Ontario Canoe Kayak Sprint Racing Affiliation

The Ontario Canoe Kayak Sprint Racing Affiliation (OCSRA), formed in 1985, is one of three affiliate organizations associated with Canoe Kayak Ontario (Whitewater and Marathon are the others).  Representing the sport of Olympic Sprint Canoe Kayak racing, the main function of OCSRA is to implement, manage and monitor programs and activities that are provincial in scope.  The primary responsibility of the OCSRA is athlete development.

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OHPSI Program

The Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (“CSIO”) created the OHPSI program to provide leadership, coaching support, training and competition expenses, sport science services, equipment and technology and facility access to targeted athletes.

The OHPSI has the following specific objectives:

• Provide high performance sport leadership in Ontario;
• Create an optimal Daily Training Environment (“DTE”) for Ontario athletes, where they are able to access high performance sport programs, technical experts (full-time coaches and sport science/medicine professionals), and services that enable Ontario athletes to train and achieve international podium performances;
• Create and retain full-time coaching positions and provide integrated coach professional development opportunities,
• Provide sport science/sport medicine support to ensure that a holistic approach is integral to developing Ontario athletes; and
• Create integrated (vertical and horizontal) high performance athlete development pathways in, and between, Ontario’s and Canada’s High Performance sport systems.  In particular, developing strong relationships between PSO’s and NSO’s to ensure an integrated athlete/coach development system is in place in Ontario.

The program provides financial and program assistance to Ontario HPAD athletes for international competition and support in the DTE.  HPAD athletes are defined as those athletes who fall within the eligible age range and percentage of GMT outlined in Canoe Kayak Canada’s (“CKC”) Sprint Athlete Pathway, i.e. eligible to compete at the U23 World Championships and 4-8% of GMT. 

Each year, the CSIO allocates a specific amount of OHPSI financial support to PSO’s following a successful OHPSI application and evaluation process.  OCSRA does not know the amount of OHPSI contribution, nor type of support until the completion of the annual evaluation process.

Ontario Team Program

The Ontario Team Program offers three types of support: 

• Ontario High Performance Sport Initiative (OHPSI) program
• Quest for Gold’s Ontario Athlete Assistance Program (OAAP)
• Ontario Development Team

Athletes nominate where selected using OCSRA’s Ontario Team Selection Criteria which was approved by the OCSRA Board of Directors and applied by the Selection Committee (HPC).

What is Long Term Athlete Development?

Long term athlete development (LTAD) is a concept that has evolved through recognition that there are gaps in athlete development, talent identification, athlete recruitment and athlete retention in the Canadian sport system.

LTAD is a planning tool for optimal performance for all stages of athlete development. It is based on empirical data, practical coaching experiences and scientific principles and is a framework for full sport system alignment in Canada, integrating health and education with sport and physical activity.

OCSRA fully supports Long Term Athlete Development and many changes have been made to regatta race cards, Ontario Team carding and Ontario Team events in order to align ourselves with the concepts of LTAD.

OCSRA’s Apprentice Coach Program

OCSRA provides Apprentice Coach Program (ACP) with the objective of enhancing the development of an Ontario coach working with LTAD Training to Train and/or Training to Compete stage athletes. 

The program provides an accelerated professional development opportunity to the ACP candidate, including:

• mentorship program with National Team staff and sports science/sports medicine professionals;
• increase in ACP candidates level of coach education;
• National Team camps and international competition coaching opportunities;
• a learning plan to address any gaps in the ACP candidates level of experience

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Ontario High Performance Sports Initiative

Ontario Canoe Sprint Racing Affiliation (OCSRA) and Canadian Sport Centre Ontario (CSCO) provide a unique program designed to enhance the development of athletes who have been identified as being capable of achieving international success.

This program has been developed in cooperation with the CSCO and under the direction of the OCSRA, with the intention of establishing a clear pathway from Provincial programming to the National Team.

An important element of each training plan was a focus on providing integrated support services which are made available through the CSCO.

This new initiative has been made possible with new funding from the Province of Ontario – administered through CSCO.  Canoe/Kayak has been ranked as a Tier 1 sport at the national level and is also a Tier 1 Sport of the CSCO’s Ontario High Performance Sport Initiative Program. CSCO selected OCSRA as one of the inaugural sport’s for this new initiative based on meeting specific criteria established for the program.

“The CSCO developed and launched the Ontario High Performance Sport Initiative and we are excited to have OCSRA as one of the sports in Tier 1 of this program.  We believe that providing a clear performance pathway for athletes and coaches will help Ontario lead the way to the podium,” said Debbie Low, President & CEO of the CSCO.

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