West Vancouver (BC), Canada – Leo Addington of Calgary, Alberta, has been appointed to lead the Canadian Freestyle Snowboarding program, Canada~Snowboard, the governing body for competitive snowboarding, announced on Tuesday.nAddington, a NCCP Level III certified coach and CSCP Comp Dev Trained coach, has been involved in the snowboard industry for over 15 years. Most recently, he ran the British Halfpipe Snowboard Team for three consecutive years, qualifying two of its best halfpipe riders to the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
“I am very happy to be back in Canada, and excited to work with the Canadian Snowboard Team again as we progress towards the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi,” said Addington.
Addington, who speaks both English and French, is already strategizing in order to revamp and improve on the freestyle program established by former Head Coach Tom Hutchinson, who accepted a position as Head Coach of the Belarus Snowboard Team earlier this spring.
“We have a few strategies going at this point in time. We certainly plan on making the best usage of the Sport Science services available to us, as well as building good relations and communications with other freestyle coaches in the Canadian Snowboard system,” said Addington.
Addington has technical coaching experiences in both Halfpipe and Slopestyle, as well as in dryland and physical training. The Calgary native coached internationally, notably on the FIS World Cup Tour, at World Championship events, and at the Olympic Games level.
“Addington has extensive international experience, notably with the British Snowboard Team,” said Tom McIllfaterick, Chief Executive Officer for Canada~Snowboard. “He also has knowledge and experience in dealing with funding agencies similar to Own The Podium. There were a high number of qualified candidates with lots of technical knowledge who applied, and the decision was very difficult to make. Addington possesses the management experience we currently need with the Freestyle program.”
Earlier in his career, Addington administered the Canada~Snowboard National Training Centre in Calgary in 2006 and 2007. Addington also coached the Canada~Snowboard Development Freestyle Program from 2005 to 2007. He is a Comp Intro Learning Facilitator, allowing him to train new coaches entering the snowboarding system in Canada.
In the spring, former Head Coach Tom Hutchinson announced his departure for Belarus, where he will be heading the entire National snowboard program. Hutchinson was the longest standing coach with Canada~Snowboard, where he managed the freestyle program for nine years.
“I have the fondest memories of all the athletes I have coached in Canada in the past 9 years. They have always made me proud at the way they have handled themselves throughout the world,” said Hutchinson after his departure. “The only reason I left Canada~Snowboard was to start a new team from scratch and promote the sport of snowboarding in a new country. I have nothing but fond memories of Canada~Snowboard and the Canadian sport system. Both these organizations are first class and second to none.”
Canada~Snowboard and Addington will now be looking to hire a new technical coach in the near future.