Centre for Sport Policy Studies

About Us

In 1999, the Faculty of Physical Education and Health at the University of Toronto approved the development of a Centre for Sport Policy Studies. This Centre is unique in North America, and only the second of its kind in the world. Its mission is to work towards:

  • Accessible and equitable ‘sport for all’
  • Humane and healthy high performance sport
  • An educational mandate for sport in educational institutions

The KPE Faculty Council endorsed the renewal of The Centre for Sport Policy Studies as an Extra-Departmental Unit (Level D) on April 9, 2021, with the appointment of Associate Professor Simon Darnell as director. 


The Centre grounded in the belief that all sociological knowledge is “practical” knowledge, and is committed to a public sociology of sport. Members of the Centre are engaged in empirically-based research in the service of sport policy, monitoring and evaluation studies, and education and advocacy for the two most important ambitions of Canadian sport: ‘sport for all’ (widespread grassroots participation) and competitive high performance in elite-level sports. This work takes into account the context of the neo-liberal state, intensive globalization and commercialization, and the sweeping changes affecting participation and performance using the insights of recent scholarship. The Centre also assists with the analysis of interschool sport and interuniversity sport in Canada with the purpose of strengthening its contribution to the educational goals of schools and universities.

Latest News

The Centre recently collaborated with MLSE Launchpad, a sport-for-development facility in downtown Toronto, to conduct one of Ontario's largest ever youth-focused surveys into sports participation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the report below, and follow the link for more information.

 

Learn more about the MLSE Foundation

 

Objectives of the Centre for Sport Policy Studies:

  • To excel as a national and international Centre, recognized as a major source for ideas and information by athletes and sport governing bodies, organizations attempting to bring about change in the conduct of sport and physical activity, the media, and learned societies.
  • To evaluate and affect policy development and legislative regulation regarding access and equity in ‘sport for all’, the conduct of high performance sport, and intercollegiate athletics.
  • To act as an advocate for athletes and other individuals, groups/teams and organizations experiencing injustice, human rights violations, or exploitation in the realm of sport and physical activity.
  • To develop a network of scholars and other experts in various fields who share a common interest in best practices in sport and physical activity.
  • To widely and openly disseminate information on institutional best practices and policy issues in sport and physical activity through increasingly open-access academic publications and reports, workshops, conferences and other public presentations, and through contact with media sources.
  • To provide working opportunities for scholars, graduate and undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines to undertake research related to broad questions of sport and physical activity policy.

The CSPS regularly hosts academic visitors, both as speakers at the various conferences and seminars (e.g., Policy Matters Seminars), and as Visiting Research Fellows. The CSPS also provides a rich academic environment for socio-cultural and behavioural graduate students in the Department of Exercise Sciences, who have been involved in the research activities of the Centre, benefited from travel support and research assistantship funding from the Centre, and who have enjoyed the networking opportunities provided by and interaction with visitors to the Centre. The CSPS has also started to involve undergraduate students in funded and unfunded research activities as collaborators, contributors and assistants.

The CSPS has helped to place the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education among the top three departments in the world for the academic and applied study of social and public policy issues related to sport.

Funding and Support

The CSPS appreciates the support of the Bertha Rosenstadt fund. The majority of the work of the Centre is supported by research grants and contracts.

Projects and Publications

Projects and publications have been divided to reflect the three main aspects of the work of CSPS

MAJOR PROJECTS 

Barriers to participation (ongoing)

The origins of this project precede the founding of CSPS; but an interest in barriers, and how to overcome them, led indirectly to the formation of CSPS, and to the Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society at the University of Ottawa.

Funding

Active Living Canada/Fitness Branch, Health Canada, $14,500 (1996)

To fund project on Systemic Barriers to Active Living: A Model

Principal Investigator: Peter Donnelly (with Jean Harvey)

Reports

Donnelly, P., & Harvey, J. (1996). Overcoming systemic barriers to access in active living.  Discussion paper prepared for Fitness Branch, Health Canada and Active Living Canada.

Presentations

Donnelly, P. (1998, November 24). Invited panelist to UNESCO Expert Working Group Meeting on Sports and Gender Equality, Paris, FRANCE.

Donnelly, P., & Harvey, J. (1996, June 1). Overcoming systemic barriers to access in active living.  Keynote address presented at the 7th Annual National Forum on Physical Activity and Disability, Halifax, NS.

Publications

Donnelly, P. (2008). Public vs. private sport spaces. In M. Atkinson (Ed.), Battleground: Sports (pp. 326-331). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.

Donnelly, P., & Harvey, J. (2006). Social class and gender: Intersections in sport and physical activity. In P. White & K. Young (Eds.), Sport and gender in Canada (2nd Edition, pp. 95-119). Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Donnelly, P., & Harvey, J. (1999). Class and gender: Intersections in sport and physical activity.” In P. White & K. Young (Eds.), Sport and gender in Canada (pp. 40-64). Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Harvey, J., & P. Donnelly. (1997). L’accès à l’activité physique et au sport: Un impératif politique? Policy Options, 18(3), 19-21. 

 

Donnelly, P. (1996). Approaches to social inequality in the sociology of sport. Quest, 48(2), 221-242.

Ethnocultural barriers to participation 

CSPS work on overcoming barriers to participation has proceeded mainly through the work of the Equity Committee in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto. Following the groundbreaking report on Gender Equity published in the mid-1990s, the Equity Committee has outlined approaches to overcoming ethnocultural barriers to participation and has carried out groundbreaking work on disability access.

Funding 

Research grant: Deputy Provost, University of Toronto, 1998-99 ($9,000)

Ethnocultural Initiatives Project: Barrier Free Use of the Athletics and Physical Education Centre

Principal Investigator: Kristine Drakich 

Reports 

Safai, P., & Donnelly, P. (2004). Equity issues committee recommendations report (Joint Committee of the Faculty Council and the Council of Athletics and Recreation). Toronto: University of Toronto, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education.

Gajardo, L., & Safai, P. (1999). Ethnocultural academic initiatives project: Final report. Toronto: University of Toronto, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education.

Sport for all (ongoing)

Although the right to participate in sport and physical activity is widely acknowledged internationally, and is implemented (mainly in Europe) through the policies of ‘Sport for All’, the idea of Sport for All is barely known in North America. CSPS has been working to increase awareness of this idea and its implementation in Canada.                       

Funding

Conference grants: Connaught Fund, University of Toronto, 1998 ($5,000) and Laidlaw Foundation, 1999 ($1,000).

‘Sport for All’ Colloquium

Principal Investigator: Bruce Kidd

Conferences organized

Sport for All in Canada: Building on the European Experience

University of Toronto, May 25-27, 1999. [Programme

Reports

Carmichael, D. (2001). Sport for all: Overview. Toronto: Sport Alliance of Ontario. 

Presentations

Donnelly, P., & Kidd, B. (2004, November). Sport for all in educational institutions: The Canadian case. World Sport for All Congress, Rome, ITALY.

