Creating welcoming, equitable spaces for new Canadians in sport
Highlights: Sport can help to promote physical and mental health, build social connections and support integration into Canadian communities among newcomers to Canada Research shows that newcomers face unique barriers to sport participation, including cost, transportation, language, access to information, racism and religious or cultural considerations In this article, newcomers in participant, parent, and coaching…
How the sport system can best support lifelong participation in sport
Highlights The engagement and retention of adult sport participants is often overlooked within sport systems and organizations that focus predominantly on youth Despite coaches playing a key role in Masters sport, there are no clearly identified pathways into Masters coaching Masters athletes are often relegated to the worst practice times and facility resources This SIRCuit…
Managing the competing tensions of social media as a high performance athlete
Highlights Social media has had an enormous impact on the sport sector, economically and culturally Athletes may use social media as a platform for personal updates or activism, or as a venue to work with sponsors in a financial relationship, however, it may also be a space in which athletes face abuse and harassment, and…
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…
Sport after Moneyball: Exploring sports analytics and the digital economy
Highlights The rising importance of data and technology in sport over the last two decades reflects the arrival of a wider digital economy There are “twin revolutions” occurring in sport: a change in how we understand the world around us, and a change in the hardware and software available for training and learning The product…
Move over menstrual cycle: Ovulation monitoring is the new gold standard to monitor REDs in female athletes
Highlights Low energy availability (LEA) arises when there is not enough energy (calories) consumed to support critical body functions as well as extra physical activity, such as training Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) is a result of longstanding LEA and is associated with a variety of negative health and performance outcomes Until recently, menstrual…
Exercising outdoors in Canada: What the research tells us about exercising safely and effectively in extreme cold
Highlights Our bodies experience cold as a physiological stressor, meaning that one’s body must work hard to keep itself in thermal balance It is important for athletes and coaches to be aware of ways to mitigate the risks of cold exposure, which can include tissue injury and diminished cardiovascular capacity This article summarizes the research…
Exercising outdoors in Canada: What the research tells us about exercising safely and effectively in extreme heat
Highlights While Canadians are used to severe winter weather, 9 of the 10 warmest years on record in Canada have occurred in the last 25 years. This has real world implications for outdoor sport events. For example, even the best triathletes in the world struggled with the extreme heat in Edmonton in July, with Paula…