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…
Aim In this study we are critically examining the current models of community sport governance and inclusive practices. Specifically, we aim to challenge how we think about community sport board volunteers and the effectiveness of professionalized board structures. Background...
View the summary of this research here. Project summary Today’s managers face unprecedented governance, economic/marketing, and technological realities affecting their processes and performance, aspects we understand poorly. Managers are under increased scrutiny from stakeholders regarding their credibility to govern themselves...
Project summary This project developed, implemented, and evaluated the effect of a season-long athlete leadership development program. The participants included 66 female varsity athletes who participated in four leadership workshops throughout their competitive sport season, approximately one hour in duration....
Project summary This research explored sporting practices of Southern Ontario Black women between the 1920s and the 1940s. It is aimed at developing a socio-cultural history of sport that include narratives from marginalized groups. In Canada, the focus on Black...
Project summary In recent years, researchers and practitioners have paid increasing attention to understanding how the life skills (e.g., leadership, emotional regulation) learned in sport can transfer and be applied beyond sport. The overall purpose of this project was to...
Project summary This study explores how parenthood and childhood are enacted within the context of organized youth sport in one rural and small-town British Columbia region. Studies of organized youth sport, childhood, and parenthood have primarily emphasized the experiences of...
Project summary Group-based sport and exercise programs, guided by the social identity approach1, represent a viable strategy to promote physical activity and well-being among university students, particularly during the COVID-19 context. Social identity informed interventions aim to cultivate a sense...
Project summary Community organizations can adopt sport-based, trauma-sensitive, youth development programming to support underserved youth who face high risk of traumatic exposure. These programs involve leaders who create safe environments, recognize and respond to youth’s trauma-related distress, and promote youth’s...
Project summary This exploratory study examined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the daily lives and wellbeing of Atlantic University Sport (AUS) ice hockey players around the cancellation of competition in the Fall of 2020 and beyond. It was...
Project summary A central group responsible for the effective governance of non-profit sport organizations (NPSOs) and systems is the board of directors (Board). This group has the formal power and authority within an organization for which a central activity is...
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