Rural sports programs can now take advantage of a new grant program that will give coaches opportunities to advance their skills and create better athletes.
The new Rural Coach Development Grants program created by the Alberta Sport Development Centre (ASDC) -- a non-profit organization that is funded by the provincial government -- is already seen as a way to relieve the current "strugglingî situation in rural Central Alberta communities to attract new coaching blood.
"We are certainly struggling for coaches. There are fewer and fewer younger people coming into coaching, which makes it a really difficult situation for not only our school but for our community and other schools,î said Neil Skaluba, a longtime Olds High School football coach and physical education teacher.
"Any initiative that is going to help out our coaches to upgrade them and to entice them to bring them into the coaching ranks is a great thing.î
Skaluba said while the National Coaching Certification Program has been helping coaches across Canada for years there has been little offered at the provincial and municipal levels.
"I don't think there is enough done,î he said. "This is the first provincial initiative I have ever seen.î
Mike Klass, executive director of the central office of ASDC ñ one of seven offices across the province, said the new grant program is aimed at providing and supporting rural sport coaches with opportunities to go out and get further education, particularly from high-level coaches and institutions in larger urban centres.
"Some of the rural communities don't have the same access to high- quality coaching or qualified coaching but yet there are a number of very committed and educated coaches in those rural communities,î said Klass, whose organization's mandate is to provide support to local elite and emerging athletes.
"It is an opportunity to go out and get some personal education or bring in some experts to support the coaches in their community. Or maybe it is something totally out of the box we have not thought about. By having better coaches we know we are going to have better athletes.î
The new Rural Coach Development Grants program created by the ASDC is a pilot project created for rural coaches from community sports organization as well as those in the schools, said Klass.
He said there are two granting periods for the year in Central Alberta. In each of those periods, four grants of up to $500 will be awarded to regional coaches.
"For us this is a way to dig a little bit deeper into those communities and find some of those other great committed volunteer coaches that might be seeking this type of support,î said Klass.
"The opportunity is for coaches, whether it is a high school coach or a local sport coach in the municipalities who want to run something, to tell us what they need. If they can articulate what type of support they need as a coach they can definitely tell us because we offer lots of other supports that might be of benefit to them.î
Applications for the ASDC's Rural Coach Development Grants program will be accepted before Feb. 19. Full details and application forms can be downloaded from the ASDC website at www.asdccentral.ca/web/coaching
"We are certainly struggling for coaches."Neil Skalubacoach and physical education teacher.
