Charting a Path

… to continued EXCELLENCE!

Introducing the team

• Facilitator:– Patricia– I will:

• facilitate and coordinate• Challenge where necessary

• “Participants”:– You are experts in the field– You will

• Analyze the SWOT, develop a vision, analyze the gaps and develop a plan

Outline of the weekend

• Saturday– Welcome– Review of process, situation audit– Free-flow visioning– Gap Analysis– Building a Plan

• Sunday– Review and Revisions– Final Prioritization– Putting it all together with measures

Guiding Principles

• Respect and Equality• Creativity with an open mind– No “sacred cows”

• Cooperation and Support• Honesty and Openness• No Right or Wrong – only ideas – be bold• Allow everyone to participate; Listen• Celebrate with passion – and have fun!

Round Table Welcome

Outline of Planning Project

STEP 1: Situation Audit: where have we been and where

are we now?

STEP 2: Building a Vision: where do we want to be and

when do we want to be there?

STEP 3: Planning for the Future: how do we get to our

vision?

STEP 4: Monitoring and Evaluating the plan: are we

moving towards the vision?

Carter McNamara, Business Planning

Mission & Vision Statements

Skate Canada Pillars of Success

Update – Situation Audit

Summary of Survey Results and Section Statistics

Survey Overview

• Survey conducted on-line– Selective questions – the questions you were asked were

determined by the answers to previous questions

• Distributed to Board Members, Club Executives, Officials and Coaches

• 164 completed surveys• 66% of respondents have over 15 years experience in

Skate Canada in some role– 79% with more than 10 years

Survey Overview

• Most respondents were club executives, however there was a good cross-section of roles represented in the responses – the average respondent had two different roles

Survey Overview

• Limitation:– Remember, this survey was of those people who are committed to the

objectives of the club or the organization. The vast majority (~90%) are directly responsible for design or delivery of program. The hypothesis is that they would be inclined to be more satisfied with the programs than those not connected to the delivery of the programs (i.e., parents not otherwise involved; skaters, etc).

– For future, it would be interesting and useful to be able to solicit the input of parents and skaters of the programs and compare the outcomes to those of those closely associated to the delivery

Survey Overview

• Respondents were most familiar with CanSkate and StarSkate, and least familiar with Synchronized skating and Power skating.

Athlete Development• Survey respondents indicate a general satisfaction with the

skater programs offered in the clubs– Coaches were marginally less satisfied – but not at a level of

statistical significance

Athlete Development• Section Program Delivery – generally satisfied, but room for

improvement is illustrated

• Note – less bias in this result as much smaller proportion of respondents were responsible for design/ delivery (14%)

Athlete Development

• Some random comments:– (seminars)I think there should be more feedback for the parents at

the under 12/under 14 seminar, in particular, the staging camp.<…> was rather bewildered and dissatisfied with the whole event and came away thinking "What was the point?“

– (StarSkate): Holding skaters back at the lower levels is epidemic. I do it too- I have to, to compete or my kids will be last in every event.

– (Competitive): COS should perhaps consider focusing some energies on the Jr to Sr level skaters to try and give them additional opportunities

Human Resource Development

• Good News– Individual officials indicate satisfaction with their

participation in the sport– Individual club executives indicate satisfaction

with their volunteer management position– Respondents are consistently satisfied with the

quality of coaching in club programs

Human Resource Development

• Challenges– Level of activity of officials is very high – and still the

“supply” of officials time is not high enough to meet the demand

– Test and competition standards continue to be identified as being inconsistent

– Clubs indicate that it is difficult to recruit and maintain volunteers • majority of clubs indicate that there are currently not enough

volunteers to operate programs effectively

Human Resource Development

• Reconsider the experience profile of the respondents:

• Only 13% of respondents who have been involved for less than 5 years!

Organizational Development

• There is confidence in decisions, but decisions are not always supported by those impacted

• Individuals believe they know their roles and responsibilities, but do not agree as highly that all members know their roles

• Communication appears to be consistent and timely, but upward information could be more timely

Organizational Development

• Analysis of responses in terms of Org. DNA reveals:– Board has a “just in time” profile

• Generally a healthy profile

– Strengths of “just in time”:• Has the ability to change tack without losing sight of the big picture• Has a “can-do” attitude, inspiring creativity and breakthroughs

