SIRC

SIRC Newsletter now available online: Diversity in Sport The Canadian sport community has the opportunity to embrace our uniquely diverse population and actively strive for a multicultural and socially inclusive environment. Proactive sport organizations adopt a broad view of diversity and value it to its fullest extent. Ideally, this means going beyond merely removing barriers to participation...Read more

Burnout in sport is defined as “physical/emotional exhaustion, sport devaluation, and reduced over-training and by competing too often. This is an important issue in youth sports because it often leads to dropping out of sport completely. Participation in sport offers many benefits to children and with so many people leading sedentary lifestyles, it's becoming even more important to keep our kids...Read more

The coaching profession is constantly changing and coaches at every level need to know more than just the basics to ensure success in the field. This is why education and further professional development such as conferences, workshops, and mentoring are vital to a coaches career path. Coaching should be a profession where the opportunity for continuous learning should never be passed up. Career-...Read more

Any periodization training plan requires at least some measurement of work - daily, weekly or monthly. The challenge occurs when we try to balance work and recovery in the short, medium, and long term. One way to determine how hard your body is working is to measure your rate of perceived exertion or RPE. Simply put, RPE is our perception of how hard we're working based on how we feel. Athletes...Read more

Periodization training is the division of a training year(s) into a cycle of of several phases, each phase devoted to different training methods and objectives. In it's most general form, a periodized training program will span 6 months to one year with the exception of Olympic athletes who plan for four years. Each phase is divided up over the designated time period with each phase devoted to...Read more

Children are encouraged to participate in sport because physical activity and play can be a great outlet to help the body get out excess energy and release endorphins. Children will test, explore their environment, and act impulsively sometimes but as a coach it's important to be able to recognize when there is a problem more significant than normal development . If you have a challenging child...Read more

When playing sports, warming up is a must and with kids there's an entirely different approach to coaching them through warm up drills . The value of a warm up created for children is that it raises the body temperature and heart rate, prepares the muscles and joints for activity, and helps to prevent injury. However, most people aren't aware that proper warm up also sets the mood and pace for...Read more

For experienced athletes who wish to reach higher levels of competition, hiring a personal coach may be necessary for continued success. Most people assume that since they've done it on their own so far, they can continue do so, but good coaches do more than just hold a stopwatch. How do I find a coach? Keep in mind that you're probably not going to find the perfect coach in your first Google...Read more

SIRC Newsletter now available online: Volunteerism Volunteerism is considered the backbone of Canada's sport and recreation system. Currently, Canada has over 6.5 million volunteers with 35% of those being involved in sport. Sport volunteers encompass people from all walks of life, from active and retired athletes, coaches and officials to professionals, parents and youth (and more) who want to...Read more

Whether you are coaching athletes in elementary, high school or any age, one of the biggest challenges a coach can face is how to motivate their players. To start, you need to establish your expectations , this will determine your role within the team and let your players know what kind of coach you are going to be. What's a coach to do? Know your athletes as more than just "players" who are put...Read more