Evaluation through storytelling

Engaging stakeholders in the communication of evaluation data can offer a relatable and culturally relevant lens to ensure that the findings are meaningful for diverse audiences. One way to do this is through storytelling. Learn more about how to share data through stories in the SIRC Blog.

A real-life Moneyball: How to identify, select and integrate members into your team

Whether people are baseball fanatics or just Brad Pitt fans, they’ve most likely seen the film Moneyball. It’s based on the true story of Billy Beane, the former General Manager of the Oakland A’s in Major League Baseball (MLB). Beane changed sport recruitment forever with his use of statistics to scout talent, choose players, and establish…

How 2 sports came together to enhance player development in the North

From February 23 to April 4, 2021, in Hay River, Northwest Territories, 7 minor hockey goalies traded in their hockey sticks for table tennis rackets. In an exciting collaboration between Table Tennis North, Table Tennis Canada, Hockey NWT, Hockey North, Hay River Minor Hockey and the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC), the goalies participated in a 6‑week table…

Data-driven decision-making: Easy as 1, 2, 3

In 2017, The Economist boldly published that data, not oil, was the world’s most valuable resource (Parkins, 2017). Sport organizations produce more data than most organizations, ranging from athlete training and performance tracking to business-related information, such as memberships and participation data (Hayduk, 2020). National and provincial/territorial sport organizations (NSOs and PTSOs) are producing and…

Ask the experts: Q&A with Chris Penrose about learning from and communicating evaluation findings

You’ve carefully planned your evaluation, collected data and compiled results. Now what? Brock University’s Corliss Bean and Caroline Hummell spoke with Chris Penrose of Lay-Up Youth Basketball for SIRC’s Experts in the House mini-series on Mastering the Art of Evaluation, presented in partnership with Brock University. As Director of Programs and Operations of Lay-Up Youth…

Three recommendations for sport organizations when engaging in evaluation

The sport sector considers evaluation an essential organizational practice. Through evaluation, sport organizations can gain insights and solicit feedback about their programs. Evaluation can also inform decision-making, guide program improvements, and build stakeholders’ value and advocacy for programming (Holt et al., 2016; Shaikh et al., 2020). Despite its value, evaluation also challenges many sport decision-makers,…

Creating a “fun” sport environment

Reflecting on how to create a “fun” atmosphere for girls and young women, a participant in an evaluation of the Keeping Girls in Sport online training commented, “Coaches take this as ‘we have to play games all the time and never push the girls outside of their comfort zone.’ Once girls love a sport, being…

Volunteer-led evaluation

Sport organizations can benefit from including volunteers in program evaluation. For instance, volunteers are likely to have an intimate knowledge of how the organization functions. Given their diverse backgrounds and experiences, volunteers can also aid in bridging the gap between communities and universities for the benefit of the sport sector.

Building capacity for evaluation with students and volunteers

An essential part of improving sport service delivery is program evaluation. Program evaluation allows sport organizations to understand how their programs or initiatives work in different ways. However, many organizations receive insufficient training or lack the capacity (staff, funding or time) to engage in evaluative work (Carman & Fredericks, 2010).  One way that sport organizations can boost capacity for evaluation is to involve students and volunteers. Indeed, there are many examples of graduate students partnering with…

The Operationalizing Intersectionality Framework

The Operationalizing Intersectionality (OI) Framework provides guidance for putting intersectional approaches into practice. Visualized as a wheel, the OI Framework identifies four points of traction: (1) Learning, (2) Harm Reduction, (3) Accountability & Transparency, and (4) Transformation. Learn about how you can apply these concepts to improve programs, policies, and spaces in the SIRC blog.