– Weaknesses of “just in time”:• Not always proactive in preparing for change• Short on resources, can easily burn-out human resources• Tends to be “one hit” wonders, rather than having sustained competitive

advantage

Partner Development

• Not considered in the survey– Will be considered during the weekend

SWOT Analysis

Organizational SWOT• Strengths

– Good structure– Improved governance/ constitution– Organized finances– Some turn-over in the board– Email is almost universally available– Regional development system helps

manage conflict/risk– Volunteer conference

• Weaknesses– Board turn-over (too long/ too short)– Timing of volunteer conference– COS website not yet user friendly– Not sufficient hands-on communication– Too much on the same weekends– The treasurer on a club makes a big difference– Email is impersonal – and we no longer spend

enough time talking to people in person– Hard to promote the club– Parents are busy… time a luxury– Board not trained to approach and integrate

new volunteers– “what is risk management”

Organizational SWOT• Opportunities

– New facilities– Websites – club/ section levels– On-line registration (not always successful -- $$ is

a problem, but budget for merchant fees)– Email for communication– Blackberry (future?)– Cutting expenses is possible– Economically feasible to skate in club & school– Improving volunteer conference– Parent involvement in competitions– Communication from Skate Canada– Hooks to get people to AGM, events, website, etc.– More visibility and interaction between club and

section & selling participation at AGM (personal touch)

– Provide value to participation so that the knowledge is transferred

– Clubs to invite area reps to meetings, etc.

• Threats– Non-sanctioned programs hurting club

membership – how to balance/ lack of separation in image from sanctioned programs

– Membership base not predicable – hard to budget

– Clubs vulnerable to external decisions– Skate Canada fee increase– Tone of emails (fast – not always

“considered”)– Not meeting people face to face– Competition from other sports– Respect for other clubs and sections– Relationship gap between club/ section

(85% proxies at AGM)

Partner SWOT• Strengths

– Events perceived as organized– Athletes in FS are high profile in the

media– Sport generally has an entertainment

value– Great training centres– “unlimited” source of resources– Great experience– Geographic advantage – small by area

• Weaknesses– Lack of communication with the

public and sponsors– View sponsors are “donators”

• Little return on value

– Haven’t reached to the community to those who can benefit

– Sport suffers from lack of public education

– Media can highlight weaknesses of sport

Partner SWOT• Opportunities

– Improvements to the website• Lots of internal communication focus – needs

“entertainment” value for external communication

– Opportunity for corporate partnerships– Working within the community –

improving relationships with hockey– Competitions can be seen as an

opportunity for more than revenue – it is an opportunity for exposure

– Opportunity to partner with schools and community organizations to provide entry to competitions

• Threats– Price is a threat

• Family, community, admission

– Suffering from a public indifference• Too many empty seats is not good for

image, exposure or value• Hard to promote the sport with no

spectators

Athlete SWOT• Strengths

– CS: branded program– CS: coaches professionally accredited– CS: transition to a “Figure Skating” program exists with SS– SS: focuses on well-rounded development– SS: higher level of competitive opportunity– SS: exposure to all disciplines– Comp: JrNat – good competitive results– Comp: section houses very strong training centres– Comp/SS: good opportunities to compete – athletes don’t

need to “travel”– Comp: high level events – skaters from other parts of the

country/ world participate– Great synchro teams

– Weaknesses (con’t)– Lack of a section based Talent ID program– Government policy doesn’t allow for personal donation to

individual athletes – barriers to financial support

• Weaknesses– CS: lack of public knowledge of the program/ brand

(still seen as “figure skating”)– CPS: not known– CS: Talent identification – clubs are lacking tools and

knowledge– CS: Lack of consistency of program standards– SS: Lack of opportunity for adult/ collegiate– SS: test standards – lack of consistency/ lack of

resources– SS: WBP not consistently applied– SS: Too much competing – impedes on the skater’s

development– Comp: medalists tend to concentrated to a small

number of coaches– Comp: other coaches don’t tend to seek knowledge or

provide alternate discipline choices for fear of losing a skater

– Comp: Skaters in P/D need good disciplines specific development earlier

– Comp: Jr/Sr (pre-National Team) has limited opportunity for development

– Comp: Jr/Sr (pre-National Team) athletes can be isolated in training in smaller clubs