Donnelly, P. (2000, May 19). Developing a sport for all charter for Canada. Invited paper presented at the 9th World Congress on Sport for All, Québec City, QC.

Publications

Donnelly, P. (2008). Sport for all. In M. Atkinson (Ed.), Battleground: Sports (pp. 407-411). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.

Donnelly, P. (2001). L’élaboration d’une charte canadienne du sport pour tous. In C. Simard, G. Thibault, C. Goulet, C. Paré, & F. Bilodeau (Eds.), Le sport pour tous et les politiques gouvernmentales/Sport for all and governmental policies: Actes/Proceedings of the VII World Sport for All Congress (pp. 89-98). Québec City, QC: Sports internationaux de Québec. 

Donnelly, P. (2001). Developing a sport for all charter for Canada. In C. Simard, G. Thibault, C. Goulet, C. Paré, & F. Bilodeau (Eds.), Le sport pour tous et les politiques gouvernmentales/Sport for all and governmental policies: Actes/Proceedings of the VII World Sport for All Congress (pp. 428-436). Québec City, QC: Sports internationaux de Québec.

Sport and multiculturalism (ongoing)

Related to the barriers and social inclusion themes, CSPS is engaged in ongoing work to understand the ways in which sport and physical activity may be involved in social inclusion in an increasingly ethnoculturally diverse Canadian society. 

Funding 

Research grant/contract: Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism Canada and Sport Canada), 2005-06 ($52,015).

Sport and Multiculturalism: A Dialogue

Principal Investigator: Centre for Sport Policy Studies 

Reports 

Donnelly, P., & Nakamura, Y. (2006). Sport and multiculturalism: A dialogueFinal report. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Heritage. 

Presentations                       

Donnelly, P., & Nakamura, Y. (2009, November). Multiculturalism and sport participation: The dynamics of social inclusion. Paper presented at the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Ottawa, ON.

Donnelly, P. (2007, November). Multiculturalism and sport policy. Paper presented at the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.

Donnelly, P. (2007, May 31). Tendances global et effets locaux: Le cas du sport et du multiculturalisme (translated and presented in absentia by J. Harvey and M. Donnelly). Keynote address presented at the conference of the Société de Sociologie du Sport de la Langue Française (3SLF), Valence, FRANCE.

Publications 

Donnelly, P., Knight, G., & MacNeill, M. (2002). Only in Canada, eh!: Media, multiculturalism, and national identities at the 2002 World Cup. M/C Reviews, 16(June-July).  

Graduate theses 

Kim, K.Y. (In progress). Research on Korean women golfers in the LPGA.

Joseph, J. (2010). Getting a Little R and R (Rice and Rum): Cricket as a Diasporic Resource for Caribbean-Canadians. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Toronto.

Nakamura, Y. (2008). Boundaries of belonging: Overlapping loyalties and multiple attachments – A Study of the North American Chinese Invitational Volleyball Tournament. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Toronto.

Joseph, J. (2005) Capoeira in Canada: Cultural transformation and the struggle over authenticity. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Toronto.

Nakamura, Y. (2003) Finding a way, finding the self: The journeys of nine physical  education students pursuing ‘non-traditional’ paths. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Toronto.

Social inclusion (ongoing) 

Work on social inclusion ranges from a widely used monograph looking at The Role of Recreation in Promoting Social Inclusion, to more recent work relating to youth violence in Toronto.

Funding

Research grant: Laidlaw Foundation, 2000 ($7,000). 

Prepare working paper on the role of physical recreation in social inclusion.                   

Reports           

Donnelly, P., & Coakley, J. (2002). The role of recreation in promoting social inclusion. Perspectives on Social Inclusion Working Paper Series. Toronto: Laidlaw Foundation. 

Presentations

Donnelly, P. (2005, March 26). Social opportunity or social control?: Ideas for the prevention of youth delinquency and violence. Invited lecture presented at Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, JAPAN.

Donnelly, P. (2004, June 25). Recreation and youth development: What we know. Invited paper presented at From Enforcement and Prevention to Civic Engagement: Research Colloquium of Community Safety (Mayor’s Panel on Community Safety), University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON.

Donnelly, P. (2003, April 25). Recreation and social inclusion. Symposium on Youth Development through Recreation Services, Calgary, AB.

Donnelly, P. (2003, April 3). Social inclusion: Recreation for children with mental and developmental disabilities. Symposium on Recreation: The Best Prevention. Orangeville, ON.

Donnelly, P. (2003, March 20). The role of recreation in promoting social inclusion.  Symposium on Perspectives on Social Inclusion (organized by the Laidlaw Foundation, the Community and Social Planning Council of Toronto, and the University of Toronto Canadian Studies Programme), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Donnelly, P. (2001, December 5-7). Sport policy, citizenship, and social inclusion.  National Policy Research Conference, Ottawa, ON.                       

Donnelly, P. (2001, November 8-9). Sport, recreation and social inclusion. A New Way of Thinking?: Towards a Vision of Social Inclusion (Canadian Council on Social Development/Laidlaw Foundation Conference), Ottawa, ON. 

Publications 

Donnelly, P. (with Coakley, J.). (2004). Recreation and youth development: What we know.  In, B. Kidd & J. Phillips (Eds.), From enforcement and prevention to civic engagement: Research on community safety (pp. 156-167). Toronto: Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto.

Sport Participation Research Initiative (2004-2009)

The new Canadian Sport Policy (2001) placed equal weight on grassroots participation and high performance sport. In order to develop its capacity to understand and increase grassroots participation in sport, Sport Canada became involved in implementing and funding a research programme run by two of the major research granting agencies in Canada (SSHRC and CIHR). CSPS and RCSCS were contracted to develop that research programme. 

Funding 

Contract: Sport Canada, 2004-05 ($24,672)

Organize and run research Round Table to determine form and structure of Sport Canada Research Grant Programme (jointly held with the Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society, University of Ottawa). 

Contract: Sport Canada, 2006-07 ($32,000)

Carry out work to implement and continue the Sport Canada Sport Participation Research Programme, and organize the inaugural conference.

Principal investigator: Peter Donnelly (with Bruce Kidd and Jean Harvey) 

Contract: Sport Canada, 2007-08

Contract: Sport Canada, 2008-09 

Conferences organized 

3rd annual conference of the Sport Canada Research Initiative (co-organized with Sport Canada and RCSCS), Ottawa, ON, November 4, 2009.

[Conference brought together grant holders to give progress reports on their research, and Sport Canada staff.] 

 

2nd annual conference of the Sport Canada Research Initiative (co-organized with Sport Canada and RCSCS), Gatineau, QC, November 19-21, 2008.

[Conference brought together grant holders to give progress reports on their research, and Sport Canada staff.

 

Inaugural conference of the Sport Canada Research Initiative (co-organized with Sport Canada and RCSCS), Gatineau, QC, November 22-23, 2007.

[Conference brought together grant holders to give progress reports on their research, and Sport Canada staff.

