Military sport programs

Sport programs have great potential to support the healing and recovery of injured and ill military personnel and their families. In fact, military personnel and their families alike benefit when sport programs recognize, appreciate and cultivate a sense of belonging for military families. Here are some tips to integrate military families into sport programs, which…

Immigration, integration, and intersectoral partnership: A critical examination of introductory winter sport programmes for newcomers to Canada

View the summary of this research here. Project summary The objectives of this project were threefold: This project was based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I co-designed the WNP with intersectoral community partners from WinSport (a community-based sport facility) and Center for Newcomers and Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association (two Calgary-based settlement services organizations). Our aim was…

Taking a person-first approach to high performance sport in Canada

Highlights Over the course of 2022, athletes and supporters have consistently raised concerns about maltreatment and lack of transparency in the Canadian sport sector In this SIRCuit article, Teddy Katz explores athlete concerns, as well as changes being made within Canadian sport to move towards a “person-first” system Katz spoke to Olympians, mental health experts…

Using life skills to promote social justice: Youth sport as a vehicle for social change

As youth sport researchers, we seek to understand how youth develop and transfer life skills. In recent years, cultural issues have urged us to evolve our understanding of life skills. For instance, the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements continue to raise awareness of inequities within sport and beyond. Additionally, the climate change movement has…

From scarcity to abundance: How Para athlete transfer can broaden development pathways

Highlights The Canadian Paralympic Committee and Own the Podium identified the creation of an “Athlete Transfer System” as a way to broaden Para athlete development pathways Athlete transfer is when an athlete switches sports or takes on an additional sport Currently, athlete transfer happens fairly frequently, but is predominantly athlete-directed Many stakeholders believe a “scarcity…

Mobilizing knowledge into action:  Exploring sport administrators’ and parents’ perceptions  of the quality of youth sport programs

Introduction and context Although young athletes represent the users of youth sports programs, parents are intricately involved in the decision-making process related to their children’s enrollment and registration in such programs. As such, sport administrators must grasp the elements that shape parents’ views on the quality of youth sport program design, their utilization of youth…

Sport after Moneyball: Exploring sports analytics and the digital economy

Highlights The 2011 film Moneyball was a critically acclaimed, Academy Award-nominated, box office success. This is quite something, given that the movie centres on debates over baseball strategy and statistics. Moneyball dramatizes the story of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball (MLB) team in the early 2000s, and specifically the team’s adoption of unconventional player…

Promoting health through physical activity and inter-organizational partnerships: the Montreal case

Introduction and context The leading preventable causes of death worldwide (chronic diseases) are usually induced by a lack of regular physical activity, which leads to significant health and financial challenges for the individuals and communities they afflict. In this regard, many municipalities are committed to create and maintain healthy environments for everyone. This often requires…

Stakeholder engagement is real-world data

For sport organizations, stakeholder engagement is a real-world data source that can help them to better understand their organization and programs and make adjustments. To engage stakeholders thoughtfully, organizations should make sure to receive feedback openly (without getting defensive), consider the format (for example, anonymous survey) and develop a plan for reporting back (such as…

Promoting health through physical activity and inter-organizational partnerships: the Montreal case

Introduction and context  The leading preventable causes of death worldwide (chronic diseases) are usually brought on by a lack of regular physical activity, which can lead to significant health and financial challenges for the individuals and communities. Many municipalities are dedicated to establishing and maintaining healthy environments for all, which requires collaboration and coordination with…