– Not always buy-in for section development programs from the coaches

– Synchronized not on the radar

Athlete SWOT• Opportunities

– Seminars to pairs and dance for coaches to help pass on knowledge

– Population # is an opportunity– Large # resources (nutrition, physio., off-ice, etc.)– Promotion for the CanSkate program to differentiate

from municipal programs– StarSkate is a huge resource for HR demands (officials,

volunteers, etc)– Offer more staging camps at Jr/ Sr levels– Sectionals more of a simulation for Canadians– More simulations with monitors– Large pool of high level officials reside in concentrated

area– Synchronized skating provides a huge team sport

opportunity– Increased SC fee may increase resources to athlete

programs– Market events to international competitors– Create Jr/Sr team to travel to US (?) to compete and

be exposed– Coordination of competition schedules with other

schedules

• Threats– Learn-to-skate programs (ESL: “LTS” = skating lessons,

not CanSkate); less money (?)– Multiple activity focus of children/ family impede early

specialization– Coaches/ clubs not always responsive to section

programs– Geography – travel– Club board member philosophy may not match the

philosophy or talent of a skater– Girls hockey/ speed skating– Salt Lake City– Skaters being “held back”

• Lose a lot of skaters, impedes development– CEP program participation is low – it is not mandatory– Lack of “non-coach originating” knowledge – level of

parent knowledge is dependent on quality of coach.– Other sports -- $$ exposure from other sports lures

people to those sports– Coaches/ clubs force athletes to “chose” synchro over

other participation– Lack of awareness of LTAD– Loss of NACS

HR SWOT• Strengths

– Premier coaches, officials in Canada and world; good mentor base

– Geography small so training is easier– Volunteer base has wealth of experience

and passion– Training centres are open for coaches– Consistent approach to competitions and

seminars makes volunteering easier, and builds improvement

– 50/50 competitions stay in one area helps– COS welcoming for the various HR – Volunteer conference/ road shows– Officials training program

• Weaknesses– Not enough volunteers– Not as many stay-at-home parents,

those there are very busy– Not enough judges – pool to draw

from is smaller– Single evaluator is not as motivating

anymore– Volunteer burn-out– Clubs need to be aware of the role of

the volunteer/officials so that they are treated “better”/ professionally/ with respect

– Inconsistent standards – more training on criteria/ standard

– Cost– Acknowledgement of volunteers is not

common

HR SWOT• Opportunities

– Using strengths in training of all coaches (and mentoring, role modeling)

– Communication technology – easier to transfer information than in the past

– Ensure someone from each club has access to high speed – a lot of people are still on dial-up

– Training on internet (webcasts, e-learning modules, blogs, FAQ, etc)

– Appointing mentors to up-coming judges, coaches– Exposure to senior skaters in the clubs to officiating/

volunteering– Develop communication processes for liaison

between coaches and TS, etc.– Members’ Only section– High School students must do volunteer hours – we

can capitalize

• Threats– Coaching allows young people to

make money – volunteering does not. Even $5/hour for PA’ing (judging is still unpaid)

– Privacy laws/ spam – incurs much more costs, liability, etc.

– Parks/ rec programs are paying 16/17 more than PAs

– So many other options for people’s time

– Motivation for volunteering has changed – many now need more than personal satisfaction

Developing a vision

Continuing excellence

Visioning – Step 1

• Where do you want to be in 2016?– For each of AD, HRD, OD, PD

• What will the headlines be on the Skate Canada website in 2016 to celebrate Central Ontario’s 60th year?

Vision: Athlete Development

• Schools include CanSkate in curriculum• On the national podium in all disciplines at all levels in StarSkate and competitive• Increased profile of synchronized skating (now an Olympic sport) leading to more synchro

teams and skaters• Promotes equal opportunities for all 5 disciplines• StarSkate nationals open to all categories; an enlarged competition welcomes 5000 athletes• Membership tops 50,000• Coach and Evaluator training has resulted in consistent test standards across the section --

HRD• SC-CO promotes continuous excellence• Full funding for all competitive skaters paid by government and private sectors -- PD• Ten training centres in Central Ontario -- OD• COS Skaters are setting the bar high, being noticed winning competitions and bringing results

domestically and internationally• COS CanPower – a major contributor to minor hockey --PD

Vision: AD -- Summary

• Membership tops 50,000– Schools include CanSkate in the curriculum

• All five disciplines have equal priority and visibility– Increased profile of synchronized skating (now an Olympic sport)

leading to more synchro teams and skaters

• High Performance Excellence– On the podium in all disciplines, domestically and internationally

• StarSkate provides equal competitive opportunities at all levels of the program

Vision: HR Development

• COS doubles number of officials and volunteers• Increased COS staff to include roles such as: Managers of athlete development, program development,

officials development and coaches development• Total commitment and cooperation between officials coaches choreographers and clubs to maximize the

potential of all skaters• Enough officials and evaluators to cover every test and competition (Serving COS test days and

competitions – self sufficient)• 90% of all active COS coaches are level 3 or higher• An abundance of financially compensated evaluators and judges that exist within an HR framework

complete with a performance management process• SC-CO offers a wealth of knowledgeable and qualified staff and volunteers• Figure skating held in highest regard by world population -- PD• A mandatory professional development system for coaches with seminars and on-line resources• COS is competent and resilient to meeting the needs of a fluctuating skating community -- OD• COS Coaches and choreographers have 6 COS skaters win gold at worlds

