Barry Smith Chicago Blackhawks Director of Player Development with Nate Leslie at www.prepcamp.com
Here is a quick list of links to coach certification requirements if you want to coach in a minor hockey association in British Columbia. I find answers are sometimes hard to find when I am chatting at the rink, so here you go! Want to learn more about us while you are here? Click!
In short, coach certification requirements to coach minor hockey in British Columbia you need to:
- Get a criminal record check online
- Take the Concussion Awareness Training Tool online
- Take Respect in Sport online
- Take Hockey University online
- Take a 1 day course in person
- Course requirements by age/level – BC Hockey lays out your coach certification requirements you need. This is actually a great list. Below I have links to the actual course application page.
- Criminal Record Check – Canadian Justice Department online and pretty simple, although I managed to mess up my most recent application by answering the credit question incorrectly, now have to submit manually, so get the questions right! Use BC Hockey access code FY4HH6R6BN.
- Concussion Awareness Training Tool – CATT online course. Such a great tool! Take the Course. Coach Page. Parent Page. Player Page.
- Respect in Sport online course – This course takes about 3 hours but you can do it in chunks. Lots of great content about the right way to work with kids! You need to complete this before you step on the ice.
- Hockey University – This online course takes about 4 hours and you can do it in chunks. This is the online portion of the hockey coaching certification that you must do before you are eligible to complete Coach 1 or Coach 2. Under Type: Click on HU – Coach 1 -Intro to Coach.
- Registration Process – pretty clear! This example is for Coach 2.
- Initiation & Novice (Intro, H1-4 ages 5-8): You need Coach 1, unless you already have Coach 2 from past years! Coach 1 is new, with a major focus on promoting the benefits and techniques to run great CROSS ICE hockey. The classroom/ice portion is 4 hours, offered on an evening, or 1/2 day on a weekend. You to take Hockey University before you can take the 4 hour in person clinic.
- All Atom (ages 9-10), Pee Wee Rec (ages 11-12), Bantam Rec (ages 13-14): You need Coach 2. If you got your certification more than a few years ago, you also need the Instructional Stream Checking Clinic
- Pee Wee Rep and higher: You need Development 1 or higher. Make sure you check with association, as the higher level clinics are not offered as much and require a lot more work.
- Coach 1 – This is the coaching certification program new coaches with young kids (5-8 years) need to take. I believe this is a slightly new course, as these coaches needed Coach 2 in 2016, but at that time there was no Coach 1. Don’t ask me why! I have ran Coach 2 clinics for BC Hockey the past few years, and this is the first year I recall Coach 1 on the list!
- Register for a course – For example, Hockey University, then Coach 1.
We have a number of resources to help you get started as a coach even before you get your certifications done. Check them out here!