Hobbema hosts National Aboriginal Coaching School

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For the second time in 1995, and the second time in history, the National Aboriginal Coaching School was held in Hobbema from Oct. 16 to Oct. 20. While attendance at the fall event was down from the school held in the spring, it was still an encouraging effort, according to those in attendance.

"Attendance is just one measure of the success of a school, and not necessarily the most important one," said Dr. Fred Carnew of Maskwachees Cultural College in Hobbema. His comments were echoed by other speakers at the coaches' banquet.

"There has been a pull away from the spiritual and cultural connections of our early athletes brought about by non-Native coaching methods," said Rick Brant of the school program. "Here we are able to do it in a comfortable way and in a comfortable setting. (The coaches here) are role models, and need to accept that role as certified coaches."

Alex Nelson, executive director of the Aboriginal sports association in British Columbia, emphasized sports' importance.

"Don't overlook sports. Too many people do that. Sport leaders are being taught something, maybe without them knowing it, that makes them leaders in this land. There is a great, great future in this room."

Featured speaker Alwyn Morris, gold and bronze medallist at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984, stressed that coaches must temper their enthusiasm for development with an understanding of what makes sports attractive for young people.

"I'm a product of a system where the system as a whole was very lax," Morris said, struggling through a severe case of laryngitis. "We sometimes get too funneled towards excellence. Excellence is what we strive for, but we want to make sure that the kid walks out of the dressing room saying 'I had a good time.' We have to strive for fun.

"When I went out there to train, sometimes it was very difficult," he continued. "But each time I came in from a session, I could say to myself that I had fun.

"We're moving, and we're moving for the better," said the former Olympian. "We really are. We can only get ahead if we stay together. If you have it in you to dream, you have it in you to succeed."

Success, or the potential for success, was evident at the sessions held for coaches in athletics, basketball, hockey, soccer and volleyball. Each participant received the respective credentials, as well as the quality instruction, to become a coach leader in his or her community.

"I am hoping that this will help us build a better program out here," said basketball participant Randy Ermineskin after a workout in the Howard Buffalo centre gym. The third-year physical education major in Education at the University of Alberta coaches year-round in Hobbema.

"At this level, we will review individual skills, but we move on to team concepts," explained Alberta basketball instructor Lorna Hiemstra from Swan Hills, Alta. "We build skills to allow coaches to design team concepts, to build a team around the players he gets. We talk about the mental aspects of the game, physical fitness, and we bring the drills to the next level."

Hiemstra was teaching a clinic at the second level of five, which she said would allow the graduates of the school to teach "at everything in a community, and on up from there to quite a high level."

"I learned better structure to keep the kids motivated and how to plan practices ahead," said Debbie Callinan of Paddle Prairie, Alta., of an introductory-level hockey class conducted by Dennis Zukiwski of Red Deer, Alta. "We learned more drills, how to keep switching drills to keep the kids interested."

"These (students) are outstanding because of their enthusiasm," Zukiwski said, after concluding his class. "And this whole concept is unique in that it's Native, and we don's usually have, the numbers in one community to put a course like this on due to costs."

Organizers are convinced that the coaching school will pay dividends in Native athletics, and that better coaching will give ahletes more and better reasons to stay involved.

"Sports can give us all so much," said Victor Buffalo, chairman of the board of Peace Hills Trust, in his welcoming comments. "That's what makes this school so very worthwhile."