Local basketball duo selected for national mentorship program

Maria Kirkbride in her second year as a Assistant Coach of the VIU Women’s Basketball team was awarded $4000 earlier this season in the 2009-10 CCAA Female Apprentice Coach program.  Bill McWhinnie Head Coach of the VIU Women’s Basketball team will be her Mentor Coach.
The grant is identified for professional development opportunities in either NCCP or related coach education, and for operational costs associated with the apprentice coach. The Female Apprentice Coach Program is aimed at targeting the rich source of potential female coaches in the ranks of graduating student-athletes and creating a new coaching position, the apprentice coach. The CCAA is working towards the goal of having at least one female member on the coaching staff of each women’s sports program. Incentives are offered to institutions that offer apprentice coach positions within the CCAA sports of soccer, volleyball, basketball, badminton, golf and cross country running.

The Project Committee of the Female Coach Apprentice Program is enthused by the ongoing benefits of the program in introducing new female coaches into sport at the national level. An in depth survey of past apprentices illustrates the need for such programs to assist and ‘kick start’ the development of female coaches within the Canadian sport system. “With funding from Sport Canada, we have been able to provide apprentices coaches, practical experiences with qualified mentor coaches and access to education, which has increased their competencies and serves to enrich the Canadian coaching ranks of the future,” states Project Chair Yvonne Becker.

 Maria was a member of the Mariners basketball team for five consecutive years.  During this time she was the captain of the team for all five years and accumulated several awards along the way. 2003/2004 rookie of the year, a three time BCCAA first team All-Star and a two-time first team provincial All-Star.  After the completion of her final playing year head coach Bill McWhinnie asked Maria to be his assistant.  This was a great honour for Maria as it was a natural progression from player to coach.  This spring she was involved with 3D basketball as a skills coach for young girls aged eight to twelve; it was a challenging and much different experience from coaching at the college level, but one that she enjoyed nonetheless.

Maria graduated in the spring of 2009 from V.I.U. with a major in Sport, Health, and Physical Education.  This program equipped her with several skills that are essential to the basics of coaching such as, Biomechanics, Growth and Motor Development, Psychology of Sport, Leadership, and Physiology of Sport and Exercise.  In addition to these theory courses she also took nine activity courses that taught me how to prepare lesson plans and organize physical activity sessions.

Her goal is to  become a sports therapist and will hopefully be able to use these skills to work with elite teams.  I would also like to continue coaching at the high school and University level.  This apprenticeship program will  improve her coaching skills through the professional development courses, seminars, and workshops, but it will also help her to better understand the therapeutic needs of the athletes.  She also feels that a coach who has knowledge of sports therapy would be an excellent addition to any program as funding prevents some teams from having the basic and proper athletic treatments such as taping, active release, and massage.

Having played five years in the BCCAA she have first hand experience as a student athlete.  She is able to help players deal with the stresses of time management, school work, and basketball training. She  brings a calming influence to the team and is a link between the players and the head coach.  She also feel that having a female coach on a female roster is vital to maintaining a balanced and healthy team. Maria also provides another outlet for the girls to discuss issues such as, playing time, player disputes, and personal problems. 

“Having access to this funding is allowing  Maria the opportunity to pursue a higher level of coaching credentials and to further her career goals," said VIU Athletic director Bruce Hunter.  "Maria is highly respected by the current players on the team and has played a significant part in developing the team.  She is a very talented and organized individual and is an excellent choice for the Female Apprentice Coach program.”