Mark Smith (HPCTL 2020) is an experienced, highly regarded fastpitch softball coach with many accolades and awards under his belt. With 25 years of experience, he decided to enroll in the School of Kinesiology’s professional coaching program in High Performance and Technical Leadership. “I had reached a point where I felt I was no longer growing and being challenged as a coach. I wanted an opportunity to be pushed and be exposed to other perspectives. In the end, it was that and more. I recognized quickly there is no downside to learning – that to be in classes with like-minded people, where everyone is eager to improve themselves and grow their knowledge helped me enhance my coaching skills,” recounts Mark. He goes on to state that he found the entire learning process to be helpful: “In some areas I brought past experience, but I learned some new skills and enhanced others. I may not have learned a great deal about coaching science before joining the program, my prior knowledge and experience were validated by my instructors and peers, encouraging me to learn and assist my fellow classmates on their learning journey.”
Mark notes Dr. Shaunna Taylor’s class in Psychology of Leadership and Group Processes as a course of particular value to him. “She did a great job of challenging participants to recognize the psychological components of performance. Also, Program Director and professor Dr. Maria Gallo challenged me in the sport science space. I had a basic understanding of performance planning, but I understood the importance of sport-specific training and the competitive advantage it could provide. And of course, the monthly reflective blogs that Dave Hill, the HPCTL Industry Director and Director of System Excellence for the CSI Pacific, oversaw were very interesting to write and to learn from written by fellow classmates.” Mark recommends the program to all coaches, explaining that “coach education is often undervalued. In high-performance sports, there is an ingrained culture of former players believing they have learned enough from their lived experiences, as athletes, to compensate for the lack of academic underpinnings of coach education. However, we do not fully appreciate the value of information until we are confronted with a situation that makes us reflect.”
Mark is a member of three Sport Halls of Fame and has led his teams to national and international championships including multiple Pan American Games and World Championship podium finishes, but it wasn’t until July 2021 that he led a team to the Olympics in Tokyo. He explains, “from 1996 to 2008, women’s softball was a core sport at the Olympic Games. Despite its removal from the Olympic program in 2008, Japan’s world-renowned women’s softball program helped influence the inclusion of the sport in the 2020 Games in Tokyo. This opportunity brought me to coach our national women’s softball team. Japan is an incredible country, and it was so unfortunate that the world could not visit Japan due to the pandemic. The people and culture there are exceptional. Despite COVID-19, the Games were safe, and a great experience for all who attended.”
Upon graduating from the HPCTL program, Mark led the Canadian Women’s National Softball Team to a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and has since retired as an international coach. “I felt this was the right time for me to move on and try something different. I want to focus on sports administration. And I consider myself a coach in every workplace I serve in. I currently coach a staff team of 10 people as Director of Sport in Sport Nova Scotia. Likewise, I have created a mentorship program for Black and Indigenous coaches in Nova Scotia, in addition to doing some leadership and coaching consulting work.”
