Filed Under (General) by Rick Kaselj on 19-11-2011
A review of the BCAK 20 Year Anniversary Event
I drove up the mountain like I had done many times before.
I had done it on a daily basis 20 years ago. Every morning, I would head up the mountain to Simon Fraser University.
Tonight I was at SFU because there was a 20 year celebration for the British Columbia Association of Kinesiolgists (BCAK). I was also there to see an instructor, Craig Asmundson, and co-op coordinator, Nancy Johnson, who played a big part while I was at university. Plus strength coach, Roger Takahashi of the Vancouver Canucks was there to share his journey from kinesiology student to kinesiology professional.
BCAK Celebration
The evening started off with a celebration of Craig Asmundson and Nancy Johnson on their contribution to the BCAK. Both helped start the BCAK, 20 years ago, and were early presidents of the association.
The association has grown to be a voice and advocate for kinesiologists in British Columbia.
The next part of the evening was a presentation of Roger Takahashi. It was great to hear Roger Takahashi share his journey. I remember when I worked at a physical therapy clinic, I loved hearing about other people’s professions. It is fascinating to hear what people do, the skills they have and the journey they have taken to get where they are.
Let me go through some of the highlights of Roger’s presentation.
Roger highlighted the importance of volunteer work and how it was a key thing to him getting his job.
Roger’s Interview with the Canucks
A great story he told is the job interview he had with the Canucks in 2003. He described sitting in a chair and on the other side of the room was a long table with every member of the Canucks. All the management, coaching and medical staff. He described the interview like a shooting drill of questions. He had no idea on how the interview went, but looking back he feels his volunteer work gave him the understanding of the day to day operations of hockey which set him apart from other candidates. In the interview he was able to show he understood the process around hockey but also understood hockey training.
Hockey Combine
He talked about the hockey combine and the role a strength coach plays in it. Roger shared how he evaluates the prospects and then meets with coaching staff to rank the players. He downplayed the importance of the combine and highlighted the importance of focusing on the anaerobic tests and lower body power test but also commented on the limitations of the testing.
He talked about how the physical aspect of a hockey player is a small part of an athlete. Bigger components are their attitude, work ethic, how they handle disappointment and how they have developed over the years.
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I just got the latest issue of 
“Nearly 6 million people a year visit their doctor for shoulder pain, strains, dislocations or other shoulder related problems”
