Coaching
Get Trained | Instructor Beginner | Competition Introduction | Competition Development | NCCP Operation Manual | Making Ethical Decisions | Locker Login | Coaching Development Advisory Group | Minimum Coaching Standards for Nationally Sanctioned Events
Coaches are important!
Coaches are the primary drivers of a boxing program. They mentor, promote healthy attitudes towards fitness, and develop confidence & responsibility in their athletes.
How to become trained and certified as a coach:
To be a certified Coach in Canada you need:
- To be a current member of Boxing Canada (memberships are available through your provincial boxing association)
- A police records check
- Become “Trained” in one of the below coaching levels (take the course, complete the assignments)
- Become “Certified” at that level by completing an evaluation process (depending on the level this might be all online, or all in person)
Depending on the type of boxer you want to coach new coaches can start with Instructor Beginner or Competition Introduction levels
The progress to Competition Development which is the high-performance level.
The Value of a ‘Trained’ and ‘Certified Coach:
Coaches who are trained and certified by Boxing Canada have proven themselves through education about boxing, fitness, life-skills, Abuse-Free Sport, and are connected with the larger coaching community encompassing all sports in Canada. They are recognized by the Coaching Association of Canada. Some levels of competition (such as Canada Games) require certain minus levels of coaching training and certification. Knowing that your coach is trained and certified by Boxing Canada is a good way to know that you are going to have a positive experience!
Instructor Beginner Coach:
- Works with athletes:
- LTAD Stages: Active Child, Fundamentals, Learn to Box, Active for Life
- Age Groups: 6-12 years old; 13 years-old-and-older Men and Women learning to Box for the first time
- Goals: Fun, skill development, fitness, participation not competition
- Pre-requisites:
- No boxing experience necessary, but can be helpful
- Police background check
- How to become an Instruction Beginner Coach:
Note that experienced coaches can “Challenge” the evaluation process and bypass step 3 Boxing Instructor Beginner course. Additional verification of boxing experience may be required.
For written evaluation items: Best practice seems to be for coaches to print out the evaluation package, complete the forms on paper, and then send pictures of those pages back via email.
For video evaluation items: Best practice varies based on coach comfort with video. We recommend changing the quality setting of the video to less than 1080p as this reduces file size. Videos can be emailed, drop-boxed, Google drive’d, etc. If that isn’t going to work we could also do a skype call for a “live” evaluation.
Competition Introduction Coach:
- Work with athletes:
- LTAD Stages: Learn to Box, Train to Box, Train to Compete, Active for Life
- Age Groups: 8+
- Goals: Skill refinement, fitness, sparring, participation in some competition
- Pre-requisites:
- Some background/experience in boxing
- Instruction Beginner Certification is helpful (steps 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d are part of the Instruction Beginner evaluation)
- Police background check
- How to become a Competition-Introduction Coach:
Note that experienced coaches can “Challenge” the evaluation process and bypass step 3 Boxing Competition Introduction course. Additional verification of boxing experience may be required.
For written evaluation items: Best practice seems to be for coaches to print out the evalution package, complete the forms on paper, and then send pictures of those pages backt o me via email.
For video evaluation items: Best practice varies based on coach comfort with video. We recommend changing the quality setting of the video to less than 1080p as this reduces file size. Videos can be emailed, drop-boxed, Google drive’d, etc. If that isn’t going to work we could also do a skype call so we can evaluate “live”.
Competition Development Coach:
- Works with athletes:
- LTAD Stages: Train to Compete, Train to perform
- Age Groups: 15+
- Goals: Skill refinement, fitness, sparring, interprovincial and national competition
- Pre-requisits:
- Competition Introduction Certified or equivalent experience
- Police background check
- Visual Pathway for Competition Development Coaches
- Alternate pathway available for coaches with extensive experience (contact us for details)
- How to register for the Competition Development Workshops:
- Check on your Learning Progress (Currently ONLY for Comp Dev coaches; you will need a login and password)
- Who to contact to be evaluated: Boxing Canada Coach Evalution Request
NCCP Operations Manual for Boxing
Boxing Canada NCCP Operations Manual, Detailed information on the coaching system.
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Information about NCCP Make Ethical Decisions:
Make Ethical Decisions has a Course (online) and an Evaluation (also online)
For the MED course:
https://coach.ca/nccp-make-ethical-decisions
There is a link on the right side of the page “How to Register”. Using the drop down select your province.
Successfully completing the course should show up in the Locker within 24 hours. Important to note that Boxing Canada (and the PTSOs) have no control/say over this course – no way to get around it.
For the MED evaluation:
https://thelocker.coach.ca/onlinelearning#MED
(this will take the user to a login where they will need their NCCP Coach ID# and password)
Successfully completing the evaluation should show up in the locker instantly. Important to note that Boxing Canada (and the PTSOs) have no control/say over this course – no way to get around it.
Coaching Development Advisory Group
Coming Soon.
Nationally-Sanctioned Events Coaching Standards
Boxing Canada is implementing minimum coaching standards for Nationally Sanctioned Events to ensure that:
- All athletes are serviced by well educated, vetted coaches
- All coaches attending national-level competitions have a shared minimum understanding of the rules and behaviours required for successful participation
This is similar to the minimum standards in place for officials at national-level competitions.
Current 2024, 2025 Calendar Years | Status of my coaching level | |||
“In Training” | “Trained” | “Certified” | ||
My Coaching Level in TheLocker.ca | No Boxing-Specific Education | Training Areas only, No Field of Play, No Corner | ||
Instructor Beginner | Training Areas only, No Corner | Corner with any Certified Coach | No / Pas de Restriction | |
Competition Introduction | Training Areas only, No Corner | Corner with any Certified Coach | No / Pas de Restriction | |
Competition Development | Corner with any Certified Coach | No / Pas de Restriction | No / Pas de Restriction |
Rationale for the 2024-25 standards:
All athletes are within arms reach of a certified coach while in the field of play.
Proposed 2026 and beyond | Status of my coaching level | |||
“In Training” | “Trained” | “Certified” | ||
My Coaching Level in TheLocker.ca | No Boxing-Specific Education | No coaching; spectator only | ||
Instructor Beginner | Corner with any CI or CD Coach | |||
Competition Introduction | Training Areas only, No Corner | Corner with any Certified Coach | No / Pas de Restriction | |
Competition Development | Corner with any Certified Coach | No / Pas de Restriction | No / Pas de Restriction |
Rationale for the 2026+ standards:
Only coaches in the Competition stream of NCCP Coach education are participating at national-level events, while providing opportunity for newer coaches who are not yet certified to participate under the direct supervision of a certified coach.
Canada Games Standards | Status of my coaching level | |||
“In Training” | “Trained” | “Certified” | ||
My Coaching Level in TheLocker.ca | No Boxing-Specific Education | No coaching at Canada Games | ||
Instructor Beginner | ||||
Competition Introduction | ||||
Competition Development | Assistant coach with exemption and with a Certified Coach | Assistant Coach | Head Coach |
Coach standards for Canada Games will be published 24 months in advance of the Games, within each sport’s technical package.
Exemptions are available up to 90 days in advance of the Games. A coach may only receive one exemption in their career.