YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES AMBASSADOR

A great opportunity for anyone interested in gaining experience in supporting/managing international amateur sport. Deadline: Dec. 14th, 2009. See below for details.



Subject: Youth Olympic Games Young Ambassador - Call for application

Hi All,

As part of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the IOC is piloting a Young Ambassadors program. This program involves the identification of an individual between the ages of 18-25 who will join Canada’s delegation with the goal of promoting the YOG to the athletes. In addition to the formal IOC responsibilities, this individual will play an important role as a part of Canada’s mission team. The selected individual will also participate in the Chef de Mission meetings next March in Singapore. The specific job description is attached in both French and English. It should be noted that this individual cannot act as a coach.

Applications for this position will be accepted until December 14th, 2009.

I would greatly appreciate your assistance in promoting this initiative within your sport.

Kind regards,

Brian

Brian Edey
Project Manager, Youth Olympic Games
Gestionnaire de projet, Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse

Canadian Olympic Committee
Comité olympique canadien
85 Albert Street, Suite 1400
Ottawa, ON, Canada K1P 6A4
(613) 244-2020 ext.226
(613) 244-0169

Click on the documents below for larger image.

TRAINING DAY SUNDAY

A quick reminder that we have our next Training Day, this Sunday, November 29th.

We're close to capacity, but we still have room for a few more athletes (age 10 to Adult).

Registration forms available here.

In addition to our normal program of swimming, biking and running, we'll have a few guest speakers.

Craig Taylor will be available to talk to the parents about scheduling/programming for youth/junior athletes, and Dorelle Hinton, Connor Hammond and Ian Donald will be talking about their 2009 Canada Games and/or 2009 World Championships experiences.

Doors open at 8:05AM, Swim starts at 8:30AM. We usually wrap up around 2:30PM. Bring appropriate gear for swimming, indoor riding and outdoor running. Don't forget snacks, a water bottle, lunch, and a camera.

Looking forward to a great day of training.

See you Sunday.

TRACKWERK

VELODROME OPPORTUNITY

The Ontario Cycling Association, in partnership with the Forest City Velodrome in London, ON, has extended an invite to youth/junior triathletes to train at the Velodrome this winter. Specifically, Saturday afternoons, on almost every weekend from now until the end of April. The target group is 14-17 year olds, but there's some flexibility on that. Don't be afraid to ask.

This is a great opportunity to try something new, develop cycling skills, and get off that trainer - very exciting.

TIME: Sessions are Saturday afternoons, usually starting at 2pm. Coaches are welcome (encouraged) to come, but the sessions will be run by FCV coaches.

EQUIPMENT: Helmet, cycling clothes and shoes are required. Bikes are provided.

MEMBERSHIP: athletes must be OAT members.

COST: $0 (nada, zilch, nothing, free....)

MAX # OF ATHLETES: 15 per session.

SIGN-UP: E-mail me with questions and/or dates you would like to attend. Athletes can attend multiple times, but priority is given to athletes who are going for their first time. Some clubs have already signed up for some of the dates, but few have 15 athletes attending, so we're able to add you to most of the dates below. Athletes do not to be a member of a triathlon club to participate, but athletes do need to have an current OAT membership.

This is not a 'drop-in' program - athletes need to sign-up in advance so we can co-ordinate with the FCV and OCA.

NOTE: If the date is "BOOKED" that means the FCV have already booked it off for another program


Nov. 21 PTC
Nov. 28
Dec. 5
Dec 12
Dec 19 Fun2Tri Club, Barrie Youth Triathlon
Jan 2
Jan 9 Hamilton Hammerheads
Jan 16 PTC
Jan 23 ByTown Storm
Jan 30 BOOKED
Feb 6:
Feb 13: Fun2Tri Club
Feb 20:
Feb 27:
Mar 6: PTC
Mar 13:
Mar 20:
Mar 27: BOOKED
April 3: ByTown Storm, Barrie Youth Triathlon
April 10:
April 17: Fun2Tri
April 24:

Alright, have at it. Pick a date, e-mail me, and get ready for some fun on the track.

CT

COMP INTRO GEMS

If you've been part of the NCCP Comp Intro program for triathlon, you'll recognize these two themes; in my opinion, the most important parts of the program.

HOLISTIC COACHING: I was talking to a former Olympian recently about American run coach Bobby McGee. I've never met him, but I like what he writes on his blog. The Olympian had worked with coach McGee, and said he was a fantastic coach. Naturally, I wanted to know what makes him such a great coach. The answer: he coaches to the whole person, or the four components of the holistic model: physical, cognitive/emotional, cultural/spiritual, social.

OPERATIVE PRINCIPLES: The ITU has recently begun posting a series of triathlon development videos as part of an ongoing sport development initiative. The video below is the first instalment. Certified NCCP Competition coaches will recognize the technical model of: "Safety > Core > Co-ordination > Components", starting at ~0:45".

Nice to see that Comp Intro incorporates best coaching practices, and serves as a foundation for the ITU coaching program.

Full ITU article here.

2009 HATULCO WORLD CUP

A rare pair of solo breakaways that stuck in the men's race at the ITU Hatulco World Cup on the weekend locked up gold and silver for Matt Chrabot (USA) and Ruidi Wild (SUI).

“I went out on a suicide mission today,” said Chrabot. “It was so hot and so hilly it made it really tough, but I took my chances and I really like this course."

