Formal and informal leadership roles

Formal leaders usually receive their assigned role from the coach or team’s selection process. Informal leaders emerge based on their interactions and behaviours with teammates. Athletes can be task-oriented, motivational, social, or external leaders. Discover how role diversity can allow many athletes to fulfil a leadership position and distribute the leadership load.

Anticipating stressors

Unexpected stressors can negatively affect athletes’ feelings of stress, ability to cope with stress, and performance during competition. But preparing athletes for the possibility that the competition won’t go exactly as planned can help. Acknowledging that the competition might not go the way an athlete had hoped or expected is the first step towards coping…

How roles contribute to team success

A role outlines the specific behaviours that are expected of an individual to achieve established team goals. On a team, each role should interact seamlessly to help the team reach its untapped potential. Members will perform better individually when they understand their role, and role clarity sets the stage for team success.

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…

Empowering athletes for Safe Sport

A significant culture change in sport is needed to address athlete maltreatment, experts say. One way to bring about change is to amplify athletes’ voices. Including athletes in decision-making can help address the power imbalances that often underpin maltreatment in sports.

Northern sport development

In Canada’s North, sport development opportunities for youth can be few and far between. Small population sizes, large distances between communities, and limited resources create barriers to sport programming. But partnerships between different sports offer a unique opportunity for youth to reap the benefits of participation in multiple sports. They can also increase participant pools…

Physical literacy for life

Physical literacy provides youth with the fundamental movement skills to engage in all types of sport and physical activity. It also helps to build self-image, self-concept and self-efficacy. Giving youth the right skills to enjoy movement for the long-term helps them come back and sustain their motivation to participate in sport and physical activity throughout…

Inclusive approaches to mental health

There are 3 things on mental performance consultant Dr. Chantale Lussier’s radar when she thinks about inclusive approaches to mental health: the cultural (individualistic vs. collectivistic), the relational (intrapersonal vs. interpersonal), and the philosophical (secular vs. spiritual). “Mental health is the stuff that happens between us, not just the stuff that happens in us,” says…

Race pacing for triathletes

Most triathletes use a “positive” pacing strategy, where they gradually decrease their speed as the race progresses. However, research shows that starting slower or staying at a constant speed leads to better results. By adopting a more conservative pacing strategy, triathletes and coaches can improve race performance.

Making evaluation meaningful

“I think that sport has unique evaluation opportunities in that you can measure things like confidence. You might not spot that change in confidence unless you measure these skills at baseline and share that information with the kids.” In the SIRC blog, Chris Penrose, Director of Programs and Operations of Lay-Up Youth Basketball, discusses how…