KPE

'Incredible gratitude': U of T grad on his journey from spinal cord injury to convocation

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 15:15:50 +0000

'Incredible gratitude': U of T grad on his journey from spinal cord injury to convocation

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 06/04/2024 - 11:15

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Six years on from sustaining a life-altering injury, Beau Hayward is graduating with an honours bachelor of arts degree – and looking forward to beginning his master's at U of T in the fall (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Sean McNeely

Topic

Our Community

Convocation 2024

Facilities and Services

Accessibility

Athletic Centre

Faculty of Arts & Science

KPE

Woodsworth College

Subheadline

"My time at the university has been completely intertwined with my recovery, and what I’ve learned is that it really wasn’t as much about regaining anything as it was about building something completely new."

In the summer of 2018, Beau Hayward dived off the dock of a friend’s cottage in Sudbury, Ont., and unexpectedly struck the bottom. Face down in the water and unable to turn over, he was luckily found by a friend who was able to revive him on shore.

Beau Hayward (photo by Matthew Volpe)

But the accident changed Hayward's life. He sustained a spinal cord injury that caused him to become an incomplete quadriplegic, which means he has limited function in his upper body.

A period of profound adjustment followed that involved tirelessly working towards regaining his independence and developing a mindset to focus on what was truly important and worthy of his time and energy – which, he decided, was studying history and archaeology at the University of Toronto.

Hayward is graduating this spring with an honours bachelor of arts degree as a member of Woodsworth College. He spoke to Faculty of Arts & Science writer Sean McNeely about his experiences at U of T and pursuing what he loved:

What did you enjoy most about the history and archaeology programs?

When I began, my interest in history was very broad, albeit somewhat focused on North American and European history. The way the undergrad program is designed, you’re exposed to historical research from across the world, but there was always something about American history that held a grip on me.

The professors and TAs made all the difference throughout my undergraduate degree. I had the opportunity to take several courses taught by Assistant Professor Max Mishler who has been an inspiration and supported me throughout the past four years.

The archaeology undergraduate major is an incredible program that has so many avenues for growth. There are field schools around the world, field schools in Toronto, and opportunities to get hands-on experience inside laboratories at the university. As a student with a physical disability, there are a lot of challenges in pursuing archaeological research, but that never stopped my U of T professors and TAs who always worked with me to make sure that I was getting the most out of my experience.

Professor Michael Chazan and Hilary Duke, a postdoctoral fellow, worked with me to build my experience working with archaeological materials in the lab – that was a highlight of my university experience.

Throughout my undergrad, I’ve had the opportunity to take several courses with Hilary Duke focusing on stone tools. From early on, I felt an attachment to these artifacts. There is something special about them; they are such a tremendous part of human history and can tell us so much.

Can you share your experiences with accessibility at U of T?

When I decided to go to U of T, some friends were concerned that an old university would not be accessible. As it turns out, it’s incredibly accessible. Over my four years, I can think of only two instances where classrooms proved difficult for accessibility, and those issues were resolved quickly.

Additionally, the Office of Facilities & Services has a deep commitment to accessibility. I had the pleasure of providing consultations for upcoming construction projects involving accessibility.

Outside of the physical aspects of accessibility on campus, I’ve had incredible support from the university’s Accessibility Services team. Michelle Morgani has been my accessibility adviser since the beginning at Woodsworth and has been critical in my success at the university.

Everything from accommodated formats for research materials to accommodated testing services made my experience as a student with a disability seamless.

Looking back, what advice would you give your first-year self?

Spinal cord injuries take everything from you, and the journey of recovery is about regaining as much as possible. My time at the university has been completely intertwined with my recovery, and what I’ve learned is that it really wasn’t as much about regaining anything [as] it was about building something completely new.

My advice to my first-year self would be to trust the process and enjoy every minute because it really does fly by.

What have been some of your most memorable experiences at U of T?

As I reflect on the past five years, I cannot help but feel incredible gratitude towards the massive group of people who have helped me along the way.

I will be forever grateful for all the students and staff who work at the Athletic Centre. With their incredible support, I have been able to regain so much physical strength that has shaped my independence.

I also had the pleasure of working on the [Faculty of] Kinesiology & Physical Education’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging team and developed a few programs for students with disabilities. These programs were both big and small, and created some incredible experiences that I will cherish.

What’s next for you after graduation?

I will be beginning my master’s in history [at U of T] this September which I’m thrilled about. My research will be focused on the United States. I’ll be researching early 20th-century labour history, with my project specifically focused on Appalachia.

What would you say to someone considering U of T and Woodsworth College?

The staff and faculty at Woodsworth College are incredible. They are committed to their students’ success. The Academic Bridging Program was my ticket into the university and to a new life. It sounds dramatic, but it’s absolutely true. I cannot emphasize enough how fantastic the community at the college really is.

