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North Battleford Water Doves synchro coach Parker receives dedication award

Mar 23, 2018 | 2:00 PM

North Battleford Water Doves head coach Sheila Parker was given the 2017 female coach dedication award from Sask Sport last night at an awards gala in Saskatoon.

The Edmonton native has coached synchronized swimming since 1986 and swam with the Water Doves in North Battleford since 1995, when she moved here with her husband, who is originally from the Battlefords.

“It is just such a great honour. It’s something I never expected. To me, there’s nothing better,” Parker said in a phone interview on Friday morning. “There’s so many fanatstic coaches out there and to just be nominated from your own sport is such an honour and then to be actually picked as the recipient — it’s hard to put into words.

“It means the world to me.”

Parker said it’s the athletes she works with that help keep her passion for coaching alive year after year.

“They’re so fantastic and they’re what motivate me, and I hope I motivate them the same way,” she said. “I [hope] that through persevering, through dedication, through hard work, that it transfers over to them, not only in sports but in their schooling and throughout their lives.”

Parker first got involved in coaching immediately following a 12-year career in competitive synchronized swimming.

Her first gig was a joint project between Synchro Swim Alberta and Alberta Special Olympics, which interested her because she had already been helping with special needs athletes while in high school.

Parker eventually helped revise the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) synchronized swimming rules to include Special Olympic athletes.

“It just seemed a natural fit,” she said. “I wanted to do everything I could to have them included.”

In an average week as head coach of the Water Doves, Parker volunteers 10 hours on deck, plus another 10-20 hours away from the pool, working on choreographing routines, cutting music and much more.

The Saskatchewan Sport Awards are chosen annually by Sask Sport Inc. to celebrate the outstanding achievements of Saskatchewan amateur athletes and coaches.

 

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11