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NCCP Coaching Pathways

The NCCP Community Coaching pathways aim to give coaches the knowledge, skills and tools needed to create a safe and healthy environment for athletes.

Community Coach

The Community Coach (youth or age group) wants to help new athletes and support age group athletes by teaching basic triathlon skills and introduction to events. The Community Coach is focused on safe participation, teaching skills and technique, and fun. This context is designed for coaches of athletes moving from FUNdamentals to Learn to Train and Train to Train stages of long term athlete development (LTAD).

Affiliated Triathlon BC clubs must have an NCCP Community coach in-training on their roster, and have a community coach in-training onsite at all sanctioned training events.

The Pathway to reach Community Coach in-training status:

  1. Create a NCCP account (free)
  2. Complete Making Ethical Decisions (in-person or online)
  3. Complete a 2-day Community Coaching Course (TriBC courses here)
  4. Complete a Criminal Record Check (online option here)
  5. Complete SafeSport training (required if working with Youth, highly encouraged if working with adults).

Competition Coach

A Competition Coach wantes to train and support athletes who are interested in moving into the High Performance pathway.  The Competition Coach focuses on refining skills and technique, physical training,  sport psychology, and all aspects of the daily training environment in order to develop strong practice and competition skills. This context is designed for coaches of athletes in the Train to Train, Train to Compete, and Train to win stages of LTAD.

High Performance  Competition Coach

This context is currently to be developed by Triathlon Canada.  The High Performance Coach wants to work with Provincial and National level athletes who are on the poduim pathway. This context is for coaches of athltes in  the Train to Win stages of LTAD.

Want more information? Check out the Triathlon Canada Infographic HERE

Knowledge is power

In Canada, coach education and training is guided by the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC). Under CAC supervision, each National Sport Organization (NSO) is developing coach education that best matches the needs of both athletes and coaches.

IN-DEPTH OVERVIEW: National Coach Certification Program (NCCP)

The National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) was developed in 1974 to provide training and certification to coaches in more than 60 sports. The NCCP is competency based which means the educational experiences are interactive and involve more than rote information (what you know). They also focus on the “how” of coaching and the implementation of your knowledge (what you can DO with what you know). A significant focus of the NCCP is accessing coaches’ prior knowledge and engaging their expertise in dialogue, practice, and interaction. In this way, even experienced coaches with an extensive knowledge base can glean important skills, networking, and self-evaluation opportunities through the NCCP process.

Basic Registration Requirements

Basic Registration Requirements begin with creating a free account with the Coaching Association of Canada. This will give you an NCCP number for use in all your coaching courses. Then complete a Criminal Records Check (CRC), the CAC’s Making Ethical Decisions module (MED) and SafeSport Training (or Respect in Sport).

You also have the option to become a Triathlon Canada Registered Coach, and complete Triathlon Canada’s Rules for Community Coaching. This is an optional add-on to the required NCCP basic requirement, for coaches looking to further their knowledge directly through Triathlon Canada’s coaching portal and to be part of the National Triathlon Coach Registry. Becoming a Triathlon Canada Registered Coach is only required for National Team coaches, and is not required for certification of NCCP pathways.

Community Coaching Pathway

The Community Coach (youth or age group) wants to help new athletes and support age group club athletes by teaching basic triathlon skills and introduction to events. The Community Coach is focused on safe participation, teaching skills and technique, and fun. This context is designed for coaches of athletes moving from FUNdamentals to Learn to Train and Train to Train stages of long term athlete development (LTAD).

Competition Pathway Coaching

A Competition Coach wants to train and support athletes who are interested in moving into the High Performance pathway. The Competition Coach focuses on refining skills and technique, physical training, sport psychology and all aspects of the daily training environment in order to develop strong practice and competition skills. This context is designed for coaches of athletes in the Train to Train, Train to Compete and Train to Win stages of LTAD.

Coach Developers are the leaders and the ambassadors of the NCCP program, providing standardized program delivery across Canada. For certified coaches looking to pursue Coach Developer status,  please click HERE.

Responsible Coaching Movement (RCM)

Coaches have many responsibilities, one of them is to ensure they provide a safe environment for their athletes and themselves. When athletes and athletes’ parents entrust a coach as a leader they assume they have taken steps to become a responsible coach.

In 2017, Triathlon BC took the Responsible Coaching Movement (RCM) pledge, showing its commitment to positive change in sport.  The RCM is a call to action to implement policies and processes to ensure athletes are safe. Coordinated by the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, it highlights three key areas:

These concepts are preventative tools to protect the organization, the coach and to reduce the instances of negative sport experiences related to bullying, abuse, unethical coaching, etc.

Parents have the right to speak with the coach or the coach’s supervisor if they have questions or concerns about interactions with their child.

Triathlon BC currently uses myBackCheck.com for criminal record checks.  All coaches working with athletes under the age of 19 are required to complete a check.  Haven’t gotten a check completed yet? Email programs@tribc.org today to get more information.

RCM Resources to help your Club meet the Pledge can be found below.

Long-term Athlete Development for Parents

Many parents are looking for answers to explain what is right for their child when it comes to athletic development. As a coach, you need something that will help explain the facts in an easy, accurate, and user-friendly manner. The Coaching Association of Canada, in coordination with Canadian Sport for Life, has created the following document: “Long-Term Athlete Development Information for Parents” (LTAD) to help coaches educate the parents of the children in their programs.

View the Long Term Athlete Development Guidebook.

Coaching Masters Athletes

Masters sport is booming, and older athletes are seeking coaching guidance as they strive to learn new skills, improve their performance, or compete successfully. Coaching Masters Athletes, a new NCCP resource now available for coaches, offers an exciting opportunity for all coaches to have a positive impact on the lives of adults who want to lead a healthy and active lifestyle, and on society by encouraging more adults to be active.

View the Coaching Masters Athletes

Coaching Athletes with a Disability

Coaching Athletes with a Disability is a course designed to provide grassroots coaches who have never worked with athletes with a disability with basic information, guidelines, and tips that will assist in creating conditions for effective participation and inclusion.

Download the Coaching Athletes with a Disability.

Coaching Code of Conduct

The athlete/coach relationship is a privileged one. Coaches play a critical role in the personal as well as athletic development of their athletes. Coaches must recognize that they are conduits through which the values and goals of a sport organization are channeled. The Code of Conduct has been developed to aid coaches in achieving a level of behaviour which will allow them to assist their athletes in becoming well-rounded, self-confident and productive human beings.

View the Coaching Code of Conduct.

Coaching Guidelines

To act as a coach on any Triathlon BC related projects, minimum standards must be met.

Coaches must be registered as Triathlon BC members in good standing prior to actively coaching.

Coaches must be aware of their NCCP status, which is available by:

  • Logging in to coach.ca and reviewing your certification page.
  • Visiting coach.ca and reviewing a public transcript with your last name and NCCP number

Criminal Record Checks (CRC’s)

All coaches who wish to be members of Triathlon BC must complete and file a Criminal Record Check (CRC) if they are 18 years old or older, as per BC Provincial Law:

“An employer must ensure that every individual who is hired for employment involving work with children and every employee who works with children undergoes a criminal record check” Criminal Records Review Act, Chapter 86).

View the Minimum Coaching Requirements.