Special Olympics Canada Site

Online Coach Education

To support our incredible community, Special Olympics BC is committed to creating virtual coach education opportunities and resources!

New releases

Functional Testing

In fall 2021, Special Olympics BC revamped our functional testing tools to be easier for all coaches and athletes to use. Functional testing helps track and motivate sport skill improvements and foundational fitness. 

NCCP Special Olympics Competition Sport Workshop

In fall 2021, SOBC began offering the NCCP Special Olympics Competition Sport Workshop virtually as well as in person, to ensure that coaches around the province can complete this crucial training without the barriers associated with traveling.

All SOBC coaches (except for Active Start and FUNdamentals) are required to complete this certification within their first year of coaching Special Olympics athletes. The workshop helps equip coaches to empower athletes with intellectual disabilities. It covers various associated disabilities, basic delivery of sport skills, sport-specific and competition-based fitness, competition, and safety.

Virtual and in-person NCCP Special Olympics workshops are being offered this season throughout the province. 

Upcoming courses:

Learn more

Coach Development Webinars

These sport-specific webinars are for coaches only, and are open to all Special Olympics BC coaches. They are additions to our annual calendar of in-person Coach Development Workshops. 

In the 2021-22 season, SOBC is hosting both in-person Coach Development Workshops and virtual Coach Development Webinars. To see all upcoming coach development events, click into the SOBC event calendar and use the "Filter by Type" Coach Education selection.

All coaches can enjoy the below recordings anytime!

Recordings

Non-sport specific

Basic Sport Skills

Through his work with Special Olympics BC and the Coach Development Workshops, sport performance expert Jacques Thibault has created a basic sport skills package for every SOBC sport. These packages outline the basic skills that each athlete should be able to do as a foundation for their sport. The packages are valuable for coaches because they contain tips for coaching skill progression, assessment checklists, and lesson planning tools.

These tools can be used by both coaches and athletes to help with at-home sport-specific skill training.

Please click here to find the Basic Skill Acquisition packages for all 18 SOBC sports, plus videos for some sports (more coming soon!).

These packages identify the fundamental skills that an athlete should have to participate with confidence and ability in their chosen sport. By focusing on having great basic sport skills, any athlete in our program can achieve success as they will work at their own pace to gain skills and increase their physical literacy. With mastery of basic skills, athletes achieve:

  • the ability to stay involved in sports for the rest of their lives,
  • the capacity to increase their level of competition,
  • a heightened standard for performance in B.C., and 
  • the confidence and competence to participate in recreational and sport opportunities outside Special Olympics.

SO International tools

Special Olympics International has compiled a few examples of resources to support coaches connecting with their athletes online. The tools will not all be suitable for every coach or every athlete, but they will all give you possibilities, ideas, and food for thought!

Coaching Courses

Required for Special Olympics BC

Among the other courses that can be completed online are:

  • Special Olympics Canada Volunteer Orientation – free and can be completed anytime – please click here
  • NCCP Making Ethical Decisions (MED) course – please visit viaSport British Columbia’s events calendar to find available courses, and please contact SOBC's Lois McNary (details below) to discuss fee options.

Further information regarding all SOBC coach requirements, please review the SOBC Coaching Courses Pathway and the Coach Certification website page. 

Additional Opportunities

The National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) and Special Olympics Canada (SOC) have online modules designed to enhance coaches’ skills and abilities. These modules are accessible through your online NCCP account in the eLearning section.
If you don’t know your NCCP number or account information, please contact SOBC’s Helen Cheung (details below) before proceeding. She can create or resend your account information.

Directions to the NCCP Multi-Sport and/or SOC Online Modules:

  1. Go to The Locker’s login page.
  2. Log in using your NCCP number, email, and password. (If you need assistance, please contact Lois McNary before creating anything new.)
  3. Once logged in and on your home screen, click the ELEARNING option in the navigation bar.
  4. This will take you directly to the NCCP Multi-Sport Online Modules.
  5. To access the SOC online modules, please click the box for “Multi-Sport” – a drop-down menu will open, where you can select “Special Olympics.”

Many of these Online Modules are FREE!

A number of the NCCP Multi-Sport Modules are free:

  1. Developing Athletic Abilities pre-workshop session
  2. Making Head Way – concussion awareness and guidelines for concussion in sport
  3. NCCP Emergency Action Plan
  4. Safe Sport Training (Note: Please select Sport then Special Olympics – do not select Multi-Sport)

All four of the SOC Online Modules are free:

  1. Coaching Athletes with Down Syndrome
  2. Diversity and Inclusion in Action
  3. Exercise-Induced Asthma Training
  4. Supporting Individuals with Autism in Recreation Settings

additional sources for opportunities

Questions

Please do not hesitate to contact Madeleine Antwi, SOBC Sport & Coach Development Coordinator, at 604-785-9038 or mantwi@specialolympics.bc.ca