Ottawa, ON, Jan. 31, 2018 – The Equestrian Canada (EC) Board of Directors had the opportunity to connect face-to-face with representatives from the equestrian Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations (PTSOs) on Jan. 18 and 19, 2018 in Montreal, QC to collaborate and discuss challenges and opportunities facing equestrian sport and industry in Canada.

Although there are many critical areas where EC and the PTSOs work closely together, the focus of the meeting was the presentation of a PTSO plan with regards to coaching and athlete development in 2018 and beyond.

“The EC Board of Directors strongly supports the vision of the PTSO plan,” explained EC President, Meg Krueger. “We are committed to developing this common interest to work together to launch beneficial programs for coaching and athlete development across the country.”

Important actions that developed from the PTSO presentation during the two-day meeting included the following:

Competition Review Committee

  • The EC Board passed a motion to create and populate a Competition Review Committee (CRC).
  • The first step in getting this committee up and running will be for the EC Governance Committee to create terms of reference for review and approval at the February 2018 EC Board meeting. Once this step is completed, the EC Board will communicate and collaborate with the PTSOs and EC discipline committees to populate the CRC.
  • The mandate of the CRC will be to carry forward the outstanding analysis of the national competition structure and present recommendations for approval by the EC Board.

National Coaching Operating Committee

  • The EC Board also passed a motion to create and populate a National Coaching Operating Committee.
  • The first action item in getting this committee up and running will be for the EC Governance Committee to create terms of reference for review and approval at the February 2018 EC Board Meeting, with the guidance of the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC).
  • To help shape the mandate of this committee, Wayne Parro, Senior Coaching Consultant for the CAC, led an in-depth session focused on the coaching model in Canada and how the equestrian coaching model can be improved.

Continued Collaboration

In addition to the items above, many other areas of common interest were discussed, with agreement in principle. EC and the PTSOs will continue to work in collaboration, with additional announcements and initiatives to follow in the coming months.

“On behalf of the PTSOs, I would like to thank Meg Krueger, EC President, and the Board of Directors for arranging this very productive meeting,” said Adrienne Smith, President of the Nova Scotia Equestrian Federation (NSEF) and Chair of the EC Category B Voting Members. “We have identified several defined and focused action items that are beneficial in furthering the development of a collaborative relationship between the national and provincial/territorial bodies. Many thanks to our host, Cheval Quebec, and to Wayne Parro for his knowledgeable input.”

Krueger spoke to EC’s commitment to continually improve communication with PTSOs, as well as with stakeholders and the community at large.

“The EC Board, staff and internal stakeholders are excited about the proactive communication and collaboration that took place during the meeting, and look forward to continuing to build on this relationship in order to jointly support and develop programs that will benefit equestrians across Canada,” said Krueger. “We thank the PTSOs for their time, effort and contribution in strengthening our relationship through participation in this meeting.”

For more information on EC Governance, and a full list of equestrian PTSOs in Canada, visit www.equestrian.ca/about/governance.