Developing physical literacy and delivering quality sport
What We Do
Developing physical literacy and delivering quality sport
Recent Articles
on our blog
Four questions with Greg Henhawk
Greg Henhawk is a Mohawk of the Bear Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in Southern Ontario. He spent 32 years working as a secondary school teacher in Ontario before transitioning into his role as Manager of Indigenous Projects at Sport for Life. We sat down...
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Canada Basketball invests in coach education
More and more Canadians are interested in basketball these days, which means there will be an increased demand for quality coaches in the years to come. With this in mind, Canada Basketball has spent the past two decades carefully developing a standardized coach education process based on Sport for Life’s...
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Manitoba school gets physical literacy makeover
One rural Manitoba school is making physical literacy a priority for its students, installing both a 120’ Sensory Path and a rock-climbing wall in the past year. Principal Brandy Chevalier has received global recognition for the initiatives, which aim to get her students up and moving rather than spending all...
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Sport for Life director champions inclusion
Andrea Carey was already a champion for sport when she joined Sport for Life five years ago. She’d served on the Canadian Paralympic Committee board of directors, and had successfully introduced a culture of inclusion, physical literacy development and Long-Term Development (LTD) to the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (PISE)....
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Irish physical literacy researcher empowers girls with Gaelic sports program
A revolutionary Irish sports initiative custom-designed for young female participants has made a global splash, with researcher Orlagh Farmer sharing the successes of the fast-growing program Gaelic 4 Girls at this year’s International Physical Literacy Conference (IPLC) in Winnipeg. As far as she’s concerned, it was a niche that was...
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Gym blogger mobilizes physical literacy
It was three years ago that Ottawa physical education teacher David Benay decided something needed to change. He started delving into the physical literacy world, documenting his progress via a blog called Ottawa Gym Critic. Things escalated quickly from there. “I was tired of playing traditional sports, running half and...
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Present at the 2020 Sport for Life Canadian Summit!
The Sport for Life Society is calling on leaders from across the sport, recreation, education, and health sectors to share their leading-edge work, inventive programming, best practices, research, and/or findings at the 2020 Sport for Life Canadian Summit. The Summit takes place in Gatineau, Quebec from January 28 through 30....
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Introducing Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity 3.0
Sport for Life is proud to release the revised Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity 3.0 resource document. Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity is a framework for the development of every child, youth, and adult to enable optimal participation in sport and physical activity. This third edition...
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The Stages
within the basic Long-Term Athlete Development framework
Awareness and First Involvement
To engage in sport and physical activity, individuals must be aware of what opportunities exist for them, and when they...
Train to Train
Athletes enter the Train to Train stage when they have developed proficiency in the athlete development performance components (physical, technical-tactical,...
Active Start
From 0-6 years, boys and girls need to be engaged in daily active play. Through play and movement, they develop...
Train to Compete
Athletes enter the Train to Compete stage when they are proficient in sport-specific Train to Train athlete development components (physical,...
FUNdamentals
In the FUNdamentals stage, participants develop fundamental movement skills in structured and unstructured environments for play. The focus is on...
Train to Win
Athletes in the Train to Win stage are world class competitors who are competing at the highest level of competition...
Learn to Train
Once a wide range of fundamental movement skills have been acquired, participants progress into the Learn to Train stage leading to...
Active for Life
Individuals who have a desire to be physically active are in the Active for Life stage. A participant may choose...