Strategic Plan: Relentless Pursuit of Excellence Speed Skating in Canada (DRAFT)

Transcription

1 Strategic Plan: Relentless Pursuit of Excellence Speed Skating in Canada (DRAFT) 90

2 Relentless Pursuit of Excellence Speed Skating in Canada

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction Vision, Mission & Values Priority Areas... 2 Priority 1 : Management - Establish Sound Finance and Governance Practices... 3 Priority 2 : Relationships - Build Collaborative Relationships with Members and Partners. 4 Priority 3 : Technical Leadership - Driven by Highly Skilled Coaches and Supported by Capable Technical Leaders in Administrative Roles... 5 Priority 4 : Programming Establish High Quality, Developmentally Appropriate Programming with Consistent Delivery... 7 Priority 5 : Promotion - Create Consistent Stream of Visibility and Revenue Generation Opportunities for Speed Skating... 10

4 OUR VISION The Relentless Pursuit of Excellence Achieving this vision will require a collective effort of the entire Canadian Speed Skating community. This community includes the leading administrative bodies Speed Skating Canada and its partners the Branches and Clubs and the many thousands of volunteers within the sport. Club leaders, coaches, officials, event organizers, facility operators, our funders and individual participants will have a part to play. OUR MISSION Speed Skating Canada organizes and coordinates the sport of speed skating in Canada for the betterment of the sport and its members Together, Speed Skating Canada with all speed skating participants, we aim to build Canada's position as a world leader in our approach to the delivery of the sport and the results we achieve. We also aim to make skating the activity/sport for everyone a sport that is accessible and enjoyable for Canadians of all ages and backgrounds. OUR VALUES Sport is an apprenticeship for life Respect for others Integrity Excellence of effort Innovation Safe and healthy environment Volunteers These core beliefs serve as the principles that guide our actions, policies and decision-making.

5 OUR PRIORITY AREAS ( ) Speed Skating Canada has three main goals leading up to 2020 : PARTICIPATION Set a course to make speed skating a stronger participation sport, increasing skater registration from 10, 000 to 25,000 annually PROMOTION Develop a brand and image that makes speed skating programs, events and athletes highly recognized and desirable to associate with PERFORMANCE Make Canada the #1 Speed Skating Nation in Long and Short Track These goals have been developed by Speed Skating Canada and have been validated in our consultations with Branches, individual members and other partners. They provide the strategic framework for shared goals for the sport of Speed Skating in Canada. Every member of the speed skating community has a role to play in achieving these goals. These goals are inter-related and require a strong sporting system to be achieved. They are relevant to all organization involved in the development and delivery of speed skating in Canada and run through all stages of development. Through 2020, five areas of emphasis have been identified. 1. MANAGEMENT - Sound Finance, Governance and Risk Management Practices are core to effective operations of any organization. 2. RELATIONSHIPS In the 21 st century, no organization can go it alone. Speed Skating Canada must seek to build on existing and new relationships. 3. TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP - Strong technical leadership driven by highly skilled coaches and supported by capable technical leaders in administrative roles is essential in able to designing and implementing high quality, developmentally appropriate programs for participants in every stage of development is core Speed Skating Canada s success. 4. PROGRAMMING High quality, developmentally appropriate programming with consistent delivery is essential to the success of speed skating programs at every level. 5. PROMOTION Driving revenue generation and sport awareness through well developed marketing and communication activities will be at the foundation of creating the resources from which development of the sport will be consistent and self-sufficient.

6 1 MANAGEMENT - ESTABLISH SOUND FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE PRACTICES [This priority and the following strategies are owned by the Board of Directors, assisted by the new Finance and Audit Committee and the Governance Committee] 1.1 Establish financial controls Learn from history! Speed Skating Canada will create its first-ever independent Finance and Audit Committee to monitor finances in the Association. The terms of reference for the Committee will be developed by the Board. The role of the Finance and Audit Committee will be to provide financial oversight over budget management. 1.2 Develop an investment policy Although the focus has been and will continue to be on revenue generation and budgeting, the Association should begin implementation of an investment strategy through setting aside a modest percentage of revenues to begin to build up reserves, and placing these reserves under professional investment management. 1.3 Review and Update Governance Structures The goal of this work is to provide sound management practices and policies at the Board and management levels clearly defining and separating the roles in order to ensure the Board of Directors is focused on policy and management is in charge of operations. For the purposes of the strategic plan establishing sound governance practices is broadly defined and is understood to mean reviewing and updating articles of incorporation and bylaws; membership structure and classes; confirming the role of the Board as a policy board; board composition and succession planning; election and nomination system; committee structure and committee terms of reference; overall roles and responsibilities of Board, committees and staff; and reporting relationships within Speed Skating Canada. 1.4 Review and update SSC s Risk Registry and develop appropriate strategies to address major organizational risks In 2008 Speed Skating Canada developed a comprehensive risk registry identifying the major risks facing the organization, many strategies and tactics have been implemented to address these risks since this time. This registry is to be updated to identify major risks facing the organization related to current operations and the stated strategic objectives.

