SIRC is on the road this week

Tuesday November 18, SIRC is in Vancouver, BC., presenting at the ANADO Extraordinary Meeting of Members. Debra Gassewitz, President and CEO of SIRC, has been asked to talk to the members of ANADO (Association of National Anti-Doping Organizations) about the services available to them from SIRC.

Thursday November 20, Debra will be presenting to Environment Canada in Niagara, Ontario. Her presentation, Communicating the Air Quality Message to the Sport Community highlights some of the vehicles used to communicate with the sport and fitness community which are available through SIRC. Debra will also give a brief description of Canada’s sport resource centre and the resources available to Canadians; as well as an outline of the activities about to be undertaken together with Environment Canada to promote the message of Air Quality to the sport community.

The 2009 Canada Games have started!

Hi, my name is Brandie Adams and I am the Reference Librarian at SIRC. I’m very excited to be attending the 2009 Canada Games in Prince Edward Island. If the energy and the weather continue like this they are sure to be the best Games yet! I could be slightly bias, I’m from PEI and it is a wonderful feeling to look around and see the whole Island get involved and support Canadian sport.

The opening ceremonies were in Summerside on Saturday. The athletes entered the Credit Union Place with big smiles waving their provincial flags. Each athlete was able to meet Governor General Michaelle Jean and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. We listened to uplifting speeches and were entertained by a variety of local musical talent.

With the first day of events complete the Games are well under way. Today is sure to be filled with activity. After attending the media briefing I'll be spending time in the Coaches of Canada Coaches’ Lounge before heading off to the watch some of the events. With basketball, beach volleyball, rugby, tennis, rowing, diving, softball, tennis, cycling, soccer and sailing happening there are lots of things to choose from today! In two days I’ve met some fantastic people so I'm looking forward to seeing what today brings.

2009 Canada Games - Lots of Sports and Inspirational Athletes!

The last few days of the Canada Games have flown by. With all of the events taking place it can feel overwhelming to try to see everything. So far I’ve managed to catch some of the beach volleyball, rowing, triathlon and basketball however that is just the tip of the iceberg. Each event has been fantastic to watch as all the provinces are showing their strength.

Today was a treat. I was able to sit in and listen to the AthletesCan Ambassadors speak to athletes about their experience in sport from grassroots to the podium. David Calder highlighted the importance of setting goals. He had aspired to win an Olympic Gold Medal in rowing at age thirteen while rowing in Victoria with Silken Laumann on Christmas Day. (He passed his Olympic Silver Medal around and we all got to hold it - yeah!) Erin Carter enthusiastically highlighted what sport can mean to the athlete and how the skills that they are learning can transfer to all aspects of their lives. Kevin Stittle and Heather Moyse spoke about how now more than ever being an athlete is an attainable dream to have as a career. All encouraged the athletes to make the most of their experience at the Canada Games.

At the end of the AthletesCAN Forum the floor was open for questions. One of the athletes asked the Ambassadors how they knew that sport was what they wanted to focus on because he was at a crossroads between choosing a normal life of that of an athlete. After some humorous jabs at athletes being normal each, athlete took a stab at answering his question and overall their answer had a common thread. They all had an overwhelming passion to competing in their sport, it was their passion in life. They evening ended with, Michael Smith, convener of the evening commenting that each athlete in the room was an ordinary person but they were doing extraordinary things.

Check out the daily Athlete Ambassador on the SIRC Press Release!

What a week!!

First off, a big thanks to the publishers to donated materials to the mobile SIRC Resource Centre! It was a hit during week one of the Canada Games and I can only imagine that it will be just as popular next week with the coaches and the athletes!

With Friday coming to a close there is only one day left of week one. Everyone has been enjoying their time on PEI and the weather has been phenomenal! There is a feeling of celebration as the medal rounds are being completed. For the most part everyone can relax and enjoy their final night tonight.

