Knowledge Nuggets

Youth elite athletes are under-researched despite being faced with the challenges of puberty in addition to pressures to perform in high performance contexts. New research advocates that intervening early is critical to promoting mental health among youth elite athletes.

Paralympian Brianna Hennessy sees her combination of sports (wheelchair rugby and Para canoe and kayak) as inherently compatible. One sport relies on pushing, the other on pulling, making her an all-round better athlete. Experiences like Hennessy’s are part of the reason that the Canadian Paralympic Committee and Own the Podium are collaborating to develop an...

The relationship between coach and athlete can make or break an athlete’s experience. Recent research shows that understanding an athlete’s attachment style can help coaches tailor aspects of their communication and behaviour to best suit the athlete’s needs.

After returning to sport post-COVID lockdowns, adolescent athletes have shown improvement in mental health. However, despite a return to pre-pandemic activity levels, mental health in adolescents remains at lower levels than pre-pandemic. This suggests that supporting athletes’ mental wellness needs to be a top priority.

Athletes’ relationship with food can be complicated. This is especially true for women in sport, who tend to have higher rates of disordered eating. The role of sport participation in athletes’ relationship with food is not straightforward. Some studies suggest that sport participation itself can make disordered eating more likely. Other research highlights the many...

Sport has historically often been an unsafe space for LGBTQ+ athletes. Recent Canadian research sought to examine attitudes towards LGBTQ+ inclusion in figure skating, to assess whether these attitudes vary by gender, sexual identity, or level of participation in skating, and to examine the impact of contact with LGBTQ+ people on attitudes towards inclusion. Overall,...

For women and girls, sport participation can come with specific mental health challenges. These can range from perfectionism and body image to performance pressures. When coaches and leaders see each athlete as a person first, they can better support athletes’ health and mental well-being and foster a culture of holistic wellness in sport.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of available research determined that a 30-60 minute afternoon nap has a beneficial impact on physical performance. An afternoon nap also promotes improved cognitive performance and reduces perceived fatigue after sport activity.

Youth elite athlete mental health is complex. Being young is a time of transition and can leave young people vulnerable to mental illness. Meanwhile, elite athletics often involves high pressure situations and intense training. These two experiences combined leaves youth elite athletes especially vulnerable. Researchers are calling for more attention to early mental health intervention.

Physical education (PE) can play an important role in promoting activity and lifelong sport participation amongst youth. However, there is debate regarding how teachers should best assess students in PE. This study explores students’ attitudes towards different areas related to assessment in PE, including curriculum, grading, teachers, and fitness testing.