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SIRC articles provide evidence-based and actionable insights from sport researchers, athletes, coaches, sport organizations and thought leaders to advance sport in Canada.

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The unanimous choice: How a 12-year-old girl became captain of a boys’ hockey team

There is an assumption in sports that leadership is earned through tenure, skill, and a certain kind of presence—the intangible, ineffable quality that separates the good from the great. But every once in a while, a story emerges that challenges those assumptions and more. In Sarnia, Ontario, a 12-year-old girl named Laylah Stokes did just…

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The unanimous choice: How a 12-year-old girl became captain of a boys’ hockey team

April 14, 2025
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Paula Baker and Jennifer Coletti
There is an assumption in sports that leadership is earned through tenure, skill, and a certain kind of presence—the intangible, ineffable quality that separates the good from the great. But every once in a while, a story emerges that challenges...

Move Her Mind: Creating Inclusive Spaces for Women and Girls

March 5, 2025
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Sasha Gollish
The more we move, the better we feel. In 2022 a global study commissioned by sportswear company ASICS, The State of Mind Index, studied people’s physical activity levels and mental wellbeing across the globe. In their first Move Every Mind...

The Unspoken Battle: How Body Image Shapes Sport Performance

February 19, 2025
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Paula Baker
For athletes, sport is about pushing limits of skill, strength, and endurance. But what happens when the greatest challenge isn’t physical at all? For many, especially young athletes, the most persistent struggle exists in their own minds: body image.  Dr....

Fast as a mother: Elite runners’ training during pregnancy and postpartum 

November 20, 2024
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Francine Darroch and Sydney Smith
Keeping active during pregnancy and postpartum is so important for a whole host of reasons and, fortunately, there’s no shortage of advice out there on how to do so. Generally speaking, for those without any health issues during pregnancy, most...

What we can all learn from Canadian Girls Baseball: A leader in girls-only sport

July 17, 2024
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Corliss Bean, Dana Bookman, and Shannon Kerwin
In the realm of youth sports, Canadian Girls Baseball (CGB) stands out as a game-changer. This organization is breaking new ground by creating a welcoming space where girls can thrive in a sport traditionally dominated by boys. Through their innovative...

Attention on the body impacts athletes’ minds and movements: Implications for sport performance and participation

July 15, 2024
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Catherine Sabiston
Introduction and Context More than 600,000 Canadian adolescents drop out of sport each year – and miss out on the many benefits that sport offers. Compared to boys, girls are up to six times more likely to drop out of...

Let’s talk inclusion: Key considerations for the inclusion of 2SLGBTQI+ athletes

June 26, 2024
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June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate the 2SLGBTQI+ communities as well as reflect on how to enhance and ensure inclusion in sport. This year, SIRC has partnered with Canadian Women & Sport to build a new resource for...

Ski like a girl: Researchers reveal hidden histories of women in Nordic sport

March 18, 2024
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Oumar Salifou
From a U of A varsity ski club to the Canadian Birkebeiner and the Olympics, women have always been part of the landscape of winter sport. When Lyndsay Conrad dove into her archival research on early 20th-century ski history in...

The power of mentoring in sports: Who, what, and how? 

January 17, 2024
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Gabrielle Cadotte & Veronica Allan
Mentorship is a powerful resource with the potential to positively influence the growth and success of people in sport. Mentoring is a relationship where one or multiple mentors (i.e., a senior person in age or experience) provide guidance and support...

Looking back to go forward: 50 years of Canadian women’s sport

November 27, 2023
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M. Ann Hall
U SPORTS 2020 Swimming Championships at Saanich Commonwealth Place, Victoria, BC, February 2020 (Photo: U SPORTS) Looking back over the last 50 years of women’s sport in Canada, it’s amazing how we have progressed to bring equity, stability, and opportunity,...

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