Sport Information Resource Centre announces it has joined Abuse-Free Sport

Canada’s most trusted partner in advancing sport knowledge will continue to provide resources to help prevent maltreatment in sport Dec. 23, 2022 Ottawa – The Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement to join Abuse-Free Sport, the new independent program to prevent and address maltreatment in sport….

SIRC’s 2022 year in review

As the year comes to a close, the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) is reflecting on some of its key projects, publications and events over the course of 2022. Here are some of the key highlights: SIRC played a key role in the Canadian Sport Policy (CSP) renewal process throughout 2022. The CSP sets the…

Gender equitable boards

Effective and innovative leadership takes advantage of best practices and emerging opportunities, including gender-equitable boards of directors. A gender diverse and balanced board can help ensure that multiple perspectives are considered, addressing issues of fairness and creating opportunities for optimized performance.

Accessible communications and technologies in sport for people with disabilities

In the pre-Internet world, accessibility focused primarily on addressing physical barriers, such as by installing ramps or adding Braille buttons in elevators.   Over time, an evolution has happened in what’s considered a disability. Changes have also happened in the types of barriers and environments that people face as they live, play and compete. So, it’s…

Teamwork in board leadership

Boards in sport organizations can improve their effectiveness by functioning as a team of equals. The importance of teamwork is easily appreciated in sport. For effective teamwork, individual board members need to recognize that their authority exists only as a group, with the board chair serving as the steward-leader to the board.

How to write a quality grant application

For many charitable or not-for-profit sport organizations, funding is the main topic of discussion on most days. As they look to continue their missions or potentially create new, innovative, and inclusive programming, two questions regularly come up:  How much money do we need? Where is the funding going to come from? The financial pressures of…

Policy change

Preventative rules, policies, and regulations are one way sport organizations can protect their athletes from injury. For example, helmets in skiing and snowboarding have reduced the risk of brain injury, the elimination of body checking in hockey age groups has reduced the risk of concussion and there is new evidence in mouthguards better protecting athletes…

Accountability loops

Delegating without an accountability loop leaves an organization’s board of directors at risk. To delegate safely and support role clarity, the board can do 4 things: (1) specify the results it wants and boundaries for actions and decision-making that must be respected in pursuing those results, (2) document what happens, (3) implement a systematic, rigorous…

Developing a Safe Sport framework

To create a Safe Sport environment, research with Canadian sport administrators points to a need for changes to policy and education at all levels. Focusing on harm prevention is not sufficient. Sport organizations also need to promote positive values and human rights.

Knowledge mobilization 101: Sharing knowledge to enhance sport in Canada

Many sport organizations collect data on their programs and best practices, but what happens with those findings? Unfortunately, this data often gets piled into internal reports and largely forgotten. This means that valuable learnings aren’t shared with those who can use them to inform future practices and advance the sport system. As many organizations are…