Commercialization of Public Spaces
For newcomers, informal sport can be an initial (and long-term) source of friendships and social networks that help with settlement, integration and belonging. However, in Sydney, Australia, the commercialization of public outdoor space, whether for rentals or redevelopment, is threatening this type of participation. Learn more in this article from The Conversation.
Volunteer Coach Expectations
Many community sport clubs rely on volunteers for management and program delivery, including coaching. One way to support volunteer recruitment and retention is to understand volunteers’ expectations – both of themselves, and of the organization. Learn more about how sport organizations can support strong “psychological contracts” amongst volunteer coaches in the SIRCuit.
A Positive Environment for Volunteer Coaches: The Role of Psychological Contract
Community sport organizations or clubs are the cornerstone of sport in Canada. A vast majority of these community sport clubs rely almost exclusively on volunteers for their management and program delivery (Cuskelly, Hoye, & Auld, 2006; Doherty, 2005). A threat to these organizations and their sustainability is acquiring and retaining volunteer coaches to deliver the…
Curling Day in Canada 2019
A video from the Curling Canada Foundation brings values-based sport to life, promoting respect, togetherness, inclusion and fair play. February 23, 2019 is Curling Day in Canada, a Curling Canada initiative designed to celebrate the great sport of curling by showcasing the game, the incredible people and our curling rinks that are key parts of…
Charlottetown Figure Skating Club
Immigration is diversifying Canadian communities, and represents an important audience for the Canadian sport and physical activity sector. This video, produced through the Government of Canada’s #ImmigrationMatters initiative, shares the story of how the Charlottetown Skating Club was revived by the enthusastic participation of the Chinese community. For tips on engaging newcomers to Canada in…
Creating a Values-Based Sport System in Canada
Across playing fields, courts and ice rinks in Canada, demands for improvements in the quality of the sport experience are growing. While sport has long been celebrated for its role in developing the character of our nation, stories shared in the media or by word of mouth are calling into question the type of environment…
Putting Multi-sport into Practice
The Coaching Association of Canada’s 2018 Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Conference focused on fostering positive change in the sport system through influence. One panel discussion attracted attention with the simple question: Is there a future for multi-sport in Canada? Led by an expert panel that included Carolyn Townsend (Sport Nova Scotia), André Lachance (Baseball Canada), Richard…
Putting Multi-sport into Practice
Is there a future for kids’ multi-sport programming in Canada? This was the question during an interactive panel presentation at the 2018 Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Conference. Learn more about the discussion in today’s SIRC blog, the last in a series about the value and possibility of a multi-sport approach to sport and physical activity in…
Powered by the People: the Magic of Crowdfunding in Sport
Funding for sport is changing and government support is increasingly more difficult to obtain, but the money is out there – it just needs to be found. A relatively new fund development tool is crowdfunding. Think about it, a crowdfunding campaign is similar to sport – it’s time sensitive, there’s a very clear goal, it’s…
Inclusion requires action! Creating inclusion for newcomers to Canada
It is clear that the next generation will be diverse, multicultural and, apparently, much less fit than the previous generations. Research points in this general direction, but results from the recent TOPO survey, released in May 2018, demonstrates this trend clearly. The 2017 survey engaged 13,400 children and 7,800 parents across all school boards on…