Central Sport, the legacy of the 2019 Canada Winter Games, is offering a pair of seminars in the coming weeks that will help local sports organizations set themselves and their athletes up for success.
On Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre, Central Sport's first seminar is on governance, and evaluating your sports organization.
Rick Polutnik, who has 30 years of experience consulting with local, provincial, and national sports organizations, will lead the hands-on seminar focusing on strategic planning and vision and mission development.
This will be the second time they've held a workshop on this topic but they hope to expand to better help those who attend. Everyone is welcome but it's meant for those in leadership and executive roles within sports organizations. Parking will be free at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre and those who are interested will need to sign up on the Central Sport website.
Past chair of Central Sport Allan Ferchuk said the seminar for sports organizations will be about evaluating their governance and leadership style.
"What does that mean? Well, do you have a board? Do you set some programs in place to grow your coaches? Do you have a board member who oversees the recruiting and development of coaches," Ferchuk said.
"For some very small groups often that's going to be one person doing multiple duties but in that situation, you need these guidelines in place so you can be effective."
Ferchuk explained they felt it was important to put this on because many people on the committee have years of experience in the local sports community and have gone through similar trials and tribulations.
They hope to pass on their knowledge.
"We've learned from our mistakes and we're trying to help other groups fast-track by making fewer mistakes and being there to help them when they need support," he said.
A week later on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in the same location they're offering another seminar on mental skills and human performance, which was created to empower athletes for success. The seminar is called Enhancing Mental Performance by Creating Resiliency.
Doug Swanson, a registered psychologist with a master's in mental training, will lead the way in exploring the ways to develop athletes physically, emotionally, and socially.
This seminar is meant for parents, coaches, athletes, and executives alike who are involved in local sports.
"From Doug's perspective, we all have mental stressors, and when we're organizing a group or a sport why not take an approach that harnesses stress in a positive way so we learn how to adapt to it," Ferchuk said.
"Stress is in all of our environments. In the case of sport, you've got people on the boards, coaches, and parents who can all influence stress. So then choose, do you want to take the stress and become distressed? Or do you as a parent or as a coach want to work to create a positive environment where the stress is used as a motivator?"
Ferchuk added that Central Sport hopes to help local sports groups work effectively so that they can minimize wasted time. They also hope to host future workshops that will be revealed at a later date.
