BCSSA High Performance/Athlete Development Committee 2014 AGM Report

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1 BCSSA High Performance/Athlete Development Committee 2014 AGM Report Committee Members Nancy Goplen, Chair Mike Hall Dale Graham Christina Acton Staff Liaison Vacant Position Meetings HPC held 12 meetings via Skype and utilized Google to share documents No Board Meetings but Dave McQuaid briefly attended one meeting Dale Graham was the HPC Rep on the Competition Committee Nancy and Mike are the HPC reps on the CWG Selection Committee Committee Highlights 1. Skaters completed the Intent to Participate in the Performance Program and submitted their YTP (general) outlining intended camps, competition and testing times. Skaters were confirmed as members of the program and eligible to access BCSSA and AAP funds depending upon their performance level and season performances. 2. Bulletins prepared and circulated the HP Team Bulletins and Competition Bulletins. This year, HPC divided them into 3 Bulletins to ensure the distribution occurred in a timely manner. 3. Coach Report System HPC implemented a reporting system via Google Docs to enable BCSSA funded coaches to update HPC on the progress of the BC skaters at major competitions. This helped to identify any gaps or concerns about the competitions and our skaters. 4. Testing Protocols this was a major project that began in It is in the final stage of development. The document outlines the recommended tests that can be administered by a club coach during the preparatory season and also during the skating season. This was to be launched at the Retreat however, the document took longer to create and will be launched in the Spring Tech Reps at Competitions- HPC sends a delegate to our major ranking competitions i.e.. BCST, BCLT and BC Open that works with the Meet Coordinator in advance of the competition. This is a non-funded position. 6. Uniforms and Clothing All Performance Team skaters were eligible to purchase a Team BC skin suit, however, BCSSA only covered the shipping costs. BCSSA/HPC subsidized the cost of warm-up jackets for Level 1 and 2 skaters. Skaters were offered the option of purchasing a pair of matching warm-up pants at full price. 1

2 7. Insurance Skaters were offered access to the Canadian Athlete Insurance Program (CAIP). Level 1-3 skaters were subsidized at $65/skater. Only 8 skaters took advantage of the program. Funds for this program came from our Sport Medicine line item. We will likely continue with the program in Ruled on two bye requests that were not exercised by the skaters due to travel conflicts and injury. 9. Communication The FACEBOOK Group is an excellent way to communicate pertinent team and sport related messages. Direct s were also sent to coaches and skaters Performance Team Participation Level 1 3 athletes Level 2 8 athletes Level 3 15 athletes Level 4 16 athletes Total = 42 athletes Note: of the original list of 58 invitees, 16 skaters or 27% retired from the sport or did not meet the program requirements. School commitments seemed to be cited as the reasons for the drop out rate for graduates i.e. mainly level 3 skaters. The largest drop out rate was with the Level 4 skaters (8 skaters). No formal tracking of this level has been done other than verbal comments from coaches and other skaters. International Results The medal haul in Sochi was less than in the past so it was fantastic that Denny Morrison s performances culminated with a silver and bronze medal in the 1000m and 1500m and Jessica Hewitt garnered a Silver in the ST Relay. I am sure that all BCSSA members felt a measure of pride knowing that they originated in our BC sport system. They will be an inspiration to all members. Alec Janssen competed in Astana in the 10,000m in Early December but did not qualify for any Winter World Cups. Josie Spence competed in the Fall World Cups in Calgary and Salt Lake City in November. SSC did not send any non-olympic skaters to World Cups in the winter. They also changed the qualification criteria for the Continental Championships that limited more BC athlete participation (Janssen, Goplen and Tori Spence competed in 2013). Jamie MacDonald was chosen for the FISU Games in December SSC only sent a short track team. 2

3 SSC Team Nominations (unconfirmed at time of writing) National Short Track Team- Jessica Hewitt (registered with QC) Short Track Development Team Courtney Shmyr and Jamie MacDonald National Long Track Team - Denny Morrison Long Track Development Team Alec Janssen, Josie Spence, Tori Spence, Scott Bickerton Can Age Class Long Track Championship Quebec - Jason Hartleb served as the Team BC Coach - 11 skaters competed - 7 medals won by 2 athletes (T2T 11 girls and T2T 12 boys) plus one medal by T2T 14 female - Previous results: 45 medals (2011), 34 (2012), 2 (2013), 8 (2014) - result in long track is still below expectations due to low participation rates in LT in BC Can Junior Long Track Championship - Saskatoon Keith Gordon attended as the BC Team Leader Increased number of BC athletes competing at event Day 3 cancelled due to cold and windy conditions Medalists and top 10 results included: o Jacob Graham bronze 500m, 1000m o Braden Clouthier 500m 4th, 1000m o Sara Spence Bronze 500m o Abigail McCluskey 4 th 500m Can Junior Short Track Championship - Montreal Keith Gordon attended as the BC Team Leader BC was represented by 6 female athletes and 1 male athlete Top 10 over-all results were: Jamie MacDonald 5 th over-all Jesse Keca 8 th over-all Canadian Open Short Track Championship (Selection #1) - Montreal Courtney Shmyr Michelle Mackay Jesse Keca Jamie MacDonald Olympic Long Track Trials - Calgary Denny Morrison Alec Janssens Scott Bickerton Nicholas Goplen 3

