COACH DEVELOPER · EDUCATOR · STRATEGIC ADVISOR
I’m Marc O. Dagenais. I develop coaches and help sport leaders connect learning, people and the systems that support them.
Explore my thinkingQuébec roots. A world of perspectives.
500+NCCP module deliveries
since January 2020
Since 2002Teaching at Champlain
College Saint-Lambert
EN / FRCanadian foundations.
International experience.
THE QUESTIONS BEHIND MY WORK
For people who develop coaches and lead sport. Start with the essay, then take a question back to your own work.
THE CENTRAL IDEA
6 min read
A curriculum can be complete while the people who must use it are still unprepared. The work between the document, the facilitator and the coach belongs in the design.
Read the essayA difficult selection decision. An unexpected reunion ten years later.
Why a learning activity should reveal reasoning, not just recall.
Read the field noteWhat belongs at the centre of a program, and what belongs to the people using it.
Read the field noteWhy publishing, communications and continuing care belong together.
Read the field noteQuestions, field notes and practical exercises from coaching, learning and the work around them.
Follow me on LinkedInBEFORE THE SYSTEMS, THERE WAS A COACH
I was 13. My sister was signing up for another season of softball, and the association was looking for volunteer coaches. Someone asked if I wanted to get involved.
I became an assistant with her under-eight team. I loved helping young players learn. That possibility of making a positive difference has stayed with me through coaching, teaching and the work I do with sport organizations.
“I have loved coaching more than playing.”
Marc O. Dagenais, interviewed in Davao, 2018.
Read the interview · Hear the origin story
THE FIELD
From community softball to Simon Fraser University and Canada’s women’s national-team program, my foundation is coaching, kinesiology and physical preparation.
Five years as national-team assistant coach. Ten as strength and conditioning coach, including an Olympic cycle.
THE CLASSROOM
I’ve taught at Champlain College Saint-Lambert since 2002 and worked in the National Coaching Certification Program since 2003. Today, I train, mentor and evaluate the people who educate coaches.
NCCP Master Coach Developer since 2019. English and French. More than 500 module deliveries since January 2020.
THE SYSTEM AROUND THEM
Program design, learning, communications and digital delivery are connected parts of how people experience sport. I bring those perspectives together with leaders and local partners.
PAISAC coach education. Philippine national-program advisory work. USCCE and ICCE digital strategy and delivery.
A FEW CHAPTERS IN THAT JOURNEY
Turning experience into a practical guide. I authored How to Prepare to Play College Softball, helping athletes weigh their sport, education and everyday-life priorities. Archival guide
Contributing to the wider pathway. I served on the eight-person steering committee behind Softball Canada’s national Long-Term Player Development guide. The original acknowledgements
Teaching across languages. In Oman, Steve Ramsbottom and I delivered three days of theory and practical workshops for 62 coaches from Oman and Tunisia, supported by interpreters. Steve’s account
Building local capacity. With the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Sports Institute, I advise on a national coaching certification program and Coach Developer Academy, with local ownership central to the work. My role and professional record
STILL IN THE WORK
Alongside teaching and coach development, I support communications with Orienteering Canada, digital strategy and operations with the United States Center for Coaching Excellence, and web operations with the International Council for Coaching Excellence. I also contribute to the ICCE’s CORE academic and educational module task force.
I founded Adrenaline Solutions in 2020 to continue my independent advisory practice. My perspective also draws on building a multidisciplinary digital team earlier in my career.
IN MY OWN WORDS
Ten years after I cut a teenage athlete from a team, she came to my father’s wake. In this episode, I tell the story and reflect on caring for the person behind the athlete.
The lesson reaches beyond coaching: your title may earn attention, but people remember how you treat them.
Read the story and reflection
DEVELOPING IMPACTFUL
COACHES IN CANADA
What stays
with people.
Jump into the conversation
01:10 · Why I started 14:11 · The unexpected reunion 18:15 · Beyond your résuméSPEAKING & WORKSHOPS
For coaches, Coach Developers and sport leaders.
In English or French.
Bring a real question from your work. We can shape a talk, facilitated discussion or working session around it, with time to connect the ideas to your setting.
From an early coaching experience to the structures that support coaches today. Explore what care looks like in decisions, relationships and the environment around the athlete.
Follow one program from its intended purpose to the people who deliver it. Work through the gaps between curriculum, facilitator preparation, local context and ongoing support.
Turn a content-heavy topic into an activity that asks coaches to think, decide and apply. Use reflection and feedback to make their reasoning visible.
Explore small uses for preparation, resource review and communication. Define the task before choosing a tool, and keep professional judgment with the people doing the work.
Share the audience, date, language and question you want to explore.
marc@adrenaline.solutions
DELIVERY EXPERIENCE
Oman · 2024
Three days of theory and practical workshops, co-delivered with Steve Ramsbottom.
PAISAC · since 2016
Bilingual coach education for cohorts from Africa and the Caribbean.
FOR EVENT ORGANIZERS
Marc O. Dagenais is a bilingual coach developer, educator and strategic advisor based in Québec. He helps sport leaders connect coach education, learning design, program development, strategic communications and digital delivery. An NCCP Master Coach Developer and Champlain College Saint-Lambert educator, he has facilitated more than 500 NCCP module deliveries since January 2020. His experience includes Canadian national-team softball, PAISAC coach education, and advisory work with the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Sports Institute on a national coaching certification program and Coach Developer Academy. He hosts Developing Impactful Coaches in Canada. His work centres on developing people and the systems that help them put learning into practice.
A concise introduction for your program, podcast or event page.
Download a current portrait · JPGALSO IN CONVERSATION
I host Dr. Wade Gilbert on Developing Impactful Coaches in Canada. Explore the thinking behind effective coaching.
Watch the conversation
ON WORKING TOGETHER
“The videos were professionally done and Marc was a pleasure to work with.”
Emma StodelE-Learning and Mental Training Consultant, Learning 4 Excellence
French educational videos for an online learning project.
LinkedIn recommendation · May 26, 2022
LET’S KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING
