For the 2017-2018 Season, the Ontario Curling Council has gained entry as a Tier 3 Sport into the prestigious Ontario High Performance Sport Initiative (OHPSI) offered by the Canadian Sport Institute of Ontario (CSIO).
As a result of programming support through the OHPSI, the OCC is expanding our successful Next Gen Program to include Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Doubles teams, this program will be referred to as the Next Gen Elite Program.
About the CSIO
Mission
- The Canadian Sport Institute Ontario is committed to the pursuit of excellence by providing world-class programs, staff, services, and leadership to high performance athletes and coaches to enhance their ability to achieve international podium performances.
Vision
- The Canadian Sport Institute Ontario is a recognized world leader in the delivery of applied sport science, sport medicine, athlete/coach and staff development, resulting in more Canadian athletes on the international podium.
Strategic Priorities
- Increase Ontario medal count at Olympic, Paralympic Games and World Championships.
- Achieve world class Sport Science and Medicine services.
- Deliver world class high performance development pathway support.
About OHPSI
- Program was designed to support a comprehensive provincial high performance sport system that allows for sustained success of athletes and coaches at the very highest levels of international sport.
- The goal of the OHPSI program is to identify and support Ontario athletes who are best capable of achieving future international success on senior national teams in targeted winter and summer Olympic/Paralympic and Pan/Para Pan Am Games sports.
- Through the OHPSI program, CSIO provides leadership, coaching support, sport science and sport medicine services, equipment and technology, competition and training camp enhancements, and facility access to create optimal daily training environments for Ontario athletes and coaches.
- The program also aims for CSIO to build stronger relationships with Provincial and National Sport Organizations (PSOs and NSOs) while providing support to targeted athletes that are demonstrating they are on the pathway towards future international success. This approach is intimately tied and aligned to Own the Podium’s vision and strategy to optimize a targeted approach to increasing Canada’s potential for future international podium performances.
Next Gen Elite
Designed in concert with the CSIO and Curling Canada – the OCC will provide teams with specialized coaching support, access to high performance equipment, access to integrated support personnel (mental trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, nutritionists, etc…) in an effort to help identified teams move forward in their age/stage of development. The program is aimed at developing the system of athletes for future national and international podium finishes.
For the 2017-2018 Season, invitations were extended to men’s and women’s teams who were ranked 20th or higher on the Canadian Team Ranking System, and who were NOT supported through Curling Canada’s National Team Program, and to mixed doubles teams who were ranked 35th or higher on the Canadian Mixed Doubles Ranking System, and who were NOT supported through Curling Canada’s National Team Program.
Of the invited teams, interested teams were welcomed to complete an application. The OCC is pleased to announce the following teams will be supported through it’s Next Gen Elite Program:
- Team Greg Balsdon – Men’s – Four Player
- Team Dayna Dereulle – Men’s Four Player
- Team Krista McCarville – Women’s Four Player
- Team Julie Tippin – Women’s Four Player
- Team Stewart/Westlund-Stewart – Mixed Doubles
- Team Kean/Kean – Mixed Doubles
- Team Tanner Horgan – U21 Men’s
- Team Megan Smith – U21 Women’s
The 2017-2018 Program will be a PILOT year. The program is intended to expand to include Wheelchair curlers in the 2018-2019 Season pending continued OHPSI support.
The Ontario Curling Council appreciates the support of the CSIO, Ministry of Tourism Culture and Sport and our members, Northern Ontario Curling Association and CurlON in their support of the OHPSI program.
