Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Program
The 2020 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games start today in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The international Healthy Athletes program includes a range of screenings that support a holistic approach to health, reducing the risk of preventable secondary health condition such as obesity, nutritional deficit, untreated or poorly treated vision, dental, hearing and podiatric problems. Learn more…
9 Nutrition Staples
Information on optimal nutrition for athlete development and performance can be tricky to navigate. However, research suggests there are nine “staple” foods proven for performance gains, a sharper competitive edge, and improved general health. Do you agree?
Concussion Awareness in Community Sport
Alignment among grassroots clubs across Canada can be challenging. The Ottawa Sport Council and Sport Manitoba are both addressing concussion awareness at the community sport level. For these mostly volunteer-run organizations, having access to evidence-informed concussion resources is helping to inform coaches and protect athletes.
Student-Athlete Health
Alcohol misuse represents an important mental health issue for student-athletes – even moderate consumption can have negatively impact athletic and academic performance. Research has shown an athlete’s perception of their coach’s approval of alcohol use was strongly associated with drinking behaviour.
Match Grant Recipients
From player recruitment and retention, to leadership development, to effective coach education, SIRC’s Researcher/Practitioner Match Grant recipients will address a range of issues to help achieve gender equality in the Canadian sport system. Learn more about this initiative and all the sport organization/university matches that were supported. Outcomes and key learnings from all projects will…
Examining Positive Youth Development in Elite Sport Contexts Using Photo Elicitation
Project Summary Previous research in the field of positive youth development has highlighted the importance of extracurricular activities, such as sport, in developing healthy youth (Larson, 2000, Petitpas et al., 2005). Further, the National Research Council Institute of Medicine (NRIM, 2002) have suggested eight setting features that are critical to the growth of positive young…
Bell Let’s Talk Day 2020
Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day – a national initiative to build awareness, acceptance and action relating to mental health. While 84% of Canadians say they are comfortable speaking with others about mental health, athletes report a number of barriers to disclosing psychological distress. These include “tough” sport cultures, fear of stigma from coaches and teammates, and…
Doping Infographic
Research from the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport finds, when it comes to doping, 82% of Canadians disagree that it is okay to cheat if you know or believe your opponent is doing the same. Learn more about Canadian Olympic weightlifter Christine Girard’s journey and commitment to clean sport in the SIRCuit.
Factors in Adopting Long-term Athlete Development
Project Summary Purpose: Several studies have reported an age-related decline of physical activity (PA). We examined the impact of four transitional periods—adolescence, the beginning of post-secondary education, entry into the labour market, and parenthood—on the PA of participants in the Trois-Rivières quasi-experimental study. The objective of this project was to identify the contribution of each…
External Focus of Attention
Endurance athletes use a number of strategies to distract themselves and manage their performance. For example, athletes can manipulate their attention, focusing either internally (e.g. on the running movement, internal body signals) or externally (e.g. on the environment, music). Research reported in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Physiology measured running economy to confirm the…