Games’ health and safety

“There will be no overseas spectators. There won’t be friends and family. We won’t have a Canada Olympic House in Tokyo.” David Shoemaker, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, discussed COVID-19 countermeasures and how athlete health and safety is top priority for the Tokyo Summer Games at a Canadian Club luncheon. Read more in the…

Tokyo, Beijing and a global pandemic: How 4 sports are advancing Safe Sport

Highlights Perhaps not surprisingly, the unofficial theme of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been ‘safety first.’ Postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID‑19 pandemic, the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games are scheduled to take place respectively from July 23 to August 8 and from August 24 to September 5. Even before the…

Sport organization identity during COVID-19

During times of crisis, research suggests a clearly articulated vision of an organization’s core purpose can help streamline and prioritize decision making and adaptation. During COVID-19 restrictions, resilient sport organizations played a variety of roles beyond the provision of participation opportunities.

Three recommendations for sport organizations when engaging in evaluation

The sport sector considers evaluation an essential organizational practice. Through evaluation, sport organizations can gain insights and solicit feedback about their programs. Evaluation can also inform decision-making, guide program improvements, and build stakeholders’ value and advocacy for programming (Holt et al., 2016; Shaikh et al., 2020). Despite its value, evaluation also challenges many sport decision-makers,…

Pandemic mental health

Physical activity may help to alleviate the negative mental health effects experienced by older adults while social distancing, according to new research. During the pandemic, older adults who were more physically active reported fewer depressive symptoms than those who were less active.

Pandemic gymnastics

“We saw how important it was for the athletes to compete again and to be under that kind of positive pressure… Getting athletes in front of even virtual judges was really beneficial in terms of their preparation for Tokyo.” In the SIRC blog, Amanda Tambakopoulos, Program Manager for Women’s Artistic Gymnastics at Gymnastics Canada, shares…

Pandemic curling

“This is just one huge exercise in risk management… the health risks, financial risk, reputation risk, and compliance risk. It’s sort of risk management on steroids.” In the SIRCuit, Curling Canada CEO Katherine Henderson shares learnings and insight on hosting key national and international events during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Heroic acts

Less than three months after helping the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory, Laurent Duvernay-Tardiff returned to Canada to assist with a coronavirus outbreak at a long-term care facility in Montreal, Quebec. Laurent shows us how sport can provide athletes with valuable skills that can be taken beyond the field, pitch, and court,…

Impact of COVID-19 on athlete retirement

In a survey of national team athletes led by Game Plan in 2020, 34% of respondents said the postponement of the Tokyo Games changed their retirement plan from sport. Some said they would have to retire earlier than planned, while others chose to push their retirement for another year.

Exercise boosts immunity

Regular physical activity, as little as 30 minutes of activity, five days a week, can boost the effectiveness of vaccines. A person who is active is 50% more likely to have a higher antibody count after receiving a vaccine than somebody who is not active.