Written by: Catherine King
Coaches Converge in Cowtown
On June 20, 2026, coaches and allied health professionals from across Western Canada converged in Calgary for a fantastic day of education and networking at the Canadian Sport Institute – Alberta. The Canadian Strength and Conditioning Association is incredibly grateful to our host, CSI, and our sponsor, VALD we would be remiss not to acknowledge our appreciation right off the bat.
The morning kicked off with a chance to grab a coffee, reconnect with colleagues, meet new faces, and settle in for the day's sessions. Graeme Lehman MSc., a private-sector practitioner from Cranbrook BC, started the conference strongly (pun intended) sharing his knowledge and experience working with baseball and volleyball athletes. His presentation undoubtedly inspired more than a few attendees to consider updating their résumés for MLB opportunities.
The morning continued with a fantastic double header (pun also intended) from CSI’s own Anna Aylwin MSc. & Bryan Yu MSc., whose session, Training the High-Performance Para Athlete: Practical Insights Into the Five Core Competencies. Blended theory with hands-on learning. We were privileged to have two para-athletes join us for the practical component, allowing attendees to see firsthand how clear communication, creativity, and collaboration lead to meaningful training adaptations and successful outcomes.
Everyone moved from the performance floor with heads full of novel ideas to hear Julia Capone, MKin, BHPE from VALD whose concise presentation provided the perfect segue into the panel discussion. Moderated by CSI's Jeff, the panel tackled thought-provoking questions (with a little help from ChatGPT) surrounding data collection, decision-making, and the concept of minimum effective dose in training. The intimate lounge setting encouraged thoughtful discussion, and the knowledgeable, experienced, and diverse audience ensured there was no shortage of ideas and perspectives to share.
After the well-earned lunch break of soggy sandwiches and crispy chips Jeremiah Barnert MSc. from CSI knocked it out of the park with Reverse Engineering from the Olympics to Grass Roots Sports. He had us intrigued right off the bat (enough with the baseball analogies) with his statics on the percentage of the population who are Olympians and the percentage of those who take the podium. Go ahead Google it!
Next up, Danica Vangsgaard MSc. another outstanding CSI coach, delivered a tremendous and insightful presentation on Rethinking Hormones and Symptom Management in Female
Athletes. She left the audience with plenty of information to digest along with the soggy sandwiches from earlier and feeling incredibly fortunate that she shared her expertise before heading off to medical school.
To wrap up the conference we all geeked out over Beyond return-to-sport: Using the neuromuscular envelope of function to assess return-to-performance readiness after ACL injury presented by Zachary McClean PhD. It was information overload in the best possible way and provided an outstanding finish to an exceptional day of learning.
For those who still couldn't get enough of talking shop, the networking social offered the perfect opportunity to continue the conversations over a pint, connect with new colleagues, and make sure we had covered all the bases. It was a fitting end to a day filled with learning, collaboration, and inspiration.
Catherine King
Catherine is a practicing Kinesiologist and Strength & Conditioning Coach with over 20 years of experience in the fitness industry. She holds an MSc in Strength and Conditioning from the University of Edinburgh and is dual-certified by the NSCA (CSCSD, NSCA-CPTD). She serves on the Board of Directors for the CSCA, where she leads the Conference portfolio, and received the 2025 NSCA Outstanding Leadership & Service Award for her contributions to the profession.