  

Sport Canada Participation Research Programme conference (co-organized with the Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society), Gatineau, QC, November 28-30, 2004.

[This conference brought together Canada wide sport research representatives with Sport Canada and the granting councils in order to plan the form of the Sport Canada Research Initiative]

Reports 

Donnelly, P., Harvey, J., Kidd, B. & Thibault, L. (2009). Sport Canada Research Initiative: Final report. Sport Canada, Centre for Sport Policy Studies, Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society, & Brock University.

Donnelly, P., Harvey, J., Kay, J., & Kidd, B. (2008). Sport Canada Policy Research Initiative: Final report. Sport Canada, Centre for Sport Policy Studies, & Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society.

Donnelly, P., Harvey, J., & Kidd, B. (2005). Development of the Sport Canada Policy Research Programme: Final report. Sport Canada, Centre for Sport Policy Studies, & Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society.

Measuring sport participation (2006-2010)

Lack of accurate data regarding sport participation in Canada causes great difficulties for formulating and evaluating participation policy. This project involves an evaluation of current measures, and will propose a more valid system of measuring sport participation.

Funding

Research grant: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 2006-09 ($101,691).

Carry out a research project entitled Sport participation in Canada: Evaluating measurements and testing determinants of increased participation.

Principal Investigator: Peter Donnelly (with Jean Harvey, Bruce Kidd, Margaret MacNeill, Barry Houlihan, and Kristine Toohey)

Presentations

Donnelly, P., Harvey, J., Kidd, B., & MacNeill, M. (2009, November 4). Measuring sport participation. Paper presented at the 3rd annual conference of the Sport Canada Research Initiative, Ottawa, ON.

Donnelly, P., Harvey, J., Kidd, B., & MacNeill, M. (2007, November). Measuring sport participation. Paper presented at the 1st annual conference of the Sport Canada Research Initiative, Ottawa, ON and Gatineau, QC.

Publications

Donnelly, P. with Kidd, B., Harvey, J., MacNeill, M., Houlihan, B., & Toohey, K. (2008). Opportunity knocks!: Increasing sport participation in Canada as a result of success at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Position paper distributed to Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee. Toronto: Centre for Sport Policy Studies.

Donnelly, P., Harvey, J., Kidd, B., MacNeill, M., Houlihan, B., & Toohey, K. (2007). Measuring sport participation. Proceedings of the 1st annual conference of the Sport Canada Research Initiative, Ottawa, ON.

Sport for development and peace (ongoing)

Sport for development and peace (SDP) is increasingly being recognized as a new social movement, one that is growing rapidly. Because of Bruce Kidd’s involvement in SDP since the early stages of its current manifestation, CSPS has been involved in critical research in this field; Bruce Kidd and Peter Donnelly teach one of the first undergraduate courses on SDP.

Funding                      

Research grant/contract: International Working Group, Sport for Development and Peace/Right to Play, 2007 ($61,000)

Produce five literature reviews on sport for development and peace.

Principal Investigator: Bruce Kidd (co-investigators: Peter Donnelly, June Larkin, Penny Parnes, and David Zakus)

Reports

B.Kidd & P. Donnelly (Eds.). (2007). The Benefits of Sport in International Development: Five Literature Reviews. Geneva: Switzerland: International Working Group for Sport, Development and Peace. 

This publication consisted of five separate literature reviews on various aspects of Sport for Development and Peace. The five reviews are:

Donnelly, P. with Darnell, S., Wells S. & Coakley, J. (2007). The use of sport to foster child and youth development and education, (pp. 7-47).

Kidd, B., with MacDonnell, M. (2007). Peace, sport and development, (pp. 158-195).

Larkin, J., with Razack, S. & Moola, F. (2007). Gender, sport and development, (pp. 89-123).

Parnes, P., with Hashemi, G. (2007). Sport as a means to foster inclusion, health and well-being of people living with disabilities, (pp. 124-157).

Zakus, D., with Njelesani, D. & Darnell, S. (2007). The use of sport and physical activity to achieve health objectives, (pp. 48-88). 

Presentations

Donnelly, P. (2007, November 10). Sport, development and peace. World Congress of the World Association of Non-Government Organizations, Toronto, ON.

Publications

Kidd, B. (2008). A new social movement: Sport for development and peace. Sport in Society, 11(4), 370-380.

Graduate theses 

MacDonnell, M. (2009). Gender transformations: Experiences of the Tanzanian National Women’s Basketball Team on and off the court. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Toronto.

Darnell, S. (2009). Changing the world through sport and play: A post-colonial analysis of Canadian volunteers within the 'Sport for Development and Peace' movement. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Toronto. 

Volunteerism and sport (2003-2010)

Canadian sport, at every level except professional, thrives on volunteer labour. However, despite widespread research on volunteerism in other sectors of Canadian society, there is very little research on sport volunteerism. CSPS has partnered with RCSCS in order to increase our understanding of sport volunteerism.

Funding

Research grant: Sport Canada, 2003-05 ($45,000)

Carry out a pilot study of sport volunteering (jointly held with the Centre for Research into Sport and Society, University of Ottawa)

Reports

Harvey, J., Lévesque, M., & Donnelly, P. with Safai, P., Rose, M., & Pitre, S. (2005). Volunteerism: Researching the capacity of Canadian sport. Sport Canada, Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society, & Centre for Sport Policy Studies.

Presentations

Donnelly, P. (2006, September 29). Voluntarism and sport: The contributions of minorities. Paper presented at the ‘Sports and Diversity’ Symposium (organized by the Canadian Studies Association to Mark the 60th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breakthrough in sports), Montréal, QC.

Donnelly, P., Harvey, J., & Lévesque, M. (2006, April). Sport volunteerism and social capital: Implications for social policy. European Consortium on Policy Research (ECPR), Nicosia, CYPRUS.

Harvey, J., Lévesque, M., Safai, P., & Donnelly, P. (2005, November-December). Sport volunteerism -- experiences, challenges, social capital and sport policy: Results of a pilot study. Presented at the 3rd World Congress of Sociology of Sport, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Donnelly, P., Lévesque, M., Harvey, J., & Safai, P. (2005, October). Volunteerism in sport and social capital: Implications for sport policy. Presented at the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Winston-Salem, NC.

Publications

Harvey, J., Lévesque, M., & Donnelly, P. (2007). Sport volunteerism and social capital. Sociology of Sport Journal, 24(2), 206-223. 

Safai, P., Harvey, J., Levesque, M., & Donnelly, P. (2007). Sport volunteerism in Canada: Do linguistic groups count? International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 42(4), 425-439. 

Harvey, J., Lévesque, M., & Donnelly, P. with Safai, P., Rose, M., & Pitre, S. (2005). Volunteerism: Researching the capacity of Canadian sport. Sport Canada, Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society, & Centre for Sport Policy Studies. 

