre (ASDC) de Calgary et l'Institut canadien du sport de Calgary (ICSC).
Le groupe d'entraînement diversifié qui utilise ce partenariat depuis 2009 est actuellement formé de 18 athlètes à divers niveaux de développement. Le groupe comprend cinq athlètes de haut niveau, trois athlètes un tiers sous la barre de haut niveau et dix athlètes supplémentaires qui ont brillant avenir devant eux. Nous avons tous constaté les avantages issus de la mise en commun des ressources de ce partenariat unique entre les organisations qui visait à offrir le plus important niveau de soutien possible au lieu de diviser leurs contributions respectives, ce qui était beaucoup moins efficace.
Budding athletes dream of the Olympic podium, but from a distance – it’s a long way off. This precious dream is held deep down in their young hearts by the belief that it is possible to one day step up and earn that glorious, coveted medal on the day it matters most. That the prize remains a distant goal is not a concern, in fact it is the great distance that must still be traveled that drives the next generation of Canada’s best.
It is not just through dreams that Olympic medals are won – it is the end result of years, if not decades, of dogged and meticulous preparation. This preparation begins long before the young athletes reach the elite level, at a time when they are the most malleable, adaptable and willing to learn.
The CSI Calgary, alongside a network of seven Alberta Sport Development Centres (ASDCs), recognizes this timeframe as an opportunity to help prepare young athletes for the next level. In Alberta, the pathway to the podium is being intentionally and methodically paved, by a joint CSI Calgary-ASDC effort that aims to enable emerging athletes reach their goals. Since 2009, the ASDCs have worked closely with both the CSI Calgary and the Provincial Sport Organizations (PSOs) of nineteen targeted sports to identify needs and deliver the right services and resources.
One of the primary goals is to introduce athletes to sport science services at a younger age. By partnering with the CSI Calgary, the ASDCs are able to introduce the kind of philosophy, language and science to the emerging athlete so that when they progress to the next level, it’s not all new. Reid Bilben, Manager of the ASDC in Calgary, says, “Bringing sport science to the forefront of the development pathway is a key factor in preparing the athletes.” He adds, “We are more intentional with what we are doing, we are more targeted and strategic than we have ever been.”
According to Miranda Sallis, Manager of Performance Services at CSI Calgary, the partnership also aims to extend the CSI Calgary approach to the PSO level. “The goal is to standardize the system by filtering down those best practices, like identifying gaps in an athlete’s performance or implementing the correct testing protocol and how to interpret results. The result is that there is a pathway for them to succeed,” she says.
Sallis also recognizes the importance of a targeted approach that best serves the athletes. “There are so many layers of influence on a young athlete,” she says, “We are trying to answer the question – ‘What do the athletes actually need?’ We are looking at laying the right foundation instead of just throwing everything at them and hoping something works.” This intentional approach has led to systematic alignment throughout the athlete development pathway.
The impact of the partnership extends to the five rural ASDCs as well. Scott Fraser, Director of High Performance Sport at Alberta Sport Connection, says, “ASDC is a good opportunity for the clubs to have their athletes have access to sport science.” Additionally, there is a component of knowledge sharing and educating local coaches, which Sallis says “opens their eyes to what is potentially available to them.”
It’s not just the young athletes that have big dreams, the proponents of this partnership have a dream too. Says Sallis, “In a perfect world, the pathway would lead from the ASDC, to Next Gen to National Team to the Olympic Podium.”
Canadian Sport Institute Calgary: @csicalgary
Written by Kristina Groves: @kngrover
Photo by Dave Holland: @csicalgaryphoto
15/06/16
Les athlètes des sports paralympiques doivent malheureusement composer avec une réalité propre à leur univers – ils n’ont pas toujours accès aux services offerts par leurs organismes nationaux de sport, soit en raison du manque de ressources ou du petit nombre d’athlètes qui participent à un programme spécialisé.
