Softball Ontario – The National Coaching Certification Program is now asking coaches to participate in activities that enhance their coaching to reinforce “values of lifelong learning and sharing amongst the coaching community.” All coaches in all sports will be” required to obtain Professional Development (PD) points. PD points can be earned through a multitude of activities that coaches already participate in, including: national and provincial sport organization conferences and workshops, eLearning modules, NCCP workshops, coach mentorship programs, and active coaching. In most cases, coaches are already earning their required PD points.“

For more information, you can check http://coach.ca/maintenance-of-certification-s16745 Softball coaches will need to obtain 20 points in a 5 year period.

The Softball Ontario Coaches Committee is committed to creating as many opportunities for coaches to obtain these points as possible.  We will plan coach development sessions that will be linked to PD points in conjunction with events that coaches already attend like symposiums, Canadian and International Championships and other events as often as possible.  We recognize that coaches are amazing people, who are taking time out of their busy lives to coach other people’s kids, and often paying money out of their own pocket to do so.  We recognize that coaches are busy, and often involved in other sports.  To help coaches obtain these points, we are also planning a webinar series where coaches can obtain points from home.

If you have any questions or concerns about this process, please feel free to email Scott Searle, Softball Ontairo’s Coaches Committee Chair:  scottsearle@rogers.com  Additionally, if you have any suggestions or requests for webinars, we would love to hear them!

Our first webinar is on “Advanced Hitting”.  We have organized a panel of some of Canada’s best coaches and hitters to share tips on hitting.  The panel is from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday, November 26^th in Oakville, Ontario.  If you can’t join us in person, please join us online and register at http://www.softballontario.ca/?lid=GA7QU-VS3KE-XV44T  Online participants also qualify for two PD points. 

We hope to see your name on the list!

Our panel has:

• 27 Years of National Team Experience
• 13 Canadian Championship Gold Medals
• 6 Canada Summer Games Appearances with 3 different provinces
• 3 Pan-American Games Gold Medals
• 2 WSBC World Championships
• 1 Olympian

  Panelists Biographies:

Kelly McGiffin
Kelly McGiffin has been coaching softball at the highest levels for almost 30 years.  He began his coaching career in BC, and led Team BC to two Canada Summer Games where they earned one silver and one bronze medal.

He was named to the Senior Men’s National Team as an Assistant coach where he worked between 1998-2005 and was a member of the team that earned a silver medal at the 2004 ISF World Championship.

Kelly has a real knack with working with young athletes, and is a teacher at heart and was named Head Coach of the Jr. Men’s National Team between 2002-2005 earning two bronze medals.

His success with the National team has translated very well to club competitions.  Kelly led the Kitchener Rivershark Twins to Canadian Championships in 2009 and 2010, and added an ASA Championship in 2010.

He has also coached the Southern California Bombers, the Horse Lake Thunder, the Aspen Interiors, the Chicago New York Gremlins, and most recently the Scarborough Force.

Kelly was named the 1993 Softball BC Coach of the Year and the Canadian Aboriginal Coach of the year in 2005.

Steve Mullaley
Mullaley is one of Canada’s most feared hitters and has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success at the Canadian Championship level. He is a member of the Senior Men’s Team in Newfoundland that has won the past 5 Canadian Championships.  At the ISC level, Steve is an integral member of the Hill United Chiefs that won 3 World Championships in a row, and finished 2^nd this past season.

A member of Team Canada since 2007, Mullaley played in three ISF World Championships (2009, 2013 and 2015).  Steve had one of the most impressive games in the history of the sport in the final of the ISF in 2015 when he hit 3 home runs to drive in 7 RBI’s to beat New Zealand.  The final score was 10-5, which should give you a sense of how dominant Steve was.

Steve runs “Team 1^st Hitting” with his teammate Jeff Ellsworth and has led clinics all over Canada.
 

