Rachel Abrahams has been reunited with her former coach through the CCAA’s FACP.
Abrahams, who competed in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) with the Sheridan Bruins from 2016-20, is being mentored this season by head coach Scott Hunt at Conestoga College.
Hunt coached Abrahams for the first three of her four seasons with the Bruins.
Abrahams served as a member of the leadership council team in each of her four years at Sheridan. Additionally, she was the team captain in her final two seasons with the Women’s Volleyball squad.
“As a team captain, I grew as a leader and allowed that leadership opportunity to motivate and encourage my teammates to excel in the sport,” she said.
Hunt, who has watched Abrahams develop her own unique leadership style, is delighted to be reunited with a former student-athlete.
“Rachel was the dream athlete to coach and had an enormous impact on improving our program over her OCAA playing career,” said Hunt. “Having Rachel on our coaching staff as a strong female role model is a substantial benefit to our current student-athletes at Conestoga.”
Abrahams, an honours graduate of the Bachelor of Early Childhood Leadership program, has been building an impressive coaching resume throughout her volleyball playing career.
She assisted younger players from house league programs to athletes in the Niagara Rapids Volleyball Club from 2013-15. Abrahams has also coached beach volleyball through the Niagara spikes program since 2014 and has worked as a counsellor at the Camp Crossroads summer camp in Muskoka since 2015.
Through these valuable experiences, Abrahams has been responsible for teaching basic techniques, theory and practical skills while motivating and providing constructive feedback to young players.
Hunt also has previous CCAA FACP experience. During the 2016-17 season, he mentored apprentice coach Dimitra Strathakos at Sheridan. It was a rewarding experience for Hunt, who was challenged to become a better communicator and teacher of the coaching craft.
With the Condors, the nurturing Hunt has been successful in making his student-athletes and fellow coaches aware of their roles within the team, and how their combined parts have a larger impact in both team and personal success.
“Scott has elevated the level of our program through his meticulous and diligent planning,” said Andrew Bates, Manager of Athletics & Recreation at Conestoga College. “His attention to detail is second to none in the OCAA and his leadership for our players and current assistant coaches has been outstanding.”
Throughout the first semester, Abrahams held individual video review with student-athletes using game film from last season and provided technical feedback to the players with respect to certain skill technique. She also organized several weekly virtual team meetings and led team building games to keep student-athletes engaged during quarantine.
With all 2020-21 CCAA Championships cancelled, this season is obviously like none other in CCAA history. This year however, coach education and training – which is key to the CCAA’s FACP – is being further supplemented via the FACP Leadership Development Program. This Leadership Program is developed by former CCAA student-athlete and current CCAA Head Coach and Doctoral student Danielle Cyr, who has been facilitating the mentorship process.
Abrahams has also completed the NCCP Making Headway in Sport and NCCP Coach Initiation in Sport training.