Developing physical literacy and delivering quality sport
What We Do
Developing physical literacy and delivering quality sport
Recent Articles
on our blog
PLAY North Vancouver encourages community connection through physical literacy
When you attempt to put together a cross-sectoral working group of physical literacy advocates, sometimes you end up with allies you wouldn’t have expected. For JoAnne Burleigh of Vancouver Coastal Health, who has been spearheading Sport for Life’s Physical Literacy for Communities (PL4C) initiative across the North Shore of Vancouver,...
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Introducing the School Physical Activity and Physical Literacy Project
It’s one of the largest scale endeavours Sport for Life has ever embarked on — the School Physical Activity and Physical Literacy Project — and when it’s completed it will have reached over 100 elementary schools in British Columbia. “This is a unique opportunity for us to prototype different professional...
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Quebec Rowing innovates with competition restructuring
Rowing is undergoing a cultural shift in Quebec. Until recently, there weren’t many opportunities for rowers under the age of 14. Competitions often required extensive and expensive travel, but didn’t provide athletes with meaningful match-ups or much time on the water. The Long-Term Development infrastructure required to provide quality sport...
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Softball BC commits to Indigenous Long-Term Participant Development Pathway implementation
Amidst a global reckoning about systemic racism in North America and beyond, sport organizations are increasingly looking for ways to create in-roads into under-serviced communities and to create better cultural awareness. Softball BC is one example of a provincial organization putting in the time to incorporate the Indigenous Long-Term Participant...
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Red Deer Minor Baseball innovates during COVID-19
Why have only one baseball diamond when you could have four? This was the question Lorne Bates, the president of Red Deer Minor Baseball Association (RDMBA) asked himself as their board was working on further implementing Sport for Life’s Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity framework into their organization....
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PLAYShuswap enhances community connections through physical literacy
When it comes to developing physical literacy in a community, you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. Instead, you can focus on enhancing existing initiatives and infrastructure with a physical literacy focus. That’s one of the lessons that comes to mind when community mentor Nicole Beauregard reflects on her...
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Bowls Canada creates community
Lawn bowling, also known as bowls or lawn bowls, has always been a niche activity, but the demographic is expanding these days as the sport focuses on outreach and inclusion. With 202 clubs across Canada, and newly created resources based on Long-Term Development, Bowls Canada has been making steady progress...
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Table Tennis Canada develops meaningful competition
The national table tennis system has gone through some upheaval in recent years, with a new administration taking over in 2019. Facing a significant deficit and a tournament schedule that wasn’t working like they’d hoped, the new leadership decided to undertake a complete overhaul of their competition structure with the...
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The Stages
within the basic Long-Term 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...