April 2nd, 2004 – The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) will launch a new phase of its National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) on April 1, 2004, which will have a significant impact on how volunteer coaches are trained and developed in every community across Canada.

Each year, more than 39,000 coaches take part in an NCCP course in nearly 900 communities in Canada. This newly designed phase of the program will impact approximately 25,000 of those coaches per year by introducing new content and new training methods. The NCCP has been Canada's recognized coach training and certification program for coaches in over 60 sports since 1974. It has made Canada a world leader in coaching education and training. Since its inception, nearly one million Canadians have taken part in the program.

With the changes, the NCCP is now moving towards a competency-based approach where coaches are trained specifically in job tasks relevant to the participants that they're coaching and can be evaluated on performances to a specified standard.

“This new phase of the program is specifically designed to meet the needs of the volunteer coaches at the community, club, and junior high school levels by teaching them how to plan safe and effective practices, design meaningful season plans, teach appropriate sport skills to athletes, and many other important aspects of coaching,” said John Bales, CAC President. “It will provide them with practical, hands-on information on how to supervise young participants and provide drills and basic coaching skills that coaches can use.” The new program results in a more positive sport experience for the participant. This will help to ensure that they stay in sport longer, thereby helping to combat potential long-term effects of inactivity such as obesity.

CAC and its partners are in the process of redesigning the NCCP to better meet the needs of coaches across all levels of participation and competition. The next phase of the transition will be launched in October 2004 focusing on the community sport coach at the introductory level.

The Coaching Association of Canada's mission is to enhance the sport experience of Canadian youth through quality coaching. Proud sponsors of the Coaching Association of Canada and its programs include Investors Group, TSN, and Petro-Canada.

The National Coaching Certification Program is a collaborative program of the government of Canada, provincial/territorial governments, national/provincial/territorial sport federations, and the Coaching Association of Canada.