Featured in Sport Quarterly
A new Volleyball Nova Scotia program hopes for a net gain when it comes to getting more people involved in the sport.
VNS’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility Coach Apprenticeship Program for its summer provincial beach and indoor teams launched in June, which provided the opportunity for up to four coaches to participate.
“We decided to start small and open it up to Black and Indigenous communities,” said VNS development director Jon Elliott. “Whether they have experience in volleyball or not, whether they have any level of sporting experience or not, if they are interested in coaching volleyball in their communities, we want to help open that door for them.”
Elliott noted the experience is tailored to the level of commitment, be it from a full-time or part-time perspective.
“We have roles for assistant coaches and there’s also what we call session coaches,” said Elliott. “If you can only come to one of five sessions during a weekend, that’s fine. We’d love to have you.
“What we found was that with provincial teams, we were using an all-in approach where if you can’t get into everything, we don’t want you, and that was limiting involvement for some really amazing coaches.”
Elliott said the program was able to attract three coaches this summer, one male who worked with an older group of males on an indoor team, and two females who worked with a younger group of females, also on an indoor team.
As part of their training, apprentice coaches will receive national certification within one year of completion of the season. A feedback survey is planned for apprentices to evaluate the program.
Just having apprentice coaches from diverse backgrounds in the gym, regardless of their level of experience in the sport, has been a positive, Elliott has found.
“Having some athletes from Black and Indigenous communities have a coach that looks like them, even if that coach wasn’t the most vocal coach, the athletes felt good about that,” said Elliott. “I wouldn’t say they felt more comfortable or that it was a huge bonus, but just the fact they noticed it was a good feeling. To me, that’s a sign we’re headed in the right direction.”
Elliott is excited about where the program could lead, but admits it’s early and growing pains will be a part of the process.
“I haven’t really had a chance to sit down with the three coaches to chat about what has worked and what hasn’t,” said Elliott. “Our thinking as a staff was instead of sitting around and doing nothing, let’s try something and if we’re going to make mistakes, let’s fail forward as opposed to sitting on our hands.
“We’re playing the long game. If there can be some incredible coaches that come out of this and go back to their communities, maybe beach volleyball becomes something that more youth are doing in those communities and maybe when they turn 16, 17 and 18, there’s more athletes from those communities playing volleyball, possibly being recruited for provincial teams and universities, and maybe some day wearing the Maple Leaf.”
