Knowledge Nuggets

Research from the University of Manitoba reveals a number of important issues relating to the participation of trans athletes, including a lack of awareness about current inclusion policies, uncertainty and skepticism relating to the science behind current regulations, and persisting transphobia amongst athletes, coaches and decision makers. Unfortunately, the burden of educating stakeholders and advocating...

This weekend, current and future women leaders from across the America’s gathered in Ottawa. The three-day event was the start of an eight-month project to increase and enhance the participation and representation of women in leadership roles in the Americas Paralympic Region, hosted by the National Paralympic Committees of Canada and Peru with support from...

When athletes are struggling with mental health, sometimes offhand comments from coaches and teammates can have negative consequences. In today’s video, produced by the Canadian Olympic Committee for Bell Let’s Talk Day, diver Francois Imbeau-Dulac shares his struggles with an eating disorder and his courage to ask for help.

“Values-based sport” is an approach that helps to establish an optimal environment that encourages the growth and development of athletes through sport. Explore how to use values as a road map to creating welcoming, safe, athlete-centred environments in the SIRCuit.

Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day – a national initiative to promote awareness and action by fighting stigma associated with mental health issues, improving access to care, supporting world-class research, and providing leadership on workplace mental health. In today’s SIRC blog, Audrey Lacroix from Game Plan talks about the mental health challenges faced by high...

While 71% of Albertans report meeting daily sleep recommendations, 25% rate their sleep quality as fairly bad to very bad, according to the 2019 Alberta Survey on Physical Activity. Sleep behaviour is an important determinant of health and wellbeing, with impacts on neural development, learning, memory, emotional regulation, metabolic health, and cardiovascular health.

On December 3, 2018, Canadian weightlifter Christine Girard received a gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics and a bronze medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, following the disqualification of athletes convicted of doping violations. Learn more about her journey and commitment to clean sport in the SIRCuit.

Immigration is diversifying Canadian communities, and represents an important audience for the Canadian sport and physical activity sector. This video, produced through the Government of Canada’s #ImmigrationMatters initiative, shares the story of how the Charlottetown Skating Club was revived by the enthusastic participation of the Chinese community. For tips on engaging newcomers to Canada in...

Research points to the impact of psychological stressors on performance. Whether emotional stress or high cognitive processing demands, “psychological load” must be considered by coaches and trainers to achieve peak performance. Learn more in this SIRCuit article.

Recommendations from the new Canada Food Guide include: Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, whole grain foods and protein foods. Choose protein foods that come from plants more often. Make water your drink of choice. Be mindful of your eating habits – healthy eating is more than the foods you eat; it is also about...