Fostering Leadership in Youth Sport through a Tri-Level Mentoring Model
Many coaches in youth sport understand the positive benefits of sport participation, in helping youth adopt social relationships, perseverance, and building life skills. However, it isn’t enough to simply thrust a child into sport and hope they develop character. It is necessary for coaches to provide intentional opportunities for youth engagement and empowerment to help…
Children’s influence on adult fandom of amateur sport
Research shows sport fandom being developed within families usually from a top-down approach. This is typically in the form of parents, in particular fathers, directly influencing their children’s sport fan choices through various socializing activities, including watching games together on television, taking them to a game in person, purchasing fan merchandise, or teaching them the…
National Health and Fitness Day – June 2, 2018
The National Health and Fitness Day Act was passed in 2014, designating the first Saturday in June as National Health and Fitness Day (NHFD). NHFD is intended to draw attention to declining rates of physical activity and increasing rates of preventable illness, and ultimately encourage Canadians to reap the benefits of active living. This year,…
The Car Ride Home
Parents[1] play an undeniably important role in the lives of young athletes. Parents have been described as socializers of athletes’ sport experiences – providing opportunities for participation, serving as role models, and helping athletes make sense of their sport experiences. Previous research about parent involvement in sport has examined the types of feedback that parents…
Scaling down the circus to scale up the benefits – A proposed future for international sport events
2018 is an exciting year with four major international sporting events on the calendar: the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games, and the Arctic Winter Games. These events are embraced by those with a love for sport, including the millions of spectators around the world, athletes, coaches, sport organizations, organizing committees, corporate partners, volunteers,…
Taking Action: Community Sport Organizations and Social Responsibility
Community sport organizations (CSOs) are a central thread in the fabric of Canadian society, providing a meaningful place for people to play, compete, volunteer, coach, and interact with others who may share their interests and values. As a foundation of the sport development system, we look to them to provide high quality, fun, and safe…
Using Sport to Accomplish Social Change
Have you heard the term Sport for Development and wondered what it means? Sport for development (also referred to as S4D and used interchangeably with sport for social change or sport for social objectives) involves tapping into what sport can do “intentionally” to address a range of community priorities, including community building, reduced youth criminal…
Exercise and Fitness Trends – Adding Something a Little Different to your Workouts
Sometimes a new year inspires us to shake things up a bit and try new things. And often, changing things up on the workout scene brings changes to your body and your fitness by forcing you to adapt to new movements and new cardiovascular challenges. If you are looking to add a little inspiration to…
Engaging Youth Volunteers
Volunteering is the backbone of sport in Canada. Without the generous contributions of volunteers at all levels many sport opportunities would not be available to our communities. In the past our older generation has been the stalwart contributors of their time and energy and while this trend continues, we should also be looking to our…
Sport and Physical Activity to De-Stress the Holidays
From our team to yours, wishing you all the best of the holidays and a Happy New Year! We look forward to empowering sport through knowledge in 2018. The holiday season is a wonderful time of year when family and friends get together to celebrate the joys life brings. For some, however the holidays can…