Today I was able to catch wrestling, women’s soccer and beach volleyball. If you are a friend of SIRC on Facebook you will be able to see some of the pictures I’ve taken so far.

Things I’ve notice through week one:
- Every province in Canada is a strong contender in the 2009 Canada Games.
- Some provinces go all out with fan gear to make as much noise as they can during the Games.
- There is a camaraderie surrounding the Games no matter if you are a parent, athlete, coach, officials, volunteer … or librarian.
- People are familiar with SIRC!!
- Coaches like resources. The books and journals I brought are disappearing. It’s fantastic!!
- Volunteers are great! If they are not volunteering they are cheering on the athletes in the stands.
- Fans, there are lots of them. The stands were filled at all the events I’ve attended.

Week one is almost finished and it went by in a blur. I’ve had a great time so far.

Rain, rain, rain

Today is the first day of week two at the Canada Games. The athletes should have an interesting practice day with all the rain PEI is going to get this Sunday. The good thing is that Hurricane Bill should have passed us by tonight.

I'm off to Charlottetown to set up the mobile SIRC Resource Centres in the athlete and coaches' lounges. This week will be an exciting one with men's soccer, athletics, swimming, women's wrestling, canoe/kayak, golf, volleyball and baseball taking place in the Eastern part of the province. If you want to see where it is all happening check out the 2009 Canada Games virtual tour of the campus.

Week Two is under way!

Yesterday was the first day of events for week two. After practices being cancelled on Sunday because of rain and wind (Hurricane Bill) everyone was ready for the week to begin. It seemed like the perfect day for outdoor sport with a mild temperature and very little wind. From the sounds of things the indoor action for volleyball and swimming was equally as exciting.

There are a few first at the Canada Games this year and yesterday was the premiere of the Special Olympics in the 100M and 1500M wheelchair.

The mobile SIRC Resource Centre is set up in three areas this week. You can find me at the Coaches Lounge, Athletes Village Information Centre or the Athlete Entertainment area. Of course, you could also see me at one of the venues cheering on the athletes! One of the highlights for me yesterday was seeing Jeremy Wall, my good friends' little brother, run in the 100M Special Olympics.

After one day I've met quite a few people who are familiar with SIRC and the athletes, coaches and volunteers who have not encountered us before are interested to learn more. One athlete told me "that's really cool" which I thought was a pretty good compliment!

I've taken a more pictures that I'll post to the SIRC Facebook page so check it out later on today!

Sunny, Windy Thursday

The countdown is on now until the closing ceremony of the Canada Games. I came into the Athletes Info and Activity Centre today and was pleased to notice that the athletes have been taking advantage of the materials in the mobile SIRC library.

This morning I was able to catch some of the kayaking. Despite being quite windy and a little chilly there were quite a few people out to watch at 9:30am. After a few mishaps (boat sinking, people falling out) they postponed some of the events until later today.

Last night was the AthletesCAN forum. The place was filled with athletes, most from canoe/kayak, to listen to the Ambassadors talk about their ups and downs in sport. The importance of mental training, imagery and building confidence was a theme with most of the athletes. My favourite quote was from Jeane Lassen. After talking about working so hard from the 2000 Olympics and not being able to compete because of an injury she said "hard work doesn't always pay off but it is the only way to achieve success."

Hopefully Facebook will let me post some pictures soon !

Closing of the 2009 Canada Games

The 2009 Canada Games came to a close on Saturday at the UPEI Alumni Place. The rain did not put a damper on the athletes, coaches, volunteers and spectators that filled the stands to enjoy the awards and entertainment of the closing ceremony.

The stage looked like a huge ship paying homage to Halifax, Nova Scotia who will be hosting the upcoming Winter Canada Games in 2011.

The 2009 Canada Games on Prince Edward Island were a success. I had a great time representing SIRC throughout the two weeks talking with many people throughout the Games and learn what type of sport information people are looking for. It was great to know that many people receive and enjoy the SIRC Daily Press Release service and SIRC newsletters.

