It’s not hard to spot a coach who coaches with a camera around her neck — in fact, it’s what the Special Olympics Alberta’s Female Coach of the Year in Red Deer is known for.
Marsha Bredeson was recognized for her work last week in Edmonton. Bredeson said she is honoured and grateful for the recognition.
Bredeson has coached Special Olympics athletes in Red Deer since 2007.
She coaches Red Deer Rockets softball and floor hockey teams, and she is a former Canadian Armed Forces photographer.
Among special athletes, she is known for coaching and taking pictures at the same time — a skill not many have mastered, she said.
The 57-year-old coaches floor hockey in the winter and softball in the summer in Red Deer.
The award means a lot to her, Bredeson said, not because she has been looking for recognition — but it’s her first one since she started coaching back in 1992. Bredeson said given her military involvement she moved around a lot. Although she volunteered as a coach wherever she went, she wasn’t always able to see her team grow and be recognized for her efforts.
The Red Deer Rockets hockey team has a roster of 31 athletes this season.
As a coach, she does not focus on competition, rather, she asks her players to be safe and have fun.
Bredeson said she focuses on the athletes’ ability, rather than his or her disability.
When she’s introduced to a new player, she tries to recognize their limits, said Bredeson. The coach works on team building by giving every athlete a chance to play.
Bredeson said all players are different, and she gets them to work together. For example, a strong player can team up with a lower-level player so they both can learn.
The stronger player can focus on teaching and leadership skills, while the other player could pick up new player skills, she said.
Having coached other sports teams in the past, she knows coaching any special athletes team comes with its own challenges.
To coach any special athletes team, patience is a virtue, said Bredeson.
“You have to care for sure but patience is a big one,” she said.
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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