• Steve has been a Team Canada Member since 2006
• 2015 ISF World Champion
• 2015 Pan Am Games Gold Medalist
• 2012 Pan Am Championships Gold Medalist
• 5 x ISC World Champion
• 7 x Canadian Sr. Men’s National Champion
• 5 x ASA National Champion
• 6 x ISC All World Player
• 6 x ASA All American
• 2 x ASA Tournament MVP
• 1 x ASA Top Batter
• 5 x Canadian Sr. Men’s All Canadian Player
• 3 x Canadian Sr. Men’s MVP
• 2x Canadian Sr. Men’s Top Batter

Natalie Wideman

Is a Pan-American Champion and a key member of the team that defeated the United States at the 2015 Pan-American Games in Toronto.  This was her third year on the Senior Women’s National Team, after two seasons with the Junior Women’s National Team in 2010 and 2011.

Wideman played her minor softball with the Mississauga North Tigers and competed in seven Canadian Championships, winning four Gold medals and one Bronze. She was named to the U19 Canadian Championship All-Star team in 2011.
She played her collegiate softball at California University of Pennsylvania, where she led the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) with a .454 batting average, 49 runs scored and a .535 on-base percentage in her senior season. She was recently selected as the Diamond Sports Catcher of the Year for NCAA Division II, and was also named PSAC West Athlete of the Year and to the Capital One Academic All-District Team.
Wideman was a key player for the Junior Women’s National Team in 2010 and 2011, and made the jump to the Women’s team in 2012 after a fantastic sophomore season at California University of Pennsylvania. As a member of the Junior Women’s National Team, Wideman played in the 2010 Pan American Qualifier in Colombia and also represented Canada at the 2011 WBSC Junior Women’s World Softball Championship in South Africa. At the Women’s level, Wideman helped Canada to a fourth place finish at the 2012 and 2014 WBSC Women’s World Softball Championships and a silver medal at the Pan American Softball Championships in 2013. Most recently, Wideman played for the 2015 National Team, contributing to an extra innings win over the United States at the Pan American Games in Toronto.
 
Wendy Dobbin
Wendy oversees the Coaching Education and Professional Development Program at the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario. She is responsible for the delivery of the two-year Advanced Coaching Diploma and ongoing professional development opportunities and events for high performance pathway coaches.

Wendy joined the team at CSIO in the Fall of 2008 after 4 years on the staff of the National Softball program leading up to and including the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Wendy has been involved in sport as an athlete, coach, volunteer and administrator from grassroots to high performance. Her volunteer experience includes working at Canada House during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games and most recently, as a softball sport volunteer for TO2015 Pan Am Games.  Wendy brings over 30 years of Softball experience as an Athlete, Coach and Volunteer.

 
Janet Leung
Janet Leung (Mississauga, Ontario), a standout alumni member of the Brown’s softball team and a member of Team Canada’s 10th International Softball Federation Women’s Junior World Championships for which she played Short Stop. Janet is a current member of the McMaster Women’s Fast Pitch Team and led the team to a bronze medal in the 2016 OIWFA Provincial Championships.

Leung had an impressive rookie season to earn All-Ivy honorable mention accolades after her first year on College Hill. The shortstop was one of four Bears to start in all 38 games, and she compiled the third-best batting average on the team with a .277. She notched 33 hits in 119 at-bats, scoring 14 runs and knocking in 12 RBIs, while recording Brown’s third best slugging percentage (.378) and fourth best on-base percentage (.306). She led the team with eight doubles and two triples, and ranked third in stolen bases, successfully grabbing four in six attempts.
 
The schedule for the event is as follows:
 

11:00-11:05	Introduction/Explanation of PD Points-Scott
11:05-11:15	Scouting Hitters-Kelly McGiffin
11:15-11:20	Panel Discussion
11:20-11:30	Pre-At Bat Plan-Janet Leung
11:30-11:35	Panel Discussion
11:50-12:05	Picking Pitchers/ Hitting in High-Pressure Situations-Steve Mullaley
12:05-12:10	Panel Discussion
12:10-12:25	Approach at Bat/Keeping it Simple-Natalie Wideman
12:25-12:30	Panel Discussion
12:30-12:45	Use of Video-Wendy
12:45-12:55	Spin Hitting-Kelly McGiffin
12:55-1:00	Conclusion

 
People from the audience will have an opportunity to ask questions during each panel discussion.
 
Scott Searle
Softball Ontario’s Coaches Committee Chair
scottsearle@rogers.com