June 26, 2008 (Ottawa, ON) – The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) is pleased to announce that applications are being accepted for the 2008-2009 Coaching Internship Program. Through the program, which is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy’s Career Focus program, CAC offers subsidies of $13,000 to enable sport organizations to hire 20 young professionals for coaching positions leading to permanent, full-time employment.

“Since it began in 2001-2002, 134 coaches from all corners of the country have been the beneficiaries of this important coach employment program,” says John Bales of Ottawa, CAC’s chief executive officer. “The impact has been significant at all levels of coaching in Canada, supporting community coaches as well as high performance aspirants. In fact, Nicolas Gill, Canada’s most decorated judoka, who took part in the inaugural program, is now Judo Canada’s head coach and will lead the team to the 2008 Olympic Games.”

Looking back on his participation in the internship, Gill, who is from Montreal, says: “The program gave me the opportunity to start my coaching career. It was my first full-time job as a coach and allowed me to work under the tutelage of six-time Olympic coach Hiroshi Nakamura and begin my preparation to be in charge of the Olympic team seven years later.”

Another beneficiary of the program is Laryssa Biesenthal of Victoria, assistant national lightweight coach with Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA). “The internship helped me tremendously, says Biesenthal. ” It got me in the door with the RCA and enabled me to work with Brian Richardson, the head coach of the day, and that was an excellent experience. It also connected me with a fantastic network of fellow female coaches from all sports and in all parts of the country, and that network continues to be an important part of my coaching life.”

Career Focus guidelines call for applicants to be between 15 and 30 years of age at the time of selection, post-secondary graduates, out of school, and unemployed.

Eligible employers include sport clubs and associations, national/provincial/territorial sport organizations, and educational institutions. An essential aspect of the program is the requirement for the employer to coordinate a mentorship relationship for the intern.

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The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) is a not-for-profit amateur sport organization with the mission of enhancing the experiences of all Canadian athletes through quality coaching. CAC and its partners deliver a leading-edge coaching system whose goal is to have an impact on 1,000,000 athletes through the training of 100,000 coaches each year in the National Coaching Certification Program. Visit www.coach.ca for more information about coach education and training.