7 2 RELATIONSHIPS - BUILD COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH MEMBERS AND PARTNERS [The Board and CEO own this goal and the following strategies] 2.1 Begin to work towards a unified Speed Skating in Canada family Speed Skating Canada, its branches and clubs will work towards coordinating their vision, mission, values and strategic plans with a view to unifying Speed Skating in Canada. This will require more strategic communication and greater collaboration in planning and commitment to common objectives and leadership from branches to carry the same messages to their member clubs. (i.e. similar to April 2012 pre-agm meeting). 2.2 Create a system where every person involved with or interested in Speed Skating is connected to Speed Skating Canada This will require a sustained focus involving political advocacy, a membership development strategy, a more robust national registration system, extensive media presence, web site upgrades, expanding opportunities for social networking, e-newsletters, etc. 2.3 Improve communication with members and member engagement This will involve communicating very proactively with Branches on all issues and engaging directly with sport participants. Branch representatives will be invited to planning sessions. Speed Skating Canada will create opportunities to meet with branch leaders and partners around common events and means for sport participants to engage with Speed Skating Canada. Staff will create and implement a communications plan to support this strategy and the organization will support this plan through appropriate resource allocation. 2.4 Strengthen relationship with funding / technical partners This will require advocacy and relationship-building with partners like Sport Canada, Own the Podium and others on issues of funding, contribution of Speed Skating to the health and wellness of our communities and need for enhanced infrastructure strategies for our sport. 2.5 Leverage relationships with NSO and MSO partners in achieving similar system goals This will involve proactively working with partners like COC, Canadian Sport Centers, Canada Games, CIS/CCAA, Coaches of Canada, Coaching Association of Canada, Participaction, Sport Matters, Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, various parks and recreation organizations, Federation of Canadian Municipalities and various Provincial / Municipal partners. 2.6 Increase Speed Skating Canada s Presence at the International Level Build strong relationships with ISU management, have presence on ISU committees, and build relationships with fellow ISU members. Plan for succession in international representation.

8 3 TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP [CEO, Coaching, Club and Membership Development and LTPAD Committees and the Director of Education and Leadership Development own this goal and related strategies] 3.1 Modernize the delivery of SSC s coach training and certification To achieve this goal, SSC in partnership with its funding partners and member branches will aggressively pursue the development of new training modules, the development of e- learning and an on-line resource centre with a specific focus on accessibility and financial sustainability. 3.2 Develop a pool of qualified, active coaches achieving a minimum coach to athlete ratio of 1:10 by 2020 To achieve this goal, SSC in partnership with its funding partners and member branches incentives will be created to encourage certification, the development of full time coaching positions will be promoted, as will the coaching as a career path. Specific initiative will be undertaken to recruit skaters and students in coaching programs as well as make it easier for parents to participate. 3.3 Enhance the recognition of the coach and value of coach certification As programs issues in training delivery are addressed SSC will progressively introduce new systems to recognise when coaches achieve certification and implement regulatory controls that reinforce the need for appropriate certification. 3.4 By 2020, there will be more than 100 full time coaches working with skaters in the Training to Train through Training to Compete stages of development (minimum 35% female) To achieve this objective SSC will work with funding partners and branches to assist in the creation of new full time coaching positions and promote the development of partnerships between clubs and other program delivers to create full time coaching positions. 3.5 By 2018, all National Team Coaching positions will have multiple qualified Canadian born applicants and the majority of SSC s national team coaching staff will be Canadian born To achieve this goal, SSC in partnership with provincial/territorial partners and the Canadian Sports Centre Network will actively seek to develop professional coaching positions so as to provide a viable career path for individuals considering a coaching career. Other opportunities, including CIS/CCAA will also be explored. 3.6 By 2014, SSC will provide access to expert resources to support sport development and participation initiatives through a team of at least 5 Regional Development Mentors.

9 3.7 Continue to develop, retain and recognize expert volunteers in all technical leadership roles Speed skating is fortunate to have a large pool of knowledgeable expert volunteers who ensure the delivery of the sport. Specifically SSC will look to develop an inventory of expertise amongst its membership and retain the services of individuals in their area of expertise and develop additional means to recognize the invaluable contribution of these individuals. 3.8 Design and implement a succession plan for officials By 2020, many national and international level officials will be approaching their retirement ages. SSC will design and implement a system to forecast the needs for officials to support participation in different stages of development and

10 4 PROGRAMMING [Coaching, Club and Membership Development and LTPAD Committees and the Director of Education and Leadership Development own these goals and related strategies] 4A Active Start, FUNdamentals, Learning to Train 4A.1 Establish partnerships with other skating sports to develop a Nationally Recognized Learn To Skate Program By 2014, SSC will collaborate with Hockey Canada and Ringette Canada to provide a common introductory program to skating to be delivered by partner member associations, facility operators, municipalities and individual entrepreneurs. 4A.2 Enhance the club environment and capacity for program delivery through Club Excellence Club Excellence is program managed by a cooperative of National Sport Organizations including Speed Skating Canada whose mission is to build a network of healthy, strong and sustainable sport clubs and organizations, across Canada. 4A.3 Develop programs which will ensure a sufficient pool of technically proficient, physically literate skaters in order to feed the skater development pathway into the Training to Train and Learning to Compete stages of development with participants from all provinces and territories To achieve this goal by 2020, each branch or region will develop and implement specific strategies to increase the number and size of speed skating programs. 4A.4 Increase the national rate of skater retention by at least 1% per year, every year through Key to increasing sport participation is not only attracting new participants to the sport but retaining those who are exposed. This is achieved by providing a positive experience to participants and providing good value for money achieved primarily through high quality, developmentally appropriate programming.

