MASRC program promotes grassroots coaching

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This article was published 08/06/2020 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Leah Ferguson, a 2012 Canadian Olympian, first entered the world of wrestling in her hometown of Mackenzie, B.C., she was coached by a man who learned everything he knew about the sport by watching VHS tapes.

Now, a new online program by the Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council (105-145 Pacific Ave.) will put the evolution of coaching and wrestling into perspective.

“Wrestling in Manitoba was very, very huge like 20 years ago,” Ferguson, MASRC director of communications, said. “And then it did kind of go through a down scene and it’s been being rebuilt for the last 15 years.”

After running a few pilot programs, The Power of Play will make its official debut as a virtual workshop later this month, after the project received a federal sports innovation grant.

“We’ve been creating it over the last three years, and the bare bones of it is we’re trying to simplify grassroots coaching of technical sports,” Ferguson said.

The workshop is designed for people who have never wrestled before but want to learn how, and for individuals who want to train people who have never wrestled before. Mentorship opportunities will also be available.

The curriculum will focus on four fundamentals: footwork; core, balance and reaction; holistic traditional games; and philosophy of sport.

“We talk a lot about humans before athletes and play before sport development. And so it’s all about how do you play with the kids and trick them into learning their sports skills,” Ferguson said.

Wrestling in Manitoba is male-dominated and lacks female participation, Ferguson explained.

“There’s a lot of male coaches here,” she said. “I think we have three or four female coaches within the province. So we do have lower female numbers here and so that’s what we’re looking to build up.”

Ferguson explained that having few grassroots-level coaches in the province means a smaller wrestler population.

“If a kid has never had contact with a sport before they enter that high school (level) … (there are) very, very low chances they’re going to try it, once they’re at that development age,” she said.

“So we need more grassroot-level coaches in a variety of sports so that when our kids enter high school they can have the doors open to all the different sports and not feel like they can only play basketball because that was all they were introduced to in their small communities.”

The workshop will take place between Mon., June 15 and Thurs., June 18, from noon to 1:30 p.m. To register, email masrckucharski@gmail.com