Female Apprentice Coach Program: Barrs

The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is proud to announce its 2020-21 participants in the annual Female Apprentice Coach Program (FACP) for the sport of Volleyball:

The King’s Eagles, ACAC

Apprentice: Brynelle Barrs
Mentor: Grace Scott

Brynelle Barrs had a decorated career as a student-athlete in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC), leading her teams to multiple conference medals and three CCAA Championship appearances.

This season, Barrs is utilizing that experience as an apprentice in the CCAA’s FACP. She is being mentored by long-time Women’s Volleyball head coach Grace Scott at The King's University. 

“I see this as a big step in my coaching career,” said Barrs, who graduated from The King’s with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Kinesiology. “I hope to someday share my love for the game with others through coaching.”

Barrs suited up for The King’s Eagles, GPRC Wolves and Briercrest Clippers in the ACAC. Her teams captured two ACAC titles along with a silver and bronze medal – and qualified for CCAA Championships on three separate occasions. Barrs and the Eagles earned a silver medal at the 2019 CCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship, hosted by Niagara College in Welland, ON.

“I am very thankful for these experiences during my four years of eligibility, and I believe that coaching and leadership played a huge part in each success story,” she said.

During the past two years at The King’s, Barrs had the opportunity to lead a camp for young girls. Prior to that, she also helped run drills at a youth volleyball camp with GPRC and in high school, Barrs gained experience working at camps with junior high students.

Throughout her time at The King’s, Barrs was one of the most caring and selfless players Scott ever coached. She proved to be a tremendous example for other players and was someone who handled herself in a very mature and professional manner.

“Brynelle always came to practice with a huge smile on her face and was genuinely concerned about how everyone else was doing on our team, even if she had a difficult day herself,” said Scott. “She is not only someone I trust implicitly, but she has also proven to have a tremendous rapport with people and is very approachable.”

Scott, who is also the Director of Athletics at The King’s, was named CCAA Women’s Volleyball Coach of the Year in 2019. She is also no stranger to the FACP, having worked with several apprentices over the years.

Not only has Scott thoroughly enjoyed each FACP mentoring experience, she has also been amazed at how much she continues to learn each season.

“I believe mentoring and being mentored is an important part of our lifelong learning process, whether it occurs at a professional or personal level,” she said. “Mentoring is very much a part of my coaching philosophy as each year I encourage the athletes on our team to find mentors for the upcoming season.”

With all 2020-21 CCAA Championships cancelled, this season is obviously like none other in CCAA history. This year however, coach education and training – which is key to the CCAA’s FACP – is being further supplemented via the FACP Leadership Development Program. This Leadership Program is developed by former CCAA student-athlete and current CCAA Head Coach and Doctoral student Danielle Cyr, who has been facilitating the mentorship process.

In the Eagles’ final team meeting together for the fall semester, Barrs led a session on ‘Transformational Leadership’ based on what she has been learning and discussing in her FACP sessions.

“As Brynelle led this session, it was very evident that she has learned a lot from her FACP sessions and has grown a great deal in her confidence level and ability to lead,” said Scott.

Barrs worked specifically with first-year student-athletes at the beginning of the fall semester to help them work on some of their basic skills in order to improve to the level required of post-secondary players. She was also in charge of giving specific technical feedback to middles, as this was the position she played.

The Eagles also played a number of inter-squad games, which Barrs officiated and was able to observe how other staff members coached each team. She learned quite a bit by watching different leadership styles and methods used to give feedback and motivate players.

Barrs has been very much engaged in the coaching process from practice planning to debriefing game play. She has contributed significantly to both team and coach meetings. The Eagles also have team video sessions once per week where Barrs has taken the time to get to know and encourage players.

Whether as a student-athlete or as an apprentice, Barrs continues to gain invaluable insight under Scott’s tutelage.

“Grace has taught me many virtues throughout my years at The King’s,” said Barrs. “I look up to Grace as a strong woman and a reputable female coach.”