SIRC articles provide evidence-based and actionable insights from sport researchers, athletes, coaches, sport organizations and thought leaders to advance sport in Canada.
Beyond the game: The power of positive psychology in sport
In the world of elite sports, the focus has traditionally been on performance metrics, rigorous training regimens, and strategies for winning. But what if the secret to sustained success lies not just in physical prowess, but in the mind? Enter positive psychology, a field that seeks to unlock human potential by fostering mental resilience, well-being,…
View the summary of this research here. This project aimed to understand the development of environmental stewardship through gameplay in Indigenous societies. The South Pacific has many similarities to Canada in terms of Indigenous-settler relations, colonial histories and a resurgence...
Coach mentoring in Para sport In many ways, coaching athletes with and without disabilities is comparable as their training, dedication, and motivation to succeed are the same. However, there are contextual differences that make coaching in the Para sport setting...
As leaders of amateur sport in Canada, national sport organizations (NSOs) are tasked with addressing gender equity and increased engagement of women and girls. NSO leaders may focus their efforts through new policies, initiatives or programs, but their ability to...
By Jean Côté, Mia KurtzFavero, Haley Hunter Smith, Stuart Wilson, and Alex Murata
Parents as promoters of positive youth sport experiences One of the key social agents within the youth sport environment is the parent. They are commonly called upon to facilitate critical components of youth sport participation, such as providing material (registration...
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...
Introduction and Context Safe Sport continues to be a top concern in Canada, with continued efforts to address maltreatment at all levels of sport. While sexual violence is discussed most frequently in research and practice, with the rhetoric being that...
Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey legend, is famous for the quote “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” Behind this saying is the thought of instead of chasing what’s already happened, try to get a...
Over the last 50 years, significant progress has been made in access and opportunities for girls and women to participate at all levels of sport in Canada. Despite this progress, the number of women in coaching remains alarmingly low (Banwell...
Too often we hear older generations, especially in sports, use put downs like “snowflake,” “entitled,” “soft,” sometimes accompanied by swear words and homophobic slurs. All forms of bullying. What many coaches and parents do not realize is that from a...
Francis Routledge, Runqun (Helen) Zheng, Callum Denault, and Rebecca Renwick
Belonging has been understood in many ways across lived experiences and fields of study. The sense of belonging, or lack thereof, can feel different for everyone. Carter (2021) explored 10 dimensions of belonging described by people with intellectual and developmental...
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