The UBC Athletics Sport Science & Sport Medicine team successfully delivered its first-ever virtual Sport Science Speaker Series on Thursday, April 30th. As a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, this event was held in place of the annual UBC Sport Science Symposium and featured four distinguished UBC School of Kinesiology alumni who have pursued careers in Sport Science and Strength and Conditioning.
Joe Vecchione (MSc 2020) led off the event by sharing his remarkable career journey as a Strength and Conditioning Coach. From training athletes with the Canadian Sport Institute in Ontario, to training athletes out of a gym he built in his garage, to his current position as the Lead Physical Preparation Coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps academy, Joe reflected on his experiences to share valuable insights.
His three takeaway key tips were:
1. Define WHY you coach in one word.
2. Find a way to make things work.
3. Get experience in the sport and level you want to work in.
Jack Boyle (MKin 2016), the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Mount Royal University, then followed up with some of his coaching philosophies when addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Jack noted that fundamentally, our body must be able to balance the stress of our environment (including strength training, family, and school) with healthy coping strategies, or we will not have a positive adaptation to the stress. In light of the increased stresses, Jack prescribed yoga, walking, and “feel-good” workouts to athletes when the current health situation first arose, and has developed a re-integration plan to allow his athletes to steadily return to more intense programming throughout the summer.
Dan Adams (BKin 2016) presented on how technology is changing baseball and provided some deeper insights into the now commonplace advanced analytics that have outpaced those of any other sport to date. Dan reviewed how Driveline Baseball (where he is currently the Operations Manager) uses high-speed cameras and other tracking devices to address two key questions: 1) What is the ball doing; and 2) What is the body doing!
You can find more details regarding the technology used here. While Dan’s focus is primarily on baseball, this model of analysis and testing could be applied to elite athletes in many different sport disciplines, from volleyball and tennis to football and golf.
Carmen Bott (BHK 2002; MSc 2005) concluded the event with a timely presentation on navigating the differences between laws, standards, guidelines, and a code of ethics, and how those of us involved in sport can navigate these uncertain times with a strong Code of Ethics. Carmen emphasized that: “Ethics should be about sport morality because it is centred on the notion of trust between the (S&C) coach and the athlete.” She provided a research-based framework for strength and conditioning coaches to build an effective Code of Ethics, and suggested that coaches consider four key areas:
1) Training Program Design;
2) Fairness and Equal Treatment;
3) Duty of Care; and
4) Respect and Empowerment.
The event proved to be very popular and engaging, with over 70 active participants tuning in. As a result, the Sport Science & Sport Medicine team will be making the series a regular occurrence that will take place on the last Thursday of each month.