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…
The new normal? How digital innovation evolved the fan experience
Highlights Sport, like all industries, adapted to the challenges of the ongoing COVID‑19 pandemic. Competitions and events were cancelled or they continued in empty stadiums. Over the past year, high-performance athletes have become used to long periods of isolation and competing on the world’s biggest stages without the roar of the crowd. At the same…
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…
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented sport events: Competition During COVID-19
Highlights Teddy Katz, a former award-winning sports journalist and the founder of communications company, Think Redefined Inc., sat down with Canadian sport leaders for SIRC to hear some of the valuable lessons they learned hosting safe events during the pandemic. The crisis led to some of the biggest challenges in their history for these sport leaders, but it also led to some innovative new ways of thinking that…