Not only are the staff and faculty members amazing and driven to provide every opportunity for success, but there is tremendous peer support and community at Woodsworth. To someone considering U of T, and especially the Academic Bridging Program at Woodsworth College, there is a life-changing opportunity available here. Don’t let it pass you by.

Prehistoric: U of T alum Alex Wong explores the Toronto Raptors' origin story

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 14:41:30 +0000

Prehistoric: U of T alum Alex Wong explores the Toronto Raptors' origin story

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 11/01/2023 - 10:41

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U of T alumnus Alex Wong signed copies of his book Prehistoric: the Improbable and Audacious Origin Story of the Toronto Raptors at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport (all photos by Dewey Chang)

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

City & Culture

Joe's Basketball Diaries

Subheadline

Alex Wong's book delves into the launch of the Toronto Raptors and examines the power of sport to foster community

The origin story of the Toronto Raptors – and the team's subsequent impact on community-building in the GTA and beyond – are the subject of a new book by University of Toronto alumnus Alex Wong, who discussed the stories and themes from the Raptors' rise at a launch party held at U of T's Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

Wong, producer and co-host of Canada's most popular basketball podcast – The Raptors Show with Will Lou – delved into Prehistoric: the Improbable and Audacious Origin Story of the Toronto Raptors during a recent panel discussion hosted by U of T's Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education (KPE) that featured key figures in the founding of the Raptors.

From left to right: Alex Wong, John Bitove Jr., founder of the Toronto Raptors, David Peterson, founding chairman of the Toronto Raptors, and Tom O'Grady, designer of the original Raptors' logo

“This is a story about the people who bonded over a common purpose – the launch of a professional basketball team,” said Wong, who graduated from U of T Scarborough. “But the core element of the book is community, which is at the core of basketball and is at the core of the Raptors.”

Helping Wong tell the story – in the book and on the Goldring Centre stage – were John Bitove Jr., founder of the Toronto Raptors, David Peterson, founding chairman of the Raptors and U of T chancellor emeritus, and Tom O’Grady, designer of the team's original logo.

“I got emotional over some of the passages in the book,” said Bitove. “When we started this venture, we believed in it, of course – we hoped that it would turn into something with a legacy. But when you see the positive impact the Raptors had on the community over the years, it’s really something.”

Attendees packed U of T's Goldring Centre to hear the origin story of the Toronto Raptors.

Peterson, who was premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990, said he had never even been to an NBA game when Bitove, who he described as a diehard basketball fan, approached him about putting in an ownership bid for the team.

“I went home to my three kids and told them about this guy who wants to go after an NBA franchise and they said, ‘Do it, it’s more fun than politics,’ so the next day, I called John to say I’m in,” said Peterson.

Asked to share how the team's logo came about, Bitove said the goal was to come up with a design that was different, bold and had a global feel. To the delight of the audience, many of whom were decked out in Raptors gear, O’Grady shared a few slides showing the logo's evolution.

The design of the Raptors' original logo aimed to be different, bold and project a global feel.

“The kids from the focus groups loved it,” said O’Grady.

The audience also learned that the Raptor almost ended up being lime green, but the owners decided to go with red to highlight the team's association with Canada.

Joseph Wong, U of T’s vice president, international, and host of Joe’s Basketball Diaries – the second season of which launches soon – led another panel discussion that featured Shireen Ahmed, a sports journalist and activist; Sam Ibrahim, president of Arrow Group of Companies, co-founder of the Scarborough Shooting Stars and U of T supporter; and Tamara Tatham, head coach of the U of T Varsity Blues women’s basketball team. They spoke about their introduction to the Raptors, how they became devoted fans and where they were when the Raptors won the NBA championship in 2019.

From left to right: Joseph Wong, Shireen Ahmed, Tamara Tatham and Sam Ibrahim.

While the pre-Raptors professional sports landscape in the GTA was dominated by hockey and baseball, the panel discussed how the accessibility of basketball and soccer carried more appeal to minority and immigrant communities.

“I lived in Scarborough and we knew the basketball court was a safe place,” said Ibrahim. “That’s the power of sport – to build relationships and communities.”

“We spent all our time in the gym,” added Tatham, who started playing basketball in community centres, also in Scarborough.

KPE Dean Gretchen Kerr addressed the audience in the Goldring Centre.

When the Raptors came to town, Ibrahim, Tatham and Ahmed said they saw themselves reflected on the big court – and in the stands.

“It’s one thing to talk about inclusivity, it’s another to do something about it,” said Ahmed, who noted the Raptors were the first NBA team to offer an athletic hijab for Muslim women. “The Raptors saw their communities and they were intentional about making them all feel included.”

Professor Gretchen Kerr, dean of KPE, said all proceeds from the ticket sales from the event would go to the Indigenous and Black student-athlete bursary and described the evening as a “wonderful reminder and testament of the power of sport to bring people together, and foster access and inclusion.”

