Coaches
A coach is one of the most influential people in a young person's life. Coaches don't just teach how to hit a ball or block a spike but how to win and lose graciously. The athletic skills young people learn from coaches may only apply for a few years, but the attitudes they develop toward themselves and others will last a lifetime.
As a role model, the coach is a teacher, leader, organizer and counselor.
Certification is achieved through the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP).
However, Coach Education is much broader than a simple certification course. On-going professional development is required. Volleyball Alberta's annual Coaching Symposium (to be confirmed for 2020-2021) is a great way to improve one's knowledge and network with other coaches.
Coaches have a lot on their plate- so we have developed a Resource page to provide coaches a centralized location for various forms, and Multi-media presentations.
Volleyball Alberta Coaching Requirements
In an effort to provide the best opportunity for athletes to have a positive, safe and rewarding volleyball experience; Volleyball Alberta has developed an updated coaching certification policy for all Premier tournaments and Provincial Championships. This policy is aligned with Volleyball Canada's recently updated coaching certification policy for National Championships.
Please note that there have been some significant changes to the coaching requirements from previous years. Certified coaches may not have some of the training required, so read through the policy carefully. Coaches who are in their 3rd year of head coaching in the 2020 club season will have until the end of the 2020 season to meet certification requirements to avoid sanctions for the next season.
2020 Volleyball Alberta Coaching Requirements
Volleyball Canada Coach Certification Policy (2020-21)
Certification tracking will go back to the 2017 season and the policy will be in effect at all future Volleyball Alberta tournaments and Provincial Championships.
National Coaching Certification Program
The National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) has been regarded as one of the top coaching education programs in the world but after an extensive review, several modifications have been suggested. Most prominent of these is to ensure that the program is not strictly knowledge based but has a substantial practical component. The main objective for the program is to produce competent coaches rather than simply knowledgeable coaches. As a result, the Coaching Association of Canada adopted a coaching assesment and evaluation process approach for the redevelopment of the certification program. Coaches will be assesed and evaluated on their knowledge at each level.
The primary goal of the NCCP program is to focus on the holistic development of coaches that reflect the needs of the participants and demands of the sport’s context. More specifically, the philosophy of the NCCP program is to offer quality training to develop competent coaches that can be defined as being able to answer to the needs of the participants within a specific context and intervene effectively within the boundaries of an ethical framework of practice. The emphasis is not on what you “the coach” know but what you can do with what you know. The content of the course focuses on 4 essential generic coaching competencies such as problem solving, intervention, values and critical thinking. In developing these competencies, coaches are trained in all aspects of coaching (i.e. human, technical, practical and strategic) that are relevant to all types of coaches and coaching contexts. This will also provide on-going self-development
Levels of Certification
The four (4) levels of certification are the following:
- Development Coach (formerly level 1) - Athletes at the junior high/13U, 14U, 15U & 16U level
- Advanced Development Coach (formerly level 2) - Athletes at the high school/17U, 18U & 21U level
- Level 3 - Athletes in provincial team programs/university/college
- Level 4 - National team coaches
How Do I Get Certified?
Volleyball Alberta conducts Technical courses several times a year and oversees the Practical component of the NCCP program. The Theory component is run by Alberta Sport Connection- they offer courses in all regions of the province throughout the year.
Technical courses apply coaching principles for volleyball. Skills, drills, training methods, strategy and tactics, detection and correction of errors plus psychological preparation are some of the topics covered in this component.
Maintenance of Certification
Beginning on January 1st, 2014, Volleyball Alberta and Volleyball Canada will follow the Coaching Association of Canada’s (CAC) NCCP Professional Development policy and procedures. Coaches will now receive credit within the Locker database for approved professional development experiences. In order to maintain certification coaches will need to accrue a specific amount of points over a period of 5 years. Please review the CAC's FAQ for all the details.
The CAC recognizes coaches who are actively coaching with one Professional Development point a year toward their maintenance of certification. Declaring that you are actively coaching is easy. Click here to log in to The Locker, go to your transcript and click the “self-report” whistle icon on the left side of the screen to “Record Active Status”. Don’t forget to come back next year and declare again!
For a summary of how professional development points will be allotted, please see below.
*For Non-NCCP activities, and coach self-directed activities, coaches must get approval from Volleyball Alberta to confirm that credit can be claimed. Contact Jim Plakas for approval. Procedures for submission of PD points is currently being finalized.