Coaches get introduction to Para snowboarding at Alberta snowboard camp

Fanny Girardin wants the world to know about Para snowboarding, particularly people with a disability and those in the coaching community.

One of the big steps towards her goal occurred on May 8 when Alberta Snowboard held a very successful Para snowboard coaching and community workshop at Sunshine Village in Banff.

Alberta Snowboard received a $15,000 grant from the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s Paralympic Sport Development Fund (PSDF) for the workshop. The PSDF is made possible (or funded) by the Paralympic Foundation of Canada.

At 3,000 metres altitude in the Canadian Rockies, snow was still in abundance as was the Para snowboard community. Current and past national team members were on hand to help introduce the sport to guest coaches including Paralympic champion Tyler Turner, Games medallist Lisa DeJong and veterans Sandrine Hamel and Alex Massie.

The event attracted 11 coaches from six provinces: three from Ontario, two from B.C., Manitoba and Quebec, and one from Prince Edward Island and Alberta. Para snowboard national team coach Greg Picard, technical coach Mark Fawcett, and Girardin were the camp facilitators.

‘’Having our national team athletes there made a huge difference,’’ said Girardin, the Para snowboard development coordinator for Canada Snowboard. ‘’They really gave detailed explanations about their everyday life as Para athletes, providing details that perhaps coaches wouldn’t think of.”

The Para snowboarders explained to the coaches their disabilities, how it affected their movement and what type of adaptive equipment they needed. More discussions were held on snow as coaches and athletes went through the technical aspects of the sport in greater detail during runs.

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‘’The athletes explained how their prostheses worked, let them manipulate them. Having this knowledge is really going to be important for these coaches especially when they deal with younger athletes and their parents.”

‘’The workshop had the impact we really wanted,’’ said Girardin. ‘’The coaches were really free to ask the athletes and our national team coaches the questions on equipment, the day-to-day processes, and also the barriers that Para athletes can face.’’

Girardin said the PSDF grant was crucial for the workshop’s success. Alberta Snowboard applied and received a $15,000 grant. It helped for travel costs for the coaches and on site costs.

‘’Beyond the coaches just being there, I think it also made them feel that they are part of a community. They’ll be able to bring the message of Para snowboard back to their communities.

“The funding also provided us an opportunity to add some small details that helped make it such a great experience.’’

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