Building quality sport participation

For children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, quality participation is built from six building blocks: autonomy, belongingness, challenge, engagement, mastery, and meaning. Sport and recreation programs that actively support these building blocks create satisfying, enjoyable and meaningful experiences for their participants, which, in turn, supports lasting participation.

Is it time to rethink our long-term sport participation models?

In Canada, Sport for Life’s long-term athlete development model (Balyi, Way, & Higgs, 2013), now known as Long-Term Development (LTD) in Sport and Physical Activity, has served as the guiding framework for national, provincial and territorial sport programming since 2005. However, multiple models of sport participation exist in the academic literature and around the world….

Keeping girls in sport

Does age of entry into sport influence girls’ future sport participation? A new study suggests that girls who begin participating in sports from the ages of 6 to 9 have higher retention rates than those who begin participating later in life. These findings emphasize the importance of targeted retention strategies and supportive sport environments for adolescent girls…

Multi-sport collaboration

Compared to early specializers, youth who participate in multiple sports early in their development often experience fewer injuries, enhanced movement skills and a greater likelihood of long-term sports participation. But in Canada’s North, sport participation opportunities for youth can be few and far between. Discover how table tennis and hockey came together to enhance player…

Ethical literacy

While many of us are familiar with physical literacy (the motivation, confidence, competence, and knowledge to be physically active for life), ethical literacy (the ability to collect and evaluate information, reflect on one’s own moral values and take responsibility for one’s actions) may be a new concept. When physical literacy and ethical literacy are learned…

Indigenous youth

Parents and families play an important role in Indigenous youths’ sport and physical activity participation. Involving parents and families in the development and implementation of sport and physical activity programs may be particularly important for increasing the participation of Indigenous youth.

Programs for urban Indigenous youth

Urban Indigenous youth face several barriers when accessing sport and physical activity programs, including experiences of racism and a lack of supportive networks. All-Indigenous programs that prioritize the needs of Indigenous youth and offer opportunities for coaching and mentorship from trained, culturally sensitive leaders may help to reduce these barriers.

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.

Parental stress

Girls aged 5 to 7 years old with at least one parent that reports high stress levels are less active than girls with parents who report lower stress levels, research shows. Providing parents with resources to help manage their stress and develop effective coping skills may help to promote their daughters’ physical activity engagement.

How early is too early?

Research shows that the accuracy of draft selections in professional sports is poor, and yet many youth sport teams are making selections at increasingly younger ages – with athletes who have yet to fully develop. This begs the question: How early is too early to be making selections in sport?