SIRC articles provide evidence-based and actionable insights from sport researchers, athletes, coaches, sport organizations and thought leaders to advance sport in Canada.
Team Unbreakable: The transformative power of running for youth mental health
Mental health challenges among Canadian youth are a growing concern. It is estimated that up to 20% of children and youth in Canada, which is more than 1.2 million young individuals, are affected by a mental health disorder. Addressing the mental health needs of these children and youth lays a crucial foundation for their lifelong…
Funding for sport is changing and government support is increasingly more difficult to obtain, but the money is out there – it just needs to be found. A relatively new fund development tool is crowdfunding. Think about it, a crowdfunding...
Sport is often held aloft as an example of an environment where feedback flows easily. As a communications coach and management consultant working with business leaders across North America, I often publicly herald the virtues of the feedback culture I...
This year marks the 12th Sport Canada Research Initiative (SCRI) Conference, hosted by SIRC. First held in 2005, the SCRI Conference provides an opportunity for the Canadian sport sector to connect with sport-related researchers. The conference program is designed to...
It is clear that the next generation will be diverse, multicultural and, apparently, much less fit than the previous generations. Research points in this general direction, but results from the recent TOPO survey, released in May 2018, demonstrates this trend...
When kids specialize early in one sport or activity, it doesn’t guarantee they will be successful athletes in the long term (Malina 2010). To the contrary, research has revealed that they tend to get injured more frequently, burnout, and quit...
When FINA, the international body that governs aquatics, changed the name of the synchronized swimming discipline to artistic swimming, it sent more than a wave across the sport in Canada. It unleashed a tsunami of activity that has resulted in...
“First, know thyself.” -Socrates Self-awareness is the ability to recognize, understand and manage one’s feelings, thoughts and behaviours. To better manage the complexities of the current sport and social landscape, self-awareness is a foundational skill that is being increasingly recognized...
Alumni are the heart of any sport organization and have the passion, experience and drive to champion the growth of the sport they love – if they are authentically engaged. It is not uncommon for former athletes to feel disenfranchised...
2018 has already been an exciting year, with four major international games – the Arctic Winter Games hosted in the South Slave region of the Northwest Territories, Canada (March 18-24, 2018); the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games hosted in PyeongChang,...
The “aggregation of marginal gains” has become such a catchphrase that people have stopped questioning what it means. Science is meant to question, not to follow, and to look for the truth where it otherwise might be missed. What are...