Everyone is already looking ahead to 2011 in Halifax which should be a fantastic time. The theme is "bring it" and it should be exciting to see what SIRC will bring to the Games!

Social Media: How do you choose?

Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube, Widgetbox, MySpace, Picasa, Hipcast, Google Video, Meebo, Gabby, 30Boxes … The list goes on!

Social media is here to stay. With so many choices it can be difficult to figure out what type of social media to tap into. Aspects of social media pepper the literature that passes through the SIRC Collection, examples include:
• Lessons in social media
• Guidelines for sports officials posting on Twitter
• YouTube views during the Beijing Games
• Keeping your members informed through social media
• Marketing your organization, meetings and events
• Putting competition videos on YouTube
• Official team and event blogs
• Using the web as a tool in teaching health and physical education
• Relationship between journalists and bloggers

For the most part blogs (Blogger/Typepad), Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn and YouTube seem to be the essentials. If you are looking for information on how to incorporate them into your organization and/or is it out there!

What you are reading right now is a blog and is part of the Blogosphere. If blogging is where you would like to start check out the following resources to get you started:

Definition: Blog -Wondering that a blog is? Personal blogs, corporate blogs, search engines, advertising and more are summed up in this definition.

Digging Deeper: Your Guide to Blogging -Provides a quick overview of a blog touching on common elements, how to blog, getting your blog noticed and searching for blogs.

Technorati: Blogging Central -Everything that you may need to know and more on blogging. Today’s leading story is Top Ten Tactics for Driving Blog Traffic.

Check out SIRC's other social media sites:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube (coming soon)

SIRC@Sport4Ontario Wins Congeniality Award in SAO’s Torch Competition

Tenants of the Sport Alliance of Ontario building honoured the upcoming Olympics on Thursday with a special celebration. Three tenants of the building will be torch bearers in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. Organizers thought it would be great to bring the Olympic Spirit to the Provincial Sport Organizations. Part of the celebration involved a “design your own torch” competition. SIRC and Sport4Ontario decided to participate in a unique way. Using resources from the SIRC collection, SIRC@Sport4Ontario was able to design a torch that both celebrated the event and the torchbearers from the building. James Worrall was the flag bearer in the 1936 Olympics. SIRC’s entry incorporated pictures from the 1936 Olympics as well as a picture of James carrying the flag. The same was also accomplished for Torch Bearer John Craig; giving SIRC’s entry a personal touch. SIRC was pleased to win the Congeniality award for our torch!

SIRC Newsletter - Healthy Holidays!

Check out the latest SIRC Newsletter -Healthy Holidays!

For 11 months of the year we watch what we eat and stick to our exercise routine. Then the holiday season rolls around and the wheels fall off. Tempted by wonderful goodies every time you turn around and overloaded by a hectic holiday schedule it is easy to let your healthy habits slip, overindulge, neglect your workouts and become stressed. But with a little moderation, organization and motivation it is easy to keep on track and have a healthy, active holiday season straight through to the New Year!

http://www.sirc.ca/newsletters/december09/index.html

Sit-up Straight!

Ever find yourself hunched over your computer at work with back pain or rubbing the back of your shoulders or neck to get rid of the knot in your muscle? Many of us suffer from the pains of poor posture at the computer workstation. Those that use computers for more than 5 hours a day can be more than twice as likely to have back problems as those that don’t. These problems could be prevented by an ergonomically correct set-up at your station which aids in proper alignment. If you are looking to improve your posture or to give your tired muscles a break, try some work-based posture exercises for relief.

A great article in the SIRC Collection that will help you set up your workstation and gives you some posture exercises is:

• Desk Posture. SportEx Medicine. Issue 41 (July 2009), p.17-19.

And for those of you who are looking to create a happier and healthier work environment, remember that research from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has shown that workers are more productive and work better with others after an exercise break. So get up off those chairs and start moving!