Sport and human rights (ongoing) 

Human rights are fundamental to the ‘sport for all’ work of CSPS – both in terms of the right to participate in sport, and the ways in which the denial of human rights to various population segments represents a barrier to participation in sport. CSPS has been involved in this work since the 50th anniversary of the International Declaration for Human Rights in 1998. 

Presentations 

Donnelly, P. (2007, September 21). Sport and human rights: Cases and issues. Paper presented at an International Workshop on Sports and Peace, University of Leuven, Belgium. 

Donnelly, P. (2006, November). Sport and human rights II. Panel discussant at North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Vancouver, BC.

Donnelly, P. (2006, June). Sport and human rights. Paper presented at the 41st University of Otago Foreign Policy School: Sport and Foreign Policy in a Globalizing World, University of Otago, Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND.

Donnelly, P. (2003, June 27). The Right to Health, Play, Activity, and Sport. Panellist at Girls In/Action: An Interdisciplinary Research Symposium about Youth In/Activity, Gender and Health, Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Health and Physical Activity, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Publications

Donnelly, P. (2008). Sport and human rights. Sport in Society, 11 (4), 381-394.

Donnelly, P., & Kidd, B. (2006). Achieving human rights in and through sport. ICSSPE Bulletin48 (September). 

Donnelly, P. (2006). Sport and children’s rights. ICSSPE Bulletin, 48, (September). 

Kidd, B., & Donnelly, P. (2000). Human rights in sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 35(2), 131-148. 

OTHER PROJECTS

True Sport (2003) 

Funding 

Contract: Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES)

Develop a position paper for the True Sport initiative

Presentations

Donnelly, P. (2003, September). The Sport We Want: Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport Conference (invited participants, on the basis of preparing key position paper), Ottawa, ON.

Publications

Donnelly, P. & Kidd, B. (2003). Realizing the expectations: Youth, character, and community in Canadian sport. In The sport we want: Essays on current issues in community sport in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.

Youth participation in Southeast Asia (2008-2009)

Funding

Research grant/contract, International Olympic Committee, 2008 ($4,000)

Youth and the practice of sport – A worldwide analysis: India and Pakistan

Principal Investigator: Bruce Kidd (co-investigators: Boria Majumdar and Peter Donnelly)

Report 

Kidd, B., Majumdar, B., & Donnelly, P. (2008). Youth and the practice of sport – A worldwide analysis: India and Pakistan. Report prepared for the International Olympic Committee. 

Economic policy and physical activity (ongoing)

Funding 

Research grant/contract: Heart and Stroke Foundation, 2009 ($100,000)

Economic Policy, Obesity and Health: A Scoping Review. Principal Investigator – Guy Faukner; Co-investigators –Paul Grootendorst, Roberta Ferrence, Rena Mendelsen, Peter Donnelly, Kelly Arbour.

Publications 

Faulkner, G., Grootendorst, P., Nguyen, V.H., Ferrence, R., Mendelson, R., Donnelly, P., & Arbour-Nicitopoulos. (2010). Economic policy, obesity and health: A scoping review. Toronto: Exercise Psychology Unit. 

MAJOR PROJECTS 

Children in sport (ongoing) 

This project preceded the founding of CSPS, but the Centre has picked up the work that deals primarily with the human rights and treatment of children in sport, especially high performance sport.

Funding 

Funding for the project came from Rosenstadt and Connaught funds

Conferences organized 

UN Secretary General’s Study of Violence Against Children – North American Regional Consultation (CSPS was invited to organize the consultation session on Violence Against Children in Sport)

University of Toronto, June 2-3, 2005 

Talented Children in Sport, Music and Dance: How can we nurture talent without exploiting or abusing children? (Third Annual Colloquium of the Centre for Sport Policy Studies) University of Toronto, September 27-29, 2001

Reports 

The Violence Against Children in Sport roundtable, part of the UN Secretary General’s Study of Violence Against Children – North American Regional Consultation, produced a series of recommendations. The UN’s final report may be seen here. 

Presentations

Mazzucco, M., Kerr, G., & Donnelly, P. (2007, May 30). Enforcing children’s rights in Canadian sport. Paper presented at Children’s Sport and Physical Activity: Philosophical Dimensions, University of Western Ontario, London, ON.

Donnelly, P. (2007, February 23). Sport, child labour, and child trafficking. Invited lecture presented at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University, UK.

Donnelly, P. (2006, February 13). Trafficking child athletes. Invited lecture presented at the Norwegian Sport University, Oslo, NORWAY.

Donnelly, P. (2005, September 19). Child labour, sport labour. Invited lecture presented in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Donnelly, P. (2005, June 1-3). Violence against children in sport. UNICEF Regional Conference on Violence Against Children, Toronto, ON. 

Donnelly, P. (2005, March 26). Sport and three forms of child labour. Invited lecture presented at Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, JAPAN.

Donnelly, P. (2003, June 19). Marching out of step: Sport, social order, and the case of child labour. Keynote address delivered at the 2nd World Congress of Sociology of Sport, Köln, GERMANY.  

Donnelly, P. (2002, August 1). "...a tale which holdeth children from play": Exploring negative consequences at both extremes of the physical activity spectrum. Keynote address delivered at the Annual Meeting of the North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Medicine, Lansing, MI. 

Donnelly, P. (1999, June 2-5). Sociological and ethical issues of children in competitive sport. Child advocacy in competitive sport: The good, the bad and the ideal, special event held at American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA. 

Publications 

Donnelly, P. (2006). Who’s fair game?: Sport, sexual harassment and abuse. In P. White & K. Young (Eds.). Sport and gender in Canada (2nd Edition, pp. 279-301). Toronto: Oxford University Press. 

Donnelly, P., & Petherick, L. (2006). Workers’ playtime?: Child labour at the extremes of the sporting spectrum. In D. McArdle & R. Giulianotti (Eds.), Sport, civil liberties and human rights (pp. 9-29). London: Routledge. 

Donnelly, P., & Petherick, L. (2004). Workers’ playtime?: Child labour at the extremes of the sporting spectrum. Sport in Society, 7(3), 301-321.

Donnelly, P. (2000). Youth sport in Canada: Problems and resolutions. In K. Armour & R. Jones (Eds.), The sociology of sport in practice (pp. 167-186). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education. 

Donnelly, P. (1999). Who’s fair game?: Sexual harassment and sexual abuse in sport.  In P. White & K. Young (Eds.), Sport and gender in Canada (pp. 107-128). Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Donnelly, P. (1997). Child labour, sport labour: Applying child labour laws to sport. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 32(4), 389-406. 

Donnelly, P., & Sparks, R. (1997). Child sexual abuse in sport. Policy Options, 18(3), 3-6.

Bilingualism in Canadian sport (1998-2005) 

The rights of athletes in Canada include language rights – the right to be heard and understood in the official language of one’s choice. Francophone athletes in Canada have often had the double burden of attempting to achieve the skills needed to be selected to a representative national team and to learn a second language because coaching and other services were not available in French. 

