Thirty Canadian coaches in various stages of their careers have been selected into Athletics Canada’s Coach Mentorship Program.

The program pairs those coaches with more experienced mentors in the goal of fostering professional growth and improvement. The mentorship period began in the fall of 2021 and will run until the summer of 2022, with a kickoff training event for protégés and mentors scheduled for December 11 and 12 in Ottawa.

We are excited to meet with almost 50 of our most keen and knowledge-hungry coaches this weekend in Ottawa,” said Athletics Canada Coaching Education Manager John Lofranco.

“The goals of the weekend are for coaches to use the energy and years of wisdom in the room to get excited for their pairing, and to come out with a strong plan for their mentorship year.”

Those admitted into the program include current varsity coaches, as well as national team members and recent Olympic athletes taking early steps into a coaching career. The list of mentors, meanwhile, includes several of the greatest track and field minds in the country. Pairings were determined by geographic region, event group focus, and areas of interest.

Three-time Olympian Angela Whyte enters the program on the back of an athletic and coaching career spanning two decades. The 100m hurdles specialist and multiple time medalist in international competition is coming from 10 years of NCAA coaching experience at the University of Idaho and Washington State. Still, she said there is much she hopes to learn as she settles into her new role on the Guelph Gryphons coaching staff.

“There is no secret sauce for this stuff,” said Whyte, who coaches hurdles, sprints, jumps, and throws. “I just love to have the opportunity to pick up on what other coaches found is successful – taking as much information as I can from as many good sources as possible.”

Whyte will be paired with mentor Jason Kerr, her current co-coach at the University of Guelph. Kerr is a two-time U SPORTS coach of the year who has appeared on Team Canada’s coaching staff at the 2016 Paralympic Games, the 2015 and 2017 FISU Games, the 2019 NACAC U23 championship and more. Whyte said the pairing feels like a no-brainer.

“It’s been just a few months of working together and we’ve already had amazing discussions, so I look forward to that continuing that in this program,” she said, before adding that she looks forward to pick Kerr’s brain about long-term training plan writing.

Kerr is thrilled to get to work with Whyte in a new capacity, and hopes her background in sport psychology helps the pair accomplish their joint goal of creating an enjoyable and positive culture in which their student-athletes can thrive.

He is looking forward to helping her grow as a coach in any way he can, but also knows that the mentorship aspect of the program goes both ways.

“When you’re talking about someone who’s been to three Olympic games and seven world championships, there is a lot of things she’s experienced as a human being and as an athlete that go far beyond anything that I could possibly mentor her on,” he said.

“I’ll just be trying to get her as many opportunities as possible, work with different athletes, lead different event groups, just giving her lots of exposure.”

“There is this constant learning environment between us and it goes both ways, equally.”

Full list of coaches with their mentors

Mark Cocks (Edmonton, AB – jumps) / Mentor: Boo Shexnayder

Paul Galas (Mississauga, ON – jumps) / Mentor: Boo Shexnayder

Gee-ef Nkwonta (Winnipeg, MB – jumps) / Mentor: Boo Shexnayder

Jessica Brockerville (Port Moody, BC – mid-distance and distance) / Mentor: Brit Townsend

Malindi Elmore (Kelowna, BC – mid-distance and distance) Mentor: Brit Townsend

Marilyn Arsenault (Victoria, BC – mid-distance and distance) / Mentor: Carla Nicholls

Jen Wood (Regina, SK – throws, para-athletics) / Mentor: Carla Nicholls

Lyndsey Clapperton (Calgary, AB – sprints, hurdles, jumps) / Mentor: Carmyn James

Jessica Zelinka (Calgary, AB – multi-events) / Mentor: Carmyn James

Dorys Langlois (Verdun, QC - mid-distance and distance) / Mentor: Felix-Antoine Lapointe

Chris Belof (Fredericton, NB – sprints, mid-distance and distance) / Mentor: Felix-Antoine Lapointe

Mitch Gardiner (Saskatoon, SK – sprints and jumps) / Mentor: Gerry Dragomir

Samuel Marion (Montreal, QC – sprints, mid-distance and distance) / Mentor: Heather Hennigar

Rachelle Campbell (Elora, ON – sprints) / Mentor: Jason Kerr

Angela Whyte (Edmonton, AB – sprints, hurdles, jumps and throws) / Mentor: Jason Kerr

Jenna Westaway (Waterloo, ON – sprints, mid-distance and distance) / Mentor: Jason Reindl

Julie Crouzat (Petawawa, ON – sprints and jumps) / Mentor: Kurt Downes

Antoine Boussombo (Edmonton, AB – sprints, hurdles and jumps) / Mentor: Larry Steinke

Iuliana Kroeger (Surrey, BC – sprints, hurdles and jumps) / Mentor: Laurier Primeau

Thomas Gingras (Milton, ON – sprints, hurdles and jumps) / Mentor: Laurier Primeau

Ronald Hewer (Airdrie, AB – sprints and hurdles) / Mentor: Les Gramantik

Samantha Read (Calgary, AB – mid-distance and distance) / Mentor: Les Gramantik

Georges Gay (Lasalle, QC – mid-distance and distance) / Mentor: Martin Angel

John Steven Leblanc (Riverview, NB – multi-events) / Mentor: Mike Van Tighem

Leslie Sexton (Vancouver, BC - distance) / Mentor: Mike Van Tighem

Tricia Bachman (Whitby, ON – mid-distance and distance) / Mentor: Paula Schnurr

Jody Langley (Halifax, NS – sprints, mid-distance and throws) / Mentor: Richard Parkinson

Olivier Lavoie (Sainte Thérèse, QC – multi-events) / Mentor: Ronald Morency

Celine Freeman-Gibb (Amherstburg, ON – throws) / Mentor: Vickie Croley