At SIRC You Learn Something New Every Day!

The SIRC Collection receives new publications everyday and it is always exciting to see what new research and fun facts are being published. It is very common to hear one of the SIRC Staff start a sentence with “Did you know…” As we come to the end of 2009 here are a few items that have completed the “Did you know…” sentence.

• About 25% of athletic trainers use pickle juice to treat muscle cramps. Some report, that 1 to 2oz (30-6- mL) of pickle juice relieves cramps within 35 seconds. The mechanism is illusive because rapid relief must mean that pickle juice empties from the stomach very quickly, yet a gastric-emptying study with pickle juice indicates it empties very slowly from the stomach.


• Simply rinsing the mouth with sports drink helps runners run faster. After an overnight fast (13-15h without food) and before and during a 1-hour run, 10 trained runners rinsed their mouth for 5 seconds with a sports drink, and then spit it out. With the sports drink mouth rinse; they were able to run 365 meters longer during the hour.


• A study of 634 nutrition supplements indicated that about 15% contained a banned substance, even though the supplement came from a factory that did not manufacture the banned substances (i.e. steroids, ephedrine). The products most likely to be contaminated with illegal compounds include bodybuilding supplements and weight loss products.

If you liked these did you knows make sure that you check out the SIRC Newsletters! Not only do they have a Did you know … section but they contain many interesting articles from the SIRC Collection.

What’s on your playlist?

Now that you’ve made that resolution to have a fitter 2010, it’s time to lace up your trainers and get moving. A great way to get into the exercise groove is to listen to music, which will help to motivate you through our workout. Music can help you ignore the aches and pains or fatigue and also help regulate your pace. Science now tells us that songs with the right characteristics can increase our exercise performance by up to 20%. (Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology 31(1), p. 18-36 Author: Karageorghis, Costas I. et al, available through SIRC)

The article entitled “Ergogenic Tunes” (Canadian Running 2(5) July/Aug 2009, p. 30) provides a helpful chart of song selections from Rock, Pop, Soul/R&B and Classical music to help you reach a variety of exercise intensities. It’s important to find music that not only addresses your personal taste but provides lyrics and beats that match the intensity and length of your workout. Need help deciding what the right tempo is? Check out this chart which explain factors that go into selecting the appropriate beats per minute (BPM) for a variety of activities (walking, jogging, running, cycling, stairclimbers, ellipticals, and yoga/pilates).

Another way to freshen up your music is to ask your friends, colleagues and other fitness enthusiasts for their favorites. So plug in and let’s get on the move.

Here are a few of the many websites out there that provide training and exercise oriented music:
Run2Rhythm (http://www.run2r.com/)
PODRUNNER (http://www.djsteveboy.com/podrunner.html)
Motion Traxx (http://motiontraxx.com/)

New mail is always exciting!

New material is always arriving for the SIRC Collection. Today one of the latest issues of British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) arrived in the mail. As soon as it arrived the SIRC Librarians took a quick scan through and it looks good. In fact, it is sure to be a popular issue in the SIRC Collection over the upcoming months. This issue is the Vancouver Olympics issue covering sports such as alpine skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey and ski jumping as well as many other interesting research articles.

Here are a few highlights:

• The adoption of new rules for ski jumping based on research outlined in the article “Towards research-based approaches for solving body composition problems in sports: ski jumping as a heuristic example.”
• It takes 30-45 minutes for a swimmer (and several helpers) to dress in an expensive polyurethane swimsuit that malfunction and tears easily.
• The knee (68%) is the most injured body part in Alpine skiers followed by lower back/pelvis/sacrum (22%), lower leg/Achilles tendon (22%), hand/finger/thumb (17%) and head/face (16%).
• Full Facial Protection in ice hockey provides the best protection against overall head injuries.
• Several risk factors can combine to increase injury in Alpine skiing: low speed, high readiness for risk, new skiing equipment, old and powdered snow, and drug consumption.