11 4B Training to Train & Learning to Compete 4B.1 Create systems and programs that will promote depth of field and see broader distribution amongst provinces/territories at national events and greater distribution of the athletes selected to national teams To achieve this goal by 2020, SSC will collaborate with branches to ensure a developmentally appropriate continuum of competitions, which exposes skaters to the right level of competition and the right time. Branches will develop strategies to increase participation and develop appropriate competitive structures through the Training to Train stage of development, while SSC will work to increase competitive opportunities in the Learning to Compete and Training to Compete stages of development to service the needs of skaters in these stages of development. 4B.2 By 2020, 30 Club Excellence Certified high performance development training groups for skaters in the Training to Train and Learning to Compete stages of development will operate in Canada To achieve this goal, SSC s branches will actively seek to develop programs, coaching support and facilities necessary for post-phv Training to Train and Learning to compete athletes within their regions. SSC will support this initiative by providing access to expert resources (Regional Development Mentors) and pursuing new delivery partners including CIS/CCAA. 4B.3 Design an athlete tracking system that allows for the collection of critical testing, performance and growth data of all skaters from the Learning to Train through training to compete stage of development By 2014, SSC will have designed a program that gathers key performance data and by 2020 have compliance by the majority of clubs in inputting key performance data into a centralised database (SSC 2.0)

12 4C High Performance (Learning/Training to Compete, Learning/Training to Win) [The HP Committees, Executive Director of Sport and High Performance Directors own this goal and related strategies.] 4C.1 Starting in 2018, lead the world in Olympic Medals (Olympic years) or World Championships Medals (non-olympic years) in both long-track and short-track To achieve this goal SSC will need to develop athletes who are capable of achieving medal participants in multiple events to respect team quotas for international events and have multiple athletes capable of achieving medal performances in each event on the international program. 4C.2 By 2020, 480 high performance athletes (240 M/240 W) will train in high quality environments To achieve this goal, an interconnected network of 10 SSC recognised regional training centres will be developed across Canada. Regional training centres will be recognised by way of clear criteria based on the provision of the training environment, including facilities required for performance in the Learning/Training to Compete stages of development and geographically distributed based on the existing pool of athletes or potential to develop a new pool. Centres may be discipline specific or multidisciplinary. 4C.3 Develop additional competitive circuits and racing opportunities for athletes in the Learning to Compete and Training to Compete stages of development This goal will be pursued in parallel to the development of Regional Training Centers and High Performance Clubs so as to provide sufficient meaningful opportunities for skaters 4D Active for Life 4D.1 By 2020, the speed skating community will have clearly defined opportunities for competitive for life and recreational active for life speed skating practice and competition. To achieve this objective, Speed Skating Canada will empower current members of its Master s community and interested individuals to develop a plan for the development of self-sustaining Active for Life and Competitive for Life speed skating programming in Canada.

13 5 PROMOTION - CREATE CONSISTENT STREAM OF VISIBILITY AND REVENUE GENERATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPEED SKATING [The CEO, in conjunction with the marketing and communications team, owns this goal and related strategies.] 5.1 Aggressively pursue revenue generation activities The Board will give staff the direction to pursue revenue generation projects. Speed Skating Canada has to create a more compelling value proposition so it can explore / expand fundraising, special events, sponsorship and major events/competition revenue generation opportunities. 5.2 Take ownership of national and international events through a robust event hosting strategy This program should drive visibility / revenues much how Canadian Curling Association, Skate Canada and/or Hockey Canada use events to build their sports. Build out a presence with our Branch partners to create a Speed Skating CIS/CCAA circuit. Consider offering prize money at events (i.e. Four Continent Cup / Canada Cup idea) to create additional broadcast clout and opportunities to build visibility for our stars. 5.3 Develop new and innovative programs and activities to attract interest and grow participation Partner with other skating sports on an integrated learn-to-skate program, leverage sponsors to build events / activities like Intact Day on Skates to introduce the general public to speed skating, and use cutting edge technologies to facilitate communication and interaction with participants and the public. 5.4 Have leading edge communication programs and people that propel awareness of Speed Skating Align communication tools, channels and partnerships to drive awareness for speed skating and its successes. This is key to maintaining and driving demand for our products from an event, participant recruitment and sponsorship perspective.

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