Vision: HR - Summary• Increased number of officials to provide sustained service for all test days

and competitions• Remuneration for officials, in conjunction with HR and performance

management process – improved application of standards• Mandatory Coaches CEP• Total commitment and cooperation between officials, coaches,

choreographers and clubs to maximize the potential of all skaters• Increased COS staff to include roles such as: Managers of athlete

development, program development, officials development and coaches development

• SC-CO offers a wealth of knowledgeable and qualified staff and volunteers• Knowledgeable volunteers staff all clubs

Vision: Organizational Development

• We open our own COS arena and training facility, with 4 pads (and a staff sauna!) to house COS events, the COS office and off-ice training facilities (with new computers)

• SC-COS excels in communication• COS clubs, schools memberships soar through the roof• Increase technological capacity to be used for training and education, communication, promotion and

marketing• Coaches, judges and evaluators now complete some or all of their training using on-line resources• High percentage of members utilize our services• State of art technology helps COS skaters achieve personal best and makes organization more effective

and efficient• Skater development money tops $500,000 a year (team COS, skater trust, bursaries, seminars, officials

dev, club dev) -- PD• A dynamic, entertaining, information filled, user friendly web-site that averages 1M hits per month• COS Sectionals on You-Tube!• Every club receives professional risk management training.• Healthy and stable clubs (financial, membership, programs)

Vision – OD Summary

• COS is competent and resilient to meeting the needs of a fluctuating skating community

• Focus on technological improvements to support HRD, AD and PD

• COS is competent and resilient to meeting the needs of a fluctuating skating community

• Increase bricks and mortar – training centres, etc.• COS is competent and resilient to meeting the needs of a

fluctuating skating community

Vision: Partner Development

• SC-CO partners with local sponsors to provide skates for every child• Media gives figure skating well deserved respect• $250,000/ year worth of sponsorship money from viable, high profile and long term sponsors• A partnership with school boards and Ontario ministry of education where the needs of elite athletes are

recognized and elite athlete programs in the schools are more readily available• SC-CO partners with the ministry of education to provide daily physical opportunities for every child• Honest and open communication between Skate Canada and parents• Standing room only at all COS competitions• Through deeper ties with partners, a self-sustaining skater trust fund that is replenished annual with

donations• SC-CO together with their corporate sponsors substantially reduces the cost to skaters• Sponsors clamor to join BMO as national SC partners• Partnership with minor hockey associations for all CPS programs• Corporate sponsorship is in abundances – including packages starting at $100,000.

Vision: PD - Summary

• Relationships with hockey through CPS• Sponsorship and government support to reduce cost

to skater• Establishment of coordinated education for elite

athletes• Respect from media/ improved value in events/

improved attendance• Increased sponsorship opportunities and funds

leading to self sustaining athlete trust

60th Anniversary Headlines

• “SC-CO awarded Order of Canada for sports on 60th anniversary”

• “CO celebrates 60 years as a community leader”

• “CO celebrates 60 years – proud of our past, passionate about our future”

• “CO celebrates 60th anniversary with sweep on World’s podium”

Gap Analysis

• Considering where we are now and where we want to be in 2016, what are the major gaps?– Groups will focus on:• Athlete Development• Administrative HR Development

– (club/ board)

• Technical HR Development – (coach/ official)

• Organizational Development• Partner Development

ACTIONS TO FILL THE GAPS TO THE VISION

Partner DevelopmentMarketing and Sponsorship the priority

To ensure that we have the money or products to ensure that we can run the programs that are necessary

Athlete Development• 3% increase in membership per year - 1000 new members per year

– Membership Challenge for clubs (percentage based)

• Success recognition – posting celebration notices (pictures, etc.) Gold test, Special O, Synchro, etc.– Ensure that clubs include name/ photo waiver on registration forms for the section (not only the

club)

• Lobby Skate Canada – inclusion of Jr Silver – Gold events (not just triathlon/ biathlon) at StarSkate nationals– revision of skating skills program – simplify and focus on basics

• Encourage club inclusion of “non-jumping, non-spinning” sessions – include this as a focus in section seminars

• Video/ DVD for clubs outside of the major centres as modeling good training• Cross-boarder events at Summer competitions (invite US team, send COS team to the US)• Create a Talent ID subcommittee – attend Area competitions to find talent, invite

skater/coach/parent to seminar for recognition and development

Committee StructureFuture – under the direction of a staff person

Organizational Development• (in the works) Need to address the internal IT requirements in the office