If you are looking for additional information on injury prevention and sport medicine you can find it in the Online Resources Injury section which highlights past newsletters and full-text articles.

What's going on at SIRC’s Toronto Regional Office

SIRC@Sport4Ontario, SIRC’s Toronto Regional office, is located in the Sport Alliance of Ontario Building where close to 50 provincial sport organizations call home. This building is unique as it provides the organizations with office space and full office services, plus there is meeting room space available to tenants which allows them the space to run training sessions, coaching clinics and of course professional development programs for organization staff.

Yesterday, (January 13, 2010) Sport4Ontario held their monthly lunch and learn forum, which included guest speaker Barrie Claude Shepley. Barrie was Canada’s first National Triathlon Coach and was the first Olympic Triathlon Head Coach for Canada in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games where Simon Whitfield won his historic gold-medal. He has been named Coach of the Year in Canada on three occasions, Coach of the Year in Ontario two times, been inducted into Triathlon Canada’s Hall of Fame and has also been named a High Performance Coach from the National Coaching Institute.

On January 28th, 2010, SIRC’s Toronto Regional office will also be taking advantage of the meeting room space to hold an Information Session and Luncheon. Participants of this hands-on session will not just learn about SIRC, they will also participate in exercises designed to show them how SIRC can help them in the daily operation of their provincial sport organization.

Professional Development and Learning – That’s What’s Goin’ On!!

SIRC Newsletter -The Top 10 Most Requested Topics of 2009

Check out the latest SIRC Newsletter -The Top 10 Most Requested Topics of 2009!

SIRC is your national sport library and in 2009 you proved that learning and staying informed are important. You came from over 800 different cities and towns in Canada (view map) to find information on injury prevention, coaching techniques, motivation and much more. Last year we added over 30,000 new sport related articles to the library (which were reviewed and indexed by our information specialists) and we noticed some intriguing trends. The most requested and sought after topics were:




http://sirc.ca/newsletters/january10/index.html

Drink up!

We all know how important it is to remain hydrated during sport and exercise so as to maintain our performance level. Your body needs to replace fluids, sodium, potassium, chloride and other elements lost during exertion. And while it is important to consume liquids there may be a couple of little known facts that you might be interested to add to your knowledge bank.

• Did you know that emerging data shows that simply washing the mouth with water or sports drink can effectively delay fatigue? So while consuming the necessary fluids is important, rinsing your mouth can be beneficial as well. (article 3)


• The same article suggests that people who drank fluids from freely flowing sources such as a cup or open mouth bottle consume more than those who drink from a straw? Something to think about next time you use that squeeze bottle, perhaps taking the nozzle out might be more beneficial. (article 3)


• You may not feel like your sweating as much during cold weather workouts, but you are still losing fluids while exercising in the winter. You may not need the same amount of electrolyte replacement as during the summer, but it is important to keep up fluid levels as cold-weather dehydration can increase the risk of hypothermia. (article 4)

So whether you are a recreational or high performance athlete, and it’s summer or winter it is important to check and maintain a good fluid balance to stay at your best performance level. Checkout these and other hydration-related resources at the SIRC library:

1. Hydration science-From Hype to Hyponatremia Scan’s Pulse, Summer 2009, 28(3) p.17
   
2. Gregory Seale. Water and the Energy Drink. SPED: Sport and Physical Education. May 2009, 6(1) p.8-9.
   
3. Kirkendall, Donald. Hydration: It’s Just the First Step. Soccer Journal, September-October 2009, 54(5) p. 20.
   
4. Carmichael, Chris. Drinking Problem. Outside. December 2006, 31(12) p. 80.

Rugby Injury Crisis?!?

