SCRI – Athlete development in parasport: The Canadian Paralympian Project

A picture of the prevalence and management of the mental health of developing athletes in Quebec

Introduction and background The mental health of athletes has become a priority issue, both on the field and in the scientific literature. However, most studies have focused primarily on the mental health of Olympic and student athletes. This means that other groups of athletes, such as developing athletes, have been less studied. These young people,…

Attention on the body impacts athletes’ minds and movements: Implications for sport performance and participation

Introduction and Context More than 600,000 Canadian adolescents drop out of sport each year – and miss out on the many benefits that sport offers. Compared to boys, girls are up to six times more likely to drop out of sport, and body image factors are often identified as reasons for drop out. Also, adolescent…

Participating in leisure-time physical activities (LTPA) contributes to the well-being of people with disabilities

Participating in leisure-time physical activities (LTPA) can boost the well-being of people with disabilities. Unfortunately, they often participate in these activities less than others, especially during winter due to environmental barriers and limited programs. Taking part in adaptive snowsports like skiing or snowboarding can help people with disabilities stay active in the winter.   We aimed…

Mentorship in Para sport: The value of experiential coach learning

Coach mentoring in Para sport  In many ways, coaching athletes with and without disabilities is comparable as their training, dedication, and motivation to succeed are the same. However, there are contextual differences that make coaching in the Para sport setting unique. For example, it is important for coaches to have a strong understanding of specialized…

Embracing Excellence: Cultivating Success Through Positive Sport

Introduction and Context Safe Sport continues to be a top concern in Canada, with continued efforts to address maltreatment at all levels of sport. While sexual violence is discussed most frequently in research and practice, with the rhetoric being that children need to be protected from ‘bad apples’ and ‘predators’, Canadian1,2 and international3,4 prevalence studies…

Being Alive and at Risk: Building a Meshwork of Risk and Health Among Young Adults 

Introduction and Context  The research explores the concept of risk in relation to young adults’ participation in diverse sport and leisure environments. Because of the many broad and divergent definitions of risk as well as its all-encompassing and evolving nature within and beyond sport and leisure, risk scholarship has typically suffered from an inability to…

A better way to do sport? Exploring the Indigenous Engagement Program’s* impact on cultural awareness and safety, Indigenous cultural inclusion, and reciprocity among U SPORTS teams 

*Note that the Indigenous Engagement Program was previously called the Front Runner Project, but we are no longer using the latter name.  Introduction and Context Equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts are becoming commonplace among sport organizations.  It is not uncommon, however, for efforts to be superficial and short-term.  This project aimed to examine the learning…

Towards an understanding of the determinants of efficiency in ice hockey

2 articles:  Introduction and Context  The questions addressed in these articles are related to the fact that ice hockey fascinating because it involves a bimanual task (holding a hockey stick) and both hands have different roles (an asymmetric activity). Is it the preferred or the nonpreferred hand (in a unimanual task like writing or throwing…

Meaning, Trust, and Belonging: Exploring the Factors that Foster Elite Refugee Athletes’ Growth

Introduction and Context Within the last decade there has been increased attention in supporting elite refugee athletes through sport. This attention includes international teams in the Olympics and national teams within their new countries. Many of these athletes have competed internationally for their home countries and seek to do the same within Canada, a global…