Female athletes in team sports need 50 per cent more protein than non-active males: U of T study

ullahnor — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 20:53:41 +0000

Female athletes in team sports need 50 per cent more protein than non-active males: U of T study

ullahnor Thu, 11/30/2017 - 15:53

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The Varsity Blues women's volleyball team at a game (photo by Martin Bazyl)

Topic

Macronutrients are an athlete’s best friend.

Carbohydrates and fat provide athletes with fuel and energy, but protein is what allows their bodies to recover from the physical demands of sports and exercise. So, how much protein do active females need to recover from exercise?

A new study from U of T’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education (KPE), the Hospital for Sick Kids and Ajinomoto Co. suggests it’s 50 per cent more than men who are not active. The study was published last month in the American College of Sports Medicine's Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

The current recommended dietary allowance for protein is set at 0.8 grams per kilogram per day for the general population, however these guidelines don’t take into account the effect of regular exercise on minimum protein requirements. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that athletes should consume between 1.2 to 2.0 g/kg of protein per day, but the broad range may not capture the specific needs of different athletes in light of their unique exercise demands.

”These recommendations are primarily based on athletes performing exclusively weightlifting or endurance exercises, which lie on opposite ends of the strength-endurance continuum of exercise,” says Daniel Moore, an assistant professor at KPE. “This leaves team sport athletes, such as basketball, hockey or soccer players, who have to have high levels of endurance but also perform stops and starts with high muscle forces, trying to guess what their optimal protein intake may be.”

To further complicate matters, studies examining the protein requirements of different active populations almost exclusively study males, which may limit the ability to translate these findings to active females.

“Despite the fact that females are just as active as males, existing studies primarily address the nutrient needs of males, and in particular strength and endurance athletes,” Moore says. “The purpose of this study was to determine a recommended daily allowance for protein in females engaged in team sports, which typically have elements of both endurance and resistance exercise.”

The study participants, six healthy active young women, performed a modified version of the Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test, which simulates the stop-and-go activity in soccer.

Following the exercise, they each consumed a series of meals containing a tracer, a protein building block, which is an amino acid that's a little bit heavier than those naturally occurring in our bodies.

If the tracer appears in the breath after it has been ingested, that’s a sign that we haven’t used it to build new body proteins. By tracking it in the breath and urine samples of the study participants, the researchers were able to determine how much of the protein in their diet was being used to build new protein, which is important for athletes to help them recover from demanding exercise.

The study demonstrated that variable-intensity exercise, like soccer, increases the safe protein intake in female athletes to 1.71g/kg/day, which is above the current daily recommendation of 0.8 g/kg/day for the general population and the 0.93 to 1.2 g/kg/day range for non-exercising males, but within the upper range of 1.2 to 2.0g/kg/day recommended for athletes by the American College of Sports Medicine.

“The study results will serve to provide a more refined athlete-specific recommendation for females engaged in team sports, which is especially significant given the tendency of female athletes to eat less than their male counterparts and in the case of some female soccer players, to consume protein below the present recommendations,” Moore says.

More broadly, he says, this shows the importance for dietary protein requirements to be population-specific.

Next up, the group of researchers will study the protein requirements of female athletes versus male athletes in team sports and in weightlifting.

The study was supported by an Ajinomoto Innovation Alliance Program Award for Moore.

Interested in publicly funded research in Canada? Learn more at UofT’s #supportthereport advocacy campaign

'We did it together.' Thanks, Roy Halladay

lanthierj — Fri, 10 Nov 2017 13:44:23 +0000

'We did it together.' Thanks, Roy Halladay lanthierj Fri, 11/10/2017 - 08:44

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(photo by Keith Allison via Flickr)

Topic

Sports fans and athletes across North America are mourning the death of former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay.

The 40-year-old, who had been inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year, died in a small plane crash this week.

For insight into what made Halladay such an iconic player, and why local fans loved him even after he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies after 11 seasons with the Blue Jays, writer Jelena Damjanovic turned to the University of Toronto's John Cairney.

A professor with the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, and president of the North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Medicine, Cairney's research focuses on improving the physical, mental and social health of children.

He is also the author of Immaculate: A History of Perfect Innings in Baseball.

What made Roy (Doc) Halladay such an iconic player?
Unquestionably, it was his on field performance. A two-time Cy Young Award winner, one of only a handful in history to win one in both the American and the National League. He was just the second pitcher in history to pitch a no-hitter in the playoffs. He pitched a perfect game in 2010 - the 20th in the history of baseball. He was, quite simply, an outstanding pitcher. I think though, what also made him special was his character. He was incredibly well-respected by teammates, he was loyal and he gave a lot back, both to the game and to the communities in which he played.

Halladay is described as a humble star. How would you describe his influence on other players and the fans?
He was dedicated to the game and committed to working with younger players as a mentor, but also was quick to acknowledge that he was part of a team and recognize the contributions of others. After his perfect game, he purchased 60 Swiss watches to give to his teammates with the inscription, We did it together. Thanks, Roy Halladay. Actions like this speak to his character and humility.

