Athletes

Taking Action: Community Sport Organizations and Social Responsibility

February 13, 2020

Community sport organizations (CSOs) are a central thread in the fabric of Canadian society, providing a meaningful place for people to play, compete, volunteer, coach, and interact with others who may share their interests and values. As a foundation of...

• Community Sport
• Leadership and Governance
• Marketing and Communications
• Participation
• Volunteer Management

Coaching

Alcohol misuse represents an important mental health issue for student-athletes - even moderate consumption can have negatively impact athletic and academic performance. Research has shown an athlete’s perception of their coach’s approval of alcohol use was strongly associated with drinking...

• Athlete Development
• Coaching
• Health and Wellness
• Mental Health
• Varsity Sport

Webinar

In partnership with the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association, SIRC will be delivering a free webinar on February 25, 2020 at 12:00PM ET. Click here to register for Concussion Management: Best practices and lessons from the Canadian sport and recreation...

• Concussion
• Injury
• Leadership and Governance
• Professional Development
• Program Design and Evaluation

Mental Skills

A study of 117,000 professional tennis matches and 5 million observations in online amateur chess found that even when competitors are evenly matched, players perform worse against an opponent they know has been climbing in rank. Dubbed “status momentum,” a...

• High Performance
• Mental Skills

High Performance

Canada's long-track speed skaters debuted a suit thought to give a competitive advantage during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. While some research has shown up to a 10% reduction in aerodynamic drag with high-tech suits, other novel designs have produced...

• Equipment
• High Performance
• Technology

Infographic

In 2016-2017, 26% of all brain injuries seen in Ontario and Alberta emergency departments were sport-related, and the majority of these (94%) were linked to concussion. Check out this infographic from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

• Concussion
• Data and Analytics
• Injury

Training Methods

Research from the University of Alberta finds intense cold-weather exercise makes it harder for the lungs to warm and humidify the air, causing airway lining to dry and, in some cases, become irreparably damaged. When temperatures plunge below –15 C,...

• Health and Wellness
• Injury
• Training Methods
• Weather

Injury

The NFL Orthopaedic Surgery Outcomes Database compares return-to-play rates and performance-based outcomes amongst NFL players who had orthopaedic surgery. Trends show players who undergo surgical procedures for tendon injuries experience a worse career trajectory than players who have surgery to...

• Data and Analytics
• High Performance
• Injury

Mental Health

Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day – a national initiative to build awareness, acceptance and action relating to mental health. While 84% of Canadians say they are comfortable speaking with others about mental health, athletes report a number of barriers to disclosing...

• Athlete Development
• Coaching
• Mental Health

Supporting the Psychological Wellbeing of Athletes: What can Coaches do?

January 29, 2020

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...

• Coaching
• Health and Wellness
• High Performance
• Mental Health