Exciting racing, and some bold tactics pay off. Love the blatant chinstrap violation in T2.

Press release and high(er) quality video of the men's race

Press release and video of the women's race.

EXERCISE AND "BRAINPOWER"

The link between exercise and more brainpower
Anne McIlroy
Saturday Nov 8, 2009
www.theglobeandmail.com

It is first period at City Park Collegiate Institute in Saskatoon, and the Grade 10 students in Allison Cameron's class are priming their brains for an English assignment.

They strap heart monitors on their wrists and climb on a treadmill or exercise bike for a 20-minute workout. When they're done, they move to their desks and start writing. The students are taking part in a program that aims to help them improve their focus, concentration and, ultimately, their academic performance through regular exercise in class.

The results have been startling: On standardized tests, the children in Movement Matters have dramatically outscored students in classes in which the program wasn't offered.

----------------------------------

Interesting article, considering the reduction in time dedicated to physical education (and music) in schools over the last several years.

Full article here.

PHOTO ESSAY

I had the chance to get to OFSAA XC this year, so I packed up my daughter Kate, picked up Ian and Connor in Guelph, and headed to Boyd Conservation Area for the races.

Ian's comment less than 2 minutes before this picture was taken: "Wow, Kate falls asleep really fast."



The weather was great; low wind, sunny skies and 14 degrees. A perfect Fall day:



While Ian and Conner were off buying OFSAA gear, and trying to enter themselves in the senior boys race, I toured around the finish line and met up with a lot of familiar faces (parents, coaches and athletes). I even caught this pic of the 6th place finisher in the Junior Boys race - not a triathlete (yet), but our top recruiters are working on it:



I also bumped into Joanna Brown and her ByTown Storm coach Greg Kealey before her race. Jo, the Provincial Junior Triathlon Champion and member of Ontario's Canada Games Triathlon Team was relaxed and looking forward to racing in warm conditions...



...and she ran away from the field to a convincing win in the Senior Women's race:



I was hoping to catch the Senior Men's race too, but it was delayed by approximately 45 minutes, so I had to leave before the gun went off. That's too bad, because I missed Tristan Woodfine (Joanna's ByTown Storm teammate, and Canada Games teammate) taking the early lead and running away with the Senior Men's title!

Both OFSAA Senior Champs are triathletes, from the same triathlon club. Very impressive.

In addition to Joanna and Tristan's excellent races, there we many other triathletes racing throughout the day. The most impressive race was probably the Senior Women's; close behind Joanna were Chelsea Mackinnon (Hamilton Hammerheads) in 8th, and Dominika Jamnicky (another ByTown athlete who raced on Ontario's Canada Games team) in 10th. Three triathletes in the top 10 - great stuff!

There were a host of other triathletes, with a lot of very impressive performances. Hopefully most of you heard us cheering for you, and if I've missed anyone (and I probably have), please e-mail me so I can add you to the list. Where I have the info, I've included the associated triathlon club - feel free to send corrections or updates on that, too.

Congrats to everyone on their efforts today.

Full results here.

Dylan Bates
Joanna Brown (ByTown)
Stephanie Daley
Aleksa Despinic (Hammerheads)
Adam Doxtator
Rachel Faulds
Austen Forbes (Hammerheads)
Taylor Forbes (Hammerheads)
Kyle Haas (Fun2Tri)
Kent Hambly (Hammerheads)
Katherine Howell (Hammerheads)
Domi Jamnicky (ByTown)
Samantha Klus (ByTown)
Jackie Lloyd (Hammerheads)
Duke Lloyd (Hammerheads)
David Mackie
Chelsea Mackinnon (Hammerheads)
Adrienne Morgan
Peter Quosai (Guelph Marlins a while ago, but now running with Speed River...way to go Peter)
Pauline Skowron (C3)
Heather Summers (Hammerheads)
Paige Tate (Hammerheads)
Jessica Witt (Hammerheads)
Tristan Woodfine (ByTown)
Rui Xu (Hammerheads)
Myles Zagar (Fun2Tri)

2015 PAN AM GAMES

Toronto region wins 2015 Pan / Parapan American Games
Will bring jobs, 250,000 visitors, new facilities for region.

GUADALAJARA, MEXICO, November 6, 2009 – Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe region has been chosen to host the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. The decision was made today by the Pan American Sport Organization (PASO) in Guadalajara, Mexico.

“We are thrilled,” said Toronto 2015 Bid Chair, the Hon. David Peterson. “We would like to thank PASO and in particular, PASO President, Mario Vasquez Rana for having confidence in us and allowing us this great honour. We will work hard to stage the best Pan and Parapan Am Games ever.”

-------------------------------------

Great news for Canadian sport, and for triathlon.

Full press release here.

CHAMPION CARVER...

...and other Champions.

First off, congrats to the Guelph Gryphons XC Teams for the double five-peat at the OUA Championships on the weekend. The mens and womens teams were once again crowned as OUA Champions, with the men setting a new record for lowest team score: 1 + 2 + 3 + 5 + 6 = 17...almost perfect. Wow! The Gryphon women have won 6 consecutive OUA Team titles, and 9 of the last 11 OUA Team titles.

Gyphons photo album. Gryphons Varsity coverage.

Now, on to the big winner of the weekend - the first PTC Pumpkin Carving Champion. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the work of Derek Snider. Like many great artists before him, Derek said he didn't start with a plan, he simply started carving and let the work evolve naturally. Derek, your award is in the mail.