Ashley

Ashley Stirling, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Sport Psychology, Vice Dean, Programs

  • Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Sport Psychology
  • Vice Dean, Programs
Office of the Dean

About Ashley

Academic Training

Ph.D., University of Toronto

M.Sc., University of Toronto

BPHE, University of Toronto

Graduate Student Recruitment Status
Accepting MSc students
Research Interests

Experiential Learning

Curriculum Development and Evaluation

Athlete Welfare

Emotional Abuse in Sport

Psychosocial Aspects of High Performance Athlete Development

Watch video of Ashley Stirling and Professor Gretchen Kerr from KPE discuss their research into athlete maltreatment

Selected Publications

Handbooks

Stirling, A., Kerr, G., Banwell, J., MacPherson, E., & Jewett, R. (2017). A mentorship guide for advancing women in coaching: Effective mentoring practices for the sport administrator. Toronto, ON: Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity/Coaching Association of Canada.

Stirling, A., Kerr, G., Banwell, J., MacPherson, E., & Jewett, R. (2017). A mentorship guide for advancing women in coaching: Effective mentoring practices for the mentor. Toronto, ON: Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity/Coaching Association of Canada.

Stirling, A., Kerr, G., Banwell, J., MacPherson, E., & Jewett, R. (2017). A mentorship guide for advancing women in coaching: Effective mentoring practices for the mentee. Toronto, ON: Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity/Coaching Association of Canada.

Stirling, A., Kerr, G., Banwell, J., MacPherson, E., & Heron, A. (2016). A practical guide for work-integrated learning: Effective practices to enhance the educational quality of the structured work experience offered through Colleges and Universities. Toronto, ON: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario/Education @ Work Ontario.

Stirling, A., & Kerr, G. (2016). Advancing women in coaching. Mentee and mentor workbooks. Ottawa, ON: Coaching Association of Canada/Status of Women Canada/Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity.

Stirling, A., & Wheeler, G. (2012). Empower plus: Creating positive and healthy sport experiences. Coach workbook, reference material, & learning facilitator guide. Ottawa, ON: Coaching Association of Canada.

Book Chapters

Stirling, A., & Kerr, G.(in press).Athlete maltreatment. In D. Hackfort, R. Shinke, & B. Strauss (Eds.), Dictionary of Sport Psychology. Elsevier.

Kerr, G., & Stirling, A.(in press).Neglect athlete maltreatment. In D. Hackfort, R. Shinke, & B. Strauss (Eds.), Dictionary of Sport Psychology. Elsevier.

Kerr. G., Stirling, A., & Gurgis, J.(2018). An athlete-centred approach to enhance thriving within athletes and coaches. In S. Pill (Ed.), Perspectives on Athlete-Centred Coaching (pp. 24-35). Routledge.

Kerr. G., Stirling, A., & MacPherson, E. (2017) The role of sport psychology consultants in protecting young athletes from harm: Shifting from safeguarding to an ethic of care. In C. Knight, C. Harwood, & D. Gould (Eds.), Sport Psychology for Young Athletes. Routledge.

Dietz, C.M., Casey, S.L., Stirling, A. E., & Porter, N. (2017). Development and validation of coach-athlete relationship emotional maltreatment scale (CAREMS). In Beedie, C. (Ed.), Research in Sport Psychology (pp.211-228). Nova Scotia Publishers.

Kerr, G., & Stirling, A. (2017). Issues of maltreatment in high performance athlete development: Mental toughness as a threat to athlete welfare. In J. Baker (Ed.), The Handbook of Talent Identification and Development in Sport. Routledge/Taylor and Francis.

Stirling, A., & Kerr, G. (2016). Athlete maltreatment. In R. J. Schinke, K. R. McGannon & B. Smith (Eds.), International handbook of sport psychology (184-194). London: Routledge.

Kerr, G., Stirling, A., & MacPherson, E. (2016). Psychological injury in pediatric and adolescent sports. In D. Caine & L. Purcell (Eds). Injury in pediatric and adolescent sports. Epidemiology, Treatment and Prevention (pp. 170-190). New York: Springer.

Stirling, A., & Kerr, G. (2015).  In the name of performance: Threats, belittlement, and degradation. In J. Baker, J. Fraser-Thomas & P. Safai (Eds.), Health and elite sport: Is high performance sport a healthy pursuit? (pp. 83-98). Routledge.

