Opportunities for mental health promotion in Canadian university sport

Highlights If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re passionate about Canadian university sport. And why wouldn’t you be? University sport provides students with opportunities to connect and enhance their confidence through building skills. It also gives students something to look forward to that they feel good about doing. All these things can help build…

The mental health strategy for high performance sport in Canada: What national sport organization leaders and staff should know

Highlights Brave testimonies by Canadian athletes such as Clara Hughes, Nadia Popov and Brittany MacLean as well as tragedies like the suicide of university basketball player Alex McLaughlin shed light on the fact that mental health challenges happen to athletes too. Athletes, coaches and support staff have unique needs, demands, pressures and expectations that they…

How Volleyball Canada is taking an evidence-based approach to concussion prevention

Highlights “You have a concussion.” These are words that no athlete wants to hear. What exactly does it mean? Perhaps a full stop to sport-related activities. Or, no longer being able to practise, train or compete. Maybe uncertainty around recovery times or a return to play, and questions about future risks and implications. In recent…

You-CAN: Peers help youth athletes with concussions through education and social support

Highlights The number of concussions reported among Canadian youth has increased annually by 10.3% between 2004 and 2015.  Many concussions go unreported by youth due to their lack of knowledge, thinking it won’t make a difference, believing their friends will treat them differently and a lack of self-efficacy.  Improved concussion reporting and health outcomes may happen by understanding that social networks strongly influenced youth, exploring new ways of enabling youth to help each other learn about concussion and supporting recovery after…

Concussion in Para athletes: One size doesn’t fit all

Highlights In 2020, an international group of clinicians, researchers and athletes met virtually to explore how to best assess and manage concussion in an athlete with a disability. This group’s individuals had experience and expertise in the care of Para athletes, and in the assessment, management and prevention of concussion. They named themselves the Concussion…

How biological sex and gender affect concussion risk and management

Highlights Concussion recovery depends on many factors, including biological factors (for example, anatomy) and gender-based factors (for example, societal norms in sport). Research shows that female athletes have a higher risk of concussion than male athletes, male and female athletes experience concussions in different ways, and female athletes may take longer than male athletes to…

Activating Safe Sport communities

Highlights In May 2021, the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) announced the launch of its Community Activation Grants. This program supports sport organizations in developing and disseminating concussion and Safe Sport resources in Canadian communities. The launch was set against the backdrop of the Government of Canada’s commitment to reactivate local sport organizations, after the COVID‑19…

The evolution of the active economy

Highlights In November 2018, Calgarians participated in a plebiscite to decide if the city should proceed with a bid to host the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Calgary’s shot at hosting its second Olympics and first Paralympics came to an end as 56.4% opposed bidding. This was perhaps the final straw in what we, Calgary-based academics at Mount Royal University, had seen…

Preparing for an Olympic and Paralympic Games like no other

Highlights SIRC asked former sports journalist Teddy Katz to sit down (virtually) with leaders from the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) for a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of preparing for 2 Olympic and Paralympic Games amid a global pandemic. After a one-year postponement, the Summer Games, set to be held in…

Building a culture of excellence in high performance sport

Highlights An organization’s culture involves the values, attitudes and goals that are shared by a group of people. These values, attitudes and goals influence how the group interacts and operates as its members work toward a common goal. Within and beyond sport, culture helps to determine a team’s focus, establishes norms of acceptable behaviour and…