Community Youth Leadership Program - Gymnastics Coach In Training

Spruce Grove Aerials Gymnastics (SGA) is a not-for-profit organization established in 1982 that serves the Tri-Municipal region of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, and Parkland County.  Our mission is to promote fitness, fun, and confidence in children, teens, and adults through the sport of gymnastics.  Each year, SGA welcomes more than 8000 participants through recreational classes, competitive programs, field trips, birthday parties, drop ins and community events.

Our recreational program is our largest stream, engaging 1404 (unique) athletes annually (3944 total registered) , while 102 athletes train in our competitive program.  In addition, 4012 community participants attend our open gyms, birthday parties, and school field trips.

The foundation of our impact lies in our coaches.  To ensure a strong, sustainable base of future leaders, SGA has created the Community Leadership Coach in Training (CIT) Program, a structured pathway that develops young leaders into qualified, nationally certified coaches.

The CIT Program is 10 months long (Sept - June) and is divided into 2 phases (Mentoring-Sept - Dec and Training-Jan - June) In the mentoring phase, the CIT is paired with a certified NCCP coach to assist with classes, camps and community events, while completing a structured workbook covering safety, class management, child development, lesson planning and ethics in sport.  They also attend three facilitated workshops, combining classroom learning with hands on coaching experience.  The next phase is the training phase where they progress to supervised coaching, leading warmups, demonstrating skills, and creating lesson plans while completing the NCCP Gymnastics Foundations Course, including Theory, Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline, and the Making Ethical Decisions Module.  

I am focusing on the mentorship phase for this grant opportunity as it fits in the timeline of completion for the grant structure.

SGA's CIT Program will benefit many:

• Directly: 5 youth CIT's annually (Sept - Dec 2026 Cohort) who gain mentorship, certification pathways, and leadership training.
• Indirectly: Over 5000 annual participants in SGA programs, who benefit from safer, higher quality instruction, and role models in their coaches.
• Community-wide: By preparing local youth to leaders and mentors, the program build capacity for future employment, volunteerism, and community leadership.