Stirling, A., & Kerr, G. (2015).  Safeguarding athletes from emotional abuse. In M. Lang & M. Hartill (Eds.), Safeguarding, child protection and abuse in sport: International perspectives in research, policy and practice (pp. 143-152). London: Routledge.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Banwell, Jenessa & Kerr, Gretchen & Stirling, Ashley. (2020). Benefits of a female coach mentorship programme on women coaches’ development: an ecological perspective. Sports Coaching Review. 1-23.

Brabazon, Honor & Esmail, Jennifer & Locklin, Reid & Stirling, Ashley. (2020). Beyond Employability: Defamiliarizing Work-Integrated Learning with Community-Engaged Learning. Engaged Scholar Journal: Community-Engaged Research, Teaching, and Learning. 5. 21-41.

Gurgis, Joseph & Kerr, Gretchen & Stirling, Ashley. (2020). Investigating the Barriers and Facilitators to Achieving Coaching Certification. International Sport Coaching Journal. 7. 1-11.

Kerr, Gretchen & Willson, Erin & Stirling, Ashley. (2020). “It Was the Worst Time in My Life”: The Effects of Emotionally Abusive Coaching on Female Canadian National Team Athletes. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal. 28. 81-89.

Kerr, Gretchen & Battaglia, Anthony & Stirling, Ashley & Bandealy, Ahad. (2020). Examining Coaches’ Perspectives on the Use of Exercise as Punishment. International Sport Coaching Journal. 7. 1-11.

Banwell, Jenessa & Kerr, Gretchen & Stirling, Ashley. (2019). Key Considerations for Advancing Women in Coaching. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal. 27. 128-135.

Kerr, Gretchen & Battaglia, Anthony & Stirling, Ashley. (2019). Maltreatment in Youth Sport: A Systemic Issue. Kinesiology Review. 8. 237-243.

Chow, Clement & Stirling, Ashley. (2019). Exploring the Utility of the Strengths-Based Approach in Health Care: Perceptions of Health Sciences Students.

Battaglia, A.V., Kerr, G., & Stirling, A. E. (2018). An outcast from the team: Exploring youth ice hockey goalies’ benching experiences. Psychology of Sport & Exercise.

Battaglia, A.V., Kerr, G., & Stirling, A. E. (2017).  Youth athletes’ interpretations of punitive coaching practices. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 29(3), 337 - 352. DOI: 10.1080/10413200.2016.1271370

2017 - U of T CTSI Digital Training Resource (Experience: Work-Integrated Learning at the University of Toronto)

2016-present - U of T Work Study Curriculum

2015-present - IPE Core Learning Activity - Conflict in Interprofessional Life

2015-16 - Master of Professional Kinesiology (MPK) Curriculum

2015-16 - KPE Undergraduate Capstone Course

2015 - KPE Practicum/Movement Applications Curriculum Strand (PRA)

Currently Funded Projects

Kerr, G. & Striling, A. (2018). Evaluation of the CTG-CTC (Changing the Game - Changing the Conversation) Mentorship Programme ($5,000). Coaching Association of Ontario.

Kerr, G. & Stirling, A. (2017). Development of "Mentorship Guides for Advancing Women in Coaching: Mentor, Mentee and Sport Adminstrators' Guides" ($42,020). Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity.

Kerr, G., & Stirling A. (2017). Development of a mentorship programme for female coaches ($30,000). Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity.

Beach, T., Stirling, A., Frost, D., & Kerr, G. (2016-17). Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders ($8,680). Evaluation of the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers Inc. (OHCOW) training guidelines for low-back injury prevention in paramedics.

Kerr, G., Stirling, A., Gurgis, J. J., Kitchen, S., & Cross, J. (2016-17). Coaching Association of Canada ($10,000). Investigating the barriers and facilitators to achieving NCCP certification.

Awards and Recognition

U of T Early Career Teaching Award, 2017

SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2012

European College of Sport Science Young Investigator Award, 2009

Canadian Heritage Sport Participation Research Initiative Award, 2009

Association for Applied Sport Psychology Thesis Award, 2007

Professional Memberships

Brunel International Research Network on Athlete Welfare

Association for Applied Sport Psychology

Brunel International Research Network on Athlete Welfare

Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology

European College of Sport Science