Coaching Grant Opportunities – Cross Country Skiing

Available Grants - National

CCC AltaGas Club Professional

Coach Support Program

Women on Skis Committee

AltaGas High Performance Coaching Experience Program

External Organizations NCCSDA (CCC managed)

CAC – Internship Grant

Women in Coaching

GM Making Dreams Possible (Club & HP Grants)

AltaGas Club Professional Coach Support Program Provide funding support to clubs for the purpose of hiring a full

time coach

Primarily for clubs targeting L2C-T2C stages

Currently offering 3 yr grants on a declining scale (15k, 12k, 8k)

Next available application period will be May 2011

High Performance Coaching Experience Program – HPCE Not technically a grant, however does provide funding for

professional development experiences

Opportunities could include coaching at World Junior/U23 Championships, other international racing trips and camps, working with NST/NDC programs in camp and race situations.

Typically all expenses are covered for the coach to attend the race/camp

Similar programs are run by each Division (Alberta Coaching Experience Program – ACE), ex coaches for Canada Winter Games and Alberta Ski Team camps

GM Making Dreams Possible

Chevrolet Club Coaching Grants Targeting community based clubs

looking for funding assistance for coach education and training

51 grants of $2,000 twice per year

Next application: June 2010

Chevrolet High Performance Grants Targeting coaches for the purpose

of enhancing coaching excellence and expertise that will support their athletes’ drive to the podium.

Coach-Athlete pairing with specific plan for targeted funding

10 grants of $10,000 each year (ex Alex Harvey/Louis Bouchard)

Women in Coaching CAC Professional Development Grants

$2,000 to eligible female coaches for professional development (courses, seminars, competitions, etc)

Must be a level 3 coach and eligible for the level 4/5 program

NCI Scholarship $1,500 per year for tuition in an NCI program (level 4 candidates) Apply through the NCI Director (deadline – July 15, 2010)

National Team Apprentice Program Provide opportunities for female coaches to work with National Team programs in the

lead up to major international competitions (World Champs, Olympics) Program runs for 2 ½ years, next cycle should begin fall 2010

Canada Games Apprentices Provide opportunity for female coaches to gain experience at national multi-sport

games Currently group for 2011 is already selected (includes cross country ski coach from New

Brunswick)

NCCSDA - National Cross Country Ski Development Association ‘The “National Cross-Country Ski Development Association” has been established to assist cross-country ski clubs in

financing their skier development and competitive racing programs.’

Program has a focus on high performance racing at the L2C-T2C level by providing support for coaches and coaching development in order to develop the next generation of National Team skiers

4 priorities for funding assistance:

1. Full time club coaches (or additional part time coaches)

2. Assisting with education of professional ski coaches including former racers

3. Direct assistance to high performance athletes

4. Funding for CCC National Development Centre’s

Private association distributing funds from an endowment started by a friend of CCC

Managed by CCC, direction and all final funding decisions handled by the NCCSDA Board

Program is currently in the 3rd season (just completed application process)

1st yr – 240k – 8 clubs, 4 coaches (NCI) – only AB,BC,YK

2nd yr – 150k – 9 clubs, 3 coaches – only AB,BC,YK

3rd yr – over 65 applications (including athletes) total over 800k in requests – applications from all across Canada - first year for direct athlete grants

CAC Internship Program

Provide funding to hire young professional coaches

Part of the GoC’s ‘Youth Employment Strategy’

10 - $12,000 grants every season (next application should be this summer)

Coach requirements

Canadian citizen

15-30 yrs old

Post-secondary graduate, out of school

Currently not employed in field of study (this can be a little flexible typically)

They expect a minimum of a matching contribution from the club (ie. $24,000 salary for the coach)

Several ski clubs in Canada have used this grant effectively to hire coaches (Nakkertok, Team Hardwood, CNEPH, Big Thunder, Skibec)

Grant Writing Tips Find out exactly what the purpose, objectives and expectations are for each

specific grant application you are planning to submit Contact the organization to ask for any clarification or ‘tips’ that they might have for

your application

Often times they will provide information that they are not able to write on the actual application information, they might be able to give some examples of applications that have been successful in the past

Ensure that your program meets all the requirements of the grant, clarify any questions before you submit the application

Keep applications focused on the essential information, clear and concise. Organizations are often reviewing dozens or even hundreds of applications and will

quickly discard applications that are running around in circles

An ‘executive summary’ with all the relevant information is a good start since you can make all the necessary points without excess information and follow up with supporting documents

Why is your program the best choice for the grant? What makes your program different?? How will your club use the grant to improve programs and meet the goals of the funding organization?

Grant Writing Tips (cont) Work on documenting your club program in a manner that makes it easy to present your

program in applications

Each application can use the same basic club information with the specifics tailored to the expectations of the grant

This is typically the same information that is effective in promoting the program to parents/athletes and other potential sponsors

Look at creating a strategic plan, organization charts, program charts/descriptions, mission statements and your organization’s purpose and objectives

Ensure that all information, proposals and claims made in a grant application are completely accurate and realistic

Each organization with undertake due diligence when screening/ reviewing applications and almost without exception they will weed out the inaccurate or unrealistic claims

National organizations like the CAC will contact the respective NSO or PSO to inquire and confirm all applications related to those groups. CCC will often need to endorse an application in order for a grant to be approved (eg. GM High Performance Grants)

If you have someone in your club that is effective at writing grants, support them and encourage them to keep doing it. You might even consider providing a commission to them if they are really effective.