Knowledge Nuggets

Recruiting participants for a sport or recreation program in a rural area? Focus on interpersonal communication strategies such as visits to local schools, housing communities, churches and other community agencies. Alternatively, reach out to past participants to help spread the word.

When moms are active, everyone wins. Research has shown that school-aged girls (6-18 years) with a mother involved in sport were three times more likely to play sports themselves. Learn more about SIRC’s #MomsGotGame campaign and how you can participate.

Wondering how to leverage your sport event into more sport participants? Research shows spectators are inspired to participate when they fantasize about being in the competition, become absorbed in the spectator experience, can critically judge athletes’ performance and skills; and appreciate the grace and beauty of the sport itself. This has implications for the type...

Research about the community sport experiences of second-generation African Canadian girls identifies several challenges to participation. Tips to support participation include all-female spaces, providing concurrent programming for younger siblings, and engaging multicultural health navigators to build trusting relationships with families. 

Today is International Women’s Day, a global initiative to celebrate the achievements of women and accelerate gender equity.  This year, SIRC is celebrating moms who are making efforts to play sports and be physically active, despite persisting public health restrictions. However, up to 75% of moms experience barriers to regular participation, including feelings of guilt, pressure, and...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global physical inactivity costs an estimated US$54 billion in direct health care and another US$14 billion to lost productivity. The WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour, which complement Canadian physical activity guidelines, emphasize that everyone, of all ages and abilities, can be physically active and that every type...

As we age, research suggests we need to “add oomph to our workouts.” Older adults that regularly engaged in cycling walked more efficiently than those whose primary exercise was slow walking.

Family support is positively associated with children’s physical activity levels. Parents and guardians can facilitate physical activity by encouraging, watching, role modelling, co-participating and attending physical activity events with their kids. Being active as a family encourages life-long physical activity and increases feelings of social support, connectedness and attachment – all important for good mental...

Participants using a physical activity app with team-based incentives accumulated more steps per day during a 12-week intervention period compared to matched controls. The findings offer further evidence that even very small incentives (users earned on average $3.60 CAD over 12 weeks) can be used to influence behaviour change and increase physical activity.

While many bids for the hosting of major sport events include increased sport participation as an expected outcome, researchers argue there is no reliable evidence for a “demonstration effect” through which citizens are inspired by elite sport, sports people, or sports events to participate themselves. In the SIRCuit, Dr. Luke Potwarka suggests demonstration effects do...