SIRC articles provide evidence-based and actionable insights from sport researchers, athletes, coaches, sport organizations and thought leaders to advance sport in Canada.
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…
Project Summary The demonstration effect is the assumption that sport events stimulate sport participation. This phenomenon is widely debated (e.g., Weed et al, 2015) given there is little evidence that sport events create new participation in sport. Local sport organizations (LSOs) can play a pivotal role in taking advantage of sport events to...
François Trudeau, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
Summary of the project The purpose of this investigation is to determine the process for the adoption and implementation of the LongTerm Athlete Development (LTAD) model by coaches of various sports: soccer (n=116), ice hockey (n=43), figure skating (n=49), gymnastics...
Project Summary The first objective was to examine the relationship between task and social cohesion, and three participation-related outcomes (self-reported effort, practice attendance, and intention to return to the team the following season). Results indicated that cohesiveness around the team’s...
Project Summary Models of successful aging (SA) encourage a continued engagement with life, which research literature refers to as a diverse set of activities including productive (e.g., housework), social (e.g., visiting friends), passive (e.g., reading), and active leisure (e.g., playing...
Project Summary The primary objective of this research was to examine how the identities that youth form through membership on sport teams – their social identities – influence their social development. Specifically, the research examined the relationships between social identity...
Project Summary The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the biographies of five Canadian women coaches using Jarvis’s theory of human learning to understand how the multitude of experiences throughout their lives have contributed to their learning and coaching...
Project Summary This program of research addressed three important issues faced by Canadian children; the problem of low physical activity, the need to increase sport participation, and the absence of programming during the ‘critical hours’ after-school period (see Active Health...
Project Summary Hockey has a profound impact on the values, attitudes, and behaviours of Canadians (Earle, 2002; Gruneau & Whitson, 1993; Nixon, 1976). Youth hockey in Canada has been the target of much recent criticism, with attention being called to...
Project Summary Tai Chi (TC), a traditional Chinese exercise, has been shown to have several health benefits. In general, TC is a widely practiced, well received exercise in large populations in China. Such generally positive attitudes towards the exercise result...
Project Summary A developing area of research focuses on ‘successful aging’, which has the central objective of discovering significant predictors of optimal health in later life so that risks of disease and disablement can be targeted and reduced. From this...
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