The role of social capital in the organizational capacity of community sport
Project summary Social capital is the trust, reciprocity, and shared understanding that may be produced and reproduced in a social connection. When generated among individuals and within groups in an organization, this ‘social energy’ may be an important resource for goal achievement. The objectives of this project were to investigate the nature and development of…
Economies of deviance: Sex work and sport mega-event
Project summary In proposing a dissertation topic, I built from the sport for development literature to argued that (sport) event-led urban development could not be contained within or used to solely advance the socio-politicaleconomic agenda of the bourgeois, cosmopolitan class. Using this vantage point, I developed an interest in investigating the informal (sometimes viewed as…
Cultural relevancy and positive youth development: Exploring the sport and physical activity experiences of indigenous youth in Canada
Project summary The purpose of the study was to gain insight into how positive youth development (PYD) through sport and physical activity is understood for Indigenous youth in western, central, and eastern urban communities in Canada. The following research questions were addressed: 1) What meaning do the outcomes related to PYD in sport and physical…
Multiculturalism and physical culture: The case of the GTA
There are two parts to this project: First, we have established an open-access on-line archive to collect every form of physical culture that people participate in in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Second, use the on-line archive to engage in follow-up research – interviews and secondary data analysis – to answer an initial set of…
Managing sport events to maximize positive impacts
Project summary The value of sport events extends beyond the competition itself to society at-large. The overarching goal of this project was to understand how to maximize the positive impacts associated with hosting non-mega sport events. Guided by the idea that effective event design and leveraging strategies can increase positive outcomes from sport events, the specific objectives of this project were to identify: Conclusions: Research methods Objective 1 (Inspire an intention to participate) – Questionnaires were completed by 353 spectators…
Teacher-coaches’ influence on the global development of student-athletes: An examination of perceived dual role benefits and challenges
Project summary Youth development research has examined the antecedents, processes, and outcomes that occur in sport contexts. One common finding that consistently emerges is that influential adults, such as teachers and coaches, play instrumental roles in facilitating the developmental process. Most of the past research on teachers and coaches has examined these two roles in…
The relocation experiences of aboriginal athletes pursuing sport in Euro-Canadian contexts
View the summary of this research here. Project summary Researchers have documented the importance of sport in the lives of Aboriginal people, emphasizing how it can improve health and wellness. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the cultural issues that affect Aboriginal peoples’ sport participation. This project explored the relocation experiences of Aboriginal…
Grappling for answers: Exploring the process of life skills development in youth mixed martial arts athletes
Project summary Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that integrates striking and grappling techniques from a variety of other combat sports (i.e. martial arts, boxing, sumo, wresting, karate, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, and Tae Kwon Do). MMA was legalized in Ontario in 2013. Immediately, reporters from mainstream and social media began to…
The effects of adolescent physical growth and maturation on selection into sport and the long-term effects on sports participation
Project summary Sport Canada’s Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model acknowledges that there are limitations to ensuring appropriate development of team sports, especially with regards to selecting into chronological age (CA) bands. Adolescent of the same CA can be 4 to 5 years apart developmentally (Biological Age; BA). It’s suggested that late maturation could impede…
A level playing field? Bias in Canadian high performance sport
Project summary Sport is often extolled as a key activity for the development of healthy and productive youth as well as for the optimization of health and functioning across the lifespan. However, there is evidence that the delivery of sport and opportunities for participation in high performance (HP) sport is not uniform. For example, research indicates those…