Abstract:
The success of our Canadian national hockey teams in the international arena offers a
platform on which to evaluate our current athlete development initiatives in hockey. Following the Molson Open Ice Summit in 1999, Hockey Canada embarked on several initiatives exploring ways to enhance player development. One of these initiatives was the National Coach Mentorship Program, which emphasizes cooperation between coaches, within a highly competitive environment. The purpose of this study was to
analyze the implementation of the NCMP in Manitoba to further understand tensions
between emphasis on competitive performance outcome principles in Canadian hockey
and collaborative approaches to coach education. Using a community of practice model
with semi-structured interviews, complemented by participant observation, this study
was completed to provide a greater understanding of tensions in mentoring by analyzing
the program’s formal parameters and design and its’ current manifestation in concrete mentoring relationships in the Manitoba hockey coaching community.
