Knowledge Nuggets

Promising Practice The Athletes Connected program at the University of Michigan was designed to increase awareness of mental health issues, reduce the stigma of help-seeking, and promote positive coping skills among student athletes. The program involved presentations by mental health professionals to every varsity athletic team, featuring mental health education, videos highlighting former student-athletes’ struggles...

Athlete Development Where do you stand on the debate between low-volume, high-intensity training (Quality) versus high-volume, low-intensity training (Quantity)? Findings from research exploring the philosophies and practices of professional swimming coaches support quantity training programs to build an aerobic base, promote technical development through a focus on slower swimming, and enhance recovery from training or...

“Stage-appropriate officiating” creates a team approach to the delivery of quality youth sport whereby officials “guide and remind” athletes during the FUNdamentals and early Learn to Train stages; “warn then enforce” during late Learn to Train; and enforce traditional rules in the Train to Train stage. Stage-appropriate officiating could also help retain officials by tapping...

Blog The Responsible Coaching Movement advocates for the “Rule of Two”, background screening, and respect and ethics training to ensure the safety and protection of athletes and coaches. In the second of a three-part series, this week’s blog focuses on background screening. The Coaching Association of Canada’s Background Screening Matrix provides guidance about what the screening process should involve based...

Injury Prevention Are hamstring injuries cutting your athletes’ season short? Research supports the use of Nordic hamstring exercises to prevent hamstring injuries in competitive soccer players.  

Leadership 2018 has already been an exciting year, with four major international games – the Arctic Winter Games hosted in the South Slave region of the Northwest Territories, Canada; the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games hosted in PyeongChang, South Korea; and Commonwealth Games hosted in Gold Coast, Australia. In the Summer SIRCuit, SIRC sat down...

Did you know? The concept of “marginal gains” has been the catalyst for exciting innovations, as teams search for improvements in areas not considered before. However, it is tempting to look for those gains exclusively through direct interventions with athletes, rather than turning the lens on the organization and systems that support the athletes. This...

By the Numbers Only 36% of children and youth are meeting the guideline of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day, as per the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines. That means two out of three are missing out on the physical and mental health benefits of participation.

Summer 2018 SIRCuit The Summer SIRCuit is now available! This edition features a collection of articles that create moments of reflection about current concepts and practices relating to leadership, high performance and athlete development: Learn about leadership from the 2018 Chefs de Mission, and about how to develop leadership skills in young athletes; Consider how officials...

Knowledge Translation – 2018 SCRI Conference Knowledge transfer between Canada’s top researchers and the sport and physical activity system is a key strategy to improving the quality of sport experience across Canada, from the playground to the podium. Bringing together sport researchers, administrators, coaches, and policy makers creates a network of expertise, leading to better...