The National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) is a coach training and certification program for all coaches in more than 60 sports.  The NCCP is moving towards a competency-based approach where coaches are:

• trained in NCCP outcomes relevant to the participants that they are coaching
• evaluated by demonstrating coaching outcomes to a specified standard

The core competencies of coaching are valuing, interacting, leading, problem-solving, and crital thinking.  These competencies will be woven throughout all NCCP training and evaluation activities.

Who am I coaching?

The new structure of the NCCP is based on the participants' needs, which are identified within streams and contexts.

Community Sport Stream

Initiation context (Initiation CSp-Init)
Participants of all ages are encouraged to participate in the sport and introduced to sport basics in a fun, safe, and self-esteem building environment regardless of their ability.

Ongoing participation context (Ongoing participation CSp-Ong)
Participants of all ages are encouraged to continue participating in the sport for fun, fitness, skill development, and socail interaction.

Competition Stream

Introduction context (Introduction Comp-Int)
Children and/or adolescents are taught basic sport skills and athletic abilities in a fun and safe environment and are typically prepared for local and/or regional level competitions.

Development context (Development Comp-Dev)
Adolescents and young adults are coached to refine basic sport skills, to develop more advanced skills and tactics, and are generally prepared for performance at provincial and/or national level competitions.

High performance context (High performance Comp-HP)
Young adults are coached to refine advanced skills and tactics and are typically prepared for performance at national and international level competitions.

Instruction Stream

Beginners context (Beginners Inst-Beg)
Participants of all ages, with little or no sport experience, are taught basic sport skills.

Intermediate performers context (Intermediate performers Inst-Imd)
Participants, who already have some experience and proficiency in the sport, are taught to refine basic skills and introduced to more complex techniques.

Advanced performers context (Advanced performers Inst-Adv)
Participants who are experienced and already proficient in the sport are taught to refine advanced skills and techniques.

What do I need to be able to do?

Within each context, coaching outcomes are defined by National Sport Organization (NSOs) that clearly outline what you must be able to do in order to meet the needs of participants in that context.  Contact your NSO to find out which context is relevent to you and what you need to do to achieve accreditation.

Coaching Outcomes

• Make Ethical Decisions
• Provide Support to Athletes
• Plan a Practice
• Support the Competitive Experience
• Analyze Performance
• Design a Sport Program
• Manage a Problem
• Sport-specific Outcomes (as determined by the sport)

How do I achieve accreditation?

Coaches can receive three types of accreditation in any of the above contexts:

In Training: Coach needs to be trained in additional outcomes.
Trained: Coach has completed training in designated outcomes.
Certified: Coach has been evaluated in designated outcomes and has acknowledged teh NCCP Code of Conduct.

For more information go to www.coach.ca.

The National Coaching Certification Program is a collaborative program of the Government of Canada, provincial/territorial governments, national/provincial/territorial sport organizations, and the Coaching Association of Canada.