CSCA CONFERENCE 2022
Registration closes on May 4th 11:59pm ET
DATES: Friday May 6th and Saturday May 7th, 2022
WHERE: Virtual (Conference Link will be sent to participants the week leading up to the conference)
General Admission = $50
FRIDAY MAY 6th (7pm-9pm ET)
OPENING KEYNOTE
The Importance of Mastery for the S&C Coach (Dr Stuart McGill)
Consider the spectrum of health care and illness prevention. Fact: every system in the body requires appropriate movement, and stress, for optimal health. Now consider who is the movement specialist within the life-long heath rubric? Also consider who guides the path to enhanced physical resilience and performance? – it is the S&C coach and trainer. The responsibility is large. This presentation attempts to justify the claim above with evidence and principles to assist mastery in the S&C coach.
BIO
Stuart McGill is Distinguished Professor Emeritus (after 32 years at the University of Waterloo, Canada) who authored over 240 scientific journal papers, 4 books, and mentored over 40 graduate students during this scientific journey. Investigations in the laboratory, training centre and research clinic probed back injury and pain mechanisms, rehabilitation approaches, and performance training. As a consultant, he has provided expertise on low back injury and performance enhancement to various government agencies, many corporations and legal firms and hundreds of professional/international athletes and teams worldwide. He is regularly referred special patient/athlete cases from the international sport/medical community for opinion.
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TOWN HALL
As part of registration, participants will have the opportunity to indicate which special topic is of most interest to them. Options include:
- Private Business owner and facilities
- College and university coaching
- High school and youth training
- High-performance amateur and professional sport
Special topic sessions will be facilitated by the CSCA Board and Conference Committee members, with open conversations encouraged. Additional details will be shared with registered participants.
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SATURDAY MAY 7th (10:50am-4:40pm ET)
Challenging the Patriarchy: A Mom’s Fight Outside of the Ring (Mandy Bujold & Sheldon Persad)
No one could have predicted the fight that Canadian boxer Mandy Bujold would have to endure leading up to the Tokyo Olympics. The challenge, and eventual Court of Arbitration for Sport case, gained international attention with individuals like tennis icon Billie Jean King and former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis voicing their support. Information about how this precedent setting case will change women’s sport in the future will be discussed. Additionally, information about Mandy’s physical preparation will be shared, including distinctions between the preparation prior to the Rio Olympics and preparation, as a mom, leading up to the Tokyo Olympics.
BIOS
Mandy Bujold is a Canadian Olympic boxer, whose career was launched following a successful 2006 when she claimed the Canadian National Championship and Boxer of the Year titles. Weighing in at 51kg she has made her way as a Fly Weight Champion, with a trail of titles and victories. Included amongst her many achievements are 11 Canadian National Championships, 3 Continental Championships, a Gold medal at the first Pan American Games and a Bronze medal at the first Commonwealth Games that included women’s boxing. During the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games Mandy successfully defended her gold medal and became the only female boxer in history to win 2 Pan American Games titles. She also took home a gold medal at the 2016 Continental Olympic Qualifier, which paved the way for her trip to the Rio Olympics. Mandy has been recognized by the Waterloo Region as a Woman of Influence and named a Citizen of the Year for her outstanding contribution to the community. After becoming a mom for the first time, Mandy was the first Canadian female boxer to represent Canada at two Olympic Games.
Sheldon Persad has been coaching for 37 years, and the company he owns celebrated it’s 30th anniversary in 2021. For over three decades, he has worked with National and Olympic (winter and summer) team athletes. He is a National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) certified coach in several different sports, a certified Stress and Wellness Consultant, a certified S&C coach, and one of few Certified Sport Scientist Leader Practitioners in Canada. Sheldon is a founding Director and was the inaugural President of the CSCA. He is also a co-founder of the Certified Professional Trainers Network (CPTN), has taught at two different colleges, and a former NCCP facilitator and course co-creator. Additionally, for 23 years Sheldon has worked with the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) in the capacities of Lead S&C, Lead Sport Science, Manager Performance Services, Director Sport Science and Sport Medicine, Director Performance Services, and is currently servicing as a Senior Advisor.
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One Chance to Get It Right: Physical Preparation Lessons from Softball Canada’s Tokyo Quadrennial (Emma Entzminger & Scott Willgress)
This session will focus on the process of building a culture of accountability, consistency, and improvement over a 5-year quadrennial in the physical preparation space through the lenses of a S&C coach and an athlete. Using technology, athlete progress was monitored from distance in a decentralized program, which lead to athlete buy in and trust in the process. During this session we will benefit from the perspective of an athlete who was involved in the process from the start of the quad.
