Developing physical literacy and delivering quality sport
What We Do
Developing physical literacy and delivering quality sport
Recent Articles
on our blog
Bianca Andreescu wows Canadians, inspires young tennis players
The historic Grand Slam victory of 19-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu over tennis heavyweight Serena Williams at the US Open in September will long be remembered, and could serve as a catalyst for future generations of Canadian athletes to excel not only in tennis, but in all sports. As both a...
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Keynote panel for 2020 Sport for Life Canadian Summit celebrates success
Sport for Life has named one of its keynote panels for the 2020 Sport for Life Canadian Summit, bringing together three of the leading voices in the physical literacy and quality sport movements to speak on the theme of Celebrating Success. Fabrice Vil of Pour 3 Points, Tanya Mruck of...
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New e-learning course aims to help organizations recruit and retain volunteers
It can be tricky to source reliable volunteers, and even trickier to keep them involved in your organization. Whether you’re working in the sports world or elsewhere, Sport for Life’s new e-learning resource Recruitment and Retention of Volunteers contains tips for how to make the best of your volunteer situation....
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How whitewater rafting saved my life
By Will Johnson Shortly after losing a job in November 2017, an event which led to an escalating series of manic episodes, I ended up in the psych ward of Vancouver General Hospital. They informed me that my antidepressant was partially to blame for my uncharacteristic behaviour, then gave me...
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Physical literacy goes global with IPLC Europe
Sport for Life has been hosting an International Physical Literacy Conference (IPLC) in Canada every two years since 2013, and now for the first time it’s going global. In September we hosted, along with Change the Game, the first ever IPLC Europe in Umeå, Sweden. “This has been one of...
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Rocks and Rings celebrates a decade of curling
The concept was simple: introduce kids to curling, rather than waiting for the kids to find it themselves. Ten years ago Rocks & Rings was introduced as a non-traditional curling setting that aimed to diversify the sport, making it reflective of Canada’s actual makeup. Now they’re on the cusp of...
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Free Footie program growing exponentially
When Tim Adams first founded Free Footie, an inclusive after-school program designed to reach marginalized youth in Edmonton, he settled on a name that had a double meaning. “The intent behind the name Free Footie was primarily to communicate that the program is free, but I also wanted to free...
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Sport for Life teams up with HeadStartPro
HeadStartPro Performance Training is a sports-education service provider dedicated to improving the health and longevity of athletes with accessible and affordable online courses. HeadStartPro’s multi-sport approach and universal concepts make performance and injury prevention training available to a broad spectrum of coaches and athletes in the Learn to Train, Train...
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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...