COACHING CERTIFICATION POLICY

Purpose

1. The purpose of this Policy is to outline the certification requirements for coaching ringette in Canada for the 2021-2022 season only and to describe the various ringette coaching education programs developed and offered by Ringette Canada.

Application of this Policy

2. This Policy applies to all individuals wishing to engage in the role of a coach or instructor for the sport of ringette in Canada.

Objectives

3. The objectives of Ringette Canada’s coaching certification program are to:
   1. Plan and develop all ringette coaching resource materials
   2. Promote and align with the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP)
   3. Develop and/or enhance coaching programs and resources to improve the skill level of ringette participants

Minimum Coaching Requirements

4. All coaches are required to have or adhere to the following:
   1. Must be duly registered with their local and provincial ringette associations.
   2. Must have completed a Safe Sport module. This module can be either the Coaching Association of Canada’s Safe Sport Module or the Respect in Sport for Activity Leaders module.
   3. Must adhere at all times to the Rule of Two. Ringette Canada requires that there always be two screened and NCCP trained or certified coaches with an athlete, especially a minor athlete, when in a potentially vulnerable situation such as in a locker room or meeting room. All one- on-one interactions between a coach and an athlete must take place within earshot and in view of the second coach except for medical emergencies. One of the coaches must also be of the same gender as the athlete. Should there be a circumstance where a second screened and NCCP trained or certified coach is not available, a screened volunteer, parent, or adult can be recruited.
   4. Must follow their provincial and/or local association(s) screening policy.
   5. Must have at least one (1) coach per team with the coach requirements outlined in the Recommended Ringette Canada’s Coaching Requirements table at section 6.

Provincial Coaching Requirements

5. All coaches must adhere to their Provincial Ringette Association coaching requirements.

Recommended Ringette Canada’s Coaching Requirements

6. For the 2021-22 season only, Ringette Canada recommends the following coaching requirements:

   Division	Level	Qualified Female on the Bench		Position	Make Ethical Decisions (MED)		Coach Initiation in Sport)	Community Sport Initiation (CSI)	Competition Introduction (CI)		Competition Development (CD)
   		Trained	Certified		Certified	Trained		Trained	Trained	Certified	Certified
   Children’s Ringette				Program Lead	✓			✓
   		✓		Other Coaches		✓	✓
   U12	–	✓		All Coaches	✓			✓
   U14	C, B, A	✓		All Coaches	✓				✓
   	AA	✓		Head Coach	✓					✓
   				Assistant Coaches	✓				✓
   				CIT	✓				✓
   U16 U19	C	✓		All Coaches	✓				✓
   	B	✓		All Coaches	✓				✓
   	A		✓	All Coaches	✓					✓
   				CIT	✓				✓
   	AA		✓	All Coaches	✓					✓
   Open/ NRL	AA		✓	All Coaches	✓					✓
   Open	C, B, A			All Coaches	There are no coaching requirements for Open division coaches. Coach requirements will be set by the Province.
   30+ (Masters)	All			All Coaches
   Jr and Sr National Team	AAA		✓	All Coaches	✓						✓
   U20 Canada Games	AAA		✓	All Coaches	✓						✓

   Note: Coaches that are “Certified – Not Renewed” need to acquire the necessary PD points to be Renewed.

Qualified Female on the Bench

7. All divisions and levels are recommended to have at least one fully qualified female coach (18 years old and older) on the bench. Open and Masters’ Divisions are exempt from this requirement.

Qualified Bench Staff

8. Since Head Coaches and Assistant Coaches do not require the same qualifications in some divisions and levels, if an Assistant Coach is required to replace a Head Coach, the replacement coach is recommended to have the qualifications for a Head Coach in that division and level.

Coach-in-Training (CIT)

9. A Coach-in-Training:
   1. May help coach a team as part of the team’s 5-person bench staff for teams at the U12, U14 (all levels), U16 and U19A levels as a coach-in-training. (1 per Team)
   2. CIT Coaches may NOT fill the qualified female on the bench requirement.
   3. There is a one season exemption for CIT under 18. The CITs MUST be certified in the year of their 18th birthday if they are coaching and it is required for the coaching division and level.

