Athlete Burnout and Early Specialization

Research from the University of Alberta discovered athlete burnout may have more to do with the social environment than early specialization. Athlete burnout depends on many factors, including opportunities to participate in other sport and non-sport activities, confidence and engagement in skill building, the nature of relationships with coaches and teammates, and having a choice…

Life Skills Blog

A focus on winning at all costs has created sport programs in which building psychological, cognitive, social and emotional skills are largely ignored, yet these are essential ingredients for successful high performance athletes. Today’s blog provides an overview of the development of executive functions and social and emotional learning through sport.

Outdoor Play Myths

Fear of injury and kidnapping, and a belief in the superiority of structured activities, have reduced the amount of time children engage in outdoor unstructured play. This infographic provides the evidence to debunk these common myths that are keeping kids at home on the couch, instead of outside playing.

Intellectual humility

“Intellectual humility”, often related to open-mindedness, is linked to four key leadership characteristics: respect for other viewpoints; not being intellectually overconfident; separating one’s ego from one’s intellect; and willingness to revise one’s own viewpoint. However, philosophers argue the most effective leaders have one additional characteristic – “openness to experience”, which makes them curious enough to…

Benefits of Play

Parents and other adults can place restrictions on the unstructured play of children, reducing child independence and limiting them to “boring” play spaces. Increasing access to outdoor, unstructured play promotes physical and mental health; improves social skills, creativity and team work; improves learning and attention at school; and improves resilience and risk management skills. Download…

Brain blood flow and Exercise

Exercise alters brain blood flow and improves cognitive performance in older adults, though not in the way you might think. Research from the University of Maryland discovered that while exercise beneficially increased the blood flow to the brain in healthy adults, it decreased the blood flow in adults experiencing mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This decrease…

Communities of character

A values-based approach to sport supports the development of “communities of character” where athletes, coaches, officials, parents and other stakeholders work together to create a welcoming, safe, athlete-centred environment. Learn more about values-based sport and creating communities of character in the SIRCuit.

Unstructured play

A review of the evidence shows unstructured play improves physical health and gross motor skills, fun and creativity, social health and team work, resilience and risk management skills, mental and emotional health, and learning and attention at school. Learn more in this infographic.

Psychological Load

Research points to the impact of psychological stressors on performance. Whether emotional stress or high cognitive processing demands, “psychological load” must be considered by coaches and trainers to achieve peak performance. Learn more in this SIRCuit article.

Mentoring Outcomes

Successful mentoring relationships can increase motivation, productivity and self-efficacy. Learn more about the value of mentoring from an athlete perspective in the SIRC blog.