CSCA ARTICLES

Dear CSCA Supporters,As the CSCA continues to grow and evolve, I am excited to announce our new Board of Directors (BOD) and Executive as we navigate through many important milestones in 2022.  Our BOD is composed of seven members; Shauna Forsyth, Sam Eyles-Frayne, Samantha Pritchard, Steve Lidstone, Marcello Campanaro, myself, and CSCA Founder and Inaugural President Sheldon Persad who will continue to serve as an Advisor to the Board.  I will be serving in the President role for this year, along with Shauna Forsyth as Vice President, and Sam Eyles-Frayne serving dual roles as Secretary and Treasurer.  This will be [...]

As an athlete, Elliott played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for 3 years. Once his player career was over, he went back to his alma mater, Acadia University, as a volunteer S&C coach. Within a year it led to him becoming Acadia’s first dedicated, full-time S&C coach, a role that he fulfilled for 10 years before transitioning into the role of Manager, Sports Performance. Currently, Elliott works with Canadian Armed Forces members in the area of physical preparation. He holds an MSc. Strength & Conditioning (with distinction) from St. Mary’s University – Twickenham, London.

Sam Eyles-Frayne is currently the Head Strength and Conditioning (S&C) Coach at York University. Prior to this position, she was an S&C Coach at the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) for nearly four years, with a focus in working with Cycling Canada’s track sprint and endurance athletes. In addition to Cycling Canada, her experience includes working with athletes from 7 different national team programs who have competed at world championships, the Commonwealth Games, the Pan-American games, and the Summer Olympics. Sam spent three years at Sheridan College, managing their multipurpose Strength and Conditioning Research Centre and composed, implemented, and trained [...]

Samantha is the Sr. Manager of Sport Science and Sport Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Prior to joining UBC in 2018, Samantha was lead, Sport Biomechanist and Performance Analyst for the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific. In her role, she worked with hundreds of provincial and national team athletes from a variety in sports ranging from freestyle skiing to wheelchair rugby. Samantha holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from McMaster University where she started her sporting career as a strength and conditioning coach.

Shauna is the owner of Maritime Strength and Conditioning in Windsor Nova Scotia where her work primarily focuses on developing area youth and high school athletes. She also provides personal training and injury rehabilitative services to the community and is responsible for the strength and conditioning programming for the King’s-Edgehill School Prep Athletic Programs. Shauna has worked as a strength and conditioning coach for 15 years in both the private and university sector. She earned an Athletic Therapy degree from Northern Vermont University before obtaining a master’s degree in Applied Exercise Science, specializing in strength and conditioning from Springfield College [...]

Sheldon’s clientele has extended to four continents. Sheldon is an NCCP certified coach in several different sports and also a certified Stress and Wellness Consultant (Canadian Institute of Stress & Hans Selye Foundation). 2021 will be Sheldon's 35th year as a sport coach.  As an S&C coach, his experience includes working with athletes who have competed at world championships, the Commonwealth Games, the Pan-American games, and the Olympics (summer and winter) from close to two dozen different national team programs. He is a co-founder of the Certified Professional Trainers Network (CPTN), a co-founder of the Canadian Strength and Conditioning Association [...]

Dr. Trevor Cottrell has been a professor of Kinesiology and Health Promotion at Sheridan College for the past 15 years. His education includes an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo, a Masters degree in Exercise Science from Northern Arizona University, a doctoral degree in Physiology from the University of Arizona, and postdoctoral work at Queen’s University. His expertise spans human physiology from cellular biochemistry to applied human performance with a current research focus on optimizing training interventions for maximal power performance. He has developed extensive curriculum in human performance coaching and developed coach education programs in Canada [...]

CSCA: How did you get started in the industry? I first started working with athletes towards the end of my undergrad at the University of Victoria. At the time, UVIC’s Exercise Science and Physical Education department had some inspiring professors and a great group of master’s students including Ben Sporer and Chad Benson. I worked at the university’s gym and was continually exposed to these individuals and the varsity athletes. Similar to a lot of young coaches I tried to absorb as much as I could from those around me, read as much as possible, attended seminars and started to [...]