The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) is accepting applications the 2008-09 Coaching Internship Program.
Through the program, funded in part by the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy's Career Focus program, CAC offers subsidies of $13,000 to allow sporting organizations to hire 20 young professionals for coaching positions that can lead to permanent, full-time positions.
"Since it began in 2001-02, 134 coaches from all corners of the country have been the beneficiaries of this important coach employment program," said John Bales, CAC's chief executive officer, in a news release.
"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."
"The program gave me the opportunity to start my coaching career," Gill said in the release. "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, Laryssa Biesenthal of Victoria, is assistant national lightweight coach with Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA).
"The internship helped me tremendously, " said Biesenthal in the release.
"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."
Applicants must be between the ages of 15 and 30 at the time of selection, be post-secondary graduates, not be attending school and be 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 co-ordinate a mentorship relationship for interns.
For more information, visit http://coach.ca/eng/grants/internships.cfm .
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.
For more information about coach education and training, visit www.coach.ca .
