On October 15, 2007 ParticipACTION celebrated its return with the launch of a public awareness campaign aimed at inspiring Canadians to move more. Originally established in 1971, ParticipACTION was reinvigorated to help deal with the inactivity and obesity crisis that is facing Canada. ParticipACTION's public awareness campaign is targeted to all Canadians with an emphasis on parents and youth. With only nine per cent of Canadian children and youth (aged 5 to 19) meeting the recommended guidelines in Canada's Physical Activity Guides for Children and Youth, ParticipACTION's new ads seek to show the implications of youth inactivity and motivate parents to make physical activity a priority at home. The campaign will include TV and radio advertisements that will run nationally from October 2007 to March 2008, and a content rich website (www.participACTION.com) complete with tips, resources and information for Canadians.

Alberta's Iron Horse Trail is featured in the Winter '08 issue of Rails To Trails; a US based magazine which is distributed to approximately 100,000 members nationwide. Editor-in-Chief, Jennifer Kaleba contacted the Iron Horse Trail a year ago to say she'd be in St. Paul for two days and wanted to "experience" this Alberta destination. Arrangements were made to take her snowmobiling on the trail around St. Paul, Elk Point and Smoky Lake. It wasn't until Jennifer arrived that we learned she'd never been sledding before but it didn't take long and she was hooked. The second day was spent touring Glendon, Bonnyville and hiking around the magnificent Beaver River Trestle. All in all, it was an opportunity for us to realize what a treasure we have and that seeing something through an outsider's eye reaffirms how lucky we are to have a 300 kilometers multi-use recreation trail for all to enjoy. For further details and pictures go to www.railtrails.org and then click on "Destination: Alberta, Canada".

In October 2007 the Coaching Association of Canada announced the names of the 30 coaches who are the 2007 recipients of the Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Awards.  These awards recognize coaches whose athletes won medals over the past year at open world championships. Seven Alberta coaches were among those honoured.  The Alberta coaches were Scott Cranham of Calgary, coach of Blythe Hartley, silver medallist on the 1 meter springboard; Melody Davidson of Oyen, coach of the victorious women’s national hockey team; Marcel Lacroix of Calgary, coach of Denny Morrison, silver medallist in 500 meters and 1500 meters at the world all round championships and 1500 metres bronze medallist Christine Nesbitt; Neal Marshall of Calgary, coach of Cindy Klassen, winner of bronze medals in 500 meters and 3000 meters at the world all round championships; Andy Murray of Calgary, coach of Canada’s world champion men’s ice hockey team; Tony Smith of Cochrane, coach of Kyle Shewfelt, floor bronze medallist in 2006; and Xiuli Wang of Calgary, coach of Kristina Groves, bronze medallist in 1500 metres and 3000 meters at the world single distance championships.

In keeping with their commitment to amateur sport in Canada, Investors Group is offering $5,000 each to 20 of Canada’s elite athletes to assist with costs of training and competition. Applications are available on AthletesCAN website at www.athletescan.com. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2008.

The Stacey Levitt Women and Sport Memorial Scholarship is in memory of a very special 18 year old woman who was struck down by a car while she was jogging on August 30, 1995. The scholarship is open to a young woman, a girls’ team, or a sport organization that exemplifies Stacey’s ideals and qualities. This $2500 scholarship is in her memory and will be shared by five recipients. For more information, please review the submission criteria on the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS) website at www.caaws.ca. 

A number of exciting initiatives are being planned in the coaching area over the next six months. Please note the following events:

January 18-19 High Performance Coaches Workshop – Calgary. This workshop is being held for the High Performance coaches employment program between the ASRPWF and the Provincial Sport Organizations.

January 31 Coaches Association of Canada – National Coaches Certification Program – Provincial Sport Organization Presentation – Edmonton.

February 1 Coaches Association of Canada – National Coaches Certification Program – Provincial Sport Organization Presentation – Calgary. Join Cyndie Flett, CAC NCCP Director as well as representatives from the ASRPWF as they provide updates on the transition to the new NCCP program.

February 1-2 Coaches Association of Canada National Coaching Certification Program Learning Facilitators Workshop – Calgary. This interactive workshop is being held to update Alberta’s NCCP Learning Facilitators on the transition process with the new NCCP program.

February 7 North Central Teachers’ Convention. NCCP Accelerated Delivery for Physical Education Teacher-Coaches - Edmonton.

February 14 North East Teaches’ Convention. NCCP Accelerated Delivery for Physical Education Teacher-Coaches - Edmonton.

February 21-22 South East Alberta Teachers’ Convention. NCCP Accelerated Delivery for Physical Education Teacher-Coaches - Medicine Hat.

February 22 Palliser District Teachers’ Convention. NCCP Accelerated Delivery for Physical Education Teacher-Coaches – Calgary.

The NCCP Accelerated Delivery program for Physical Education Teacher – Coaches is a Coaching Association of Canada pilot program that is being offered to allow these individuals an opportunity to be trained in NCCP Part A and B in a one day training course.

NCCP Competition Development Pilot Modules Dates to be Determined. These modules will form the curriculum basis for the former Level 3 Theory course in the transition to the new NCCP program.

The Alberta Centre for Active Living’s Rural Route to Active Aging project offers resources to promote physical activity and building capacity for physical activity opportunities for adults (55 to 75 years) in rural areas. Print and web-based resources are designed for practitioners, community leaders, and older adults and are available at http://tinyurl.com/375p9x.

The recent issue of WellSpring which is published by the Alberta Centre for Active Living discusses what is literacy and health literacy? The December issue of Research Update discusses how neighborhood design affects children's physical activity. Both resources are available in the publication area of the Alberta Centre for Active Living website at www.centre4activeliving.ca.

Get started onto a road to an active lifestyle by logging on to one of the Alberta Centre for Active Living Activity Trackers. Use the Physical Activity @ Work Activity Tracker to set your personal physical activity goals or the Activity Tracker for older adults that also allows you to set goals (following Canada’s Physical Activity Guide for Older Adults), choose your activities and track your progress. 

The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute (CFLRI) recently released the third set of topics from their 2006 Physical Activity and Sport Monitor. Topics include perceived barriers and benefits of being active. 

13 new studies to increase physical activity for children and youth are available on www.activekidsns.ca. The purpose of the studies is to help generate ideas and discussion among individuals interested in improving children’s physical activity levels in Nova Scotia.

The December issue of Injury Control Alberta by the Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research includes an article on SHAPE - Alberta's Active and Safe Routes to School Program.

The Editor

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