Category

Coaches

AdministratorsCoachesFor everyoneOfficialsParentsSportive
27 September 2022

Letter to little Geneviève

Editor's note: Geneviève Jeanson is a former bike racer from Québec Dear Geneviève, I would like to write you these few words to talk to you.  It's a matter of advising you and, don't worry, it is especially not about lecturing you. In fact, at your age, someone should have told me these things. When I was very young, many years ago, I practiced a sport that I loved at the beginning. Cycling. For the first few years, I pedaled, pedaled and pedaled some more.  Simply because I loved the feeling each ride gave me... even when it was raining or windy 😉 With September just around the corner, I can't help but remember those good times.  The arrival of fall,…
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AdministratorsCoachesFor everyoneOfficialsParentsSportive
11 July 2022

Have I reached the point where I have to file a complaint?

The present blog, the second in a series of two, originates from the implementation of the Integration Protection Policy in Sports, launched on February 1, 2021.  After more than one year of existence, the Sport’Aide team deemed it pertinent to discuss the reactions and behaviours of the various stakeholders in terms of the implementation of this tool made available to the Quebec sports community. The following fictional story is based on actual witness testimonies. I had been thinking about it for some time already. Weeks became months that I suffered and endured the behaviour of someone in my sports entourage. At first, I tried not to let the derogatory remarks affect me too much. The fact that my teammates didn’t…
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AdministratorsCoachesFor everyoneOfficialsParentsSportive
28 June 2022

What!? Somebody complained about me!

The present blog, the first in a series of two, originates from the implementation of the Integration Protection Policy in Sports, launched on February 1, 2021.  After more than one year of existence, the Sport’Aide team deemed it pertinent to discuss the reactions and behaviours of the various stakeholders in terms of the implementation of this tool made available to the Quebec sports community. Are you a coach, parent, volunteer, administrator, etc.? Regardless of your status within your sports organization or federation, one day you may be contacted by the Complaints Officer or a member of an integrity committee to inform you that a complaint has been filed against you. After the initial shock of this announcement, it is very…
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CoachesCOVID-19For everyoneOfficialsSportive
2 February 2022

Hello, it’s Anne-Marie, I am a synchronized swimmer… When sport alone defines us, what happens “after”?

About ten years ago, I was part of the national synchronized swimming team, now called artistic swimming. I trained at the Institut National du Sport du Québec in Montreal, for 40 to 50 hours each week. I liked what I was doing. No, in fact I LOVED synchronized swimming since it was more than a passion. It was my ENTIRE life! Then things changed, I started having tough times at training. I was told that I wasn’t thin enough. Not tall enough. Not enough like the others. Then I got injured. That was before I started having doubts about myself and started to lose confidence… to finally reach the point where I wondered what I was doing there. Doubting myself…
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CoachesCOVID-19For everyoneUnclassified
21 September 2020

When theory becomes practice: testimonials by diving coaches in their quest for well-being

Further to our series of blogs published as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sport’Aide wants to share with you a recent incident on the field experienced by a partner– Plongeon Québec – which wants to support its coaches in this unique context. So, let's make room for the third blog in an interesting series which summarizes this great initiative which deserves to be known – indeed – repeated elsewhere. (more…)
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CoachesCOVID-19For everyone
17 September 2020

Putting well-being before performance, with Jean-Paul Richard

Automatic support As former coach of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team and co-founder of reROOT collectif, Jean-Paul Richard felt a great deal of empathy for diving coaches at the start of the pandemic. Let’s just say that the responsibilities of a coach who is preparing the succession and the feeling of being in the last stretch in preparing for the Olympic Games is something he can easily relate to, since he has been in this situation more than once. Since he can easily put himself in their shoes, he instinctively wanted to help. The important thing for him was to support the sporting community while recognizing and intervening in order to favour the well-being of coaches in this period of…
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CoachesCOVID-19
24 April 2020

Isolated coaches: what role should you play with your athletes?

In the sports community, coaches are among the people most affected by this pandemic and isolation, synonymous with an abrupt halt to training sessions and the competition season for a still as yet indeterminate period. For coaches, the emotional and financial costs are similar to those of parents with the added disappointment of not being able to fulfil their role, which for many of them represents their career, their livelihood, their professional identity and their passion. Each coach is living through this situation according to their aspirations, the level of each athlete and their level of commitment. But all trainers are probably wondering what they can do to support their athletes during the coming weeks. Take care of yourself first…
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