Collectivism in Individual Sport
Feelings of belonging are strongly linked to enjoyment of sport and physical activity, and are a good predictor of continued participation. Research from the University of Lethbridge found that a collective orientation was as important in individual sport contexts as it is in team sport contexts.
Cut from the team: How parents can help their kids cope
Deselection (or being cut) from a sports team can be a crushing experience for young athletes. After being cut, athletes often experience a range of negative psychosocial and emotional consequences such as a loss of athletic identity, sense of self, friendships, connectedness to school, and decreased academic performance, along with feelings of anxiety, humiliation, and anger. Recently…
Inclusion requires action! Creating inclusion for newcomers to Canada
It is clear that the next generation will be diverse, multicultural and, apparently, much less fit than the previous generations. Research points in this general direction, but results from the recent TOPO survey, released in May 2018, demonstrates this trend clearly. The 2017 survey engaged 13,400 children and 7,800 parents across all school boards on…
Promising practices to support multi-sport programming
When kids specialize early in one sport or activity, it doesn’t guarantee they will be successful athletes in the long term (Malina 2010). To the contrary, research has revealed that they tend to get injured more frequently, burnout, and quit (Jayanthi et al. 2013, Jayanthi et al. 2015, Fraser-Thomas et al. 2005). This is why…
Increasing engagement by addressing de-selection practices in youth sport
As researchers and educators who have been (and still are!) extensively involved in sport, back to school time also means back to school SPORT time! Through our personal experience and our research, we know firsthand the positive impact that participation in sports can have on child development. We are also acutely aware that many children…
The Development of Executive Functions and Social and Emotional Learning Skills Through Sport
One of the biggest stories coming out of the 2018 Winter Olympics was the success of the Norwegian Team, who topped the overall medal count with 39 medals (7.33 medals/million population), compared to Canada’s third-place standing with 29 medals (0.81 medals/million population). In team rooms and in the media, everyone was asking “How did such…
Issues in Athlete Identification and Selection: Are We Compromising Talent?
Despite some important ethical and developmental concerns, early identification and selection is the modus operandi of high performance sport. Most sport systems internationally have limited resources for high performance athlete development and, as a result, have to make predictions about who has the greatest likelihood of future success. Notions of talent also play critical roles…
Taking Athlete Development to a New Level: Understanding the Value of a Trauma-Informed Approach
Increasing attention in research and practice has focused on the physical and psychological impacts of trauma and violence, for example from living in conflict zones or experiencing family violence. In North America, such work has led to an increased understanding of the prevalence and impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). These include childhood physical, sexual…
Happy birthday? How your birthdate contributes to success or failure due to the “relative age effect”
Have you ever stopped to wonder the difference a day can make? Say, being born December 31st or January 1st? This small 24-hour window could be the difference between competing in elite vs. recreational sport, or being identified as “gifted”, or (mis)diagnosed with a learning disability in school. Many youth development systems (e.g., sport and…
Tips on How to Deliver a Quality Youth Sport Program
This is the first blog in a series on positive youth development in sport. If this is your first visit to this series, considering taking a few minutes to read the other two posts: Teaching Life Skills Through Sport and Supporting the Transfer and Application of Life Skills Beyond Sport. Many individuals and organizations have…