Written by: Cole Hergott
Tanner Care, presenting on the topic of Weight Room Intervention on Track Speed: Connecting the Dots.
This year’s Western Conference was held in Burnaby Mountain at Simon Fraser University (SFU). There was a large mix of fitness professionals and practitioners in attendance, ranging from university students to Head Strength & Conditioning Coaches, to Chiropractors and everything in between. There were around 50 professionals in attendance for what turned out to be a fantastic day of learning and networking.
Cole Hergott, Head S&C at Trinity Western University (U-Sports), kicked things off by explaining why the offseason is such a struggle for coaches when our athletes go home for the summer. He laid out some strategies for how to manage this and keep things as close to in-person as possible through expectations, communication, and engagement. He then spent some time speaking specifically to the programming piece, giving examples of programs he has used in the early offseason and how to transition your programs from in person to being away from your athletes/clients. Very practical and lots of cool takeaways.
Next up was Tanner Care, Head of Performance for the Vancouver Bandits (CEBL) and the BC Lions (CFL). In his presentation he outlined some ways to make sure your weight room training is transferring to the field/pitch/track/court. He spoke a lot about testing protocols, standards for each, and ways to enhance an athlete’s specific weakness. He then took us outside in the beautiful sunshine for some demonstrations of Deep Tiers Plyos and General Physical Preparation (GPP) work that can help all athletes in their training plans (not going to lie, this one got us sweaty!)
Third on the list of presenters was Tom Ryan, a Physical Preparation Coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS). His presentation was all on how to structure your warm-ups more effectively, especially in the team training environment. He laid out his thought process, his template, and how he varies things in a week based on what the team is doing that day during training. Very thought provoking and inspired many of us to rethink how we warm-up and how we progress things over the course of a busy season. Lots to learn and get better at in this crucial area as a coach.
Next we had lunch and had another chance to get outside, enjoy the sun and chat with other attendees about what was presented already. Overhearing many of the conversations, it was cool to hear how people were thinking of applying what they learned in their own scenarios and adapting things to fit their clientele.
Right after lunch was a special presentation by Matt Fliss, PhD Candidate at UBC. Matt has been working in the paralympic realm with one of our Canadian Paralympians, Nathan Clement (who won a silver medal at the Paris games in the Men’s T1-2 Time Trial). Matt spoke about how he has had to think differently about training and programming for Nathan, how he has adapted exercises to stay within Nathan’s limitations, and gave us a great explanation of the various classifications within the Paralympics as well. Most coaches don’t get the opportunity to work with someone like Nathan, so to have Matt not only do that and help him achieve success on the world stage is extremely impressive and he has so many valuable insights within his process.
Next up was Carmen Bott, S&C Coach/Lecturer, who dove into the rehab process for athletes- specifically those returning from an ACL. She made the argument that we as fitness professionals should be more involved in the return to play/performance process instead of waiting for the handoff from the medical professional or physiotherapist. She gave exercise demos, lots of cool stories and insights from her time coaching kids through their rehab, and helped us all see that getting kids back from surgery isn’t as scary as we think it is and we are in fact the right people for the job. Always lots of fun energy with Carmen.
Carmen Bott, presenting on the topic of Late Stage ACL Rehab: A Job for S&C
Next was another practical/hands on session, this time from Derrick Jeyakumaran, S&C Coach at the Richmond Oval. Derrick led us through a speed session outside, which included some resisted work, partner drills, and fun challenges. The weather was beautiful, the info given was spot on, and it was great to get to try the drills so that we can have a sense of what things should feel like for our athletes. Derrick did a great job of explaining why we would implement these drills and how we can modify or explain things differently to the various sports or positions we might be coaching.
Last but certainly not least was Joe McCullum, Head S&C Coach at UBC (U-Sports). Joe presented on how he has developed both athletes and interns/coaches in his time at UBC. Very insightful to hear Joe’s thought processes and how he has spent time to think and lay out the goals he has for either group, but also how similar they are. While we think of athletes and coaches being very different, Joe did an excellent job showing how the qualities you want in one (show up on time, work hard, be a good person) are the same ones you want in the other and he has done a great job at UBC developing both. Always some good laughs and great info from Joe.
And that wrapped it up. A full day of learning from some of the best in the business, which we are lucky to have right here on the West Coast. Great feedback from presenters and attendees, not only in the quality of information shared by the presenters, but also in the networking opportunity and chance to get better.
Already excited for next year!
