Para sport coaching update: Haley Bennett-Osborne wins national award

CALGARY – Haley Bennett-Osborne was named the 2024 Canadian Coach Of The Year – Paralympic Program at the Canadian Swimming Congress held this past weekend in Calgary.

Bennett-Osborne, head coach of the Catalina Swim Club in Red Deer, Alta., coached her brother Nicholas Bennett to two gold medals and a silver at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. 

“I’m proud of her as a swimmer but even more proud as a brother. She’s deserved this her entire life. She’s put her life on hold for me at times, but she’s also embodied everything that’s great in the sport and totally deserves it,” Nicholas said.

Growing up with Nicholas and spending the last two years as his full-time coach has helped Bennett-Osborne in her understanding of Para athletes. She believes to train an athlete, a coach must know them as a person first.

A native of Parksville, B.C., Bennett-Osborne had a 10-year career as a competitive swimmer. Even before her retirement, she did some coaching, which she found came naturally. She liked the excitement of coaching and working with people.

Bennett-Osborne began coaching at the Ravensong Aquatic Club in Qualicum Beach, B.C. in 2016 and worked her way up to becoming the club’s head coach. She moved to the Catalina club last September. Paris was her first Paralympics after coaching at the last two World Para Swimming Championships.

“I think (moving to Red Deer) still would have been the right decision even if it hadn’t gone the way we wanted it to, but I think it solidifies that it was the right decision to move,” said Haley, who switched Nicholas to more medley-based training in preparation for the Paralympics.

“I’m glad he feels like I’ve played a big part in how he’s done but I also want him to recognize it’s what he’s done, it’s not what I’ve done. If I’ve helped, then awesome, but I also don’t want him to feel like he owes me anything.”

Archery Canada names Linda Price as head coach of Para archery program

Archery Canada announced that Linda Price has accepted an 18-month contract to lead Canada’s Paralympic Archery program through to the 2025 Para Archery World Championships.

“I am very excited to be more involved with the Para program, its athletes and the strategy going forward,” said Price, from Mission, B.C. “We have a great team of Para athletes, and I am looking forward to seeing it grow in the coming years.”

Price supported Paralympian Kyle Tremblay of Deep River, Ont. to a sixth-place finish at the Paralympic Games last month and a bronze medal at the 2023 Parapan Am Games, which qualified a spot for Canada for Paris.

Price has been coaching for 15 years and was only an archer for a year before she became a coach. When her daughter switched sports in 2006 and took up archery, Price followed suit and picked up the bow and arrow.

She was named Archery Canada’s Volunteer of the Year in 2021.

“Linda has been a key member and valuable asset to various Canadian teams throughout the years, having worked with athletes at all levels in Canada,’’ said Kylah Cawley, Archery Canada’s high performance manager. “She became a key technical support member for the Paralympic team in the last couple of years and gained valuable experience.

‘’Having Linda in this leadership position becomes vital for our program to ensure consistent technical leadership throughout our strategy development”

With files from Swimming Canada and Archery Canada