Squash Canada is excited to announce changes to the Coaching Program including the launch of the new ‘Coaching in Squash’ eLearning module. The changes were deemed vital to enhancing a squash coach’s knowledge and education to become a Certified Coach.
“The Squash Canada Coaching Committee has been hard at work developing new squash coaching resources. We are thrilled to be able to develop and offer resources that will help grow our sport – both at the grass roots and the competitive levels,” stated Janet MacLeod, Chair of the Squash Canada Coaching Committee. “With the launch of the ‘Coaching in Squash’ eLearning module, Squash Canada is ensuring that the foundation of coach education is accessible to everyone who wants to coach and be certified at a competitive level.”
Our Coaching Program aligns the National Coach Certification Program (NCCP) with the Long-Term Player Development model (Beyond the Nick). This program is designed to ensure that coaches are professionally trained and certified to develop athletes in the best way possible. Each coach pathway has various requirements to progress coaches through the NCCP Training and Certification Pathway: In Training, Trained and Certified.
Coaching in Squash eLearning module
This module will introduce you to what it means to be a coach and to the essential knowledge you need to develop athletes in squash and physical activity. It will also introduce you to the NCCP, to which Squash Canada is aligned in its coach certification. The cost to complete is $35.
You will explore the following topics:
- the structure and goals of the NCCP
- the roles and responsibilities you take on as a coach to meet the needs of the athletes
- the stages of the Long-Term Player Development framework
- strategies for preventing and managing risks to the athletes’ safety and wellness
- how to plan the program and lessons
- knowledge of various skills, and how to teach them and give feedback based on the athletes’ development and performance
By completing this module, you will gain the knowledge and tools to develop your coaching skills in squash, as well as the language you need to be effective in what you do.
The Coaching in Squash eLearning module is a mandatory prerequisite that a coach must successfully complete before attending the in-person squash-specific training course. This applies to both pathways within the NCCP Competition stream: Introduction and Development. The module only needs to be completed once for coaches who opt to complete both NCCP pathways.
Coaches who are maintaining their certified status will receive 5 Professional Development (PD) points upon completing this eLearning module.
This eLearning will take approximately 90 minutes to complete and is available in both official languages. You may complete the module in multiple sittings. Once you have completed the Coaching in Squash (Competition Stream) eLearning module, the module will appear in your coach transcript.
To access the eLearning module via the CAC Locker database – Click Here
In conjunction with the launch of the new ‘Coaching in Squash’ eLearning module, Squash Canada has conducted a major review of the Coach Pathways noted below. The decision was made to streamline the Coach Pathways that outline what is required to become a Certified Coach. It is important for coaches to understand that the NCCP is not linear, which means a coach may enter any Coach Pathway. Coaches should determine what kind of coaching you want to do and what kind of athletes you want to work with prior to selecting the applicable Coach Pathway.
Squash Canada Coach Certification Pathways:
- Instruction – Intermediate stream – Click Here
- Effective immediately for coaches not certified in this pathway
- Competition – Introduction stream – Click Here
- Effective immediately for coaches not certified in this pathway
- Competition – Development stream – Click Here
- Effective immediately for coaches not certified in this pathway
- Introduction to Squash stream – Click Here
- This pathway will be phased out by December 31, 2021. Coaches who have outstanding requirements are strongly encouraged to complete by this date.
COMING SOON – Community Sport stream
- This new pathway will allow people to become a ‘Trained’ Community Squash Instructor by attending a 1-day in-person Community Squash Instructor course as well as complete the NCCP Make Ethical Decisions course and NCCP Coach Initiation in Sport eLearning module.
Coaches that have questions related to the above changes are encouraged to contact Squash Canada Programs Manager Geoffrey Johnson at geoff.johnson@squash.ca.