Carla Nicholls knows more than most that coaches are given an opportunity to impact the direction of athletes on and off the field of play.
Growing up in Broadview, Sask, Nicholls’ future career was influenced by the various coaches she had in her youth.
“Sport was incredibly important growing up…it kept me safe and taught me a lot of lessons along the way that helped shape who I am today.”
Nicholls became a coach early in life, committing time to amateur swimming, ski and skating lessons throughout her adolescence, until Rocky Chysyk, a Broadview high school phys-ed teacher changed the direction of her life.
“[Rocky] saw my determination, maybe my stubbornness and my love for track and field and he started a track club in my small town. We trained in the hallways of the school and he did everything to give me opportunities to chase the track and field dream that I had.”
In the hallways of a smalltown school, Nicholls’ passion for track and field began. Later, it led to her joining the University of Saskatchewan’s track and field team, until an ongoing knee issue sidelined her from the sport.
In her late twenties, following university, Nicholls realized something was missing from her life: track and field. She determined the only solution to her problem was to reignite her passion as an athlete, so she had surgery on her knee and worked her way back to competition.
This time, athletics brought Nicholls around the world for international competitions and she fell in love with learning about various cultures in the process.
For the second time, Nicholls was forced to come to terms that her career as an athlete would be shorter than she had hoped. Rather than missing out on the sport that she loved, she took the leap to seriously explore coaching.
“I decided if I could provide these types of opportunities to just one [other] person, I’m going to take that on and I started coaching.”
It wasn’t long before Nicholls made waves in the track and field community.
As head coach of the University of Regina’s (U of R) track and field club team, Nicholls set her focus on making them a permanent program with the university.
“I took this team of 17 athletes and built it up to 120, with 50 per cent being female and put the university in a position where they had to bring us on full time,” laughed Nicholls. “We got that program up and running and they’ve been incredibly successful since I’ve left.”
Following her time with the U of R, Nicholls applied to smaller international teams, which brought her to World University Games and various other national and international competitions.
Pursuing a career in sport
In 2008, Nicholls applied to the Beijing Olympic Games and had her first of what would be many experiences at the international sporting event.
Now, Nicholls has attended two additional Olympic Games, London 2012 and Rio 2016, as well as two Paralympic Games as Para athletics lead, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
“[The Games] presented so many unique challenges and opportunities…[and] navigating that immense pressure of competing on the world stage brought so much learning to me,” shared Nicholls. “I learned more about how I show up as a leader, as a person and how all these moments and opportunities brought me a greater understanding of the sport and pushed me to refine my own coaching techniques and my leadership skills.”
Each of the Games acted as a milestone that affected Nicholls as an individual and became essential lessons.
“I think as coaches, as we go through development pathways and mentors are so important. Hooking up with people who have been there, done that is incredibly important. You cannot do this profession without support.”
From knowledgeable mentors to inspirational athletes, Nicholls expresses gratitude to every person who played a part in her journey.
Guiding Philosophy
Through each phase of her career, Nicholls gained knowledge, which overtime condensed into her guiding values: leading ethically and leading respectfully with integrity and curiosity.
“Every action that I take has to fall within these values and if they don’t, I either have to change or remove myself,” stated Nicholls. “I believe it is incredibly important that coaches take the time to define and live by their values.”
Apart from encouraging others to coach with intent, Nicholls empathizes the importance of leading with a holistic approach.
“Coaches need to recognize that athletes are not just performance but rather, whole individuals with personal lives, with pressures and emotions. We only see the athletes two or three hours a day and there are 21 hours left of the day that they are living without you.”
Nicholls has witnessed over her years as coach, that fostering a trustworthy environment, where athletes feel understood and valued impacts their motivation.
And she knows firsthand just how vital support and understanding is.
Becoming Para Performance Lead
Throughout her career, Nicholls had several coaches who left an impact on her, with each contributing vital qualities that would later guide her as a coach and individual.
Les Gramantik is one of the few who come front of mind for Nicholls, when asked about mentors.
“When I was training in my last go around, I was training with an above knee amputee athlete, who was a Paralympian. Les coached the Paralympians the exact same way as he coached [the rest of] us. [The Para athlete] never missed a beat and he did everything we did. It made it very normal for me.”
It was a key experience that led Nicholls to purse an opportunity with Athletics Canada and help with the process of integrating Para athletics into the organization.
“In 2013, we put a real push on ensuring that our approach as a National Sport Organization was integrated. The Olympic and Paralympic team were brought under one performance umbrella…training camps, competitions and all our criteria became an integrated approach. And for me it just seemed like just the right thing to do and the normal thing to do.”
Those developments fueled Nicholls passion for the sport and her interest in pursuing Para athletics and later brought her to be head coach at the 2015 Para Pan Am Games in Toronto.
“I never led a Para team before, so it was kind of like drinking out of a fire hose to tell the truth. But I went for it and it was an incredible experience,” shared Nicholls.
Eventually, after years of guiding other Para teams, Nicholls took on her current position at the forefront of Athletics Canada, as Para Performance Lead.
“I’m so thankful for the mentors who shared their wisdom with me and for the athletes who accepted and inspired me. It’s been fantastic. I’m profoundly grateful for all the experience that I’ve had.”
