Team Sports @ Northlea

Fall and Winter Sports

The Northlea staff are delighted to offer a range of team sport options for this year.  Co-curricular athletics are led by staff on a voluntary basis and we are very appreciative of their commitment.  We have a devoted roster of 15 staff coaches at Northlea this season.  

The coaches have been collaborating to organize the team sports for this season.  When organizing the options, they look at variables including balancing league and intramural play, gender, grade and sports. During every school year, variability of offerings can be expected as a result of staff interests, skill sets, personal commitments and academic obligations.  

As well, TDESSA sometimes makes changes to seasonal offerings.  For instance, this year, soccer has been moved to the fall season and in the past, it was held in the spring.  As you can imagine, this impacts our planning because of our Cross Country programming.

We have heard that several families hope to see more gender specific teams in the Intermediate division.  We understand the rationale and desire to ensure that the female youth at Northlea have full access to athletics programming.  We take this commitment very seriously as well.  

The co-ed play that is offered is led by coaches who are focused on best practices related to teamwork. They foster a joint-responsibility and mutual respect for both achieving the collective goal and ensuring each player is able to grow their individual skill sets too.

One of the techniques that staff have noted works well during co-ed volleyball is to group rallies based on gender so girls are playing against girls and boys are playing against boys whenever possible.  

The staff who are leading these programs will share more information with interested students through school announcements, forms (as required) and by posting their practices and events on the Google Calendar.

** Students are permitted to play in one league team per season.  The one exception is that, if you participated in Cross Country, you may also participate in another Early Fall activity.

FALL & WINTER INTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Early Fall (September to End of October/November 1st):

-  Gr.5/6 Boys' Soccer - Teacher Coaches: Karen Andrew & Julia Cioban

 - Gr.5/6 Girls' Soccer - Teacher Coaches: Jeff Browne & Julia Cioban 

- Cross Country - Ms. Ossher, Ms. Cioban, Mrs. Fazl, Ms. Butts, Mr. Benedict, Mrs. Lanktree,  Mrs. Gatt, Ms. Resnick, Mr. Card,  Mrs. Siurna, Ms. Cornish

Late Fall (November 5th to December 21st):

-  Gr. 5/6 Boys' Volleyball - Teacher Coach: Jeff Browne 

 - Gr. 5/6 Girls' Basketball - Teacher Coaches: Julia Cioban & Kalina Butts

 - Gr. 7/8 Boys Volleyball - Teacher Coaches:  Karen Andrew & Damien Benedict

- Gr. 7/8 Girls Basketball - Teacher Coach:  John Ellis 

Winter (January 8th to March 9th):

-  Gr.5/6 Boys' Basketball - Teacher Coaches: Julia Cioban & Isaac card

-  Gr.5/6 Girls' Volleyball - Teacher Coach: Susan Siurna

-  Gr.5/6 Co-Ed Ice Hockey - Teacher Coach: Jeff Browne 

-  Gr.7/8 Co-Ed Ice Hockey - Teacher Coaches: Jeff Browne & Lindsay Resnick

-  Gr. 7/8 Girls' Volleyball - Teacher Coach:  Lynn Massicotte

-  Gr. 7/8 Boys' Basketball - Teacher Coach:  John Ellis

FALL AND WINTER INTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES

For the Gr. 7/8 students, who do not participate in Early Fall and/or Late Fall Interschool Activities, the following Intramurals Activities will be offered:

- Gr.7/8 Rugby (club throughout the year) - Teacher Coach: Damien Benedict

- Grade 7/8 Girls' Basketball - Teacher Coach:  Bill Shizas - Once a week at lunch (day of the week TBD) from November - December 2017

- Grade 7/8 Boys' Basketball - Teacher Coach:  Bill Shizas - Once a week at lunch (day of the week TBD) from January - February 2017 

SPRING TRAINING 

The full Spring roster of options will be shared later in the year.  However, the following relates to training for the Grades 4-8 Spring Swim Team:

- Grades 4-8 Swim Team - Teacher Coaches:  Susan Suirna and Julie Roberts -  It will begin in January with weekly practices on Mondays after school (new this year)  and then longer practices twice per week for the two weeks after March break before the meet.

Parent Coaches

Northlea has a proud tradition of collaboration with parents when it comes to coaching.  If you are interested in supporting one of the above teams, please contact the coach(es) to see if they require additional adult involvement.  

All parents who are interested in coaching with a staff member must complete a certification program and have a cleared police reference check noted in the approved TDSB volunteer database.  Please review the "Community Coaching" section below to see the multiple dates available to you for receiving training if you do not already have it.  Please also see the Police Reference Check section of the newsletter if you are not yet on the approved volunteer database.  

Thank you so much.   Your partnership is very helpful and appreciated.

Community Coaching Training & Criteria

Eligibility Criteria for Non‐Board Employee Coaches

All new community coaches must attend one of the following clinics to be eligible to coach and receive their TDESAA coaching card.  

1. Persons not employed by the TDSB, hereafter referred to as community coaches, are eligible to coach, subject to the approval of the principal, provided they meet the criteria for coaching eligibility and are supervised by a staff supervisor.

    a) Student Coaches and/or Managers who are less than 18 years of age are not eligible to be Community Coaches.

    b) Any full‐time registered student under the age of 18 attending a TDSB school can act as a Student Coach and/or Manager.

    c) Up to 2 Student Coaches and/or Managers may sit on the team bench during games.

    d) Student Coaches and/or Managers can only interact with members of their own team during the course of a game. All dialogue with officials must go through         the supervising teacher.

2. Applicant must be eighteen (18) years of age or older.

3. Applicant must submit to the principal evidence of a current criminal reference check.

4. The principal/designate shall:

    a) Highlight the TDESAA coach and athlete codes of conduct

    b) Review the coaching philosophy of the TDESAA

    c) Outline the TDESAA eligibility guidelines

    d) Review the TDESAA disciplinary policies

    e) Review TDSB policies

5. The applicant must agree to follow the process outlined in the TDESAA Constitution on all issues and policies.

6. Community Coaches must:

    a) Attend a Community Coaches’ Meeting

    b) Obtain a letter of permission to coach a team from the school’s administration

    c) Be familiar with the TDESAA athletic policies

    d) Be familiar with the TDESAA regulations that govern the sport

    e) Present their community coaches card at the beginning of each game/event