Cedar Wechlin  — Making a lasting impact through continued coach education

Passionate about inclusion and creating an accessible space in the amateur sports community, Cedar Wechlin is a highly accomplished and dedicated coach. Through his coaching efforts, Cedar is committed to enriching the lives of youth by promoting inclusive sports programs in remote First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities. 

Cedar’s sport journey began at an early age when he was introduced to baseball and fastpitch. Along the way, he received much support from his community and had the chance to meet incredible teachers, coaches, and mentors who supported and helped fulfill his dreams of playing at the college level.  However, through his experiences, and privilege he realized that not everyone had the same experiences and opportunities at hand, specifically Indigenous youth. 

“I came to understand that some Indigenous youth did not have the same resources and opportunities in their communities as I did in a big city,” Cedar shares. “Most of my life’s work has been working with Indigenous communities throughout BC and the Northwest Territories.” Cedar’s work often involves bringing in coaches to deliver programming around sport, while also facilitating programming himself through his personal coaching and professional pursuits.  

Cedar is a recipient of a grant from the Northern BC Coaching and Officiating Development Fund (NBC grant). This grant supports coaches and officials to offset the cost of their training and/or certification courses, to increase a coach’s accessibility to coach education.

Cedar resides in Fort Nelson, BC, which has limited opportunities and access to in-person learning opportunities for sport-specific courses offered through the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP). The NBC grant makes it possible for individuals, like Cedar, who reside in remote communities to access training hosted outside the Northern BC region. The NBC grant supported Cedar with travel and course costs so that he could complete his Intermediate NCCP Archery course in Coquitlam to become a certified coach.

Cedar was able to experience some notable moments in his coaching career, partly due to the support of the grant enabling him to complete his course. “I attended the BC Winter Games as an Assistant Coach, where two Indigenous Female archers that I coached made the Cariboo-North Archery team at the BC Winter Games,” says Cedar. He now facilitates Archery camps and events in Fort Nelson communities, where many youth are introduced to Archery for the first time.

The NBC grant has continued to support Cedar in his coaching journey and his overarching goal of increasing sport participation in remote communities and Indigenous youth. “Coaching has allowed me to form many great relationships with Indigenous youth and their communities. This has been the most rewarding part of my coaching career.”

viaSport grants enable more British Columbians to benefit from amateur sport. They support organizations and individuals to reduce barriers and create more opportunities to increase participation, education, and access to sport through targeted grant programs. Looking for a grant? Visit our grants page to see the grants we offer and view eligibility requirements.