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…
Project Summary This project examined the relationship between the culture of Canadian national sport organizations (NSOs) and participation in sport. The overall goal was to better understand and ultimately increase the effectiveness of policies aiming to promote sport activities such...
This is the second article in a two-part series about the links between nutrition and sport-related concussion. The first article focused on the role of nutrition in concussion recovery. This article focuses on the potential for nutrition to contribute to...
Officials are considered by some to be the unsung heroes of sport, responsible for upholding the rules and intentions of sport. SIRC sat down with Marie-Soleil Beaudoin – Canadian soccer referee and instructor of physiology and biophysics at Dalhousie University...
There has recently been an increasing number of athletes bravely coming forward to share their stories about the psychological distress and associated mental health challenges they experienced during their athletic careers (e.g., Michael Phelps, Gracie Gold, and Demar Derozan). Athletes...
Project Summary Researchers are beginning to pay greater attention to the connections and contradictions between sport, health and healthcare. Despite the conventional wisdom that greater participation in sport and physical activity enhances health and the quality of life, more and...
Project Summary Previous research in the field of positive youth development has highlighted the importance of extracurricular activities, such as sport, in developing healthy youth (Larson, 2000, Petitpas et al., 2005). Further, the National Research Council Institute of Medicine (NRIM,...
Sport concussions have been a hot topic over the past few years, with the launch of the Canadian Guideline on Concussion in Sport in 2017 and SIRC’s associated We are Headstrong campaign, and the passing of Rowan’s Law (Concussion Safety) on March...
The concept of “inclusion” is pervasive in the current sport environment, with organizations from the community to international levels considering how to ensure all individuals have access and opportunity to participate. Generally, inclusion means that all people, regardless of their...
High-level athletes compete to win. Sometimes, however, they make rash decisions in the heat of the moment that can have serious, long-term consequences. Take figure skating, for example. There have been instances in the past where athletes and coaches were...
Given the high-impact nature of many Para sports, concussions may seem like an inevitability. According to Dr. Andy Marshall, Chief Medical Officer of the Canadian Parapan Am and Paralympic Team, stronger data has elevated the national dialogue around this fact...
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