More than 300 individuals, primarily coaches, from the Canadian sport community, travelled to Regina to participate in the Petro-Canada Sport Leadership sportif Conference (SLS), hosted by the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) November 14-15. Following the two-day conference, CAC and the Coaches Association of Saskatchewan, partnered to host Community Coaches Day on Nov. 16, with nearly 75 Saskatchewan coaches in attendance.
Both events received funding from the Sask Lotteries Trust Fund through grants and sponsorship, aiding in creating an atmosphere for coaches to learn, grow and network. For many, including University of Regina women’s basketball assistant coach Michaela Kleisinger, the overall experience was valuable, not only for education, but for the camaraderie built with others.
“Number one is that I get to learn from other perspectives and that, to me, is beneficial because it’s outside sport-specific stuff, I don’t get to just learn about basketball at these kinds of events,” she said. “And the second thing is making the connections, which is something I learned I needed, to have connections, not with just basketball people. I enjoyed getting to know other coaches, no matter the sport, and just other people who are involved in sport.”
Throughout the combined three days, attendees at each of the events were treated to presentations by special guest speakers on a wide array of topics. Both conferences featured combined sessions for the whole group, but SLS also included several breakout sessions, where participants could choose from one of three topics they were interested in.
“The presentations are important because I’m not the expert,” said Kleisinger. “I went to the session about trans women and trans girls in sport because I wanted some information, and it was interesting because I wasn’t expecting as much research on it as there was. So, it was really beneficial to me; people actually statistically giving me the answers.”
In addition to the presentations themselves, attendees were able to mix and mingle with each other as well as the speakers. Kleisinger noted having the opportunity to do so is something that is unique to in-person events and helps to further encourage growth and learning.
“Coaching can sometimes be isolating, especially when you’re in the thick of it,” she said. “The mingling and that sort of stuff is good because I like being able to chat and the speakers feel accessible at these kinds of conferences, so that was good. If it was just a conference of presentations, you would not nearly get out of it what you get with those networking opportunities.”