Funding                       

Research grant/contract: Sport Canada/TNS Canadian Facts Social Policy Research, 2004-05 ($60,000)

To carry out study of Linguistic Barriers to Access to High Performance Sport

Principal Investigator: M. Svoboda (EKOS Research Associates)

Research grant: Privy Council/Sport Canada, Government of Canada, 1998-99 ($9,000)

Patterns of Association: Bilingualism in Civil Society – Sport.

Principal Investigator: Bruce Kidd 

Reports 

Svoboda, M., & Donnelly, P. (2005). Linguistic barriers to access to high performance sport. Ottawa, ON: Heritage Canada. [English version] [French version

Donnelly, P., Kidd, B., Harvey, J., Laberge, S., & Rail, G. (2001). Plus a change. . .:  Patterns of association in Canadian Sport, II – the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU). Report for the Privy Council initiated and Sport Canada funded project, “Patterns of Association in Canadian Civil Society: Linguistic Relations in Non-Governmental Organizations”. Toronto, ON: Centre for Sport Policy Studies, University of Toronto.         

Donnelly, P., Kidd, B., Harvey, J., Laberge, S., & Rail, G. (2001). Plus a change. . .: Patterns of Association in Canadian Hockey. Report for the Privy Council initiated and Sport Canada funded project, “Patterns of Association in Canadian Civil Society: Linguistic Relations in Non-Governmental Organizations”. Toronto, ON: Centre for Sport Policy Studies, University of Toronto. 

Presentations                       

Donnelly, P. (2000, May 10-11). Sport and bilingualism. Patterns of Association conference, Ottawa, ON. 

Publications

Coakley, J. & Donnelly, P. (2009). Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies (2nd Canadian Edition). Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. 

Coakley, J. & Donnelly, P. (2003). Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies (1st Canadian Edition). Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

[Both editions include a boxed section on “Sport and Bilingualism”]

Olympics and national identity (ongoing) 

Olympic athletes are often used by corporate sponsors and national governments as representatives of particular ideas associated with corporate brands and certain aspects of nationalism. This study, based around the 2000 Sydney Olympics, explores issues of Canadian identity and mediated representation. The research reveals a number of ways in which an athlete’s right to freedom of speech is stifled in these circumstances.

Funding                       

Research grant: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 1999-2002 ($123,900)

Competing for Canada: National Identity and the Contested Relationship Between Olympic Athletes, Associations, Sponsors, and the CBC

Principal Investigator: Margaret MacNeill 

Presentations                       

Donnelly, P. (with Cluer, S., Skelton, C., MacNeill. M., & Knight, G.). (2004, March 25). It’s not rocket science: The last word on media marginalization and trivialization of women’s sports. Public lecture given as part of the Gender, Sport and Mass Media series at the University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DENMARK.

Donnelly, P., MacNeill, M., & Knight, G. (2001, October 31-November 3). Branding as Canadian: Canadian Identity Issues Around the 2000 Sydney Olympics. North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX.

Cluer, S., Donnelly, P., MacNeill, M., & Knight, G. (2001, October 31-November 3). Lessons Learned: A Case Study of CBC Coverage of Men’s and Women’s Diving at the Sydney Olympics. North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX.

Greenberg, J., Knight, G., MacNeill, M. & Donnelly, P. (2001, May). News Media, Broadcast Regulations and the 2000 Sydney Olympics: Investigating the 'Negotiated Order' Perspective. Paper presented at the 18th Qualitative Analysis Conference, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON.

MacNeill, M., Donnelly, P., & Knight, G. (2000, September). Contested Nationalisms: Canadian Athlete-Media-Sponsor Relations and Preparations for the Sydney Olympic Games. Paper presented at the 5th International Symposium for Olympic Research, Sydney, AUSTRALIA. 

Publications 

Donnelly, P., MacNeill, M., & Knight, G. (in press). Enough already!: A comment on media research on gender representation. International Review for the Sociology of Sport.

Knight, G., Neverson, N., MacNeill, M., and Donnelly, P. (2007). The weight of expectation: Cathy Freeman, legacy, reconciliation and the Sydney Olympics – A Canadian perspective. International Journal of the History of Sport, 24 (10), 1243-1263.

Greenberg, J., Knight, G., Donnelly, P., & MacNeill, M. (2005). Negotiating news: Structural constraints and strategic inaction in television coverage of the Olympics. In D. Pawluch, W. Shaffir, & C. Miall (Eds.), Doing ethnography: Researching everyday life (pp. 288-299). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.

Knight, G., MacNeill, M., & Donnelly, P. (2005). The disappointment games: Narratives of Olympic failure in Canada and New Zealand. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 40(1), 25-51.

MacNeill, M., Donnelly, P. & Knight, G. (2001). Contested nationalisms: Canadian athlete-media-sponsor relations and preparations for the Sydney Olympic Games. In K.B. Wamsley, S.G. Martyn, G. H. MacDonald, & R.K. Barney (Eds.), Bridging three centuries: Intellectual crossroads and the modern Olympic movementProceedings of the 5th International Symposium for Olympic Research (pp. 17-28).

MacNeill, M., Donnelly, P., & Knight, G. (2001). Corporate training: Identity construction, preparation for the Sydney Olympic Games, and relationships between Canadian media, swimmers and sponsors. Olympika, 10, 1-24. [Article]

MacNeill, M., Donnelly, P. & Knight, G. (2000, October 18). Competing for Canada: Canadian Academics at the Sydney Olympics. M/C Reviews[Link]           

MacNeill, M., Donnelly, P., & Knight, G. (2000). Competing identities: Canadian athletics and media preparations for the 2000 Summer Olympics. International Olympic Studies Symposium Proceedings. Sydney: University of New South Wales and International Centre for Olympic Studies.

Health, risk, violence, and injuries in sport (ongoing) 

Concern about risk taking in sport and the health and safety of athletes has been ongoing, and has produced a significant body of research in the social sciences of sport. CSPS has been engaged in this work in a number of ways as part of its mandate to encourage healthy high performance.

Funding                       

Funding for this project came from Rosenstadt funds.

Conferences organized

The Politics of Obesity: A Symposium about Research, Policy and Interventions. University of Toronto, September 7-8, 2004 (co-organized by with the Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Health and Physical Activity). 

Paradoxes of Illness and Fitness – Fourth Annual Colloquium of the Centre for Sport Policy Studies.

University of Toronto, June 26, 2003 (co-organized with Health Studies Programme at McMaster University). 

Presentations                       

Donnelly, P. (2007, November 11). The sport ethic: The social context of risky behaviour. Think First/Pensez d’Abord Summit on Head Protection, Toronto ON.

Safai, P., & Donnelly, P. (2006, November 1-4). Expect the unexpected: Selling safety. North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Vancouver, BC.

Donnelly, P. (2006, November 1-4). Medicine, Health and the Sport Community: Risk Discourses (panel discussant). North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Vancouver, BC.