Sport fans don’t often take kindly to their heroes trading teams, but when Halladay left the Jays to play for the Phillies, he got a standing ovation from the Blue Jays fans. How do you explain that?
Followers of the game knew that Halladay had twice before re-signed with the Jays, forgoing an opportunity to sign with a more competitive club. He accepted less money (what is called in sport a “home-town discount”) also by electing to stay and not test the waters in free-agency. He did so because he wanted to win as a Blue Jay. When it became clear in 2009 that the club was going to re-build again and Halladay was no longer a young pitcher, I think most fans felt he deserved a chance to play on a winning team. Leaving under those circumstances endeared him to fans in way that does not always happen when star players leave.

In the end, what will be his biggest legacy?
His great performances on the field, his commitment to the community and helping those most in need, and to Blue Jays fans, the fact that he was drafted as a Jay and retired in the same uniform (a one day contract). What is sad is that we will not see him donning a Jays’ jersey at Cooperstown (home to the U.S. National Baseball Hall of Fame). What is more tragic is that a family no longer has a loving and caring father and husband.

CBC Sports' Scott Russell says U of T swimmer Kylie Masse is a proud product of Canadian universities

ullahnor — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 16:46:58 +0000

CBC Sports' Scott Russell says U of T swimmer Kylie Masse is a proud product of Canadian universities

ullahnor Fri, 07/28/2017 - 12:46

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Backstroke world champion Kylie Masse is a proud product of the Canadian university system, says CBC's Scott Russell (photo by Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images)

Topic

Canadian sports veteran Scott Russell writes that Kylie Masse's world record shows Canadian schools can still produce champions.

“Masse studies kinesiology full-time at the University of Toronto and is an award-winning athlete not only because of what she does in the pool with her collegiate squad, the Varsity Blues, but also because of her commitment to sportsmanship and the leadership qualities she possesses,” he writes at CBC Sports.

Russell goes on to talk about challenges with Canada's top high-performance athletes heading south of the border for at least part of their training because the U.S. collegiate sports scholarship system offers significant funding. A system like that does not exist in Canada, he says.

“But Masse is a clear indicator that Canadian university sport is still fertile ground for nurturing champions,” he adds.

Russell quotes Masse's coach Byron MacDonald, who heads up the U of T swimming team.

“She remained in Canada for university and made her giant strides on the world stage because of the swim program at the University of Toronto,” MacDonald states in the piece. “While receiving less glamour than their NCAA counterparts, the Canadian university swim program constantly produces top athletes.”

Coach Linda Kiefer adds that swimmers like Masse are “showing that you can combine full-time academics and swimming at this level.”

And Olympian Bruce Kidd, vice-president, principal of the University of Toronto Scarborough, believes Masse's win “fortifies the place of the student-athlete in Canadian university sport.”

“It's a tribute to her remarkable personal qualities, her coaches at U of T and the Canadian Sports Centre Ontario,” Kidd says in the article. “Kylie is just another one who proves that you can attend and benefit from an outstanding academic program in one of the best universities in the world, while pursuing your athletic dreams – all right here in Canada.”

Kylie Masse takes gold, sets new world record at world swimming championships

geoff.vendeville — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 16:58:14 +0000

Kylie Masse takes gold, sets new world record at world swimming championships

geoff.vendeville Tue, 07/25/2017 - 12:58

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U of T's Kylie Masse took the gold and set a new world record in the 100-metre backstroke in Budapest (photo courtesy Swimming Canada)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Jelena Damjanovic

Author legacy

Jelena Damjanovic & Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Subheadline

The first female Canadian swimmer to win a world title

Kylie Masse, the star of U of T’s Varsity Blues women’s swimming team, set a new world record and took the gold in the 100-metre backstroke at the swimming world championships in Budapest on Tuesday.

She finished with a time of 58.10 seconds and became the first-ever female Canadian swimmer to win a world title, CBC reported. With this win, Masse broke the longest-standing record in women's swimming set by Great Britain’s Gemma Spofforth in July 2009, and became the first Canadian to win a world title since Brent Hayden claimed gold in the men's 100 freestyle in 2007.

“I don't' think it's really sunk in yet,” said Masse after the race. “I touched the wall and I looked back and I had to make sure I was looking at the right lane and right time, I was so excited.

“After the Olympics, I realized that I belong in the final and I belong on the podium. That all comes with confidence and this entire year I felt better about my racing, which helps leading up to a championship.”

On CBC's The National, host Paul Hunter said Masse was now “known to the entire sports world,” after what he described as a “jaw-dropping effort” – and sports commentator Scott Russell called Masse's record a victory for the Canadian university sports system.

“She’s an academic, award-winning athlete and she combines her studies along with athletics and she does it at a Canadian university,” he said. “That looks really good on this country and on Kylie Masse’s future going forward.”

