IGNITE Athlete Development Program
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

Q. Who are Canadian Sport Centre Pacific and PacificSport?

A. Canadian Sport Centre Pacific (CSC Pacific) and PacificSport are not-for-profit organizations which operate in partnership to create a network of Centres across the province which deliver sport performance programs to help athletes and coaches win medals for Canada.

Both CSC Pacific and PacificSport support over 1500 high performance athletes and coaches province-wide. Over the eleven years of their evolution, CSC Pacific and PacificSport have supported 49 individual or team Olympic and Paralympic medallists.

CSC Pacific employs over thirty sport performance specialists in the realms of physiology, biomechanics, innovation & technology, nutrition, strength & conditioning, mental performance and recovery & regeneration. The expertise behind the IGNITE program is arguably the best in Canada.

Q. What are the benefits of the IGNITE Athlete Development Program?

A.  The IGNITE Athlete Development Program is a multi-sport foundational athletic skills program built to develop athletes between the ages of 14 to 17, within the Train to Train (T2T) stage of the long term athlete development (LTAD) pathway. The curriculum provides developing athletes with access to multi-sport training sessions designed to enhance motor skills and physical fitness at sport performance facilities in every region of the province, ensuring physical competencies are developed in age and stage appropriate programs.

The foundations of athleticism rooted in track and field, gymnastics and strength and conditioning are often neglected in the early stages of athletic development. CSC Pacific and PacificSport aim to introduce British Columbia’s next generation of Olympic Champions to the world class daily training environment that Canada’s most elite athletes currently enjoy.

IGNITE athletes will benefit from the athletic training as well as nutritional consultations, mental performance skills sessions, regular physiological testing to benchmark progress and goal setting seminars.

The program was built by Canadian Sport Centre Pacific’s strength and conditioning and physiology experts, all of whom have earned Master’s and Doctorate degrees in their respective fields. The curriculum aims to build complete champions, from the ground up. Athletes have a more complete foundation of strength and athleticism reducing the incidence of injury, and will be more prepared to make the jump to provincial and national development teams.

Q. I already train regularly for my sport and go to the gym.
Why should I apply for IGNITE?

A.  The IGNITE Athlete Development Program is meant to enhance and compliment your sport-specific training by giving you foundational movement skills to build your overall athleticism and resistance to injury. The curriculum is carefully crafted to ensure your progression and improvement is attained.

The intention of the program is to support your development in a holistic manner, introduce you to the same high performance training environment in which Canada’s Olympians currently train, and arm you with the tools you need to succeed beyond your current level of competition.

On top of the benefits of training with some of Canada’s best trainers and sport scientists, in some regions you will have the opportunity to meet and train with athletes from different sports and along-side some of the best athletes in the world. Many of the training centres where the IGNITE Athlete Development Programs are held are also home to Canadian Olympians and World Champions.

Q. Who is eligible to apply for the IGNITE program?

A. Athletes age 14-17 from any sport listed here are eligible to apply. The program selection criteria list the following minimum requirements:

• Athlete must be a member in good standing with their Provincial Sport Organization
• Athlete must be currently registered for a local or provincial club and/or high school team and must train with a coach/team regularly
• Applicants do NOT have to be registered with Canadian Sport Centre Pacific or PacificSport to be selected for the IGNITE Athlete Development Program.

Q. How are athletes selected? 

A.  Athletes selected for Athlete Development Program scholarships must meet established eligibility criteria, and successfully complete the application and interview process outlined below. It is critical that these athletes are working towards provincial and national-level athletic success and are training as part of a Local Sport Organization that provides consistent training and competitive opportunities. The Athlete Development Programs are intended to complement their sport specific training. 

Selection/Application Process 

Interested athletes must submit an application for an IGNITE Athlete Development Program scholarship, including a 500 word essay on why they want to be part of the program. Athletes must also include letters of reference, one of which must be from their personal coach. In each region a panel will be established to review athlete applications and invite successful applicants and their parent/guardian to attend an interview. Panel members will vary by location but may include the region’s Lead IGNITE Coach, additional IGNITE Coaches from other regions, coach representatives, and/or athlete representatives. 

Successful applicants will receive an email to inform them that they have been selected for a scholarship. Athletes will have one week to accept the offer and sign an IGNITE Athlete Development Program athlete agreement/contract. 

