DRAFT

Canadian Sport Institute / Horse Council British Columbia

Talent Identification Nomination

Equestrian – Dressage

Sandra Verda Zanatta

April 2024

PURPOSE:

Canadian Sport Institute Pacific, through a partnership with the Province of British Columbia (BC), viaSport, the network of PacificSport centres, and Horse Council British Columbia collaborates to deliver programs and services to place BC athletes on national teams, and ensure athletes and coaches have every advantage to win medals for Canada. The partners work jointly to encourage sport excellence and increase podium performances in communities throughout BC. This template provides a standardized process with which to identify current high performance athletes and coaches in the equestrian sport of dressage in BC as well as athletes who are tracking against key development pathway metrics toward national teams.

The levels within the targeted pathway seek to create a common standard across all sports; hence, the template must be used in its entirety. PSO’s are able to adapt the template to suit their own purposes (e.g. branding, application process, etc.) provided all relevant information is contained within.

Canadian Sport Institute/PacificSport athlete and coach support for the Sport Canada AAP Carded nomination focuses on athletes and teams 0-4 years from the international podium, identified by the sport specific Podium Pathway (Figure 1) and Gold Medal Profile.

These athletes and teams represent the current generation of national team athletes who are carded by the NSO through Sport Canada’s Athlete Assistance Program. Canadian Sport Institute / PacificSport athlete and coach support for the Canadian Development and Provincial Development nomination focuses on athletes and teams 5-12 years from the international podium, identified by the sport-specific Podium Pathway (Figure 1) and Gold Medal Profile. These athletes and teams represent both the next generation (5-8 years away) and future generations (9-12 years away) of Olympic and Paralympic or World Championship medallists.

DETAILS:

Through the above partnership, and with the above purpose in mind, HCBC may nominate athletes and their coaches who meet specific criteria for Canadian Sport Institute Pacific / PacificSport athlete or coach enrollment.  Upon completion of enrollment and onboarding, athletes and coaches can engage in enhanced programs, benefits, and selected support services through Canadian Sport Institute Pacific and the network of PacificSport regional centres in BC.

Canadian Sport Institute / PacificSport athlete support is divided into four levels based on performance, each with a slate of designated benefits. Please see Appendix A for an outline of HCBC targeted athlete benefits, programs, and services as delivered through HCBC.

Targeted athletes are nominated by HCBC based on the athlete criteria below. As a general principle, all athletes are expected to demonstrate evidence of their ongoing performance progression and tracking toward HCBC/EC high performance program benchmarks to remain targeted. HCBC representative (Wendy Sewell/Sandra Verda) and the Canadian Sport Institute technical lead working with HCBC have the final authority over the Canadian Sport Institute nomination process.  Any inquiries regarding the sport-specific selection criteria can be made to Wendy Sewell/Sandra Verda.

The athlete and coach nomination cycle for Canadian Sport Institute / PacificSport / HCBC targeting runs January 1st to December 1st annually, and athletes are selected based on performances from the previous 12 months.  Athletes meeting criteria throughout the annual nomination cycle may be added to the HCBC targeted athlete list, on a case by case basis, by contacting the PSO Technical Representative Sandra Verda Zanatta at fit2ridesvz@icloud.ca

CORE CRITERIA

1. For PSO nominations, athletes must be a member in good standing of Horse Council British Columbia and Equestrian Canada (EC) as a competitive athlete and meet the definition of a BC athlete.
2. All athletes must hold a current sport license at either gold or platinum level.
3. All athletes nominated should have a designated coach who is responsible for planned programming and who meets the specific coach criteria identified in coach nomination section.
4. Athletes who fail to meet targeting criteria due to injury or absence, may remain on HCBC’s nomination list at the discretion of the PSO when:
5. There is an expectation the athlete in question would have met criteria if no injury or absence had occurred AND; b. The athlete in question was nominated by HCBC in the previous 24 months

