Does This School Have the Strongest Students in Canada? An interview with George Kinch
Westisle Composite High School may be the strongest school in Canada, and George Kinch is the man responsible. The Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association (PEISAA) Powerlifting Program has had twenty-five Championships, and Westisle has won twenty of these twenty-five. I’ve witnessed his athletes perform at a number of these events. It is absolutely incredible to see the level of strength displayed. A number of these athletes have since competed on the national and international stage competing and setting records in events hosted by the Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU) and the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF). Some of these athletes have [...]
MISSION 202One – Adapting to a New Environment: My Experience With the Olympic Bronze Medal Canadian Women’s Softball Team
In December of 2019, I was approached by Mark Smith (Head Coach) and Scott Willgress (Head Strength & Conditioning Coach), asking if I would be interested in travelling south of the border for eight weeks to help train the Canadian Women’s Olympic Softball Team leading up to the 2020 Olympic Games. I had known Scott and Mark for a few years prior to this and have always followed their team, so when they asked me to join, it was a huge honour. For those who are not aware, Softball made its return to the Olympics for the first time since [...]
Using Tech in the Gym: A Motor Learning-Based Perspective for Guiding Instructions and Feedback with Motion Data
Introduction There has undoubtedly been a spike in technology use across various industries, leading to the current "big data" revolution. Advancements in creating inexpensive hardware have enabled developers to create software that has made previously unfeasible applications a reality. For example, strength and conditioning professionals have started implementing inertial measurement units (IMUs), which were previously limited to lab-based applications, to their daily practice. Smartphones and tablets enable coaches to leverage machine learning to perform markerless motion tracking to obtain coordination data. Virtual and augmented reality are also bound to make their way into mainstream coaching in the future. There are [...]
Bringing the Program to Life
The session-to-session physical content of a good youth program is just words and numbers on a paper. A program must be brought to life by good environments involving intentional strategies that consider elements such as psycho-social factors, training age, growth and maturation, injury and medical history, and athlete goals and preferences. Bringing the program to life also needs good people with relevant experience, education, desire, intentions and good energy. Good people building good environments can help ensure that athletes can achieve fun, safety and success with programs that are developmentally appropriate, participant centred, progressive, challenging and well-structured. Bringing the program [...]
Understanding Movement Characters Part 2: Identifying the Thinker, the Hustler, the Natural
Note: In Part 1 I described the general concept of movement character. Part 2 will focus on breaking down the characteristics of each and putting in place a simple System to rate athletes on the spectrum, which collectively make up one’s complete movement character. In Part 3 I will share the testing and training programs guidelines for each. Each character has its attributes. The following are 15 major points for each with a brief on their overall strengths, weaknesses, and observations. These are guidelines and based on my experience. This is not an exhaustive list but provides a starting direction. [...]
Needs of the Many vs the Needs of the Few: Practical Considerations for Large Scale Programming
Programming can be an inspiring process or a complete slog. Depending on your approach and circumstances, you could build innovative and exciting training plans or get stumped, spending hours trying to figure how the right combination of movements go together. Do we front or back squat? When did I put med ball throws in there? Did that change I just made fall in line with the purpose of the session? Maybe you’re stuck with constraints around physical space or less-than-ideal training environments, potentiality due to COVID restrictions. We all deal with a multitude of questions and dilemmas that dictate our [...]
Coaching Multi-sport Youth Athletes: Considerations for Sport Coaches and Teachers from an S&C Coach Perspective. Owen MacWilliams
https://youtu.be/zKeKTXlV8sI Owen MacWilliams is a native of Summerside, PE and is currently the assistant sport performance coach at St. Francis Xavier University working primarily with football, rugby and soccer. He has extensive experience working with youth to professional athletes. Resources Mentioned in the interview Jeremy Fritsch Twitter: Instagram: Website: Mike Boyle Twitter: Instagram: Website: Elisabeth Oehler Twitter: Instagram: Website:
Tactical Strength and Conditioning and Law Enforcement Health and Wellness. S&C Coach Profile: Becky Swan
CSCA - You are in your 11th year with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) but prior to joining the department you worked primarily in sport. Can you tell us a bit about your professional experience prior to starting with the VPD? BS - When I was a student at Sheridan College, I worked as a student therapist for McMaster University’s men’s rugby and woman’s basketball, as well as with the Hamilton Tiger Cats. In 2007, I graduated from Sheridan College and started working as an Athletic Therapist with the Vancouver Whitecap’s Residency program and the Women’s National Soccer Teams (Senior [...]