      *CIT’s are coaches trained in CI who may not yet be certified

First Aid

10. At least one member of each team’s bench staff must have valid certification from a recognized First Aid program or active employment in a recognized health care profession.

Helmets

11. All coaches and all on-ice helpers must wear helmets on the ice.

Coach Developers

12. NCCP Coach Developers include Master Coach Developers, Learning Facilitators, and Coach Evaluators.
    1. There are two ways to become a Coach Developer candidate:
       1. Master Coach Developer (MCDs) Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations (P/TSOs), and National Sport Organizations (NSOs) can identify Coach Developer candidates.
       2. Individuals can nominate themselves through the coachingringette.ca website.

Master Coach Developer (MCD)

13. A MCD is a person trained or certified to train, mentor and evaluate Learning
    Facilitators and Coach Evaluators (LFs).
    1. Selection – Ringette Canada and the Coach Developer Team will approve MCD candidates. To qualify for selection as a Coach Developer, an individual must be endorsed by his/her PSO, have successfully completed the online evaluation of Make Ethical Decisions, and successfully demonstrate his or her competency by completing the relevant role-specific pathway.
    2. Duties and Responsibilities – A MCD will:
       1. Commit for a minimum period of three (3) years;
       2. Attend and engage in the Coach Developer Team annual activities as per the Yearly Activities Chart that can be found in the Coaching Operations Manual;
       3. Train, evaluate, mentor and update LFs and CEs;
       4. Identify and recommend future potential MCDs; and
       5. Meet annually, with the Coach Developer Team.
    3. Honoraria – The honoraria range for each level of Coach Developer is included in the Ringette Canada Coaching Operations Manual.A MCD is a person trained or certified to train, mentor and evaluate Learning Facilitators and Coach Evaluators (LFs).

Learning Facilitators (LF) and Coach Evaluators (CE)

14. A Learning Facilitator (LF) is a person certified to facilitate NCCP certification clinics.
    1. Selection – Coaches interested in becoming a Learning Facilitator and/or Coach Evaluator will complete the Coach Developer application form on the coachingringette.ca website. The candidate’s application will be reviewed. For selection to be approved, the PSO, the Master Coach Developer in that province and the Ringette Canada Technical Director must approve the candidate.
    2. Eligibility Requirements – Candidates wishing to become a Learning Facilitator and/or Coach Evaluator must meet the following minimum requirements:
       1. Achieving Certification in the Ringette CI or CD context or Trained status in the ringette CSI context; depending on the context the coach developer wishes to take a role in.
       2. A minimum of three (3) years of teaching and/or coaching experience in ringette; and formal background in education and/or current involvement with training/education is recommended.
    3. Duties and Responsibilities – Learning Facilitators and Coach Evaluators will:
       1. Commit for a minimum period of three (3) years;
       2. Meet the Maintenance of Certification requirements;
       3. Train, update, and evaluate coaches within their jurisdiction;
       4. Identify and recommend future potential Coach Developers;
    4. Honoraria – The honoraria fee schedule is outlined in the Ringette Canada Coaching Operations Manual.A Learning Facilitator (LF) is a person certified to facilitate NCCP certification clinics.

Equivalencies

15. Equivalencies have only been offered to fully certified coaches from the “Levels” NCCP. Those that have not achieved full certification will be required to complete the requirements for the new NCCP contexts. There are no transfers or equivalencies offered for coaches for sport-specific training with NCCP training in other sports who wish to coach ringette. Coaches can receive equivalencies for training offered in the multi-sport environment.

Maintenance of Certification

16. All coaches and Coach Developers are required to continue their life-long professional development in their roles. Ringette Canada follows a 5-year cycle as set out by the CAC. The five-year cycle begins on January 1st following the year of the coach’s achievement of certification.
    1. Coaches and Coach Developers are required to accumulate the following points:

Coaches:	Community Sport – Initiation: 10 points
	Competition – Introduction: 20 points
	Competition –Development: 30 points
Coach Developers:	(LFs, CEs, MCDs): 20 points
Maintenance of Certification points completed are eligible for all roles an individual may hold.

This Policy is subject to review at least once every year
Date of last review: September 2021

The publication of Ringette Canada policies will be in the English and French languages. In the case of conflicting interpretations, the English version will prevail.