Donnelly, P. (2004, September 7-8). Participation, activity levels, and a ‘healthy lifestyle’: The complex relationship between physical activity and weight. The Politics of Obesity: A Symposium About Research, Policy and Interventions, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Donnelly, P., & Young, K. (2004, August 9). Sport violence and the culture of control. Symposium on Sports Violence, Olympic Scientific Congress, Thessaloniki, GREECE.

Donnelly, P. (2001, October 18). The Cycle of Violence in Youth and Varsity Sport. Presented at The Michael Smith Seminars on Violence and Sport All-Day Roundtable: Good Play: Reducing Violence in Sport, York University, Toronto, ON.

Donnelly, P. (2000, November 10). Sticking my neck out: Taking risks in the sociology of sport. Presidential Address at the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Colorado Springs, CO.

Donnelly, P. (2000, March 14). Risk taking in sport: Theoretical approaches. Public lecture given at Bishop’s University, Lennoxville, QC. 

Publications 

Donnelly, P. (2004). Sport and risk culture.  In K. Young (Ed.), Sporting Bodies, Damaged Selves: Sociological Studies of Sports-Related Injury (pp. 29-57). London: Elsevier. 

Donnelly, P. (1999). Gulliver’s travels: A sport sociologist among the labcoats. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 23(4), 455-458. 

Graduate theses 

Safai, P. (2004). A critical analysis of the origins, development, and institutionalization of sport medicine in Canada. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Toronto. 

Safai, P. (2001). Healing the body in ‘the culture of risk, pain and injury: Negotiations between clinicians and injured athletes in Canadian competitive intercollegiate sport. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Toronto. 

Hockey safety education (2002-2009)

Related to the larger interest in health high performance, this specific project dealt with concussion safety in minor hockey, and was triggered by the reluctance of many minor hockey coaches to expose their players to a concussion safety education video.

Funding 

Research grant: Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, 2002-03 ($75,092)

A study titled Winning at all costs: Barriers to injury prevention knowledge transfer in minor league hockey in Canada

Principal Investigator: Michael Cusimano

Reports

Cusimano, M., Chipman, M., Donnelly, P., Tator, C., Volpe, R. (2004). Final Report: Winning at all costs: Barriers to injury prevention knowledge transfer in minor league hockey in Canada. Toronto: Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation.

Presentations 

Cusimano, M., Doyle, A., Hyland, T., Donnelly, P., Chipman, M., Tator, C., & Volpe, R. (2004, June). Knowledge about concussion in Canadian minor league hockey players. 7th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, Vienna, AUSTRIA.

Cusimano, M., Doyle, A., Hyland, T., Donnelly, P., Chipman, M., Tator, C., & Volpe, R. (2004, June). Aggression in Canadian minor league hockey. 7th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, Vienna, AUSTRIA. 

Cusimano, M., Doyle, A., Hyland, T., Donnelly, P., Chipman, M., Tator, C., & Volpe, R. (2003, November). Aggression in Canadian minor league hockey. Canadian Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Conference, Ottawa, ON. 

Cusimano, M., Doyle, A., Hyland, T., Donnelly, P., Chipman, M., Tator, C., & Volpe, R. (2003, November). Knowledge about concussion in Canadian minor league hockey players. Canadian Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Conference, Ottawa, ON. 

Cook, D., Doyle, A., Cusimano, M., Tator, C., Mansfield, E., Chipman, M., Donnelly, P., & Volpe, R. (2003, January). Smart Hockey: Can a multimedia educational tool influence knowledge and behaviour in hockey? Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation Inaugural Provincial Conference, Toronto, ON.

Publications 

Cusimano, M., Chipman, M., Volpe, R., & Donnelly,P. (2009). Canadian minor hockey participants’ knowledge about concussion. Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 36(3), 315-320. 

Other Projects

Olympic reform (ongoing)

A basic step towards healthy high performance sport involves principled governance of high performance sport. The Centre has an interest in encouraging governance reform at the highest levels of sport, which includes the Olympics.

Funding 

Funding for this project came from Rosenstadt and CSPS funds.

Conferences organized 

Olympic Reform – A Ten-Year Review,

University of Toronto, May 18-20, 2009

The conference was organized to assess the state of IOC reform at the 10th anniversary of the Salt Lake City bidding scandals, and the subsequent IOC reform package; the conference brought together IOC members, scholars and investigative journalists to evaluate progress made in terms of transparency and principles of corporate good governance. 

Presentations

Donnelly, P., & Kidd, B. (2009, October 28). Olympic reform after the Salt Lake City scandals: What's been achieved? What still remains to be done? Invited lecture presented at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.

Donnelly, P., & Kidd, B. (2006, December 11). Olympic reform. Invited lecture presented at the Centre for Olympic Studies, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.

Donnelly, P. (2005, March 28). Plenary session on the Olympics: Comments on current status and future directions of Olympic reform. Japanese Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Tokyo, JAPAN.

Donnelly, P., & Kidd, B. (2004, August 8). The moral authority of the IOC: Steps for the future. Symposium on the Future of the Olympics, Olympic Scientific Congress, Thessaloniki, GREECE.

Donnelly, P. (1999, June 11-13). Ethics – the toll of mismanagement on the system (session moderator). OATH Symposium/Ignite the Democratic Flame. New York, NY.

Donnelly, P. (1998, October 3). Corporate globalization and the cults of competition and high performance: 1984 to the present (invited response to Varda Burstyn). 4th International Symposium on Olympic Research, University of Western Ontario, London, ON.

Publications 

Donnelly, P. & Kidd, B. (2006). Moral authority and the IOC: Steps for the future. Japan Journal of Sport Sociology, 12, 15-24.

Sport and social change (ongoing)

The principles of social change are fundamental to studying social policy related to sport and advocating for social change in sport.

Funding

Conference organizing grant: SSHRC Aid to Scholarly Conferences, 2008 ($2,850)

CSPS funding

Conferences organized 

To Remember is to Resist: 40 Years of Sport and Social Change, 1968-2008

Toronto, May, 20-22, 2008 

Presentations

Donnelly, P. (2006, 1-4 November). State intervention and sport: Policy objectives (discussant in session). North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference, Vancouver, BC.

Donnelly, P. (2006, January 20). Sport and the culture of control. Policy Matters seminar, Centre for Sport Policy Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Donnelly, P. (2005, March 27). From what we know to what we can do: Critical sociology and progressive social change. Invited lecture presented at Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, JAPAN.

Donnelly, P., & Houlihan, B. (2001, July 20-24). Sport and Policy Analysis: A Review and Evaluation. Presented at the 1st World Congress of Sociology of Sport, Seoul, KOREA.

Publications

Field, R. & Kidd, B. (Eds.). (2010). To remember is to resist: 40 years of sport and social change. London: Routledge.

Field, R. & Kidd, B. (Eds.). (2010). Sport in Society, 13(1). (Special issue containing the refereed proceedings of To Remember is to Resist) 

Hosting evaluation (2002-2003)

This project examined the implications of major international sport events for host cities. 

