This page provides information that may be relevant to MSO & NSO Long-Term Development Leads, including what we do, how we work, upcoming events and links to helpful documents for leaders working on Long-Term Development/Quality Sport initiatives. While we work extensively with NSOs, our aim is to improve the Canadian sport system by ensuring all sport programs (provincial/territorial and local) are aligned with Long-Term Development and integrate both quality sport and physical literacy.
Our direction and initiatives are guided by a number of groups:
Quality Sport Council
This committee serves to provide advice to the Sport for Life Society and the Quality Sport Division to provide service in the Canadian sport system while mobilizing Quality Sport and Long-Term Development ideals. The committee will total approximately 12 members. The make-up of the group considers balanced representation in the areas of, individual vs. team sport, winter vs. summer, gender, ethnicity and age. The committee currently consists of:
- 3 National Sport Organizations – (with representation from winter, summer, team, individual, and a smaller capacity National Sport Organization)
- Sean Liebich (summer team sport-Wheelchair Basketball Canada)
- Anna Mees (summer individual sport) Bowls Canada Boulingrin
- Shae Zukiwsky (winter individual sport) Skate Canada
- 2 Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations – (representing one smaller province/territory and a big province)
- Matt Kennedy of Boxing Ontario
- vacant seat
- 1 Long-Term Development Expert – Dr. Vicki Harber
- 2 Multisport Service Organizations
- Debra Gassewitz of Sport Information Resource Centre
- Peter Niedre of the Coaching Association of Canada
- 2 Federal and Provincial/Territorial Sport Development Representatives – (One federal and one provincial/territorial)
- Danika Kearney (Sport Canada)
- Megan Cromarty (Representative CFPTS)
- 1 Local Sport Organization
- The Director of Quality Sport Division (Chair) – Carolyn Trono
The committee meets at least four times per year via conference call and face-to-face meetings. The Quality Sport Division uses the expertise, advice and creative solutions put forward by the committee for planning, budgeting and action. Click here to view the Terms of Reference.
To view summaries of discussion at previous meetings please follow the links below:
2020
2019
2018
We welcome topic suggestions from the sports community.
Long-Term Development Advisors
Engaging a dedicated team of Long-Term Development Advisors, we:
- Provide guidance and Long-Term Development expertise to National Sport Organizations and Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations to embed quality sport within the Canadian Sport System
- Activate quality sport knowledge in all Long-Term Development stages within national, provincial/territorial and local sport programs.
- Improve sport system alignment by supporting policies reinforcing progressive Long-Term Athlete Development pathways for sport development.
- All
- Long-Term Development Advisors
-
Adam Decker -
André Lachance -
Christian Hrab -
Dr. Colin Higgs -
Dorothy Paul -
Greg Henhawk -
Heather Ross McManus -
Meredith Gardner -
Dr. Paul Jurbala -
Richard Sylvester -
Sylvie Béliveau -
Veronica Allan
André Lachance is the current Director of Business and Sport Development with Baseball Canada. He has also served as the Women’s National Team Head Coach for 15 years bringing the team to the 2nd place in the WBSC World Ranking. In 2019, he became the French National Team Head Coach guiding them to a first ever European Title and a qualification for the World Cup. He also teaches advanced coaching courses at the University of Ottawa. Over the years, André has worked with several international and national organizations on the subject of Athlete Development and Competition Review and Restructuring. He has presented or worked to/with Iceland OC, Denmark OC, Bermuda OC, USA OC, Sweden, NHL, MLB, Baseball Hall of Fame and countless provincial and national sports organizations. He is based in Gatineau, Québec, Canada.
Christian is a member of the Sport for Life Quality Sport Advisor Team and was responsible for introducing a new coaching education program to Canada Snowboard, which incorporated the Long-Term Athlete Development model. From 1994 to 2010, he was an athlete, coach, and director of the Canadian National Snowboard team. As a coach, he has lead numerous athletes, both able bodied and para, to World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic gold medal performances. As a performance advisor, Christian has worked with numerous summer sports at Taekwondo Canada and at the National Sport Institute in Montreal. He is also the Executive Director of CADS: Canadian ADaptive Snowsports.
Colin has been with Sport for Life since its beginning. Originally brought in to ensure that athletes with a disability were fully included in Long-Term Development (LTD) he now works in all aspects of LTD, with a special emphasis on the Athlete Development Matrix (ADM) and ensuring that ADMs align with sports’ Gold Medal Profiles. Colin holds advanced degrees in sport science and organizational effectiveness and since retiring from a long career at Memorial University now makes his home lakeside in the area between Kingston and Ottawa.
Dorothy J Paul born Alert Bay, BC is from the Eagle Clan, Old Massett Village and Scottish lineage. She is currently living, working and playing in Tsartlip First Nation.
