SIRC articles provide evidence-based and actionable insights from sport researchers, athletes, coaches, sport organizations and thought leaders to advance sport in Canada.
Concussions and Confidence: Why Mental Readiness Matters in Recovery
For most of her career, Jen Kish was known as one of the best and most fearless female players in rugby sevens. She captained Canada’s women’s team to an Olympic bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. And, she also endured more than 30 concussions with only five of them formally diagnosed. “Your brain health…
Laura Chittle, Jess Dixon, Sean Horton and Joe Baker
Have you ever stopped to wonder the difference a day can make? Say, being born December 31st or January 1st? This small 24-hour window could be the difference between competing in elite vs. recreational sport, or being identified as “gifted”,...
To the average fan watching international competitions, the finished product delivered to your television or computer screen does not always reveal the enormity of action that happens behind the scenes. Stepping off the ice at the Gangneung Hockey Centre, the...
Vicki Harber, PhD and Paul Jurbala, PhD, Sport for Life
You’ve probably heard of the Relative Age Effect – the concept that when children are placed into groups such as school classes or sports based on their chronological age, those born early in the cohort may have physical or intellectual...
Relative age effects (RAEs) are developmental advantages experienced by those born in the early months of the year relative to an age-defined cut-off date (Barnsley et al., 1985). In sport and educational settings, RAEs tend to endure, resulting in an...
At the end of each school year, senior high school students have to make important decisions about the future. For student athletes, this heralds an exciting time in their lives, since some will have the opportunity to be collegiate athletes....
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