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Coach development + NCCP
Coaching courses enhance the enjoyment of our sport – even if you don’t intend to coach or assist in a formal capacity. Whether you’re a parent who’s looking to pick up a few tricks to raise lifelong skiers, a grandparent who wants to become more involved in assisting club programs, or a competitive skier interested in coaching the next generation of racers – NCCP is your first step. Our technically skilled coaches form the backbone of our engaging youth lessons, adult classes, and competitive provincial team program. Newly certified coaches are always welcome, become a part of it!
Coach Development Progression
Cross Country Nova Scotia and Nordiq Canada partner with the Coaching Association of Canada to offer National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) courses, a coach training and certification program offered in 65 sports. The program is managed in a database called The Locker. Coaches use The Locker to track their progress and guide their development.
Skiers interested in coaching athletes progressing through cross-country ski club programs, are encouraged to pursue National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) training. Registered Nova Scotia coaches must meet the Minimum Mandatory Coaching Qualifications, as set out by Nordiq Canada.
Course Overview
Discover your next level of training by visiting Nordiq Canada. NCCP course options are listed in the table below. View the corresponding Long Term Athlete Development Stages by visiting, Canada Sport for Life. Nova Scotia clubs offer friendly environments for you to assist and learn to coach.
Course Calendar
Check with local divisions for additional training options in NB, NL, and PEI (morrisonandree@gmail.com)
Coach developers
NCCP Coach Developers include Master Coach Developers, Learning Facilitators, and Coach Evaluators. Coach Developers “are not simply experienced coaches or transmitters of coaching knowledge – they are trained to develop, support, and challenge coaches to go on honing and improving their knowledge and skills in order to provide positive and effective sport experiences for all participants.” In short, Coach Developers need to be experts in learning, as well as experts in coaching.
Coach Developer Training
Coach Developer candidates must complete the following rigorous training (which is being made consistent across Canada):
- Core Training: Provides Coach Developers with the skills to perform their role.
- Content-specific Training (sport or multi-sport): This includes microfacilitation, which gives Coach Developers an opportunity to practise delivery with their peers.
- Co-delivery: This is a chance for the new Coach Developer to practise with real coaches alongside an experienced Coach Developer.
- Once a Coach Developer has completed all of the training modules they are considered TRAINED and move on to evaluation.
- Evaluation: Evaluation confirms that the Coach Developer is capable of certain abilities that are deemed important to the training of coaches.
- Once a Coach Developer has been evaluated, they are considered CERTIFIED.
Coach Developer Pathway Resources
- Summary of core training for Coach Developers
- Micro-facilitation process and evaluation form
- Micro-evaluation process
- Summary of co-facilitation
- Summary of co-evaluation
Learning Facilitators
Are you an experienced coach looking for a new challenge? Maybe it’s time to start on your journey to becoming a Learning Facilitator (LF). LFs creatively instruct and guide our skilled and knowledgeable ski coaches, helping them to get certified, discover new coaching methods, and ultimately produce superior athletes. LFs also act as community ambassadors for our sport and the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP). Characteristics of an ideal LF include:
- Critical thinking
- Collaboration skills
- Subject matter expertise
- Interpersonal skills
- Group management skills
- Comfort with public speaking
- Conflict resolution and moderation skills
How to Become a Learning Facilitator
A potential LF must undergo multi-stage NCCP training and evaluation that ensures he or she has all of the necessary tools to successfully guide future coaches. Training focuses on group dynamics, encourages lifelong learning, and seeks to help both LFs and coaches think critically about how to coach, why we do it, and what can be improved.
For complete information on how to become an LF, please visit the NCCP Learning Facilitator page, where you will find a detailed look at the responsibilities of an LF, a step-by-step outline of how to become an LF, a calendar of training opportunities, and more valuable information.
Master Coach Developer
Are you looking for a high-impact way to encourage peak performance in your sport? Become a Master Coach Developer (MCD).
MCDs train, evaluate, support, and mentor [Learning Facilitators], Coach Evaluators, and other MCDs on their path toward coaching excellence via the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP). They facilitate and lead workshops and professional development experiences, and also play a key role in promoting the NCCP, acting as community ambassadors.
How to Become a Master Coach Developer
All Master Coach Developers must successfully complete the extensive required training outlined at the NCCP Master Coach Developer page, including all of the core training for Learning Facilitators, Coach Evaluators, and Master Coach Developers.
Coaching Licence
Coaches have incredible influence and responsibility for athlete development. Nordiq Canada and Provincial Divisions need to know who is coaching and their coaching status. The Coaching Licence also helps us collect the data we need to support coaches, assess trends, and develop initiatives that benefit skiers.
Who Needs a Coaching License?
You need a coaching license if you perform typical coaching tasks with a Nordiq Canada club, including delivering or helping to deliver practices with any age group for at least seven hours per year. Only coaches who meet the Minimum Mandatory Coaching Qualifications and have a valid Coaching License will benefit from Nordiq Canada’s liability insurance while coaching with a Nordiq Canada ski club. Visit Nordiq Canada’s Document Centre to verify if you meet the minimum mandatory coaching qualifications.
