In co-operation with it provincial partners, the Canadian Cycling Association has compiled a schedule of coaching courses across the country.

• Schedule of Coaching Courses
• Learning Facilitator Course - April 16 and 17, 2010 (PDF)

National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP)

The Canadian Cycling Association in partnership with the Coaching Association of Canada and Canada’s Provincial/Territorial Cycling Associations, offers development programs for coaches within the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP).

Currently, the Cycling NCCP includes:

• Let’s Ride! Community Cycling Initiation
• Ready to Race! Introduction to Competition
• Level 3 Technical (to be replaced by Competition Development in 2010)
• Level 4 and 5, through the National Coaching Institutes

Every cyclist deserves a certified coach. For more information or to register for NCCP in your province, contact your provincial/territorial cycling association. For information on Cycling’s transition to the new NCCP contexts, click here.

Click here for general information from the Coaching Association of Canada.

Let’s Ride! Community Cycling Initiation:
Let’s Ride! Community Cycling- Initiation (CCI) is the NCCP context for coaches who will primarily work with novice, pre-competitive cyclists at the community level, including participants in the Active Start, FUNdamentals and early Learn to Train stages of athlete development. The program is simple, based on a number of pre-designed lesson plans, and adaptable to the varying skill and ability levels of participants. The focus of the program is on having participants develop skills which are basic to MTB, BMX, and Road, in a controlled, off-road, off-trail setting such as a sport field or parking lot.

CCI training has two parts – the “Let’s Ride!” CCI workshop (5 hrs), and a Basic Cycling Skills workshop (8 hrs). The first workshop provides information on ethical coaching, participants and their needs, basic practice planning, equipment and other important information for coaches of beginner cyclists. The second workshop provides an opportunity for “on-bike” practice in skill teaching and analysis, practice coaching and use of provided lesson plans. On completion, coaches have “Trained” status in NCCP. Click here for more information (PDF 239 KB)

Ready to Race! Introduction to Competition:
Ready to Race! Introduction to Competition (R2R) is the context for coaches who will primarily work with new competitive cyclists at the community and club level. These athletes will likely be in the Learn to Train to Train to Train stages of LTAD, although the context could apply to any new racer of any age. These athletes have basic but developed cycling skills and the desire to begin competing within a structured training and competition program. They should have passed through an entry-level Community Initiation program (CCI) to help them develop the basic skills.

R2R training replaces all elements of Level 1 and Level 2 Cycling in the previous “Levels NCCP”. R2R training consists of five modules:

• Training Basics, classroom, 14 hours;
• Basic Cycling Skills, on-bike, 8 hours;
• One of MTB, Road, or BMX Skills and Tactics, on-bike, 7 hours;
• Training to Race, classroom, 14 hours;
• A second of MTB, Road, or BMX Skills and Tactics, on-bike, 7 hours.

On successful completion of the modules, the coach has Trained status in NCCP. After successfully completing an evaluation of his/her coaching performance and completing the on-line Make Ethical Decisions module, the coach can attain Certified status.

Competition Development: This context is in development.

National Coaching Institutes (NCI’S)

Canada’s eight National Coaching Institutes (NCIs) offer qualified coaches a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from a variety of experts in the fields of coaching, sport science, leadership, business, and technology and to share experiences, strategies, and challenges with fellow coaches.

The NCIs offer highly interactive, practical courses to national sport organization-approved Level 4 candidates. The program options are

• a one-year program available at the NCI–B.C. in Victoria
• a two-year program available at the NCIs in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, and Vancouver.
• a customized learning program that could involve study at more than one NCI or an extended period of study.

An NCI Diploma in High Performance Coaching may lead to NCCP Level 4 certification with the approval of the candidate’s NSO.

Eligible candidates must :

• Be NCCP Level 3 certified
• Be approved by is provincial association
• Have a minimum of three years of coaching experience in a year-round training program
• An undergraduate degree in physical education is recommended, but not required.

Click here for more information from the Coaching Association of Canada.

Contact at CCA: Mathieu.Boucher@canadian-cycling.com