CORNER BROOK Sarah Doody has a friendly smile, a pleasant demeanour and a knack for delivering a consistent program.
It’s these qualities that helped Doody claim bragging rights to the recreation coach of the year award for Gymnastics Newfoundland and Labrador at its recent annual general meeting and awards luncheon in St. John’s.
“She just brings a real positive energy to the club,” Saltos president Denise May said of Doody.
Doody is a part-time coach with Saltos who is responsible for co-ordinating all aspects of the recreation gymnastics program. She was nominated for the award by club president May and, at the time, Doody was still attending Corner Brook High.
According to May, Doody has been a great communicator along the way and has a great rapport with both parents and athletes. More importantly, she likes the way Doody keeps things running smoothly by keeping on top of the little things such as providing feedback to parents, returning telephone calls and other basic duties that need to be handled.
“It’s the basics of running an organization that sometimes is lacking in a volunteer-run organization,” she said as a compliment to the young coach.
Being able to deliver a program whereby the large pecentage of parents give it a big thumbs up is a challenge for any organization, but Doody has been able to put smiles on a lot of faces at the gym.
“She did such a good job of co-ordinating that program last year that there was a high satisfaction rate among parents, which was wonderful, and the club has seen tremendous growth over the past two years,” May said.
Looking back on the awards ceremony, May wasn’t sure what would unfold because she knew Doody was nominated alongside a lot of full-time coaches so it would be a tough category.
“She was up against some really stiff competition. When they read out all the achievements of the other nominees it was so impressive that she was up there among them,” she said.
In the meantime, Saltos also walked away with the Volunteer of the Year Award — presented to club vice-president Andrea Barrett who has been a tireless volunteer working behind the scenes, but also acts as the unofficial club photographer and has also rolled up her sleeves from time to time to clean up the gym.
According to May, Barrett has played a key role in trying to develop and nuture the club and the sport in the city, being involved in everything from trying to acquire another facility or implementing such things as an Occupational Health and Safety program and a Parent Feedback Program for Saltos.
“She stepped up to the plate every single time,” May said.
Two provincial awards to brag about, May can’t help but be proud of where the club has come in a few years, but she recognizes there is still work to do despite seeing registration numbers continue to grow.
“We have been growing non-stop. We added 92 kids to our programs overall in the last year,” she said.