Read CBC News story

Head coach of the Varsity Blues swimming program and former Olympian Byron MacDonald said he was very proud of Masse.

“The magnitude of what Kylie has been able to accomplish in a relative short period of time is amazing. She just broke the oldest female world record on the books. She is the world champion,” he said.

“Kylie is the perfect example of a student athlete excelling in the classroom and her sport. An incredibly humble young woman, she is going to find it harder and harder to stay under the radar with performances like this.”

Masse said MacDonald and coach Linda Kiefer told her to enjoy the experience now that the hard work of training was over.

“Most importantly, from both of them, they just said have fun,” she told the National Post. “All the training that I’ve done is behind me, this is the fun part and this is the best part, just racing. Having fun, I think that’s the most important as well.”

Read National Post story

MEDAL ALERT | Kylie Masse sets a new world record in the 100m backstroke, winning gold at #FINABudapest2017 https://t.co/23V6h5Xe2S pic.twitter.com/vimQHSItO0
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) July 25, 2017

The 21-year-old from LaSalle, Ont., shared the story of how she came to U of T in a first-person article for CBC ahead of her record-breaking swim. Now in her fourth year of undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, she came to U of T ranked 201^st in the world in the 100-metre backstroke.

“Little did I know that this decision would change the direction of my story,” she writes.

“My coaches Byron MacDonald and Linda Kiefer set out a plan. I went to a high-altitude training camp, planned my meets, school, swimming, dry land and physio appointments, all with the end goal of making the Olympic team…I had done it. I had made the Olympic team, but I hadn’t done it alone. Coaches, teammates, support personnel at the University, professors, classmates, friends and family, all contributed to where I was that day. I will always be grateful for all the support.”

Read Toronto Star story

News about Masse’s win reached U of T just as the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Eleanor McMahon, was making an announcement at U of T's Varsity Stadium about Advancing Opportunities for Women and Girls in Sport: Ontario's Action Plan.

“How apropos, how timely it is to demonstrate that investment of resources through this insightful government announcement can lead to inspiring performances and role models, such as Kylie Masse, who will be recognized around the world,” said Professor Ira Jacobs, dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education.

Read Toronto Sun

Masse has made one of the fastest ascents in the world of swimming, winning the bronze medal in the 100-metre back race at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro only a couple of years after being ranked 200th in high school. She's the first Varsity Blues swimmer to claim an Olympic medal while enrolled as a student at U of T.

MacDonald thanked U of T for the support they provided Kylie that helped get her to this point.

“We have a good stable of sports professionals, from Alanna Veerman, a full time strength coach, Jason Meehan as physiotherapist, her academic advisers and teammates at the university,” he said. “Kylie is the epitome of the student athlete at U of T.”

Read Masse's first-person article

Playground superheroes: U of T research shows kids overestimate physical abilities

krisha — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 14:39:45 +0000

Playground superheroes: U of T research shows kids overestimate physical abilities

krisha Tue, 06/27/2017 - 10:39

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Study finds that younger children haven’t had as much experience moving, and this may be why their perception of what is possible could be less accurate (photo by iStockPhoto)

Katie Babcock

Author legacy

Katie Babcock

Topic

City & Culture

KPE

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

If your child fearlessly flies through the air like a superhero or leaps over large obstacles like an extreme athlete, new research from the University of Toronto shows that young children often overestimate their physical abilities.

It’s a finding that could not only help exasperated parents deal with daredevil children, but it could also create new guidelines for sport training and help children with movement disorders.

“In this study, we measured how accurately kids and young adults could imagine their movements and how well they could perceive what actions were possible for them to perform,” says researcher Tim Welsh, a professor at U of T’s Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education. “We found that adults tend to estimate their abilities fairly accurately while young children will overestimate these same abilities.”

Welsh and his team studied how well 45 individuals between the ages of 7 and 25 imagined, perceived and executed a specific movement. The study was recently published in the Journal of Motor Behavior.

Past research has shown that the more times a person performs a task the better they become at estimating their abilities to perform that task in the future. Younger children haven’t had as much experience moving, and this may be why their perception of what is possible could be less accurate.

The findings may influence approaches to training athletes.

“Athletes often use visualization as a training tool, and they also learn by watching others and imagining how they would perform the task themselves,” says Welsh. “We’re trying to understand how this mental practice works so we can help shape learning and coaching environments.”

Emma Yoxon, a graduate student at KPE and lead author of the study, has already incorporated some of these findings into practice as a synchronized swimming coach.

“We use visualization a lot because access to the pool can be limited and we want to avoid overtraining. While imagination is an important tool for many athletes, it might not be as effective for younger children – now I try to get kids moving more.”

Such mental practice might not only benefit high performance athletes, but it might also help people with movement disorders recover their abilities.

Welsh and Yoxon are currently working with scientists at the Movement Disorders Clinic at Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network. They want to understand how well these individuals could use their imagination to train while resting as opposed to stressing their systems through constant physical performance.

