Integrated Support Team (IST) is an alliance of professionals in various sport science disciplines who regularly work with coaches and athletes. The goal of an IST is to ensure that athletes are healthy, fit and psychologically ready for optimal performance. The delivery of sport sciences and sport medicine services as designed by the IST is athlete-centered, and coach driven, thus requiring continuous communication and integration between the coach and the team of experts that support the athlete and/or team (Wells 2009, Golf Canada).

GAO Team Ontario provides full service IST coaching support to all their team members. The IST is led by the Head Coach with additional support from the administration staff. The goal as a coaching team is to prepare athletes for their next stage of development and aim to achieve this goal by offering the very best in sports science research, training opportunities, and support in competition.

Jon Roy �?? Provincial Head Coach, oversees and coordinates the sport science specialists and monitors technical and tactical components of athlete development.

E-mail: jroy@gao.ca

Team Ontario IST is comprised of:

Jeff Overholt �?? Strength & Conditioning Coach, designs and implements all the strength & conditioning programs for Team Ontario.

E-mail: joverholt@gao.ca

Kyle Paquette �?? Sport Psychology, helps Team Ontario athletes create and implement individualized psychological prevention and intervention strategies to optimize their athletic development and performance.
E-mail: kpaquette@gao.ca

Andrew Hoermann �?? Athletic Therapist, provides musculo-skeletal assessments of all Team Ontario members and remedial / ongoing physiotherapy services.

E-mail: ahoermann@gao.ca

Golf Coaches working with athletes who are not yet at the provincial or national team level should strive to create an IST team in their own region to provide comprehensive support for their athletes. Sport science experts should have significant experience working with youth athletes and have qualifications in their field of expertise. IST members provide valuable information about your players which will make your coaching programs much more comprehensive / holistic.

Please contact Team Ontario IST if you need assistance building an IST team in your region.