Funding opportunity for female softball coaches

from Softball Ontario

NORTH YORK, ON- Attention all Softball Associations who would like to train coaches for the 2009 Softball Season! Today Softball Ontario received a great opportunity for you to obtain funding to help train female coaches, but you must act quickly!

Due to tight timelines set by Softball Canada, Softball Ontario must provide a list of interested Softball Associations for consideration for the Coaching Association of Canada’s “We Are Coaches” Campaign by THURSDAY JANUARY 22, 2009! The “We Are Coaches” Campaign provides financial assistance for coaching clinics at the house league level.

The “We Are Coaches” campaign funding opportunity is for Softball Associations who are interested in hosting a Softball Ontario/National Coaching Certification Program “Lean to Coach” or “Keep Coaching” clinic(s). Softball Ontario delivers the National Coaching Certification Program for Softball in the Province of Ontario.

To be eligible to apply for this special funding you cannot previously participated in Year 1, Year 2 or Year 3 of the “We Are Coaches” campaign.

“We Are Coaches” is a three-year campaign designed to increase the number of trained Women coaches in Canada in order to provide female mentors and role models for young participants. The campaign primarily targets mothers with children involved in community level sport, and strongly communicates the sense of community, reward, and FUN that can be achieved through coaching.

In year one of the campaign, Coaches Association of Canada partnered with Softball Canada to pilot this initiative with the community of Orleans, ON.

In year two of the campaign, the following Softball Communities participated: Windsor, ON, St. Catharines, ON and Orleans, ON.

In year three of the campaign, the following Softball Communities participated: Arthur, ON, Oshawa, ON, Oakville, ON, Orleans, ON and Windsor, ON.

Local communities in Ontario are to recruit Women to participate in the sports’ National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) community sport workshops (Learn to Coach and Keep Coaching). There will be additional training and support offered in open and friendly forums to further encourage and assist these women in becoming successful community coaches. In an effort to continually enhance Canada's community sport programs through coach training and developmental activities, six (6) grants of $1500 each will be awarded to local softball organizations across Canada.

The community coaching grants must be completed by March 31, 2008. Softball Canada is responsible for the financial assistance of “We are Coaches” grant while Softball Ontario the administration of the program. If your local softball association would benefit from “We Are Coaches” program, please contact Stephanie Sutton by Thursday, January 22, 2009 by 4:00 pm via email at ssutton@softballontario.ca or by calling 416-426-7150 with the proposed date of your clinic and the clinic you wish to offer.

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Softball Ontario is the governing body for the sport of softball in Ontario. Our goal is to promote and develop the sport of softball for its athletes, officials and volunteers by providing programs and services at all levels of competitions.