A cross-country coach, in more ways than one
British Columbia’s Jessica Heyes helping N.L. skiers in Prince George
Jessica Heyes’s daughter Kajsa is competing in cross-country skiing at the Canada Winter Games this week, but that’s not what brought the Vancouverite to Prince George.
Team Newfoundland and Labrador’s cross-country team didn’t have a female coach with a Level 3 NCCP certification, which is required to coach at the Games level, so Heyes was recruited to help mentor the five female athletes who competing for Team NL in Prince George.
“There actually aren’t that many (certified coaches) in Canada,” says Team NL manager Erik Charron, who first met Heyes when he was a volunteer at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics.
After receiving a list of qualified coaches from Cross-Country Canada’s High Performance development co-ordinator Lisa Patterson, Charron recognized Heyes’ name and reached out.
“Lisa confirmed (Heyes) would be an excellent choice. This is first race we’ve worked with her at and she’s been excellent.”
Heyes has no connection to Newfoundland and Labrador other than having coached with B.C., at the nationals in Corner Brook last year, but she jumped at the chance to join the team.
“When Erik e-mailed me, I said ‘Sure, I’d love to.’ I had such an nice experience there,” she says of her first and, to date, only trip in the province.
“Super people. Friendly and helpful.”
Her Games experience with Team NL has been equally rewarding.
“Very co-operative, everybody has a voice and everybody’s opinion is valued,” says Heyes.
“I’m having a blast.”
For their part, Charron and male coach John Gamble suggest having a new, fresh perspective is beneficial for the team of young skiers.
“In general, it’s nice to have a coach who isn’t your regular coach come in now and then,” explains Charron.
“They’ll always have different ideas and approaches.”
“And maybe it gives us a slight edge in waxing,” says Gamble.
After a practice run Wednesday morning, Gamble asked the skiers if they picked up any tips from Heyes.
“They all had a couple of different points, which is exactly what you want.”
As to why the province doesn’t have any qualified female coaches of its own, all agree it’s simply a matter of the time and commitment it takes achieve that level.
“They require a pretty high level coach and it probably takes, realistically, six or seven years to get that certification,” says Charron.
“You need someone who’s been in it a long time.”
Heyes says under the new Games system, which follows the Long-Term Athlete Development model, it’s not easy to gain the experience necessary.
“You have to be in the system, you have to be actively coaching, you have to have opportunities and a lot of females don’t get those opportunities to get the experience and be able to work their way up through the system,” she says.
Heyes has been coaching since her daughter started racing 10 years ago.
This will be the second Games for her Kajsa Heyes, who spent two years skiing full-time at the National Training Centre in Alberta and was a member of Team Canada at the World University Games in Italy in 2013.
Heyes is quick to discount any conflict of interest regarding whom to cheer for this week. “I cheer for them all,” she says. “One doesn’t take away from the other.”