Q. How much does the program cost? 

A.  All athletes selected to be part of the IGNITE Athlete Development Program will receive a scholarship covering 75% of the program value. 

Each region's fees are slightly different, please visit your region's page to find out more.

Q. What does the curriculum look like? 

A.  The curriculum is divided into three main movement streams deemed important for long term athlete development as they provide the building blocks for future movement development and physical preparation. The movement streams, delivered by experienced specialists in each area include: 

• Gymnastics – provides a unique opportunity for athletes to control, strengthen, and manipulate the body through space and around fixed implements. Developing kinesthetic awareness, mobility, landing skills, and whole body strength will prepare an athlete for unpredictable sporting situations and help decrease risk of injury. 
  
• Track and Field – prepares athletes for efficient and powerful movement on land. Improved technical efficiency in basic movement patterns (running, jumping, balance, co-ordination, reaction time, speed, agility, quickness, and range of motion) will transfer to both sport specific and training situations. Technical efficiency in high speed running allows unique opportunities to operate with the force velocity spectrum.
  
• Resistance Training – introduces athletes to a number of key bodyweight and barbell strength training exercises that form the core of many resistance training programs. By teaching young athletes proper technique in these movements, training efficiency will increase and the risk of injury will decrease. This will help maximize training time in the weight room, leading to greater improvements in strength and power.

Q. Who are the experts leading the program? 

A. As mentioned above, the program was built by Canadian Sport Centre Pacific’s strength and conditioning and physiology experts, all of whom have earned Master’s and Doctorate degrees in their respective fields in consultation with a province-wide group of experts. 

Please take a look at these biographies for more information on some of the leads of the Victoria and Vancouver programs. 

Program leads in Whistler, Nanaimo, Abbotsford, Kelowna, Kamloops and Prince George will be announced soon – check back for updates! 

Q. What is “Train to Train”? 

A.  “Train to Train” is one of the seven stages of athlete development as defined by Canadian Sport for Life’s Long Term Athlete Development Model, a training, competition, and recovery program based on developmental age — the maturation level of an individual — rather than chronological age. 

An excerpt from Canadian Sport for Life’s Train to Train explanation: 

The ages that define this stage for boys and girls are based on the onset and end of the growth spurt, which are generally ages 11 to 15 for girls and 12 to 16 for boys. At this stage, they are ready to consolidate their basic sport-specific skills and tactics. These youths may play to win and do their best, but they still need to focus more time on skill training and physical development over competition. This approach is critical to the development of top performers and maintaining activity in the long-term, so parents should check with their national organization to ensure their child’s program has the correct training-to-competition ratio.

Training to Train To-Do List :

• Make aerobic training a priority after the onset of PHV while maintaining or further developing levels of skill, speed, strength, and flexibility.
• Emphasize flexibility training given the rapid growth of bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscles.
• Consider the 2 windows of accelerated adaptation to strength training for females: the first occurs immediately after PHV and the second begins with the onset of menarche. For males, there is 1 window and it begins 12 to 18 months after PHV.
  Note that both aerobic and strength trainability are dependent on the maturation levels of the athlete. For this reason, the timing of training emphasis differs depending on whether athletes are early, average, or late maturers.
• Learn to cope with the physical and mental challenges of competition.
• Introduce athletes with a disability to sport-specific equipment such as wheelchairs and athletic prostheses. For all athletes, the use of body-size and skill-level appropriate equipment remains important.
• Optimize training and competition ratios and follow a 60:40 per cent training to competition ratio. Too much competition wastes valuable training time and conversely, not enough inhibits the practice of technical/tactical and decision-making skills. Use talent identification to help athletes focus on 2 sports. Utilize single and double periodization as the optimal framework of preparation. Train athletes in daily competitive situations in the form of practice matches or competitive games and drills.

The Learn to Train and Training to Train stages are the most important stages of athletic preparation. During these stages, we make or break an athlete!

Q. Are there any other perks to the program? 

A.  All IGNITE athletes will receive a team uniform and swag to wear during all training sessions and day to day. 

Q. If I’m not selected for the program can I reapply? 

A.  Absolutely. CSC Pacific and PacificSport will conduct yearly intake sessions for the program throughout the month of July. Stay tuned for application deadline details on our website at www.cscpacific.ca and/or www.pacificsport.com.