July 23, 2024
To make it to the Olympic Games, athletes need to demonstrate exceptional resilience, ability, and unwavering focus. This, according to Miranda Ayim, three-time Olympian in the sport of basketball and former flag bearer for Team Canada, is what it takes to successfully navigate competitions on the world stage.
As athletes from around the world prepare for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, back home in Canada, former athletes and coaches, including some with experience at the Olympic games, are using their skills to help air traffic service students develop the same mental strength and acuity needed to compete at the highest level.
As a proud Canadian who has spent more than 15 years competing professionally, Miranda is now using her expertise to help coach future air traffic controllers and flight service specialists. “When competing against the best athletes in the world, it's not just about the physical skill— you need strong mental resilience,” says Miranda. “Life can be stressful, and we often have many things on our minds. Having the ability to manage our emotions, work through challenging situations, and overcome obstacles is an invaluable life skill."
Across the country, NAV CANADA, Canada’s air navigation service provider, has dedicated training teams consisting of learning quality specialists, instructors, and training supervisors who support students and on-the-job instructors. Over the last two years, the company has partnered with a team of high-performance coaches to further support our training teams and students.
This team, comprised of former athletes, coaches, mental skills, wellness, leadership and team performance experts, has provided more than 1,500 hours of performance coaching to instructors and students. In the coming months, this partnership will expand to include even more performance coaching for learners and instructors in on-the-job training. Our focus will be on coaching for the learner and the instructor, as there is clear data demonstrating an increased success rate when instructors and students work together with a coach.
“Our students repeatedly tell us that training to be an air traffic service (ATS) professional is one of the most challenging experiences of a lifetime,” says Dan Wortman, Director, ATS Learning Delivery at NAV CANADA. “We also know the pressure our on-the-job instructors face as they balance training students while ensuring safe service delivery. Supporting our learners and instructors is essential as we work together to meet our staffing and service delivery requirements.”
The expansion of this program comes at a time when NAV CANADA is increasing ATS training capacity to meet the company’s current and future staffing needs. To keep up with the evolving aviation landscape, hundreds of new ATS students are being hired across the country.
The integration of performance coaching and ATS training underscores the degree of teamwork and mental resilience required in our high-stakes operational environments. Just as athletes rely on their coaches and teammates to achieve peak performance, air traffic service students rely on a broad support system that includes instructors, training supervisors, learning quality specialists, managers, employee wellness specialists, thrive peers, training specialists, and many others. This collaborative effort not only enhances individual capabilities but can also foster a cohesive, high-performing team that can effectively manage the complexities of our unique learning environment.
As Jason Sealy, Director of Sealy Coaching and Performance, puts it, "In both sports and ATS training, success hinges on the ability to accelerate growth and become the best at getting better at no matter what you’re working on. Our performance coaches work to cultivate instructors and performers to gain clarity of what success looks like, and how to get there; practice new habits that support high performance outcomes; and build the grit to adapt to the variance, and uncertainty inherent in the ATS training experience.
Join us in cheering on Kelsey WogOpen a new window, Canadian Olympic team swimmer, at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Kelsey, who also competed at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games and the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, is the daughter of Travis Wog, an Air Traffic Controller based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Travis, who will be cheering on his daughter from Paris, says, “Seeing Kelsey compete at the highest level fills our family with immense pride and joy. Her dedication to both sport and education is truly inspiring. We are incredibly excited and honored to watch her compete in person this time as visitors were not allowed into Japan for the Tokyo Olympics due to pandemic restrictions." Kelsey will compete in the 200m breaststroke on July 31, 2024. In addition to being a competitive swimmer, Kelsey is pursuing a Masters degree in microbiology from the University of Manitoba.
We wish Kelsey and all Canadian Olympic team members the best of luck as they strive for excellence on the world stage at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
NAV CANADA is hiring air traffic service professionals, including air traffic controllers and flight service specialists across Canada. Visit our careers page to learn more.