Coaches & Officials

Is technology a coach’s ally or Achilles’ heel?: 4 questions to ask

September 17, 2021

Over a coffee, we recently reminisced about different sporting environments we’ve worked in and how many times we’ve seen expensive technological solutions sit in a corner, collecting dust. Perhaps you can relate to the pattern. A new technology hits the...

• Athlete Development
• Coaching
• Data and Analytics
• Technology

Referees’ mental health

Referees and sports officials, in both professional and amateur sports, experience high levels of abuse. Researchers in Europe have found that a culture of abuse towards referees is a principal reason for referee discontinuation and that this harms all levels...

• Mental Health
• Officials
• Professional Sport
• Safe Sport

Culture as a performance factor

In sport, organizational culture has a significant influence on an athlete’s ability to prepare for and perform at major international games. Elements of organizational stress, such as personal, team or leadership issues, are a source of strain for athletes. That...

• High Performance
• Leadership and Governance
• Major Games

Individualized training

An individualized approach to training and development is important for creating effective training programs for Para athletes. Research shows that Para athletes’ developmental pathways and training preferences will vary based on their previous sport experiences, personal preferences, and impairment type.

• Athlete Development
• Coaching
• High Performance
• Para Sport

Mental health at the Games

“We’ve never been so focused on mental health and wellness at the Games.” In the SIRCuit, Stephanie Dixon, the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s Tokyo 2020 Chef de Mission, shares insight on the mental health strategies designed to support Canada’s Olympic teams...

• High Performance
• Mental Health
• Paralympic Games

High performance health monitoring

Since 2011, Norwegian high-performance athletes have filled out weekly health surveys in the 12-18 months before every Olympic and Paralympic Games. From London 2012 to Tokyo 2020, researchers found that 32% of Olympic athletes and 37% of Paralympic athletes were...

• Coaching
• High Performance
• Injury

The True Sport Experience: Bringing physical and ethical literacy to life in and out of the classroom

August 25, 2021

Physical and health education teachers and coaches are experts at helping kids learn new skills. By patiently walking students through each learning step, they build the blocks of learners’ physical literacy. However, sport and recreation experiences aren’t built on physical...

• Children and Youth
• Long Term Development
• Participation
• Physical and Health Education
• Physical Literacy
• Quality Sport

Managing expectations

We often think about the stress that an athlete experiences before a major competition, but what about their coach? Research suggests that many Paralympian coaches set high expectations for themselves which can lead to stress and burnout. Strategies that help...

• Coaching
• High Performance
• Para Sport
• Paralympic Games

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

Did you know that Tokyo is the first city to host the Paralympic Games for a second time? Tokyo first hosted the Paralympic Games in 1964, where 378 Paralympic athletes competed for 419 medals. Now, 57 years later, 4,237 athletes will...

• High Performance
• Major Games
• Paralympic Games

Weather policies

Weather policies, such as heat, lightning, or air quality policies, help to identify safe conditions for sport and play. Typically, these include thresholds for what is considered safe, and a pre-determined action at each threshold (e.g., “at X air quality...

• Coaching
• Injury
• Weather