50th Anniversary Celebration

It was a wonderful celebration of rowing on August 26th, as SaskRowing and the Saskatoon Rowing Club celebrated 50 Years of Rowing. The day started with an alumni row with current and former members of the Saskatoon Club and rowing friends from across the province enjoying a trip down the South Saskatchewan River. The erg bay was transformed into a pictorial display of the last 50 years with a look back at the many key figures who drove our sport, and the many athletes who attended Canada Games, Nationals, Worlds and the Olympics. And finally, we spent the evening reminiscing with our longtime friends at our evening BBQ and Social. Thank you to Bob and Ann Haver for hosting us at their beautiful home.

This day would not have been possible without the dedication and time of our organizing committee consisting of Bob Haver, Paul Marcotte, Bruce Acton, Terry Craig, Garett Mathiason, Rene Blom, Doc and Zuhy Sayeed, David Millar, supported by ED Nicole Golden and Summer Student George Williams. Thank you for your time and for all our community members who shared images and stories from the last 50 years.

We have captured our story in a slide show that can be viewed by clicking the button below.

National Coaching Certification Program

Garett Mathiason, NCCP Trained Master Coach Developer, Rowing

For rowing clubs who engage paid and volunteer coaches, the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) provides standardized, inclusive and safe sport education across Canada to develop competent coaches. All NCCP partners including National and Provincial / Territorial Sport Organizations (PTSOs), develop and deliver quality and accessible coach education, recognize the value of coaches in our community, and advocate for responsible and ethical coaching practices to ensure the safety of athletes and coaches.

For coaches at every level in Canada, who want world-leading coach training and development, the National Coaching Certification Program delivers curriculum based on current best practices in instructional design, ethical decision-making, up to date technical and tactical content to develop the whole athlete and also leads to the development of competent coaches. The NCCP develops Master Coach Developers who mentor and educate the Coach Developers. Coach Developers, who are trained in facilitation and evaluation skills, deliver quality and developmentally-appropriate training and gives coaches the confidence to succeed. Coach Developers in turn come alongside coaches to support and mentor them through their coaching pathway. 

For athletes, parents and the public in general who want competent and ethical coaches within our sport system, and who place coaches in a position of trust, the National Coaching Certification Program is a symbol of quality assurance that provides standardized, inclusive, and safe sport training and certification for coaches at all levels. The NCCP provides educational and ethical standards for sport organizations and helps create a safe environment for athletes, participants, and coaches, on and off the field of play. 

Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) offers two coaching streams of the NCCP: Instruction and Competition which supports the athletes' long term development. Instruction is the RCA Learn to Row Coach Pathway. Competition includes Competition-Introduction, which is the RCA Coach Pathway. Competition-Development involves the RCA Performance Coach Pathway. For coaches who want to work with children, youth, or adults who are learning their sport and want quality instruction for beginners, they should engage in the RCA Learn to Row Coach Pathway. For coaches who want to work with children, youth or adults who want to develop their competitive abilities in their sport for beginners (RCA Coach Stream) or developing athletes (RCA Performance Coach Stream) should engage with the correct NCCP training opportunities. RCA Coach Stream is best suited for coaches working with intermediate rowers interested in competition (eg: regional and provincial competitions) in the Train to Train and Learn to Compete Long-Term Development stages. RCA Performance Coach is best suited for coaches working with rowers moving into university and national competition (eg: National Rowing Championships) in the Learn to Compete and Train to Compete stage.

Each NCCP pathway has In-Training, Trained, and Certified statuses. In-training becomes available when coaches complete the NCCP Multi-sport training Make Ethical Decisions, and the eLearning module RCA Rowing Essentials. A Trained status occurs when NCCP Sport-Specific (eg: RCA Coach Weekend 1 and RCA Coach Weekend 2) and in the case of RCA Performance Coach, NCCP Multi-sport training requirements have been completed. 

The NCCP is a competency-based program, meaning the NCCP is a program that certifies coaches based on proven abilities to "DO" or demonstrate specific outcomes certain things deemed important to meet the needs of the athletes they coach. Certification is based upon what a coach is able to demonstrate, not the training they may have undergone. RCA has an NCCP Coach Challenge Process, that consists of bypassing the "Training" events and going directly to the "Evaluation" events.

To proceed to the Evaluation steps, coaches upload items specific to their pathway into the Coach Education Database (CED). An NCCP Coach Evaluator will review the portfolio and determine "readiness" of the coach for direct observation. The direct observation analyzes the performance in training on water and on land. Necessary NCCP Multi-sport evaluations also need to be completed. Following successful completion of an evaluation, coaches attain a Certified status that is maintained through professional development opportunities. Coaches also receive an Action Plan as part of the Evaluation process that is collaboratively developed with the Coach Evaluator and Coach to continue on their coaching pathway and engage in lifelong learning. 

UMPIRES NEEDED - You Can Make A Difference

Regattas could not run without umpires. All Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) Licensed Umpires undertake training to ensure that racing is fair and safe for all competitors. The training, development and licensing of umpires is overseen by the RCA Umpires Committee and is supported by Saskatchewan Rowing.

The Assistant Umpire Clinic is FREE! You will need an NCCP number to take this course in The Locker (on the Coaching Association of Canada website), which you can obtain here. Within The Locker, click on the “E-Learning” tab at the top of the page. Click on “Multi-Sport” and change it to “Rowing”. The Assistant Umpire Clinic will then show under the heading “Available”. The course will take 60 to 90 minutes to complete, and you can pause and resume the course at any time. If you are a coach, you will obtain one Professional Development point for taking the course.

So if you are interested in helping our athletes and sport, and get some of the best seats in the house at regattas, take the first step in becoming an Umpire. If you take the course in the next two weeks, we can get you started at your first regatta the Head of the Sask, September 16, 2023 in Saskatoon. You will get the chance to ride along at this first regatta and help build our umpire pool in the province. For more information, email skrowoffice@gmail.com

We want to hear from you. We are always looking for members to get involved on a committee or sit on the Board of Directors that sets the direction for Saskatchewan Rowing. Ask us how.

Let's pull together!