LEVEL-SPECIFIC CRITERIA

Please note both the Canadian Sport Institute criteria and the HCBC sport-specific criteria: Podium / Canadian Elite (Sport Canada AAP Carded) Canadian Sport Institute Criteria:

• Athletes who appear on the Sport Canada AAP Carding List and verified by the NSO. These athletes are in the High Performance (HP/T2W) stage of the Podium Pathway.

o It is the responsibility of HCBC to consult with the NSO, identifying and nominating any Sport Canada AAP Carded athletes in the province of British Columbia

Canadian Development Canadian Sport Institute Criteria:

• Athletes who compete on the senior national team in eligible events, but do not receive Sport Canada AAP funding, and verified by the NSO. These athletes are in the High Performance (HP/T2W) stage of the Podium Pathway; OR
• Athletes who are in the HP Athlete Development (L2W/T2W) stage of the Podium Pathway (including Gold Medal Profile) and verified by the NSO. If the NSO does not have an approved Podium Pathway, the following criteria will be used:

o Athletes who have been targeted as “NextGen” defined as the expectation to be selected to the senior national team in eligible events within 24 months and verified by the NSO.

FEI Young Rider levels:

FEI Children/FEI Pony (12-14)    National Second Level                   L2C                 TID Level 1

FEI Junior (14-18)                                    National Third Level              L2C                 TID Level 1

FEI Young Rider (16-21)             National Fourth Level                        T2C                 TID Level 2

FEI U25 (14-25)                                                                                            L2W                TID Level 2

FEI Open Levels: (no age restrictions)

Small Tour

Prix St. Georges                                                                            L2W/T2W      TID Level 3

Intermediate 1

Medium Tour

Intermediate A & B                                                                      L2W/T2W      TID Level 3

Big Tour

Intermediate 2                                                                               L2W/T2W      TID Level 3

Grand Prix

Grand Prix Special

FEI YH 6 year old                        National Third Level              T2C                 TID Level 2

Score Requirements – Level Specific

Developing PSG                                 65%

PSG / Intermediare 1                         65%

Intermediate A/B                                65%

Intermediare 2

Grand Prix / Grand Prix Special     65%

FEI Children                                       65%

FEI Junior                                           67% technical tests – Individual, Team

FEI Young Rider                                67% in technical tests – Individual, Team

FEI U25 Grand Prix                           65%

FEI young Horse 6 yr old                   70%

Based on Equestrian Canada Long Term Equestrian Development, National Competition Score Guidelines

Compete to Win (C2W)  68% , Compete to Place (C2P) 64-68%

• Average of 3 technical scores will be used to determine eligibility
• Athlete combinations are expected to demonstrate evidence of ongoing performance and progression and tracking toward HCBC high-performance program benchmarks to remain in the program (technical scores indicated above)
• Scores must be obtained from national level Equestrian Canada sanctioned Gold competitions or USEF national equivalent competition
• Minimum of 3 scores from 2 different competitions and at least 2 different judges
• Scores must be from Equestrian Canada or USEF technical tests
• Freestyle scores are not eligible for nomination

Athletes must:

• Be current EC Sport Licence Holder in good standing
• Complete Safe Sport module
• Complete Concussion Awareness module
• Work with personal coach who is a minimum of NCCP/ EC Competition Coach certified

Coach Nomination Canadian Sport Institute Criteria:

Coaches are nominated when they are the coach of an athlete who achieves designated criteria. The PSO may nominate up to two coaches per athlete in cases where both the Provincial/National coach and a personal coach have a significant impact on the athlete’s training program.

PSO nominated coaches must meet the following criteria:

• Must be a member in good standing with HCBC and EC
• Be designated as athlete’s coach of record and the lead person designing and implementing and annual training plan for the athlete

PSO nominated Coaches must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Be Certified Competition Coach or higher
• Be designated as Provincial or Regional coach by the PSO.
• Be designated as a National Development / Senior National coach by the NSO.
• Be NCCP Level 3, Comp-Dev “trained” or be enrolled in, or completed, the Advanced Coaching Diploma