BIOS
Emma Entzminger joined the national program as part of the Junior Women’s National Team, competing at the 2013 WBSC Junior Women’s Softball World Championship in Brampton and at the same event in 2015 in Oklahoma City. In 2016 she made the jump to the senior team and was the youngest member of the squad that took home bronze at the WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship in Surrey. Emma played four seasons (2014-18) with the Spartans while studying at San Jose State University, starting in 191 of her 207 games played over that span. In 2017, Entzminger was cut from the national team after arriving at training camp unprepared and out of shape. The tough talk she received from the head coach was a wake-up call and gave her the motivation she needed to get into the best shape of her life. Back on the national team the next year, she helped Canada to another bronze medal finish at the 2018 World Championships in Chiba, Japan. Emma competed at her first Pan American Games at Lima 2019 and tied for the team lead with five RBIs as Canada won the silver medal. Just a few weeks later, she posted a .429 batting average at the WBSC Americas Olympic Qualifier as the team booked its ticket to Tokyo 2020. In her Olympic debut, Emma recorded two hits and three RBI as Canada won the bronze medal.
Scott Willgress has a master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of Calgary (2010). Since moving to Nova Scotia in 2011, Scott has worked with hundreds of provincial, national, and professional athletes. Scott was a member of Team Nova Scotia as the Physiologist / Strength Coach for the 2011, 2013 and 2015 Canada Games. As an S&C coach, Scott has helped prepare athletes for 4 Olympic Games in sports such as Gymnastics, Sprint Canoe/Kayak, Hockey, Sailing, Boxing, and Softball. As part of Softball Canada’s Integrated Support Team, Scott attended the 2019 Pan-American Games and the Tokyo Olympic Games.
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LTAD Principles: The Role of the Developmental S&C Coach (Vicki Bendus)
Optimizing physical development for the young athlete to maximize their chance of long-term success is a challenge faced by many S&C coaches. This presentation will review the threats to LTAD within the current youth sport development model and the role of the developmental S&C coach within this framework. The focus will be on the responsibilities of the developmental S&C coach in applying LTAD principles to improve physical performance in the short-term without sacrificing health, trainability, or performance outcomes in the long-term.
BIO
Vicki Bendus is a Lead Sport Performance Coach at Brock University where she works with the men’s and women’s hockey teams, as well as soccer teams. Since 2016 she has worked with both Next Gen and Senior athletes as a Strength and Conditioning Coach with Hockey Canada and Wrestling Canada. Vicki is currently pursuing her PhD that will be focused on identifying, measuring, and improving off-ice KPIs for linear skating speed.
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Year One: Expectations vs. Reality (Kris Robertson)
Moving into a new role is never a simple process let alone when that new role is on the other side of the country. The speaker will discuss his expectations vs reality with regards to training student athletes and developing relationships with key stake holders in a university setting. The speaker will discuss obstacles he faced and key tools from past experiences to help elevate the strength and conditioning department at Simon Fraser University.
BIO
Kris Robertson is the Head of S&C coach at Simon Fraser University. Kris is responsible for the physical development of 17 different male & female varsity teams. Kris has worked with athletes from a broad spectrum of sports such as swimming, hockey, basketball, judo, and soccer. Kris is a former professional athlete of the Canadian Football League (CFL) being drafted by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 11th overall in the 2013 draft, unfortunately he suffered a knee injury that cut his professional aspirations short. Previously Kris was an S&C coach with the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) working with Canada’s Senior Women’s National 15’s team, as well as the Women’s Rugby Canada Development Academy in Ontario. Prior that that, Kris was the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL. Kris is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA) and is currently in process of completing his Master’s of Exercise Science at Edith Cowan University.
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CLOSING KEYNOTE
Challenges and Successes of Building Multifaceted Businesses (Matt Nichol)
Building a career as an S&C coach is challenging. Building a successful business in the industry is even more challenging. In this presentation, Matt will discuss his approach to business and how he has created a successful business that spans many aspects of strength and conditioning, highlighting the challenges and struggles as well as the successes that have led him to be a successful S&C coach and entrepreneur.
BIO
Matt Nichol is a veteran S&C coach who has trained professional and elite amateur athletes since the late 1990’s, working with numerous individuals and teams. Matt is an industry leader that hosts Canada’s premier summer, off-season hockey camp for top NHL players. Every year, 25 NHL and 25 of the best amateur players get accepted into the program. Using the latest technology, equipment and scientific research Matt tailors training and nutritional plans to maximize his athlete’s performance. Outside of his work with professional athletes and Olympians, sports teams and athletic associations, Matt has founded, directed, and partnered with several innovative companies. Most notably, in 2003 he invented a revolutionary new line of sport supplements that he used exclusively with the professional teams and athletes he was working with. In 2009, Matt chose to commercialize these formulas and make them available to athletes worldwide. Matt was a founding partner and the product formulator at BioSteel Sports Nutrition, a manufacturer and distributor of nutritional sports supplements. During his tenure with the company, he helped BioSteel grow from a start-up with a shoestring budget to a multi-million dollar business with international distribution. On October 1st, 2019, Biosteel was majority purchased by Canopy Growth Corp. Upon the sale of the business Matt took the opportunity to exit the company to focus on other business opportunities and his core interest: improving human high performance.
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END NOTES: Conference sessions will be recorded for registered participants to view following the live-broadcast. Conference sessions will be 60mins and all will include open Q&A. Session topics and speakers subject to change and/or modification in the event of an emergency.