Funding 

Evaluation contract/grant: Canadian Heritage, 2001-02 ($30,000)

To carry out an evaluation of the federal government’s $40 million contribution to the 2001 World Championships in Athletics (sub-contract with SPR Associates, Toronto).

Publications

Donnelly, P., McCloy, C., & Field, R. (2002). Evaluation of the 2001 IAAF World Championships in Athletics (WCA) in Edmonton, Alberta. Ottawa: Canadian Heritage. [Report]

Student gambling on sport (2001-2002)

The intent of this project was to carry out a preliminary investigation of the extent of sport gambling among male student athletes in Ontario. The project was abandoned following a widespread reluctance among school boards contacted to permit their students to become involved in the study.

Funding

Research grant: Ontario Problem Gambling Research Council, 2001-02 ($179,250)

Principal Investigator: Peter Donnelly

Publications

Before its cancellation, this project resulted in an interim report on student gambling on sport.

Mills Report response (1998-1999)

The Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education organized a faculty forum to respond to this report. 

Sample content

MAJOR PROJECTS

Crisis in school sport  (1999-2001)

This project involved an attempt to develop creative solutions to the crisis in Ontario provoked by government attempts in 1999-2000 to make the supervision of extracurricular activities mandatory for high school teachers. The Colloquium materials became a major source of data for the Education Minister’s Advisory Group on the Provision of Co-Instructional Activities. Although the Advisory Group was expected to endorse mandatory supervision, their advice followed the outcome of the Colloquium. View the Advisory Group Report here

Funding 

Funding for this project came from Rosenstadt and Connaught funds. 

Conferences organized

The Crisis in High School Sport – Second Annual Colloquium of the Centre for Sport Policy Studies

University of Toronto, January 27-29, 2000                     

Cleveland Sessions II: The Crisis in High School Sport

North American Society for the Sociology of Sport annual conference, Cleveland, OH, November 5, 1999 

Reports 

Donnelly, P., McCloy, C., Petherick, L., & Safai, P. (2000). The crisis in school sport: Issues and resolutions (Report of the Centre for Sport Policy Studies Colloquium at University of Toronto Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education). Toronto: Centre for Sport Policy Studies.

McCloy, C. & Safai, P. (2000). The crisis in school sport: Issues and resolutions: International models and alternatives for workload issues (supplementary Report). Toronto: Centre for Sport Policy Studies.

Presentations 

Donnelly, P. (2000, March 1). The crisis in high school sport. Tait McKenzie Society lecture, Massey College, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.  

Publications 

Donnelly, P. & Kidd, B. (2000). The crisis in school sports. ICSSPE Bulletin, 30 (May), 28-29. 

Outcome 

Minister’s Advisory Group on the Provision of Co-Instructional Activities (April, 2001). The Executive Director of the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations, Colin Hood, wrote:

“The University of Toronto Colloquium which you and Bruce Kidd convened, was for me a turning point, in that we began to investigate options and solutions to the obvious problems. Under your guidance we began to look outside the “box” while attempting to retain all that was good about school sport during the last fifty years.

OTHER PROJECTS 

Hazing (1998-2000)

Following a number of hazing incidents on Canadian university campuses in the late 1990s, universities imposed zero-tolerance policies. Jay Johnson’s research for his Master’s thesis examined those policies and found that, in certain ways zero-tolerance, rather than ameliorating the problem of hazing, actually exacerbated the problems. His thesis was combined with work to develop alternatives to hazing and zero-tolerance for the interuniversity Athletics programme at the University of Toronto.

Publications

Johnson, J. & Donnelly, P. (2004). In their own words: Athletic administrators, coaches, and athletes at two universities discuss hazing policy initiatives. In, J. Johnson & M. Homan (Eds.), Making the Team: Inside the World of Sport Initiations and Hazing (pp. 132-154). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.

Johnson, J. (2000). Sport hazing experiences in the context of anti-hazing policies: The case of two Southern Ontario universities. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Toronto.

Forum at Women’s CIAU Hockey Championships (1999)

In an attempt to meet the educational mandate for sport in educational institutions, the Centre is interested in providing additional educational experiences that are held in conjunction with interuniversity athletics. Only one event has been held so far, in conjunction with the women’s university ice hockey national championships in 1999. Although the event was considered to be a partial success, it was also clear that when athletes are focused on competition at such a championship, the Forum was also something of a distraction. CSPS is re-thinking ways in which to enhance the educational experiences of interuniversity sports.

Conferences Organized

Women’s Hockey Forum, CIAU Women’s Hockey Championships

University of Toronto, February 26, 1999.

Speakers included Nancy Theberge and Justine Blainey.

Athletic Scholarships and NCAA Relations

Graduate Theses 

Wells, C. (2009). Canadian student-athletes in the NCAA: The experiences of those who stay and those who leave. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Toronto. 

Ethnocultural barriers to participation 

Although focused on university recreation, this is primarily a ‘Sport for All’ project and is outlined in detail in the section Sport for All.

Although some inevitable overlap between these areas is evident in some projects, the work has been classified in its primary location. 
 

Working Paper No. 1 (1996)

Authors: Peter Donnelly & Jean Harvey

Working Paper No. 2 (2003)

Author: Russell Field

Working Paper No. 3 (2010)

Author: Richard Gruneau

Forthcoming working papers (to be posted soon):

Patterns of Association and Bilingualism (title to be confirmed)

Authors: Peter Donnelly et al.

Sport and Ethnicity: An Annotated Bibliography (title to be confirmed)

Author: Yuka Nakamura

Authors: Gary Smith and Carl Grindstaff (1970)
Edited and re-published by CSPS, Foreword by P. Donnelly and J. Joseph
Date of Publication: February, 2021

Authors: Madison Danford and Peter Donnelly
Date of Publication: May, 2018

Authors: Michele K. Donnelly, Mark Norman, and Peter Donnelly
Date of Publication: August, 2015 

Authors: Bruce Kidd and Mark Norman
Date of Publication: June, 2014

Authors: Bruce Kidd and Mark Norman
Date of Publication: June, 2014

Authors: Peter Donnelly, Mark Norman, and Bruce Kidd
Date of Publication: December, 2013

Authors: Peter Donnelly and Michele Donnelly
Date of Publication: September, 2013

Authors: Peter Donnelly and Michele Donnelly
Date of Publication: September, 2013

Authors: Peter Donnelly, Bruce Kidd, and Mark Norman
Date of Publication: October, 2011

Position Paper No. 1 (1999)

Authors: Peter Donnelly, with the faculty, staff and coaches of the Faculty of Physical Education and Health (now Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education)

Position Paper No. 2 (2008)

Authors: Peter Donnelly, with Bruce Kidd, Margaret MacNeill, Jean Harvey, Barrie Houlihan, & Christine Toohey

Position Paper No. 3 (2009)

Authors: Bruce Kidd & Peter Donnelly

Position Paper No. 4 (2012)

Author: Bruce Kidd

Position Paper No. 5 (2018)

Authors: Peter Donnelly and Gretchen Kerr

Position Paper No. 6 (2020)