In the future, the team plans to run the same studies in individuals with autism, who may face challenges observing and executing actions.

“Now that we know people imagine, perceive and execute actions differently, we’re trying to understand the different brain areas involved,” says Welsh. “We’re excited to be breaking new ground in this area to hopefully help a wide range of people – from children to elite athletes and those simply wanting to pick up a glass of water.”

Homophobia in sports: U of T expert says culture of sports needs to change

ullahnor — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 17:20:06 +0000

Homophobia in sports: U of T expert says culture of sports needs to change

ullahnor Mon, 06/26/2017 - 13:20

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Last month, Toronto Blue Jays' Kevin Pillar was suspended over a homophobic slur he yelled at an opponent (photo by Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Jelena Damjanovic

Author legacy

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

With baseball season in full swing and Pride Month winding up, U of T's Jelena Damjanovic talks to Associate Professor Caroline Fusco about homophobic slurs and sports.

Toronto Blue Jays’ Kevin Pillar got a two game suspension recently for a homophobic slur against Atlanta Braves pitcher Jason Motte, while Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks was fined $10,000 for shouting the same slur at a referee. Fusco, of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, talks about what, if any, consequences fines and suspensions can have on eliminating homophobia from sports.

“When a president of a country can attribute his sexist and violent language towards women as ‘just locker room talk’ and be forgiven for it, then we still have an enormous problem with the representation, and reality, of sports,” says Fusco (below).

Her research interests include ethics, social justice and equity in sport and physical activity. She also led the Change Room Project, a tri-campus exhibit that highlighted the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students in locker rooms and change rooms.

In the case of Pillar, he took to Twitter to issue an apology, while Getzlaf expressed remorse for using vulgar language. When is an apology enough? Is it ever enough?

If you reflect on both these men’s apologies, you will note that they are quite different. Getzlaf accepted responsibility for shouting the word and the $10,000 fine imposed by the NHL. But, he blamed other people for thinking the word was homophobic and refused to apologize for saying it.

Unlike Getzlaf, Pillar launched a full apology the day after the incident and talked about feeling embarrassed and ashamed. He apologized personally to Jason Motte, to the Atlanta organization, their fans, and most importantly the LGBTQ community. We also know now that the salary he lost in the two-game suspension was donated to the You Can Play Project and PFLAG. Pillar will also take part in sensitivity training with PFLAG. He caught the ceremonial first pitch from Michelle Cherny, a member of Pride Toronto’s board of directors on June 1, 2017, a date which marks the beginning of Toronto’s Pride month.

If players are really serious about accepting responsibility, they should go beyond apologies and reach out to women and LGBTQ groups who are demeaned and violated by the sexist and homophobic language that has characterized sports and locker room cultures for generations

What did you think about the measure taken against Pillar and Getzlaf by the Jays' and Ducks' management?

These athletes earn million-dollar salaries so I would think that the paltry fines are not a deterrent, per se. But adequate suspensions are worthwhile because they may impact the team’s performance and in a team sport that might possibly communicate to other players, managers, trainers and staff that their particular sporting organization or governing body is serious about certain issues and cares for their fans from diverse groups, who, after all, are the consumers of sports teams.

More important would be how endorsement companies react. Most organizations have been forthcoming in their apologies stating that they are extremely disappointed in the actions of a particular player because their club does not agree with this attitude, and that they are proud to be inclusive and be associated with initiatives like the You Can Play Project, citing that they will use the incident as an opportunity to educate players, staff and fans.

How do you feel about some people saying that homophobic slurs aren’t necessarily meant to offend members of the LGBTQ community, that they are just swear words used to vent frustration?

Obviously, I am going to say that players cannot hide behind the thin veneer of emotionality or frustration. These kinds of reactions would not be tolerated in other situations where emotions can be at play – government settings, university settings or in public and private sector business. Indeed, in those kinds of spaces a person might be reprimanded or fired for such utterances. There is absolutely no justification for this kind of language from players who have a public profile, and who can be very influential in the lives of children and adults. Now that marginalized groups have a voice, they are challenging incidents like these and saying that they should not be excused as, “something I said in the heat of the moment,” but instead such utterances should be regarded within the histories and legacies of violence that have been attached to them for many people.

Have there been fewer incidences of homophobic slurs in sports since sport leagues have started to take a tougher stance towards them?

Some research in the sociology of sport, which has examined homophobia and heteronormativity in sport, believes that “homohysteria” in sports has abated. Others suggest that it continues to define sports spaces. These recent incidents, which align with a litany of previous incidents of homophobic slurs – sports stars such as [NBA's Kobe] Bryant, [NBA's Joakim] Noah, [NHL's Wayne] Simmonds, [NHL's Andrew] Shaw, and [MLB's Yunel] Escobar have all been accused of uttering homophobic language – demonstrate that the logic of professional men’s sport is still mired in the celebration of patriarchal and heteronormative domination.