« En ski para-alpin par exemple, il n’y a pas suffisamment d’athlètes pour former un groupe d’entraînement et concevoir un programme » affirme Reid Bilben, directeur du Centre de développement sportif de l’Alberta. « Cette lacune fait en sorte que de nombreux athlètes de divers sports paralympiques sont abandonnés à leur sort, n’ayant aucun endroit pour s’entraîner, ni d’équipe avec qui s’entraîner. »
Heureusement, l’Institut canadien du sport de Calgary, en partenariat avec le Centre de développement sportif de l’Alberta, cherche à changer cette réalité à l’aide d’un nouveau programme innovateur qui sera destiné aux athlètes paralympiques de tous âges et de tous sports. Le Programme d’entraînement des sports paralympiques sera lancé cet automne à l’Institut canadien du sport de Calgary et offrira des services en sciences du sport aux athlètes paralympiques.
L’idée dominante derrière le programme consiste à rassembler des athlètes paralympiques provenant de divers sports afin de former des groupes d’entraînement qui pourront avoir accès à des services offerts aux sports de haut niveau par des experts de l’Institut canadien du sport de Calgary. M. Bilben affirme que le programme vise à combler les lacunes du système pour former des athlètes. « Nous essayons de regrouper les athlètes qui sont seuls dans leur discipline dans une région d’entraînement, et de les intégrer à un groupe d’entraînement avec d’autres athlètes de sports paralympiques. »
Tessa Gallinger, spécialiste de la force adaptée à l’Institut canadien du sport de Calgary, dirigera les nouveaux groupes d’entraînement. Elle mentionne que l’objectif principal consiste à combler les lacunes du système des sports paralympiques. « Il y a peu de services en sciences du sport offerts aux athlètes avant que ceux-ci n’atteignent des niveaux de rendement élevés, » affirme-t-elle. « La plupart des athlètes avec qui je travaille sont déjà brevetés et font partie de l’équipe nationale. Nous tentons d’intégrer les athlètes au groupe plus tôt. »
Mme Gallinger, qui poursuit également ses études dans le but d’obtenir sa maîtrise en étudiant la physiologie des muscles des athlètes atteints de paralysie cérébrale, mentionne qu’ils souhaitent aider les athlètes à bâtir une bonne base avec les forces et les compétences nécessaires afin de s’assurer qu’ils auront de longues carrières en sport paralympique. « Nous voulons intégrer ces athlètes au programme avant qu’ils ne choisissent un sport et qu’ils ne se spécialisent, mais qui ont encore besoin d’un renforcement fonctionnel et d’aide avec les bases structurelles, » dit-elle.
Ce soutien spécialisé permettra d’aider les athlètes à demeurer en santé et à conserver leur force pour pratique leur sport pendant de longues années. « Nous voulons qu’ils participent à plus d’un Jeu paralympique. Nous souhaitons que leur carrière soit bien remplie, » mentionne Mme Gallinger. Dans un environnement sportif où les athlètes rejoignent les rangs lorsqu’ils sont un peu plus âgés et qu’ils atteignent leur rendement maximal dans la trentaine ou la quarantaine, ce programme permettra d’aider les plus jeunes athlètes à se lancer sur le chemin des programmes de haut niveau à un plus jeune âge.
En plus d’avoir un endroit où s’entraîner, d’avoir des partenaires d’entraînement et des services en sciences du sport, l’un des principaux avantages pour les athlètes est simplement de se retrouver dans un environnement où l’excellence est l’objectif principal. Pour Mme Gallinger, peu importe que les athlètes soient handicapés ou non, ils ont tous des objectifs ambitieux et le fait de se retrouver en compagnie d’autres personnes ayant des attitudes et des objectifs semblables poussent les athlètes à se dépasser. « Ce programme comporte une partie importante consacrée au perfectionnement, » dit-elle. « Les athlètes peuvent voir les autres athlètes qui ont atteint le niveau qu’ils souhaitent atteindre et constater les efforts qu’ils doivent déployer pour y arriver. »
La session d’automne du Programme d’entraînement des sports paralympiques a commencé la semaine dernière et il reste encore quelques places pour des participants. La session d’hiver commencera le 9 janvier 2017. Pour obtenir de plus amples renseignements concernant le programme ou l’inscription, veuillez communiquer avec le bureau du Centre de développement sportif de l’Alberta au 403 440-8668.
Institut canadien du sport de Calgary : @csicalgary
Rédigé par Kristina Groves: @kngrover
Photo de Dave Holland: @CSICalgaryPhoto
14/09/16
