How Volleyball Canada is taking an evidence-based approach to concussion prevention

Highlights Along with current educational and technological initiatives, sport organizations have the opportunity to introduce specific strategies to protect against the risks of concussion within their respective sports.  To develop effective prevention strategies, it’s necessary to understand the extent of the concussion problem and research the factors and mechanisms that contribute to concussion risk.  Interventions, such as rule changes for reducing concussion risks, should be both…

You-CAN: Peers help youth athletes with concussions through education and social support

Highlights The number of concussions reported among Canadian youth has increased annually by 10.3% between 2004 and 2015.  Many concussions go unreported by youth due to their lack of knowledge, thinking it won’t make a difference, believing their friends will treat them differently and a lack of self-efficacy.  Improved concussion reporting and health outcomes may happen by understanding that social networks strongly influenced youth, exploring new ways of enabling youth to help each other learn about concussion and supporting recovery after…

How biological sex and gender affect concussion risk and management

Highlights Concussion recovery depends on many factors, including biological factors (for example, anatomy) and gender-based factors (for example, societal norms in sport). Research shows that female athletes have a higher risk of concussion than male athletes, male and female athletes experience concussions in different ways, and female athletes may take longer than male athletes to…

Activating Safe Sport communities

Highlights In summer 2021, the Sport Information Resource Centre launched the Community Activation Grants program to help sport organizations promote Safe Sport and concussion initiatives at the community level. This article spotlights 6 of the 25 successful grant recipients from across Canada. These recipients share why Safe Sport and concussion awareness initiatives are crucial for their community, and…

Safe Sport strategies

Over the past few years, national sport organizations have implemented several strategies to advance Safe Sport and optimize the sport experience for all. To create safe, welcoming and inclusive sport environments, top strategies include building and strengthening policy to align with documents such as the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in…

Referees’ mental health

Referees and sports officials, in both professional and amateur sports, experience high levels of abuse. Researchers in Europe have found that a culture of abuse towards referees is a principal reason for referee discontinuation and that this harms all levels of sport, highlighting the importance of mental health support for officials.

Tokyo, Beijing and a global pandemic: How 4 sports are advancing Safe Sport

Highlights Perhaps not surprisingly, the unofficial theme of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been ‘safety first.’ Postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID‑19 pandemic, the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games are scheduled to take place respectively from July 23 to August 8 and from August 24 to September 5. Even before the…

Summer 2021 SIRCuit

The Summer 2021 SIRCuit is now available!  The SIRCuit is designed to highlight important research and insights to advance the Canadian sport system. With the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo on the horizon and the winter Games in Beijing just around the corner, this edition of the SIRCuit dives into issues and trends that will…

Building a culture of excellence in high performance sport

Highlights In sport, culture can determine a team’s focus and how members communicate and deal with conflict. Culture also establishes norms of acceptable behaviour and directly influences functioning and performance. Own the Podium, alongside partners the Canadian Paralympic Committee and Canadian Olympic Committee, identified sport culture as an important performance factor for Canadian athletes to…

Independent Safe Sport Mechanism

The Government of Canada announced that the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) has been selected to establish and deliver a new Independent Safe Sport Mechanism. Thank you to Canadian sport leaders, all stakeholders and participants that have helped the Canadian sport system reach this important milestone in making sport safer.