BNB is thrilled to announce that two coaches from our organization have been selected to partake in the Canada Games 2025 Women in Coaching Apprenticeship Program! The goal of the program is to build coaching capacity for women in sport, provide apprentice coaches with multi-sport games exposure, and gain enhanced professional development opportunities. Emily Briggs has been selected as one of two apprentice coaches from NB for the upcoming games and Madeline Belding has been selected as her mentor for the program.
Emily Briggs, originally from Bath, NB, is the current assistant coach for the BNB U15 Girls Provincial Team heading to Nationals in August. Nearing the end of her playing career with the Crandall University Chargers, the Moncton Basketball Association reached out to Emily and asked her to join one of their U14 girls team coaching staff, the request that started her coaching journey. At a similar time, she made her first connection with the Jr Elite Development Program offered by BNB. She jumped into both opportunities head first while still completing her undergraduate degree and playing for Crandall, no easy feat. Although she did see coaching as a natural progression in her life, she did not expect it to come as early as it did, but is grateful for the experiences and opportunities she got so early on. From her first coaching experiences in 2019 to now, Briggs says her favorite part of coaching is making genuine human connections, whether that be with the other members of the staff she is working with, or the athletes she has the privilege of coaching. Briggs says “I try to invest a lot of time in what others have going on - I find it helps the training environment”. Her ability to make strong connections has opened several doors over the last few years, and she says: “It is both humbling and difficult to have so many people wanting you in their space, turning people down is hard because you never want to completely close a door, but I knew in the moment that it was the right decision.” Over the last five years, Briggs has accumulated a lengthy list of coaching experiences including assisting with the Mathieu-Martin Vedettes, the Crandall Chargers, 506 Elite, and several others.
Briggs met Madeline Belding in 2014 when she was trying out for the BNB U15 Girls team, and at the time Madeline was an assistant with the U15 development team. Briggs described 2014 as a basketball low-point for her, but emphasized that Belding and the other assistant at the time, Emily Thomas, were pivotal in her development and her re-ignited passion for the game. From there, Belding became her role model and has stayed closely connected to her throughout the years even after graduating from the BNB program after her U17 season. When it came to selecting a mentor for the WiC Canada Games Apprenticeship Program, Briggs described choosing Belding as a no-brainer. She says, “Madeline has been active in so many basketball contexts - she has been an assistant coach for several USport teams and has worked with high level athletes in those spaces, experiences which have provided her with a wealth of coaching knowledge. She is the piece that fits this puzzle.” Briggs admires Belding’s ability to wholly invest herself in a team, saying that “she is constantly firing on all cylinders, reflecting on what has happened and what should come next, finding new solutions to problems, and considering every possible scenario.”
Briggs now steps into a new opportunity with the Women in Coaching Canada Games Apprenticeship Program for the 2024-25 season. She says she doesn’t quite know what to expect but is looking forward to the professional development opportunities that it will offer. She also looks forward to the opportunity to work with the U17 team in 2025 and see how some of her former athletes have grown and developed. She is most excited to take on the challenges ahead and hopefully be able to implement her new life experiences in and outside of basketball.
Madeline Belding is the current head coach of the 2024 U15 Girls BNB team attending Nationals this summer in St. John’s, Newfoundland. From Sussex, NB, Madeline found her love for basketball early on, growing up with two parents who were coaches and following her older brothers around from gym to gym. Her love of basketball grew through the years, competing for Sussex Regional High School and as a member of Team NB; from there she made her way into the Acadia University Women’s Basketball recruiting class in 2011. At Acadia she completed a Bachelor of Kinesiology, followed by Master’s degree in Kinesiology concentrated in Coaching Science. She has assembled an impressive resume of coaching experiences ranging from assistant coach at the University of British Columbia and University of Windsor, to serving as both an assistant and head coach for several BNB teams. Belding returned to NB in 2022 and has been serving as an assistant coach with the UNB Women’s Basketball Team and is currently entering her second consecutive year as head coach for the BNB U15 Girls Provincial Team. Belding credits her start in coaching to Liz Doyle who gave her a space on the U15 Girls Development team in 2014 as an assistant coach. Belding says that coaching provides a unique opportunity to connect with players and coaches through love for the sport. She says that the opportunity to watch athletes try a new skill, master it, and apply it in the short time frames that they are given is such a unique experience. Watching her players succeed brings joy and purpose to her coaching.
Belding first met Emily Briggs in 2014 - Madeline’s first year as a head coach with BNB. She says that, at the time, she identified with Briggs through their small town experiences - the only player coming from her area with little support. Early, she acknowledged Briggs as a hard working, committed, and coachable player and describes Briggs now as a “coachable coach” - Belding says: “she is always looking to get better every day and be the best version of herself for her athletes”. She describes Briggs as a selfless and caring coach - she prioritizes connecting with athletes and building a foundation of trust with them so that they feel welcome and comfortable. Her technical understanding of the game speaks for itself and she always wants to know more and absorb as much new information as possible.
Stepping into this new role as a mentor for Briggs through the WiC 2025 Canada Games Apprenticeship Program, Belding is looking forward to challenging herself in this new coaching space. While developing coaches has always been in the back of her mind, she is looking forward to playing an active role in Briggs’ development as a coach and supporting her through this journey. Belding acknowledged that being a woman in coaching presents a host of unique challenges, and she hopes that through this experience, Briggs is provided with the tools and empowerment necessary to navigate these as they arise in her career.
For more details on the program, visit https://coach.ca/coaching-association-canada-announces-2025-women-coaching-canada-games-apprentice-coaches
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