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Partnering in the Pursuit of Putting People First
The aim is in the name.
Pursuit.
Pursuit in providing improved, impactful coaching and technical assistance to Canadian high-performance athletes. In increasing investment, both financial and in on-the-ground ways, into those individuals entrusted with shaping sport in this country.
In helping tighten an often-fragmented sporting landscape across the country. In enhancing experience for all. In providing an environment that can draw the most out of everyone involved. In putting people first.
And it’s working.
“I’d say Pursuit has been one of the most successful approaches to partnering with other organizations around one common priority, and that priority is elevating the quality of Canada’s high-performance coaches and technical leaders in sport,’’ estimates Own the Podium CEO Anne Merklinger.
“We have a lot of momentum these days. We’re working in an environment where people are much more candid and feel safer coming forward to share the good, and I think that’s wonderful.
“I’d say also that every leader in sport in Canada right now is 100 per cent committed to making sure we deliver the best possible sporting experience for every person involved.”
Partnering in the Pursuit initiative, tied to nearly every summer and winter Olympic and Paralympic sport (50 summer and 29 winter high-performance sports), are Sport Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC), the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) and Own the Podium (OTP).
“Pursuit,’’ says OTP Pursuit lead Laura Watson, “strives to support people in a journey of continuous improvement. Sport’s greatest asset are its people. Pursuit is dedicated to the personal and professional development of high-performance coaches and technical leaders.
“The Pursuit program creates an environment where people can focus on being their best selves. The support and collaboration of the various partners has made this program possible and is a key factor in helping athletes achieve their athletic goals and ambitions in an environment where their physical and psychological health and safety is protected.”
The COC and CPC, adds Merklinger, are providing the essential financial backing.
“They’re funding it. We’re implementing it. And if the program wasn’t successful, they wouldn't be sustaining the financial investment. It’s that simple.”
Over $800,000 a year is being injected into the ongoing upgrade in coaching and technical expertise of national sport organizations (NSO).
And the priority is, as noted, people.
“A vital piece of this is safe sport,’’ emphasizes Marg McGregor, the COC’s point person on Pursuit. “That is obviously a priority for the sport sector in Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee. We’re pleased to be supporting the Pursuit program, which fosters a culture of safety and excellence.
“It’s not just drive for the podium and get medals at all costs. We want people to hear the complete picture; and some of the wonderful work being done.”
The genesis of Pursuit can be traced back to 2014, after a study by the COC of the top priorities of national sport organizations determined that investment in leadership development of key technical personnel was sadly lagging.
“They recognized that it was important to do but that they didn’t necessarily have the capacity or resources to invest in world-class professional development of their leaders - that would include chief executive officers, coaches and technical directors,’’ explains McGregor.
“So, it became important for the COC to support national sport organizations in the development of their key personnel in order to keep them healthy and ensure they are growing and world class, but also to retain them. Once we’ve developed coaches we don’t want to lose them, either to retirement or to other nations. If you feel that someone cares about your growth and development, that makes a difference in your skills but also in your commitment to the country, to Team Canada.”
The initial initiative focused solely on the elevation/improvement of the always-critical, all-too-often-undervalued job of coaching.
Roughly a year later, following a review of high-performance coaching in Canada by contracted individuals - including Max Gartner, former national ski team coach who had served as well as Alpine Canada’s president and CEO - an implementation plan had been developed.
Findings and recommendations were presented to the COC late in 2015, and by the fall of the next year OTP had received significant funding to move forward with what was then called the Coaching Enhancement Program.
The slowdown/shutdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic provided more time for analysis, and it became clear the net hadn’t been cast wide enough. That’s when program partners pivoted to include technical directors alongside coaches. A CEO leadership development program had also been established by the COC.
This expanded initiative was rebranded Pursuit.
“An absolute game changer,’’ says Lorraine Lafreniere, chief executive officer of the Coaching Association of Canada. “I can’t think of a better way to describe it.
“Just a tremendous initiative.
“I know that now coaches see a difference in their performance and in how they’re valued.
“And, as we know, theirs is a hard job.
“They are a precious resource. That was really the driver that brought us together. The national sport organizations on their own have limited resources and limited skill sets in developing coaches. There are some great high-performance directors, and technical directors, out there but the truth of the matter is they don’t have the resources.
“Who’s caring for the caregiver? That’s what this is really about. It’s about growth and development for the person who’s so focused on someone else’s performance growth and development.
“Through this program we can build this incredible body of expertise and knowledge to impact generations of coaches. And the messaging is consistent - we need people to work better together – and we can focus on our organization knowing you’re going to be there to help.”
That sense of heightened belief is echoed by Karen O’Neill, chief executive officer of the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
“I’m going to speak from a para perspective here, but when you’ve got coaches who are either volunteering or not being enumerated or compensated at the levels they should be – up until recently, I’d say in the last four to six years, so many of them were part-time or volunteer or very reduced payment … well, there’s a level of respect and psychology about value, of the sport, of an individual’s leadership,’’ she says.
“I think Pursuit has been a great model. You pick an area, you create some intentionality and vision, and everybody puts their shoulders behind it.
“It was a platform for learning how to operate differently in sport. Contained. Focused.
“We always talk about systemic change and what needs to be done in sport. Well, it was easier to get your arms around this, relatively, create an intention and everybody look at the contribution on investment, then to see some results – relatively quickly.”
Among the innovative initiatives within Pursuit is Canada Leads, an opportunity for peers in the coaching and technical development areas to come together in groups far from prying eyes and talk freely about the common challenges they face; along with a mentorship program headed up by Max Gartner.
“That peer-to-peer support is huge; that peer-to-peer learning is really impactful. It helps diminish that sense of isolation,’’ says McGregor. “Again, these people are under intense pressure to deliver results and to ensure they have a solid culture of excellence within their team while dealing with a whole roster of challenging issues outside the field of play.
“So, to have a cohort, a like-minded individual in your network is really impactful. Within your own sport organization sometimes it’s very hard to express concerns, weakness, gaps in your skill set.
“But when you’re in a safe environment with other experts in the field, those are conditions where real learning can take place and real growth happens.”
Growth being the objective, nothing happens overnight, particularly establishing as complex and far-reaching as this initiative. But progress is there for all to see.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee,’’ says McGregor firmly, “is in support of this program for the long run.
“We know that if we want to be world-leading, we need to invest in world-leading coaches and technical directors.
“Each year more and more people are being touched by the program. Word of mouth has been quite powerful.
“We love this program because it is a partnership of a number of other funding partners who come together to deliver a really quality program. I expect the program offerings will evolve over time.”
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Better prepared and equipped mentors translate into better athletes, richer experience and, as an offshoot, elevated results.
The pursuit is ongoing.
The aim, after all, is in the name.
“This program,’’ says Anne Merklinger, “is about creating an environment where an athlete can pursue individual athletic goals in a way that their psychological and physical health and safety is protected.
“Part of that, of course, is getting to work with a great coach, and a great technical director.
“If an athlete isn’t allowed to try to reach his or her goals in the right environment, that’s not a ‘no regret’ experience. That’s an: ‘Oh, if I’d only had access to better coaching or better this or this or that …’ environment.
“I - none of us - want to hear ‘If I only had access to …’
“We only want to hear ‘no regrets.’
“For me, that’s what this is about.”
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