– Inventory of internal design– Design an alternative IT structure

• Board Governance – to add a formalized planning phase in the board calendar. Calendar with dates and deadlines for all areas of

responsibility. – Development of succession planning – increased visibility of CO board of directors at the club level– Too many people wearing too many hats

• Communication Expertise– Website, communications to clubs, officials, strategies, webcasts, assistance to the clubs in communication

(reconsider the scheduling of the volunteer conference)

• Technology– Assemble a strategic working group to focus on the website development (coop students, web-design, etc) –

inclusion of the recognition programs– Identify the needs and preferences of the current/ potential users (focus groups, input from key stakeholders)– Benchmark other websites, on-line registration processes, blogs, etc.– Consolidation and recommendations for move-forward– Strategic Value and Cost benefit analysis on CPC system – as related to inclusion of video reply.

• Office Structure.

HR Development• Officials

– Lobby: to re-open discussion of remuneration of officials (honorarium, etc)– Lobby: allow CanSkate coaches to be evaluators– Lobby: Test program to match WBP/ CPC– Resource a new volunteer whose sole responsibility is recruitment of officials– More standards and WBP training – seminars and e-learning– Management program - Tracking of continuous education of officials at all levels, Reward and Recognition, etc.

• Volunteers– Generic/ adaptable job descriptions for club volunteers– Incorporate e-learning for volunteers– Mentoring for new club executives– Recognition

• Coaches– Encouragement of CE participation (through club education as well as coach education)– Mentoring opportunities exist with experienced and successful coaches– Cooperated seminars between coaches and officials– More standards and WBP training – seminars and e-learning– Business and communication training in off-ice sessions

• Professional Staff– Professional image of the staff is necessary – website, communication processes (internal/ external)

Partner DevelopmentPriority Item Lead Immediate Action Time-Frame

1 Development of 10 targeted sponsors

Gary (Brian to contact universities)Research of each sponsor

Immediate

2 Development of Advisory Board

Brian Invitation to people who can be advisors and conduits

Meeting to be mid-October

3 Restructure to allow HR time for task

Gary + Board See OD plans On-going

3 Creation of marketing position on staff

Gary Grant application for fundingPresentation of plan to the board

Immediate

4 Media Relations Invitations to media to highlight community liaison

Octoberfest/ on-going

4 Building pride On-going

Athlete DevelopmentPriority Item Lead Immediate Action Time-Frame

3 Increased Base Membership Susanne Membership challenge

1 Creation of Talent-ID subcommittee

Laurene *Identification of resources to do the talent ID*Development of reward/ recognition plan*Development of discipline*Cross-boarder events at Summer*Non-jumping non-spinning focus seminar focus

Id at area events. Plan to develop during the year

1A Promotion of StarSkate Program and events (retention)

Kathy *Requiring analysis and development of a plan*Lobby Skate Canada -- Expansion of StarSkate nationals/ Revisions to Skating Skills program*Success recognition for beyond HP*Non-jumping non-spinning focus seminar focus

Analysis this year, action and plan presented next year

Organizational DevelopmentPriority Item Lead Immediate Action Time-Frame

3 Board Governance Susanne Integrate annual planning into calendarSuccession planningCommittee calendars and process documentation

1 Office Structure Personnel committee

Communication expertiseStaffing requirementsMarketing staffing requirementsOffice IT needs

2 Technology Reaghan/ board

Strategic analysis of web-redesign needsVideo Replay analysis

HR DevelopmentPriority Item Lead Immediate Action Time-Frame

3 Lobby Skate Canada Susanne/ Joanne

to re-open discussion of remuneration of officials (honorarium, etc)allow CanSkate coaches to be evaluatorsTest program to match WBP/ CPC

On-going (amendments due in January)

1A Continuous educationCoaches, officials

Marion & committee chairs

Integration of E-learningRole descriptionsCurriculum of seminars to include StandardsWBP Business/ communication

On-going

1 Recruitment of officials Marion Identification of a champion and development of a plan

On-going

2 Mentoring of volunteers and continuous education of volunteers

Janet Identification of a champion and development of a planIntegration of E-learningRole descriptions

On-going

Prioritization – Top 6(in no particular order)

PARTNER• Targeted sponsors

– Marketing Advisory committee

ATHLETE• Talent ID• StarSkate

ORGANIZATION Office Structure

IT Requirements

HUMAN RESOURCE Recruitment of officials