Overview of the Program

The Women in Coaching Canada Games Apprenticeship Program (WIC) is a partnership between the Provincial/Territorial Coaching Representatives (PTCRs), the Canada Games Council (CGC), and the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC). This program provides the opportunity for each province and territory to send 2 female Coaches to the Canada Games in apprenticeship roles. The CGC, the CAC, and PTCRs strongly believe that the apprenticeship program is an essential part of the development of a Coach. Furthermore, apprenticeship programs can be used as a means to build capacity in underrepresented populations in coaching, such as women.

The purpose of the program is to provide women Coaches with a practical and integrated major national multi-sport games experience. Selected Coaches have direct involvement in preparation and competition and receive support from an identified mentor Coach throughout the duration of the program.

Welcome to our 2023 Canada Winter Games Apprentices!

Kristen McKinley (Hockey)

Kristen is an accomplished Hockey coach and player looking to take her coaching game to the next level. She is passionate about developing women and girls hockey in New Brunswick, and has become a role model on her team for the young girls she coaches by sharing her experiences from on and off the ice. She noted from her time with Team Canada; “The opportunity to play at the National level, gave me the chance to be taught by elite coaches on and off the ice. As this opportunity presented me with a lot of learning, one thing that stuck with me throughout the remainder of my career was a quote that Mel Davidson shared at tryouts, “we want to create good hockey players but even better people”. Her passion for the sport and philosophy for coaching is just about that.

She has coached various teams and levels of hockey in New Brunswick, including the Edza South Bantam AAA Hericanes, Team NB’s U18 Women’s Hockey, and a 10 year career at Gusto Hockey in Rothesay! As a player, she was a member of Team New Brunswick Hockey at the 2015 Canada Winter Games, a member of Team Atlantic in 2015 & 2016, a member of U18 Team Canada in a three-game series vs the US in 2016, and a StFX X-Women in 2017-2021! She now looks to further her coaching skills and experience through the national Women In Coaching Apprenticeship Program at the 2023 Canada Winter Games in PEI. We welcome you Kristen, and look forward to supporting you through your Canada Games coaching journey! 

 

Jésika Savoie (Ringette)

Jésika is a long-standing member of the Ringette community in New Brunswick. Having played, reffed, and coached at various levels, Jésika is excited to use her experiences to give back to her community and help build the next generation of competitive players in our province. Jésika was a player for Team New Brunswick in five national championships as well as the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alberta. More recently, she was the Head Coach of the 2021-2022 U16 AA Provincial Team, the 2020-2021 U14 HP Program, the 2020 U14 AA Jr Atlantic Attack Team, and the 2019-2020 U14 Ringette Stingers.

She plans to use her previous Canada Games experience as an athlete to help relate to the 2023 Canada Games athletes as she states “I’ve been in those skates before, and I know what to expect”. With that in mind, Coach New Brunswick is excited to support her through her journey of coaching at the Canada Winter Games for the first time, and ensure that she receives the mentorship and learning opportunities needed to help further her in her coaching career. Welcome Jésika!

 

Meet our 2022 Canada Summer Games Apprentices!

 

Hillary Pineau (Softball)

“My name is Hillary Pineau, and I am 26 years old. I am a former Canada Games Softball athlete (Team PEI, 2013) and current Executive Director with Softball New Brunswick (SNB). At age 18, I began transitioning into coaching by helping coach the Westisle Wolverines High School Softball team to a gold medal. Most recently, I was the assistant coach of the 2021 Fredericton Twins U16 Girls team.
I look forward to working with the 2022 Team NB Canada Games Women’s Softball program and sharing my passion and experience. My goal for this program is to develop a greater understanding on how to implement a successful high-performance program (practice planning, mental preparation, coordination), learn from experienced coaches, and gain confidence in my abilities. As well, by being in this program I hope to be a catalyst in expanding the number of high performance female softball coaches through my role with SNB.”

 

Bailey Andrews (Rugby)

“My name is Bailey Andrews and I am 22 years old. I started coaching at the age of 15 where I coached a U12 girls premiere soccer team for three seasons. From there I got involved with coaching rugby as I helped coach the Colonel G ay High School’s “A” Girls rugby team and then was head coach of Devon Middle School’s Co-ed Rugby team for 2 seasons. Last summer I was also fortunate enough to be able to coach with the Youth Loyalist program where I coached both the U14 co-ed team and the u18 girls team and was awarded the Youth Volunteer Award for 2019. 

I have always enjoyed playing sports and coaching has allowed me to share my passion with others, it has allowed me to be a part of something bigger than myself and has given me the opportunity to work with so many great coaches and athletes. To me, coaching is about constantly adapting, adapting to new players, new teams, new skills and new ways to help players develop. My main goal for this program is to not only learn from experienced coaches and gain confidence but to learn from players as well. “

 

Program Objectives

  • Build coaching capacity for women in sport;
  • Provide women apprentice Coaches with domestic multi-sport exposure;
  • Provide women apprentice Coaches with enhanced professional development and learning opportunities to prepare them for higher level coaching and ensure an increase in their level of certification to a minimum of Competition-Development (apprentice Coaches complete certification within 2 years following the Games);
  • Expose women apprentice Coaches to elite women Coaches’ experiences;
  • Ensure women apprentice Coaches are prepared to play a meaningful role during the Canada Games experience;

Eligibility

  • Canadian citizen or landed immigrant status;
  • Coaching experience;
  • Completed some form of NCCP training, with preference given to Competition Introduction Trained status;
  • Never attended a Canada Games as a Coach;
  • Never attended the Olympics, Pan American Games, or Commonwealth Games as a Coach;
  • Demonstrated potential through the development and improvement of their athletes or as seen by the P/TSO or mentor Coach;
  • Not already selected to the coaching staff of a province/territory’s Canada Games coaching staff;

Any exceptions to the above eligibility requirements must be approved by the Provincial/Territorial Coaching Representative before a Coach can be admitted into the WiC program.

To learn more about past WIC Apprentices, click here.

For more information, please contact:

Gabriel Kim

E: Gabriel@coachnb.ca / T: (506) 444-3888 ext. 2