Historically, sports have been patriarchal, colonial, heteronormative, classist and speciesist spaces and until these things change then these incidents will (re)occur. Here, of course, I have just been talking about professional sport – there is all kinds of evidence that demonstrates that these kinds of representations, practices and discourses are rampant and (re)produced in children’s sports. And, when a president of a country can attribute his sexist and violent language towards women as “just locker room talk” and be forgiven for it, then we still have an enormous problem with the representation, and reality, of sports. There is no getting rid of these incidences until the culture of sports changes.

Meet the U of T alum named Best Teacher in the World

lanthierj — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 21:27:16 +0000

Meet the U of T alum named Best Teacher in the World

lanthierj Thu, 06/22/2017 - 17:27

Cutline

Maggie MacDonnell (bottom row, second from left) with her Salluit Run Club at the University of Toronto

Jelena Damjanovic

Author legacy

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Global

Indigenous

Subheadline

Maggie MacDonnell is using sport to save lives

When news broke that Canadian Maggie MacDonnell beat 20,000 applicants from around the world to win the 2017 Global Teacher Prize, it made the whole country proud.

And it made the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education particularly proud: MacDonnell did her graduate studies at KPE, focusing her research on sport for development.

After defending her thesis, which dealt with basketball as a medium of female empowerment in Tanzania, MacDonnell applied for a teaching job in Salluit, Que. The province’s second-most northern community, Salluit has a population of 1,450 and is only accessible by air.

The stark conditions have led to very high rates of teacher turnover, with many leaving their posts midway through the school year. But MacDonnell has taught there for seven years.

Like many Northern communities facing isolation and limited resources, Salluit has been hard hit by what some are calling a suicide crisis. In 2015 alone, six young men between the ages of 18 and 25 killed themselves. MacDonnell promised herself she would never attend another funeral for any of her students.

So she started the Salluit Run Club.

“There are a lot of really big issues that young people in the North have to tackle, from the housing crisis to food insecurity. The food costs are extraordinarily high and the Inuit are the most food insecure Indigenous group in any developed country,” MacDonnell says.

“Running has helped these young people return to school [if they had dropped out] just through the social capital that they built with their teammates and peers. Some of them improved their sleep habits, many quit smoking cigarettes, reduced their dependency on drugs or alcohol, or adopted a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle, and now they are the ones sharing messages of hope to other young people and asking them to persevere through the tough times that they face.”

To compete in a half marathon in Hawaii, seven of the Inuit youth runners fundraised and trained over eight months – even through the tough Arctic winter, when temperatures fall to -40 C.

MacDonnell and her husband filmed a documentary about it.

“As the documentary follows them to Hawaii you see them cross the finish line, you see some of them grab podium placements. But the real story is that they’ve all run so many marathons before even getting to the start line, because they’ve overcome so many social challenges that are the result of intergenerational traumas and colonial legacies in their communities,” MacDonnell says.

After seeing the film, MacDonnell’s school board asked her to do a tour of five villages in the region. She agreed and brought along the runners, who did presentations.

“We showed the film, we took the youth out on a run after school and we tried to identify the leaders in each school who could help initiate a running club if it was of interest to them. In the end, two more communities started their running clubs,” MacDonnell says.

The film was screened at the Canadian Sport Film Festival, which this year featured 23 films focusing on Indigenous issues within sport. It was a response to a call from the Truth and Reconciliation Report to use sport and physical activity as a tool to promote wellness, reconciliation and healing. Those who were able to attend also joined MacDonnell on a visit to her alma mater, where they toured the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport and the Varsity Centre, and met with the Varsity Blues track and field head coach Carl Georgevski and a few of his athletes.

(Below, Deseray Cumberbatch from Inukjuak demonstrates the Alaskan high kick to Varsity Blues track & field athlete Kayla Greenburg)

In an impromptu cultural exchange, the Varsity Blues showed the visitors how to do high jumps, triple jumps and pole vault jumps, while their guests from the North demonstrated a few Indigenous games, including the one-foot high kick, Alaskan high kick and an endurance-testing horizontal feat known as the airplane.

(Below: Cumberbatch demonstrates the one-foot high kick)

“I came to U of T with a huge heart and passion for sport as a tool for youth and community development, but my professors – Bruce Kidd, Margaret MacNeill and Peter Donnelly – gave me the critical and analytical skills that I needed to build sport based programs that are truly inclusive, compassionate and empowering,” says MacDonnell.

“That isn’t just assumed from a sport program. You’ve really got to ensure that you are working not for or at or to, but with the community in all aspects.”

MacDonnell is planning to use her $1 million teaching award to create a non-profit that focuses on kayaking or qajaqing (pronounced hayacking).

“I want to use the funding to create a program that will engage youth in physical activity but also environmental preservation,” MacDonnel says.