4 Tori Spence Josie Spence Ashley Nelson Olympic Short Track Trials - Montreal Jessica Hewitt Courtney Shmyr Can Age Class Short Track Championship Prince George Richard Stickel served as the Team BC Coach BC sent 15 skaters to the competition BC won 5 individual medals (3 athletes) and 2 relay medals Canada West - Lethbridge Jason Hartleb and Louise McLaren served as the Team BC Coaches 28 skaters competed for Team BC - 27 medals were won by 12 and 3 over-all championships were won. Unfortunately, some of the age classes were weakened because some of the BC higher ranked BC skaters did not attend the event. The major reasons included: too much travel with BCWG and BCST, School Break vacation plans. The T2T 15 year old category was very limited since many other branch athletes did not attend. Again, other branches are picking up medals that we previously won. It is important that athletes target this Championship in their YTP and compete in this competition to gain racing experience. Other Meets Richmond hosted the Western Can Junior Single Distance Championship that was a competition with excellent racing experience for our skaters. Saskatoon hosted the Western Can T2T Single Distance Championship, however BC had limited participation (3-4 skaters). It is hoped that more skaters will attend this competition to gain valuable racing experience. BC Open was hosted by the KLB Club. This was another great racing event for all levels of skaters. Can Am LT about 12 skaters participated in the ORTC LT camp prior to Can Am. There were approximately 20 BC based skaters who joined our Oval based athletes in Can Am. Oval Time Trials several oval based and BC based skaters took advantage of racing opportunities staged at the Oval on several Saturday mornings. Camps Hosted Spring Sport Excellence Retreat Lower Mainland ORTC May Testing Camp - Kelowna ORTC Summer HP Camp held on August Long Weekend in Kelowna ORTC September Ice Camp Kelowna 4

5 ORTC LT Camp held in late August in Calgary ORTC Pre-Can Am Camp - Calgary PG Spring Testing Sue Ellis Camp August, PG FSJ Spring Testing FSJ LT Camp held in mid-late August We need to ensure that there are camps occurring throughout BC during the year. They don t need to be huge endeavors; they just need to be meaningful for those participating. A number of skaters became part time members of the Calgary based RTC which provided an excellent training opportunity for our skaters. However, it is recommended that club coaches take part in some of the training sessions so that coaching and training strategies are shared. Budget The feedback received during the 2013 AGM and season suggested that the HPC budget put more emphasis on skaters who were truly functioning at a HP level. Therefore, a greater emphasis was placed on subsidizing skaters based upon their season results as well as the rate of participation in the program throughout the season. Obviously, this created more of a financial emphasis on the higher ranked skaters. All skaters that represented BC at Canadian Championships, Canada West or World Cup Selection events had their entry fee subsidized regardless of program membership. A breakdown of the HPC budget will be available at the AGM. Recommendations for YTP Submissions Continue with the submission of the YTP to confirm Performance Program Participation. This helps the coach, athlete and parents to plan for the season. It also helps the HPC to monitor progress and participation rates. For example, if a skater has indicated that they plan to attend a competition and they are not registered, it triggers HPC to follow up with the coach or family. 2. Clothing order shirts or hoodies for Performance Program skaters and continue with the provision of warm-up jackets for Level 1 and 2 skaters. Jackets for level 3 and 4 skaters are deemed the responsibility of the club or Regional Training Centres. 5

6 3. Skin Suits BCSSA should pursue a Performance racing suit for long track skaters as the current design is not considered a fast suit for National level HP skaters. Therefore, we do not see our top performers in BC colors. 4. Athlete Development and Retention this is an area that the entire BCSSA needs to focus upon. It cannot be just one committee working on this as it starts and involves everyone from the grass roots and every volunteer capacity within our organization. It is recommended that a task force of motivated volunteers be struck to examine the current skating culture and create some short and long term strategies to grow and retain our numbers. There has been plenty of lip service to this but very few concrete strategies that are acted upon. We need to look within and outside our sport environment. I would like to thank Chris Acton for her leadership and commitment to the sport and the HPC/Athlete Development Committee. I would also like to thank Mike Hall and Dale Graham for their contributions to the committee. Respectfully submitted by Nancy Goplen Chair, HPC 6