SIRCuit Archive
The snow must go on: Climate change and the uncertain future of winter sport
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Every four years, Canadians eagerly welcome a new generation of high-performance winter athletes at the start of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games with patriotic fervor. But beneath the excitement, a chilling reality is settling in: the very foundation of winter sport – cold temperatures, steady ice, and dependable snowfall – is melting away. This is not a distant problem. Climate change is already impacting winter sports across Canada and beyond, manifesting through declining snow reliability, escalating operational costs (driven…
The Hardest Three Minutes on Snow: Ski Mountaineering Goes Olympic
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Every Olympics brings something new. At Beijing 2022, women’s monobob and freestyle skiing’s big air joined the program. PyeongChang 2018 introduced big air snowboarding and mixed doubles curling. Now, for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, ski mountaineering, often referred to as skimo, will make its Olympic debut. Once a niche pursuit for alpine…
A new (augmented) reality: Overcoming challenges to using AI in athlete development
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References Baker, J., Cattle, A., McAuley, A., Kelly, A., & Johnston, K. (2025). Will artificial intelligence solve the riddle of athlete development? A critical review of how AI is being used for athlete identification, selection, and development. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 102978. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102978 Cameron, W. B. (1963). Informal sociology: A casual…
Built for cold: How science and sport product testing support winter sport performance
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Canada is a winter sport nation. From community rinks and ski hills to Olympic and Paralympic podiums, athletes across the country regularly train and compete in cold environments. While much attention is placed on training programs, technical skill, and physical preparation, one critical factor often receives less focus: how athletes respond to cold…
Beyond the Buzzwords: A Practical Guide to AI for Sport Leaders
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AT A GLANCE: Listen to this article: There is an old anecdote told in computer science circles: “If you’re raising money, it’s AI. If you’re hiring people, it’s machine learning. If you’re doing the work, it’s linear regression.” Like so many new technologies as they emerge, buzz words designed to…
The Missing Middle: How Innovation in Equipment could Transform Para Sport in Canada
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Imagine being asked to run a 100-metre sprint in shoes two sizes too big. You could stuff the toes with socks, lace them tight, maybe even tape the soles to your feet. But no matter how hard you try, you’ll never really run your best. Now imagine that was your…
The Power of the Platform: What Drives Canadian Athletes to Post, Share, and Connect
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For many of today’s high-level athletes, performance no longer begins and ends with competition. Alongside training schedules, team commitments, and international travel, there is another area they must navigate: social media. The 2023 SIRC article, Managing Social Media as a High Performance Athlete, unpacked this reality, examining how social media…
Who is Coaching Who: The Emotional Intelligence Playbook
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You run a high-energy drill. You repeat an instruction, again. You urge the team to reset and refocus but nothing’s clicking. You’re left wondering: Why aren’t they getting it? These moments are invitations to pause and reflect on how you’re connecting. Beneath the surface of performance lies a deeper influence…