Coaches

Coaches, Officials and Sanctioning

Sport excellence starts with great coaches and officials

Exceptional coaches and technical officials are the backbone of our sport. Athletes of all levels rely on coaching guidance and support throughout the year, and on all-important race days, accurate and capable officiating makes all the difference to age-group personal best and high-performance results.

Coaches

Triathlon Manitoba supports its coaches and recognizes that coaching is the foundation of sport development, athlete retention and high performance.

We’re excited to offer the new Triathlon Coaching course to Manitoba triathletes. This course was redesigned in 2020, with several advancements from the previous training modules that set a new standard for triathlon training which we will use going forward.

The course will be offered in the fall of 2023. Check back soon for more details.

To Register for the Coaching Course, please e-mail our office

How to become a coach

Triathlon Canada has just approved a new coaching program, for community and competition coaches, which we’ll look forward to introducing in 2019.  The Community Coach pathway will be the first priority, which can be found HERE.

The first level on that pathway is already available, allowing interested members to become Registered Coaches by doing the following:

1)  Register with the Coaching Association of Canada
2)  Submit a Criminal Background Check
3)  Complete the Respect in Sport module
4)  Complete the Making Ethical Decisions module
5)  Attend a Level I Officiating Clinic

To find more information about how to become a coach, please contact Triathlon Manitoba.

Certification levels

Community Sport Coach

If you’re thinking of becoming qualified as a community sport coach, then you may already coach at the community level or be interested in doing so. Often, you’re a parent whose child is involved in sport, or a volunteer who works with participants of all ages that are new to a sport. There are two levels of workshops for community triathlon coaches: youth and adult participation.

Competition Coach

Coaches in the competition stream usually have previous coaching experience or are former athletes in triathlon. They tend to work with athletes over the long term to improve performance, often in preparation for provincial, national, and international competitions. There are three education streams for competition coaches: introduction, development and high-performance.

Education streams

Community Sport Coach

  1. Youth participation
  2. Adult participation

Competition Coaches

  1. Introduction stream: Works predominantly with pre-adolescent or adolescent athletes in competitive swim programs or with adult age-group athletes who train on a consistent basis with a triathlon club.
  2. Development stream: Works predominantly with Junior, U23 and Elite athletes who are committed to the sport of triathlon and are in full-time training programs towards achieving continual performance improvement. Completion of this program will result in the participant becoming certified as a development coach.
  3. High-performance stream: This brand-new program is due to launch by the end of 2018.
Resources and tools

Officials

How to become a technical official
Officials ensure competitions are conducted in a safe and fair manner under the governing rules of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) and Triathlon Canada. Triathlon Manitoba is always looking for new individuals to become part of Triathlon Manitoba’s officiating team. Triathlon competition needs dedicated and respected officials at all sanctioned events. Most officials are volunteers. Triathlon Manitoba encourages each sanctioned club to have at least two certified officials. Provincially sanctioned events provide an excellent opportunity for officials to gain experience working with higher-level officials. Triathlon Manitoba Officials’ Development Model falls under those used by Triathlon Canada, and the ITU for officiating roles/practical experience. Using Triathlon Canada Points System, Triathlon Manitoba officials know the requirements of each officiating level and assists to track official development each season.

Levels of Triathlon Officials

  • Provincial Governing Board (PGB) Level 1 & 2: these levels are novice and local event officials working at provincial races
  • PGB Level 3/National Technical Official (NTO): these levels are provincial and national championship event officials and are recognized as an ITU Level 1 Official.
  • ITU Level 2 – Continental Technical Official (CTO) & ITU Level 3 – International Technical Official (ITO): these levels are required for major international events including Pan Am Games, Commonwealth Games, the Olympics and Para-Olympic Games.

Official Development Clinics are conducted during the winter and spring. If you belong to a Triathlon Manitoba sanctioned club, race organization, or community that requires individuals to be trained as triathlon officials, the Triathlon Manitoba Officials Committee will arrange for a clinic to be conducted in your area. There is a minimum attendance number required to run an officials’ clinic, and the cost to the participants is free. See the Events calendar for future clinics.

Initiated in 2006, Triathlon Manitoba annually recognizes the commitment and dedication of triathlon officials with the Official of Year Award. See the nomination form under Officials’ Resources to nominate this year’s awardee. See the list of Triathlon Manitoba Awards for past Official of the Year awardees.

Current technical officials

PGB Level 1

  • Ainsley Brand
  • Brendan Friesen
  • Brian Culligan
  • Cory Smith
  • Darian Hole
  • Erin Rafferty
  • Julie Whelen
  • Leanne Plewes
  • Tara Gill
  • Suzanne MacDuff
  • Samuel Kidd
  • Glen Carlson
  • Kevin Read

PGB Level 2

  • Aggie Gigiel
  • Cherrie Fournier
  • Cindy Unger
  • Colleen Kelly-Wardle
  • Grant Unger
  • Kate Okany
  • Leo Savoie
  • Rhonda Kitchen
  • Jen Onyskie

PGB Level 3 – National Technical Official (NTO)/ITU Level 1

  • Bonnie McKissock
  • Deb Hnatiw

ITU Level 2 – Continental Technical Official (CTO)

  • Chris Kitchen
  • Dina Drabyk

ITU Level 3 – International Technical Official (ITO)

  • David Markham
  • Kelly Mahoney
Officials schedule

Click here for the 2019 Officials Schedule

Sanctioning

Paralympic
Pro
Age Group
Kids
Olympic
Junior

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