Teen mental health

To improve mental health, teens (13 to 15 years old) need more exercise and less screen time. New research shows that adolescents’ mental wellbeing declines with more than 1 hour of recreational screen time a day. On the other hand, daily exercise has been consistently shown to help improve teens’ mental health and life satisfaction.

Rethinking long-term sport participation

Encouraging youth to try multiple sports increases their odds of staying active into adulthood and doesn’t interfere with their chances of reaching high levels of performance. But trying multiple sports means that youth will eventually drop out of at least some of these sports, and existing sport participation models rarely (if ever) discuss sport withdrawal…

Let’s talk about air pollution: Keeping outdoor sport participants safe

In honour of Clean Air Day (June 8), SIRC partnered with Health Canada to present information about air pollution and how it can affect the health and performance of outdoor sport participants. We also highlight the ways coaches, officials and sport organizations can adapt to keep all participants safe during outdoor sporting activities. In recent…

Practical ways to improve fitness

You do not need special equipment to reap the physical and mental benefits of physical activity. Simple bodyweight exercises, like running in place and burpees, performed vigorously over short periods, can boost cardiorespiratory fitness. A big advantage of short bodyweight routines is that they don’t require extra time, motivation, or access to expensive gym equipment.

Welcoming golf courses

Ensuring that golf courses are welcoming places, where participants feel included, is important for driving women’s golf participation. Beyond offering flexible membership options and informational packages with advice for new members, research shows that clearly marked directional signage and an opportunity to learn the course layout helps to make golf courses welcoming places for women.

Role model moms

“My daughter once told me, ‘Mum, you do everything for us. You should do something for yourself,” recalls 4-time Paralympian Ina Forrest, reflecting back on the early days of her wheelchair curling career. Over the years, Forrest has come to appreciate how her involvement in sport has modeled important values for her children, including how…

Mom’s got game

“Being younger in an all-women’s league has shown me that you can play hockey and be a mom. It wasn’t ever in my mind that I couldn’t do both. Seeing others do it helped relieve some of the pressures of motherhood.” Learn more about women’s’ experiences returning to sport after childbirth and tips for creating…

She belongs

A positive social environment has a big impact on girls’ sport participation. For many girls, a sense of social belonging enhances their performance. Girls are also motivated to stay in sport to make friends and be part of a team. Knowing this can help coaches keep girls engaged in sport.

Hallmarks of a quality masters sport experience

Research on the experiences of Masters athletes identifies eight “Hallmarks of a Quality Masters Sport Experience“. These include intellectual stimulation, testing and assessing oneself, quality relationships, and feeling validated.

Getting over ‘mom guilt’

Olympic bronze medalist and former world champion mountain biker Catharine Pendrel gave birth to her first child, Dara, 6 months before she represented Canada in Tokyo for her fourth Olympic Games. In the lead up to the Games, Pendrel discovered that she’s actually a better parent when she makes time for physical activity. “It felt…