Dorothy has been working within the sport systems in Canada for over 30 years in various roles and organizations. Dorothy has been working with Sport for Life the past few years as an ILTPD mentor to five provincial sport organizations, Indigenous Communities: Active for Life Master Facilitator and as a Facilitator, and as a Physical Literacy for Communities – BC Project Mentor. Outside of Sport for Life Dorothy has been a Master Facilitator for the Aboriginal Sport Circle’s Aboriginal Coaching Modules and has facilitated over 100 workshops throughout the country. Her experience in multi-sport games includes being Chef de Mission for the 2002 NAIG Games, Aboriginal Team BC Operations Manager, NAIG Games, and Team BC Mission staff at the 1999 Canada Winter Games. Dorothy has been facilitating the Holistic Model, Kairos Blanket Exercise and Decolonization workshops with I•SPARC, Sport for Life and various other organizations for the past five years.
Dorothy played soccer for 35+ years with 30 of them at the Premiere level and when deemed too old to play at the premiere level, she tried to play over 30s. She found she was still too competitive and decided to move to Box Lacrosse which she has been playing for the past 12 years with the Victoria Wolves Women’s team. Outside of sports, Dorothy likes to create Pow Wow regalia with her own Northwest Coast designs, sewing clothing made with custom fabric, and quilting.
Greg Henhawk is Mohawk of the Bear Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in Southern Ontario. He recently retired as a Secondary School teacher on Six Nations and joined Sport for Life as the Indigenous Ambassador and team member for Physical Literacy with Indigenous Communities project. He is also a facilitator developer and consultant for Indigenous programs. Greg is a graduate of the National Coaching Institute-Ontario (Basketball) and is a Master Learning Facilitator for the Aboriginal Coaching Modules, Aboriginal Long-Term Participant Development Pathway, Aboriginal Communities: Active for Life, Basketball Canada, and Multisport NCCP programming. He was a member of the Project Advisory Group for the Aboriginal Coaching Modules and was a founding (and present) Board Member for the Coaches Association of Ontario.
As a Long-term Development Advisor, Heather has worked on Sport for Life projects related to physical literacy, athlete development, meaningful competition, and quality sport in the high performance context.
Influenced by her background as a teacher and outdoor educator, Heather is passionate about leadership development, quality learning environments, lifelong learning and personal development through sport.
Heather is an Olympian and a 15-year veteran of the Canadian National Team for Trampoline Gymnastics. She is currently a Coach and a Master Coach Developer for both Gymnastics and Freestyle Skiing and is continually striving to implement the ideals of quality sport as the full-time High Performance Director at Freestyle Ontario.
A 2 time World Champion Freestyle Skier and award winning television producer,. 2007 through 2017 Meredith led the design and development of the successful Long Term Athlete, Officials and Coach systems for Freestyle Canada. Currently she is an advocate and facilitator for inclusive quality sport programs, a flower farmer, and is leading long term officials development for Sport For Life.
Dr. Paul Jurbala is a Long-Term Development Advisor with Sport for Life. He has over 35 years’ experience in Canadian sport and since 2005 has worked as a consultant with over 40 national, provincial and community sport and recreation organizations on planning, program evaluation, and athlete and coach development projects. Paul holds a Ph.D. in Sport Management from Brock University with a research focus on innovation in community sport organizations. Paul lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.
Richard Sylvester is a strength and conditioning coach from Winnipeg, Manitoba specializing in youth athletes. Richard has spent his entire 14-year career working with youth athletes age 5-18. This experience also includes 5 years experience working athletes at the University of Manitoba and the Grande Prairie Regional College. Furthermore, Richard recently spent 4 years living in New Zealand. During this time in New Zealand, Richard worked as a youth physical literacy coach, as well as a speed and power coach for an International Rugby Academy and a Netball Academy.
Additionally, Richard is currently pursuing his PhD at The Auckland University of Technology (New Zealand), with a Thesis titled Sprint characteristics in youth female athletes across maturation. His mission is to take his life experience as an athlete and his career experience in strength and conditioning, in order to teach youth athletes how to move and be prepared for long term sport and physical activity.
Sylvie Béliveau is an important female figure in soccer at the Canadian and International levels and in the sport world in general. She has coached teams at all levels including the Canadian Senior Women’s National Soccer Team. For several years, Sylvie has given her technical expertise and time to many different sport organizations, including the Quebec Soccer Federation, Canada Soccer, FIFA, CAAWS and others.
Sylvie’s knowledge of developmental principles especially LTD (Long Term Development), coach development and training, and sport administration, has contributed towards her in-depth knowledge of the Canadian Sport System.
Sylvie has played a significant role as a Board Member of CAAWS. She is also a founding member and presently Vice President of Egale Action, an organization that promotes the participation, retention and advancement of women in sport in the province of Quebec. Sylvie is now the Senior Advisor, Varsity Program, at McGill University for The Women in Sport Initiative.