"I prefer rugby to soccer. I enjoy the violence in rugby, except when they start biting each other's ears off." - Elizabeth Taylor (1972)

It is said that the birthplace of rugby was 1823 when William Webb Ellis "with fine disregard for the rules of football (remember football was yet to split into the various codes) as played in his time at Rugby school, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the distinctive feature of the Rugby game". In Canada, Rugby dates back to the 1860s with the arrival of immigrants, regimental armies and the Royal Navy.

Rugby is a demanding, full contact team sport. In the latest issue of Rugby World a 16-page investigation looks at whether there is an injury crisis in the game. Some interesting statistics include:

• 72% of injuries occur as a result of contact with another player (a tackle, a ruck and son on) according to RFU figures. Of those, 51% occur in the tackle.


• The average number of injuries each Guinness Premiership club will suffer each season, is 92 including 22 in training, according to the England Rugby Injury and Training Audit conducted between 2002 and 2004.


• Are players too big? The average British & Irish Lions player was 8 pounds heavier in 2009 compared to 2005.


• The London Irish rugby team expects 15-20% of their players to be injured at any time.


• The average amount of impact a player takes in a match is like being hit by a Mack truck at 75mph compared to the nineties when the impact felt like a Mini at 50mph.

Rugby is just one of many sports that face injury issues. One of the most popular topics at SIRC is injury prevention and treatment. There is a constant flow of information in this area. So far this month over 80 articles relating to injury in sport have become searchable in the SIRC Collection including:

Fuller, C., Caswell, S., & Zimbwa, T. (2010). Do mismatches between teams affect the risk of injury in the Rugby World Cup?. Journal of Science & Medicine in Sport, 13(1), 36-38.

Gianotti, S., Hume, P., & Tunstall, H. (2010). Efficacy of injury prevention related coach education within netball and soccer. Journal of Science & Medicine in Sport, 13(1), 32-35.

Lederman, E. (2010). The myth of core stability. Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies, 14(1), 84-98.

Stricker, G., Scheiber, P., Lindenhofer, E., & Mueller, E. (2010). Determination of forces in alpine skiing and snowboarding: Validation of a mobile data acquisition system. European Journal of Sport Science, 10(1), 31-41.

Did you know:
Heather Moyse is a dual national athlete in bobsleigh and rugby. Moyse and Humphries will compete in the 8th race of the World Cup season January 22nd in Igis, Austria. Watch for them both in the upcoming Winter Games in Vancouver!

Getting kids active!

So we’ve made the commitment to get ourselves healthy and active in the new year … but what about our kids? The good news is that the number of Canadian children who are active is on the rise; however there is much work still to be done.

ParticipACTION has compiled the latest facts and stats on the state of physical activity and inactivity for children in Canada. With physical activity pegged as a potential solution to the increase in health care spending to treat chronic diseases associated with obesity, we know that helping kids get more active is:

• Better for their physical health
• Better for their academic achievement (Article 1)
• Better for their emotional well-being

There are many resources available to help you in the quest to get your kids more active and SIRC is happy to have compiled a few to get you stared:

• Kids in Motion Stay in Motion. Includes examples of innovative exercise and weight management programs for children. (Article 2)
• Outdoor Winter Activities. Listings of a variety of activities that you can do with your kids to up the activity level. Also included are lists of other activities that can be done in warmer weather and with different populations.
• Winter Olympic Activities for Kids. Athletics, Games and Cold Weather Sports for Children. Adapt your favorite activities to make your own Olympic Games.
• Backyard Olympics. To beat the February blahs and get moving try a few of these events for your own homegrown Olympics.
• PlaySport. An educational website developed by PHE Canada and Ophea that has all kinds of great activities designed to teach kids games by playing games

Articles available through SIRC:

1. Gray, Sarah. 0verweight Students: Can Education Help Curb This Mounting Problem? Physical and Health Education. Summer 2009, 75(2) p.6-11.
2. Williams, Alexandra. Kids in Motion Stay in Motion. IDEA Fitness Journal. Feb 2008 5(2) p. 38-45.