Knowledge Nuggets

While often overlooked, students and volunteers can be great human resources for conducting evaluations in sport. To harness these resources, partnerships between sport organizations and researchers in university-based settings are a good place to start. Researchers can collaborate with sport organizations to build capacity in students and volunteers, while leveraging the diverse experiences and knowledge...

Did you know that some athletes are at a higher risk of sustaining a concussion than others? Recent research found that female soccer players are 1.8 times more likely to sustain a concussion than male soccer players. Coaches can work with female athletes on risk reduction strategies, such as proper heading techniques in soccer, to help reduce...

While many of us are familiar with physical literacy (the motivation, confidence, competence, and knowledge to be physically active for life), ethical literacy (the ability to collect and evaluate information, reflect on one’s own moral values and take responsibility for one’s actions) may be a new concept. When physical literacy and ethical literacy are learned...

The SIRC Team wishes everyone an active and safe holiday season. Our office will be closed December 24, 2021 – January 4, 2022. The online job postings and daily news service will operate on a reduced holiday schedule.

After an Indigenous teen was the target of racist comments at a minor hockey game in 2019, Hockey Nova Scotia acted quickly. Sixteen months later, Hockey Nova Scotia released its final report and recommendations from the Diversity & Inclusion Task Force. The report outlines 12 recommendations for making minor hockey more accessible and inclusive.

Referees and sport officials play an important role in improving concussion safety by calling for injury assessments. Researchers have found that when referees and officials feel confident in their concussion knowledge and supported by sport stakeholders, they are more likely to call for an injury assessment. These findings highlight the importance of improving concussion education...

The Safe Sport journey involves a cultural change in sport. Such a change can challenge traditionally accepted assumptions and practices, such as having coaches share hotel rooms with athletes to save costs or using exercise as punishment. For sport leaders, understanding the process of change and associated emotions (i.e., denial, resistance, exploration, commitment) is important...

Female athletes are around 1.5 times less likely to be removed from play immediately following a concussion compared to male athletes. This inconsistency in immediate care may contribute to the increased number of symptoms and symptom severity seen in female athletes who sustain a concussion. The takeaway? Be sure to remove an athlete from play...

Parents and families play an important role in Indigenous youths’ sport and physical activity participation. Involving parents and families in the development and implementation of sport and physical activity programs may be particularly important for increasing the participation of Indigenous youth.

Sport organizations were challenged to adapt their programming during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering unique opportunities for program evaluation. While organizations that paused their programs had a chance to step back and formulate new evaluation questions, organizations that changed their programming reported an increased value of evaluation due to shifts in program goals or delivery.