MacDonnell and her runners have since returned to Nunavik, emboldened by the response their movie received in Toronto.

“Running isn’t going to solve the root problems of the dramatic social inequities that exist in the North. This is going to take a huge effort from across the political, public, business, private sector of Canada and we will all be better for it if we can all make those commitments,” MacDonnell says.

“But, running is a tool of resilience and I am so proud and humbled to be able to work with these incredibly resilient young people.”

(Below: Cumberbatch demonstrates the high kick)

Olympic athletes disproportionately white and privately educated, U of T researcher finds

lanthierj — Thu, 11 May 2017 18:23:50 +0000

Olympic athletes disproportionately white and privately educated, U of T researcher finds

lanthierj Thu, 05/11/2017 - 14:23

Cutline

London 2012 Olympic Women's Triathlon Final - Hyde Park (photo by iDJ Photography via Flickr)

Nicole Bodnar

Nicole Bodnar with files from Katie Babcock

Katie Babcock

Author legacy

Nicole Bodnar, with files from Katie Babcock

Topic

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Subheadline

“A major barrier to participation in many sports is access to wealth”

White and privately educated Olympic athletes – particularly Winter Olympic Games athletes – are over-represented on Olympic teams from Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Australia, a University of Toronto researcher has found.

It's the first international study to examine sociodemographic profiles of individual athletes.

“Public funds are heavily subsidizing Olympic teams that are composed primarily of white and privately educated elite athletes in Canada and in high income countries globally,” said Dr. David Lawrence.

The study’s lead author, Lawrence, is a master’s student in epidemiology at U of T's Dalla Lana School of Public Health and a staff physician at the David L. MacIntosh Sport Medicine Clinic.

Olympic sports and athletes receive significant financial support from the publicly funded federal budget, an investment that is intended to promote health and physical activity, Lawrence said. The Canadian federal government provides approximately $197 million annually to Sport Canada, most of which is directed towards elite and Olympic athletes.

A former university rugby player and member of the Canadian Health Services Team last summer in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, Lawrence decided to pursue a public health degree after practicing for two years as a sports medicine physician so he could critically evaluate this so-called “trickle-down effect” of elite sport to increase physical activity at a population level.

“Not only is the evidence linking elite sports and population health weak, our study found significant access and equity issues that restrict individuals from a lower socioeconomic status, creating a participation parity barrier,” said Lawrence, who received his medical degree from U of T Medicine in 2013 and trained in sports medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital.

In the study, 'Sociodemographic Profile of an Olympic Team,' published this week in Public Health, Lawrence and his team collected sociodemographic data from publicly available resources for all athletes representing Canada, the United States, Great Britain, and Australia at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games and the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games.

The research team studied information on 568 winter and 1,643 summer athletes, using the Olympic committee database, sport organizations’ database, school-specific (University, College, or secondary school) databases, personal biographies, media reports and social media profiles. Researchers subjectively classified each athlete as white or non-white based on their photo, determined their secondary school (private, public, or home schooled), and compared the prevalence of white, privately educated athletes with the prevalence in the general population.

They found that the percentage of the elite athlete population that is white was much larger than that of the general population. Privately educated athletes constituted 30.3 per cent, and 32.7 per cent of winter and summer athletes, respectively. They found 94.9 per cent of winter, and 81.7 per cent of summer athletes were white.

From a Canadian perspective, the prevalence of privately educated Canadian athletes was significantly higher than in the general population for both the Canadian Winter and Summer Olympic teams. The prevalence of white Canadian athletes was significantly higher on the winter team, but not for the summer team.

While Summer Olympic athletes demonstrated greater diversity in ethnicity and affluence, athletics (track and field), basketball, gymnastics, taekwondo, table tennis and judo were sports found to exhibit the most ethnic and wealth diversity. However, certain sports – such as equestrian, sailing, cycling, and rowing – consistently favoured white and privately educated athletes.

“I think that Canada and other countries that emphasize elite sport through the diversion of public resources should re-evaluate this practice,” said Lawrence. “We know funding elite sport does not provide societal benefit, so governments must invest in strategies to promote health in the general population, such as community runs, access to green space and community centres.

“There have been many anecdotal reports highlighting the potential disparity in participation, but no one has formally studied it. I think the degree to which race and wealth play a role in elite sport might be surprising.”

Read the Toronto Star article

Lawrence said he hopes the study will shed light on how to reduce barriers to participation and advancement within sport.

“A major barrier to participation in many sports is access to wealth. Participating in many sports is costly and the financial burden only increases with advancement – whether it’s equipment, access to facilities or time requirements for both parents and the children.”

“Initiatives aimed at increasing physical activity in the general population should target the general population, including increasing access to green space, recreational facilities and public programming,” Lawrence said. “I want to start an honest discussion about the value we place on Olympic sports and explore more effective ways to get people moving.”

(photo of Dr. David Lawrence at Rio Games courtesy Dr. Lawrence)