Sport Development

In this interview, Dr. Jim Denison, who heads the Centre, talks about the new position he’s hiring for: that of Associate Director, Athletics Programming. Learn about what this new hire will do, the qualities they’ll need, what they’ll bring to the Centre’s coaching cadre, and how they’ll support the coaching, academic and athletic goals of these three powerhouses.

In this unique presentation Dr. Bondarchuk discusses the system for developing top hammer throwers (and other throwing events) that was so successful in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. It covers both systemic and methodological reasons why the Soviet nation has had so much success in the hammer throw.

This lecture offers a perspective of viewing the relay event as an individual event to be recognized more at competitions by both the team''s members and different levels of sport federations.

Tomasz Lewandowski, Polish national middle distance coach highlights aspects of the Polish national training system for youth.

In this video Dave Scott-Thomas the head coach of University of Guelph cross country/track and field and Speed River TFC provides an insight into his experiences developing a effective team culture.

In this interview Laurier discusses how a coach can manage athletes through various key points in their careers and training. Areas of emphasis include transitioning from a semi committed to committed state at a high school level, high school/club to a collegiate program and finally from a collegiate to post collegiate program.

In this interview Laurier address key pillars for building and developing a program for a coach to consider. He provides lessons learned from his own experiences, particularly around collaborating with coaches, creating a sense of ownership amongst volunteer coaches as well as how to build coaching potential.

In this interview, he explains the interactions between the media and athletes, how coaches fit into and support these relationships, and his ideas on how to improve the coverage of our sport.

Linda Blade, PhD, has an extensive background in athletics both as an athlete and a coach. A Canadian champion in the multi-events, and an All-American at the University of Maryland, she has coached and advised a number of top Canadian and international athletes in a variety of speed/power events. Most recently, she has used her skills and knowledge from athletics to become a sport performance consultant, where she applies a unique blend of physical conditioning theory and practice to help athletes in any sport excel. In this interview she outlines her approach to sport performance consulting covering everything from assessing athletes’ needs and writing programs to marketing, billing, and insurance. For any coach interested in expanding his or her reach beyond athletics this interview is an inspiring and practical guide on how to get started.

In this interview Dr. Bell discusses the importance of coaches establishing therapeutic support for their program. He outlines a number of specific services for coaches to consider and their benefits. He also provides a number of helpful suggestions to many practical issues and problems associated with implementing an integrated athlete health model such as cost, time and finding qualified practitioners.