2010 Rowing Canada Aviron Coaches Conference

The annual Rowing Canada Aviron Coaches Conference wrapped up this weekend in London, Ontario.

"It was great to see coaches of all levels - from young club coaches to our National Team staff - come together this past week in London to share ideas and expertise," said Dr. Michael Murphy, President of Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA). "Special guest speakers, such as swimming Olympian Alex Baumann, now of Own the Podium, were a great addition to the conference, and contribute to rowing's tradition of excellence in coaching education."

Presenters also included top experts from the Canadian Sport Centre Ontario and Rowing Canada's High Performance staff - Peter Cookson, Mike Spracklen, Al Morrow, Terry Paul, Allison Dobb and Michelle Darvill - and many other of Canada's top coaches and experts. 

At the 2010 coaches' recognition banquet, the following awards were presented:

RCA Coaches Recognition Award  - Carol Love and Volker Nolte.

“This year the award was presented to two coaches who are not only accomplished in their profession, but have been instrumental in developing coaches across the country with their involvement as coach educators and mentors,” said RCA’s Coach Education Director, Carolyn Trono.

Carol Love of Peterborough, Ont. was a member of the Canadian women's eight in the first appearance of women's rowing in the Olympics in Montreal in 1976 and in the World championships in 1977, placing third. Accepting a job at Trent University and establishing roots in the Peterborough community, Love has coached for 30 years, responsible for the success of both the university and club programs. She has coached high school, university, provincial and Under-23 teams. Love is also the VP of Coaching and Athlete Development for RowOntario.
 
Volker Nolte of London, Ont. was Canada's lightweight men's coach from 1992 to 2000. His crews won several international medals: 1993 lightweight men's eight that won gold at the 1993 World Championships; 1996 - lightweight men's four won silver at the Olympics in Atlanta; 1996 and 1997 - lightweight men's eight that won a bronze medal at the Worlds; 2000 – lightweight men’s pair won gold at the World Championships. At the University of Western Ontario, he is an assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology and Head Coach of the men’s rowing program. Under his leadership, the Mustangs won eight Ontario championships and in 2007 the Canadian University Rowing Championships. Nolte is involved in many of RCA's innovative coaching education initiatives and worked with a number of leading rowing experts to publish a book entitled "Rowing Faster". Recently, Volker took a sabbatical and continued his research in New Zealand and worked with the New Zealand Rowing Federation. 

Investors Group Volunteer Administrators Award - Martha Coffey

Martha has been a board member at the Argonaut Rowing Club in Toronto since 2004, serving as the Fundraising Director for her first four years. In 2008, she accepted the role of club president. Under her leadership, the club has seen the highest membership increase in its history and in her past eight years on the board, Coffey has helped bring in more than $60,000 in grant money to support the community programs the club offers, including an Ontario Trillium Grant.
Not only is Coffey involved off the water, but she has a strong presence participating as a competitive athlete and as an official.
This past year, Coffey was recognized for her efforts at the Row Ontario AGM, where she received a volunteer award for all of the positive change she has made at the ARC as well as within the Ontario rowing community.


Petro Canada Excellence - Mike Spracklen - 2009 men's eight World Championship silver medal

National Heavyweight Men's Coach Mike Spracklen, who led the 2008 Canadian men's eight to a gold medal in Beijing, has coached at the national level in Canada, the U.S. and his native Great Britain. He has led the Canadian men's eight to wins at the World Championships (2002, 2003 and 2007) and was named 2002 FISA Coach of the Year.
In the early 1990s, he also coached the Canadian men's eight to a gold at the 1992 Olympics and was Silken Laumann's coach for both the 1992 and the 1996 Olympics. In 2000, he served as chief coach (women) in Great Britain - coaching the women's quad to a silver in Sydney.

Coaches Mike Thompson of St. Catharines, Ont. and Terry Paul of Victoria, B.C. were also centered out for their international coaching successes at the World and World Under-23 Championships respectively.


Also recognized for achieving their NCCP Level 3 coaching for rowing were:

Dan Bechard  - Ontario
Allison Sheard - Ontario
John Haver - Saskatchewan
John Wetzstein - Saskatchewan
Vincent Côté - Québec
Peter Van Rooijen  - Ontario
Ming-Chang Tsai - Ontario
Dolores Young - New Brunswick
Susan Fairley - Ontario
Gavin McKay - British Columbia
Marc-Oliver Klages - Quebec
Michele Fisher - Ontario
Juliana Vipond - Manitoba
Pat Cody - New Brunswick
Michael Simonson - Alberta
Emily Silver - Manitoba
Richard Wilson - USA


The conference was sponsored by Welland International Flatwater Centre, Concept 2, and Hudson Boat Works, and supported by Investors Group, Fluidesign, Regatta Sport, Goodlife Fitness, Kaschper Racing Shells, Human Kinetics Publishers and Rowing News Magazine.

Rowing Canada Aviron also thanks the Coaching Association of Canada, RowOntario and Coaching Association of Ontario for helping make the conference a success.

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Jackie Skender - Rowing Canada Aviron
519.661.4234
519.200.1835 (mobile)