Veronica Allan completed her Ph.D. in Sport Psychology at Queen’s University in 2018. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at York University, and spends her spare time as an independent consultant providing research, evaluation, and content support to sport-related organizations in Canada. Trained as a both a researcher and journalist, Dr. Allan is heavily invested in knowledge creation and mobilization within the sport system. Her program of research is broadly focused on factors influencing athlete development, quality experiences, and coaching in youth and disability sport settings.
Sport for Life has benefitted from the hard work and passion of many advisors over the years. We are grateful to our current group of LTD advisors for their engagement and guidance, but we also want to acknowledge and give thanks to our past advisors as well.
- Charles Cardinal
- Istvan Balyi
- Dr. Vicki Harber
Acting on Evaluation: Setting the Stage for Quality Sport Implementation Infographic
In 2020, Sport for Life evaluated the impact of six Quality Sport webinars and three virtual Long-Term Development Leads Day sessions on knowledge transfer and application consistent with Quality Sport principles1 in the Canadian sport system in 2020–2021. Click here to see the key finings in English and French.
Click here to access it.
The Quality Sport Division is involved in many initiatives aimed at working with the sport community to improve the quality of sport in Canada. The Quality Sport Division will continue to work with National Sport Organizations on key initiatives including but not limited to:
Activation Plans
Using data from NSO Progress Tracker, it was clear there were many NSOs that had initiated a number of Long-Term Development Foundation Initiatives – Step 1 but had few were completed. Another observation was the Long-Term Development Foundation Initiatives – Step 1 were being done in the wrong order. For example, the Athlete Development Matrix (ADM) should be completed before a Competition Review is initiated. In discussions with a number of NSO Long-Term Development Leads, it was determined that support to develop Activation Plans with some NSOs might be helpful.
What is an Activation Plan?
An Activation Plan is a 3 – 4 year plan developed by the NSO with a Sport for Life Long-Term Development Advisor. An Activation Plan advances one or more Long-Term Development priorities into action, resulting in a measurable impact.
What kind of support can an NSO get to develop an Activation Plan?
Based on funds that are available, Quality Sport Division will provide an LTD Advisor to guide the development of the Activation Plan. A member of our team may contact your NSO LTD Lead if we think this may be a useful service OR your NSO can contact Tyler Laing at qualitysport@sportforlife.ca to request this support.
Allocation of support usually takes place (all dependent on availability of funds) early in fiscal year: by end of April Mid way in fiscal year: by end of September NSOs with completed Activation Plans will receive up to 3 days of time from an Long-Term Development Expert with an investment of 1 day from the NSO (for a total of 4 days) Activation plans completed in the previous fiscal year will be considered first in this allocation. These NSOs can determined if they want to begin their work early in the year or defer until later in the fiscal year.
Long-Term Athlete Development Progress Tracker
The Long-Term Athlete Development Progress Tracker was developed as a data collection tool for Long-Term Athlete Development progress and implementation by National Sport Organizations. The tool establishes a rapid, yet thorough, overall view of Long-Term Athlete Development implementation via the use of sport dashboards and succinct reports. It serves three main functions:
- Assists National Sport Organizations in their ongoing planning and implementation of Quality Sport by creating a cloud-based central repository for Long-Term Athlete Development products (such as as Long-Term Athlete Development Frameworks, competition reviews, Athlete with a Disability Frameworks, etc.)
- Informs National Sport Organizations, Long-Term Athlete Development Experts, and Sport Canada as to where assistance is needed to advance quality sport in Canada
- Supports better sport system alignment by informing recommendations for collaboration and coordination with National Sport Organizations and sport system partners including but not limited to Coaching Association of Canada, Sport Canada, Own the Podium, and Provincial and Territorial Governments
The project around the tool was envisioned as a 4 phase process. We have currently completed the lengthy first phase of system design and data collection, and have moved to the next phase of data analysis, provision of services and refinement of the Progress Tracker System. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) can be found here.
Recording of the Progress Tracker Tutorial Webinar can be found here.
Sport for Life will share NSO Progress Tracker Data with Sport Canada on Friday December 14, 2018. National Sport Organizations should update their Long-Term Athlete Development progress within the tracker by December 13th 5pm Eastern Time. If you have any questions or require assistance please contact Tyler Laing at qualitysport@sportforlife.ca.
Plan 42
To have access to the resources: Athlete Development Matrix and Judging Criteria Alignment, Meaningful Competition in Competition Review and Restructuring, Periodization of Competition: Synopsis of the Role, Placement, Emphasis and Outcome of Competition and Rules Alignment in Competition Review and Restructuring, click here.
If you don’t have the password, please contact Tyler Laing at qualitysport@sportforlife.ca.
Upcoming Events
Check our calendar for upcoming events.
For more information, contact Tyler Laing at qualitysport@sportforlife.ca.
Contact Information
For information on Long-Term Development services, the Long-Term Athlete Development Progress Tracker, and topics or suggestions for the Long-Term Development Advisory Group, contact Tyler Laing at qualitysport@sportforlife.ca.
