More than 40 years after taking his first volunteer coaching job, Pierre Beaudry has been honoured with a special award for lifetime achievement in coaching.
The newly-created award from the PacificSport Northern B.C. nomination committee was for Beaudry's efforts guiding biathletes at the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club (CNSC) in Prince George. It was presented Friday at the fourth annual Fan the Flame dinner.
"Working with the kids keeps you young," said Beaudry. "They're appreciative and dedicated and all the families that work in our club are fantastic families and they want to contribute. It's a fantastic group and I think they're really appreciative and that's what keeps you going."
Steve Gutknecht, finance and business development officer for PacificSport and a member of the nomination committee, said when they were trying to pick the inaugural winner for the volunteer coach of the year award they realized the final two nominees were both deserving.
"It came down to Pierre and Bill [Laing, of Northern Edge Snowboard Club in Mackenzie]," said Gutknecht. "It was a really tough decision. We knew we couldn't just take one. We thought Bill was a good fit for the coach of the year award because of the year he had. But Pierre has been at it with the Caledonia biathlon team for over 10 years, consistently developing, not just national, but international athletes who are competing. All the athletes speak extremely high of him."
In addition to his work with the CNSC, Beaudry has also filled numerous roles with Biathlon B.C., including serving as president of sport development, and he'll act as sports leader for biathlon during the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George.
"I wasn't expecting it at all," said Beaudry about the award. "You put in a lot of work as a volunteer coach and you put in a lot of hours organizing things, taking kids to races all over the province and you're pretty burned out by the time March comes in. It's nice to be recognized."
Last season CNSC had about 25 biathletes starting from the beginner's biathlon Bears program to skiers who have reached retirement. After the Bears athletes enter into the junior program followed by the senior program and, Beaudry said next season he'd like to start a masters program for adults.
"More athletes are asking to join the club but in the past we couldn't make the club any bigger because we didn't have the resources," said Beaudry. "Now we'll have the resources to make the biathlon group grow."
Beaudry said his main goal now is to coach future biathlon coaches so the program can grow and flourish when he steps away in the future.
"I want to leave a legacy of sustainability," said Beaudry. "So often these kind of led sports crash when somebody leaves until somebody else picks it up again so you can get in these cycles of real success to almost no club at all. I would like to avoid that happening so as I transition out of coaching the athletes I want to coach the coaches and make sure there's enough coaches that are well developed to maintain the program."
