Recruiting, retaining and supporting volunteers in a changing sport system

Paul Varian is a sport-management consultant and thought-leader with experience at all levels of the sport sector, from community and amateur sport to large national governing bodies.  Throughout his long career in sport, Varian has served as the Chief Executive of the Irish Hockey Association, President and CEO of Sport BC, and Manager of the…

Empowering mentees to lead

The experiences of women coaches in mentorship programs show that mentees want a learning environment that promotes agency and self-direction. When mentees can express their learning interests and preferences, they feel they can lead their training and find more value in the mentorship program.

Recruitment of officials

Community organizations across the country are experiencing a shortage of sport officials. Research shows that nearly 80% of sport officials across Canada are either previously or currently active as an athlete in the sport they officiate. Individuals already involved within a sport are likely candidates to recruit as officials due to their passion for the…

Long-term sport participation models

As sport leaders and organizations, we’re often concerned with participant retention. We rarely consider how dropout may play an important role in sport development pathways, or potential pathways for sport re-engagement later in life. The inclusion of sport dropout as a potential pathway in long-term sport participation models could push for a dialogue on how…

Supporting Black coaches and athletes

Sport organizations play an important role in engaging and empowering Black girls and women in sport. By building stronger relationships with communities and recognizing and addressing existing barriers, such as language, cost and social or cultural norms, organizations can support Black women and girls as coaches and athletes.

Sport dropout and re-engagement

As sport leaders and organizations, we’re often concerned with participant retention. We rarely consider how dropout may play an important role in sport development pathways, or potential pathways for sport re-engagement later in life. The inclusion of sport dropout as a potential pathway in long-term sport participation models could push for a dialogue on how…

Rethinking long-term sport participation

Encouraging youth to try multiple sports increases their odds of staying active into adulthood and doesn’t interfere with their chances of reaching high levels of performance. But trying multiple sports means that youth will eventually drop out of at least some of these sports, and existing sport participation models rarely (if ever) discuss sport withdrawal…

Welcoming golf courses

Ensuring that golf courses are welcoming places, where participants feel included, is important for driving women’s golf participation. Beyond offering flexible membership options and informational packages with advice for new members, research shows that clearly marked directional signage and an opportunity to learn the course layout helps to make golf courses welcoming places for women.

The Canadian sport and physical activity community identifies topics for researchers to prioritize 

Highlights  Adoption in practice of research findings is often sub-optimal because of a disconnect between researchers and the individuals or groups overseeing and facilitating sport and physical activity participation.  To help bridge the gap between sport and physical activity research activities and the needs of those best positioned to apply those findings, we conducted a…

Mentoring Black women coaches: Developing confidence through relationships and learning

Photo credit: Conestoga College Condors Athletics Highlights Anyone involved in sport knows that confidence is key. Whether coach, athlete or participant, the importance (and fragility) of confidence can’t be overlooked. The vital and tenuous nature of confidence means steps must be taken to safeguard the confidence of racialized women coaches, who are sometimes the “only”…