Personal information is kept private and may only be used for risk management, planning and communication between the coach, Nordiq Canada and the coach’s club and Division.
The license is renewable annually and is valid from July 1 to June 30. Registration opens on June 15 each year. You must already be a club member to sign up for a Coaching License.
Sign up now:
Benefits for Coaches
- The license is free
- Third-party general liability insurance
- More licensed coaches means more Sport Canada funding to support you
- Email notification of new coaching resources
- Club Podium ranking points for all licensed coaches; the more points a club has, the more likely the club is to receive National Winter Sport Development Association coach funding
Coaching resources
Creating lifelong technically skilled skiers is a passion for coaches of all levels. If you’re searching for resources to supplement your training, please visit Nordiq Canada to view additional development tools.
Nordiq Canada’s Athlete Development Matrix
The Athlete Development Matrix provides guidance on how to build performance factors at every stage of development. It includes specific benchmarks and standards, as well as additional resources.
The Matrix also includes recommendations for additional factors affecting performance, such as the supporting role of parents, good coaching, balance with academics and/or part-time work, financial considerations, accessible training facilities and equipment.
· Athlete development matrix resources
· Athlete development matrix technique videos
XC Ski Lab
XC Ski Lab (formerly XC Ski Nation) is your online nordic ski school. Mostly a members-only platform, XC Ski Lab partners with Nordiq Canada to offer videos, courses and drills to help you and your athletes ski faster. Sample topics include:
· Biomechanics for performance and injury prevention
· Expert demos of all techniques
· Roller skiing drills and advice
· On snow drills and lessons for skiers of all levels
· Roller skiing drills and advice
· On snow drills and lessons for skiers of all levels
Non-members can access some Open Access videos, like tutorials of kids’ games.
Nordiq Canada licensed coaches receive a 10% discount on a one-year membership. Sign-up details are provided in a confirmation email after registering for your Nordiq Canada Coaching Licence.
Dryland Training and Testing
The Athlete Development Matrix and XC Ski Lab include many dryland resources. Be sure to check the Document Centre for Run-Jump-Pull testing and roller ski resources.
Run-Jump-Pull is a very simple set of dryland tests to measure athlete fitness. The program gives athletes a set of straightforward goals to work to improve.
Roller skiing is fantastic sport-specific training for the off-season. Rollerski training can be introduced as early as Learning to Train (9-12 years).
Learning to Train (9-12 years old)
Roller skiing can be introduced at the end of this stage.
Training to Train Part 1 (12-14 years old)
Introduce athletes to roller skiing (skating to start with) by the beginning of this stage and give them enough opportunities to develop and refine their ski-specific skills in the off-season.
Training to Train Part 2 (14-16 years old)
In addition to ski striding, athletes are significantly increasing their time on roller skis during the off-season.
Learning to Compete (16-20 years old)
By now, athletes will need to roller ski a few times per week throughout the off-season and progressively increase training volume throughout the stage. By the end of the Learning to Compete stage, athletes should have acquired a High Performance level of technical skills at high intensity in all conditions.
Officials
Thousands of Nova Scotia recreational and competitive skiers have proudly crossed the finish line at our beloved loppets, Provincial Championships, Canada Winter Games, Junior Nationals, and Atlantic Championships – thanks largely to our dedicated officials. Trained officials provide fair, safe, and properly structured cross-country skiing events. Our officials enjoy the sense of community and satisfaction of ensuring the excitement of our events can be experienced by all.
Volunteers from ages 16 years through-grand-master are encouraged to register and train to become an official. Young people will gain transferable life skills by interacting with all age groups within a leadership role. Our province’s grand-masters bring a lifetime of experiences to the role and are encouraged to pursue certification. Limited skiing experience? No problem. Officiating courses are designed for all interested volunteers – you will also be supported on the ground, by veteran officials.
Courses: Levels 1 – 3
Nordiq Canada’s officiating program provides three levels of training – qualifying participants to successfully officiate at provincial, national, or international cross-country ski events. Level one is is delivered online – allowing for participants to learn at their own pace; to register visit, Course Registration. Levels two and three require in-person training offered at local cross-country ski clubs. For further information on becoming an official, view Nordiq Canada.
Calendar
Officials courses are listed in the Canada Course Calendar. For additional accuracy, confirm with Provincial Divisions directly.
All Nordiq Canada officials are encouraged to register in the Officials Registry. Registration is free. It will allow you to keep accurate records of events worked, officials certification courses, seminars, and webinars.
News
Featuring news about officials, who set the course in Nova Scotia. Thank-you.
2020 Official of the Year
by Cross Country Nova Scotia Staff, June 28, 2020 Rejean Chamberland Cross Country Nova Scotia is pleased to announce North Highland Nordic’s Rejean Chamberland as the recipient of the Support4Sport Official of the Year Award, which is presented annually to recognize outstanding officials in our sport. A province-wide call for nominations is held annually in…
Cross Country Nova Scotia 