SIRC

This is the third and final blog in a series on positive youth development in sport. If this is your first visit to this series, considering taking a few minutes to read the other two posts – Tips on how to deliver a quality youth sport program and Teaching life skills through sport . Life skills transfer is defined as an ongoing process where an individual applies a skill learned in one context...Read more

This is the first blog in a series leading up to the 2020 Arctic Winter Games that will be hosted by Whitehorse, YT March 15-21, 2020. Subsequent blogs will focus on the logistical challenges of hosting in a smaller centre, engaging remote northern and First Nations communities, and the incorporation of Circumpolar culture. Living in the North certainly brings unique challenges, and for athletes...Read more

This blog was adapted from a SIRCuit article written by Dr. Vicki Harber. For the full article, click here . Within Canada, there is some concern that an ethos of “winning at all costs” has infiltrated youth sport, degrading the quality of the sport experience resulting in reduced participation (Brenner, 2016) and increased injury (Jayanthi et al., 2013). Building psychological, cognitive, social...Read more

This blog is the second in a series by the authors on positive youth development in sport. Check out the first blog, Tips on how to deliver a quality youth sport program . Sport is often celebrated as a platform through which to develop life skills, such as communication, teamwork, and respect. Approaches to develop these skills fall into two categories: Implicit approaches - where the inherent...Read more

Active for Life has declared the first week of October “ Parents in Sport Week .” Parents play an undeniably important role in the lives of young athletes – providing opportunities for participation, serving as role models, and helping athletes make sense of their sport experiences. The ways that parents engage with their children during the car ride home after games and practices has the...Read more

You’ve probably heard of the Relative Age Effect – the concept that when children are placed into groups such as school classes or sports based on their chronological age, those born early in the cohort may have physical or intellectual advantages compared to those born late, leading to selection for enriched opportunities that tend to compound the advantage. Research into sport shows relative...Read more

The Sport for Life (S4L) Summit will be taking place from January 23-25, 2018 at the Hilton Lac-Leamy hotel in Gatineau and brings together leaders to enhance the quality of sport and physical activity in Canada. Sport for Life recognizes that quality sport and physical literacy offer rich benefits to Canadian society through improved health, stronger communities, higher sporting achievement, and...Read more

The Sport for Life (S4L) Canadian Summit will be taking place from January 24-26, 2017 at the Hilton Lac-Leamy hotel in Gatineau-Ottawa and brings together leaders to enhance the quality of sport and physical activity in Canada. The 2017 Summit will feature more than 70 sessions from upwards of 100 presenters. The theme for this year’s summit revolves around “Nurturing Excellence” delivered...Read more

SIRC is pleased to be working together with Sport Canada to share current research on topics informing policy and promoting quality sport programming. This week we are sharing highlights of a recent article examining AN INCLUSIVE SPORT STRUCTURE FOR CHILDREN TARGETING PERFORMANCE, PARTICIPATION AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. Evidence-based policies for youth sport programmes . Côté, Jean; Hancock,...Read more

Sport teaches us innumerable lessons. When I reflect on my own sporting journey, I cringe at some of the mis-steps I took as a younger athlete. This is not to say that today I’m past the point of making mistakes. Some of us are slow learners after all, and even those of us with years of experience under our belts can still get it wrong. Rather it is to highlight a few hard won lessons, offered as...Read more