Authors: Gretchen Kerr, Bruce Kidd and Peter Donnelly

Position Paper No. 7 (2020)

Authors: Gretchen Kerr, Bruce Kidd and Peter Donnelly


Members

Michael Atkinson, Associate Professor

Simon Darnell, Assistant Professor

Peter Donnelly, Professor and Director

Caroline Fusco, Assistant Professor

Gretchen Kerr, Professor

Bruce Kidd, Professor

Janelle Joseph Assistant Professor 

Margaret MacNeill, Associate Professor

Boria Majumdar, Adjunct Professor
cristorian@yahoo.com

Yuka Nakamura, Assistant Professor (York University)
nakamura@yorku.ca

Jay Coakley (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs – Emeritus)
jcoakley@uccs.edu

Fred Coalter (University of Stirling, UK)
j.a.coalter@stir.ac.uk

Russell Field (University of Manitoba)
field@cc.umanitoba.ca

Wendy Frisby (University of British Columbia)
frisby@interchange.ubc.ca

Jean Harvey (University of Ottawa)
Director, Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society (RCSCS)
jharvey@uottawa.ca

Barrie Houlihan (Loughborough University, UK)
b.m.j.houlihan@lboro.ac.uk

Chris Jones (Sport Matters, Ottawa)
chris.jones@sportmatters.ca

Joanne Kay (Sport Canada)
Senior Policy Analyst, Policy and Coordination
joanne.kay@pch.gc.ca

LeAnne Petherick (University of Manitoba)
petheril@cc.umanitoba.ca

Don Sabo (D’Youville College, Buffalo, USA)
Director, Center for Research on Physical Activity, Sport and Health (CRPASH)
gradres@yahoo.com

Parissa Safai (York University)
psafai@yorku.ca

Ashley Stirling (University of Toronto)
Research Associate
ashley.stirling@utoronto.ca

Lucie Thibault (Brock University)
lthibault@brocku.ca

Kristine Toohey (Griffith University, Gold Coast, AUSTRALIA)
k.toohey@griffith.edu.au

Doctoral

Amanda de Lisio
(Supervisor: Caroline Fusco)

Danielle di Carlo
Research Interests: Sexual harrassment and abuse policy
(Supervisor: Caroline Fusco)

Kass Gibson
Research Interests: Bioethics; techno-science; research methodologies (quantitative and
qualitative)
(Supervisor: Michael Atkinson)

Sarah Gray
Research Interests: Media, nutrition and physical activity; health and education policy; intersection of sex and gender
(Supervisor: Margaret MacNeill)

Patrick Keleher
(Supervisor: Caroline Fusco)

Kyoung-Yim Kim
Research Interests: Sport, globalization and transnationality through postcolonial feminist lenses; sport and media representation; health discourse and health policy for women/girls/adolescents
(Supervisor: Peter Donnelly)

David Marchesseault
(Supervisor: Peter Donnelly)

Darragh McGee
Research Interests: Child welfare; protection and high performance sport; human rights and activism in youth sport; sport, politics and national identity
(Supervisor: Michael Atkinson)

Nadine McHorgh
Research Interests: Aesthetics; cultural policy; Olympic graffiti; Olympic posters; cultural Olympiad; visual culture; politics
(Supervisors: Bruce Kidd and Dr. Elizabeth Legge (Department of Art))

Donald Njelesani
(Supervisor: Bruce Kidd)

Mark Norman
Research Interests: Sport and physical activity in correctional facilities; sport for development and peace; peacebuilding and reconciliation; fan culture and new media
(Supervisors: Peter Donnelly and Bruce Kidd)

Master’s

Sarah Boyle
Research Interests: International development through sport organizations; program evaluation and sustainability; sport policy; community based physical activity programming; delinquent youth
(Supervisor: Peter Donnelly)

Caiyan (Wendy) Chen
Research Interests: Women, ethnicity and physical activity; Chinese immigrant women, motherhood and physical activity; leisure studies
(Supervisor: Peter Donnelly)

Maureen Coyle
(Supervisor: Peter Donnelly)

Fisher Liu
Research Interests: Olympic education programs; sport participation and gender relations in Chin; immigrant physical activities and health
(Supervisor: Bruce Kidd)

Kathleen Trotter
Research Interests: Gender, physical activity and gym culture; the theory of Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu and Judith Butler applied to physical activity, gym culture and gender; contemporary discourses on "health"; the contemporaneous nature of consumption and production within the fitness field
(Supervisor: Margaret MacNeill)

Dan Way
(Supervisors: Michael Atkinson and Gretchen Kerr)

Recent Graduates

Melanie Belore
Lyndsay Hayhurst
Maggie MacDonnell
Courtney Szto
Cassandra Wells

Advocacy

Advocacy is an important part of the work of the CSPS. The Centre uses its ability to generate research and synthesize data in order to provide informed comment on various issues and struggles in the field of sport and physical activity. At times, this ability is combined with the possibilities engendered by the university as a neutral site for measured discussion of difficult issues.

Ongoing: CSPS members Peter Donnelly and Bruce Kidd are involved in the renewal of the Canadian Sport Policy, the current version of which ends in 2012.

2006-2010: A SSHRC-funded research project on sport participation, which questioned the assumption that elite sport success leads to increased participation and proposed a plan to realize a participation legacy from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

2009: A submission to the 2010 and Beyond regional consultations that advocated for sustainable high performance sport, questioned medals as a barometer of success, and argued that increased funding should be leveraged for health, knowledge, and increased participation at the grassroots level.

2005: The CSPS was invited to organize the consultation session on Violence Against Children in Sport, the recommendations of which were fed into the final report of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence Against Children.

1999-2000: A colloquium, in response to ongoing labour disputes between schoolteachers and the Ontario government, that brought together various stakeholders to consider how school co-curricular sport might be continued in the best interests of students while simultaneously compensating teachers for their co-curricular involvement; this colloquium informed the Ontario government report that, against expectations, recognizes the importance of co-instructional activities.

1999: A faculty response to the federal government’s Mills Report, which was distributed to the Mills Report Committee, other Members of Parliament, and key stakeholders in the sport community.

Conferences

A major part of the work of the CSPS is to organize meetings to bring scholars and practitioners together around various issues. These may take the form of academic conferences for the dissemination of knowledge relating to the work of the Centre, which are often organized on specific themes. The meetings may also relate to advocacy, or to planning research agendas.

CONFERENCES, COLLOQUIA, SYMPOSIA, AND ROUNDTABLES ORGANIZED BY THE CSPS

June 8

Symposium: Sport and Sustainable Development: Setting a Research Agenda

This symposium brought together scholars from diverse disciplines - including international development, environmentalism, geography, and the sociology of sport - to explore the role that sport can and should play in efforts towards sustainable development, both internationally and in Canada. 

 

Click here for abstracts, videos and other content from the symposium. 

 

October 23
Workshop: Measuring Sport Participation in Canada

Workshop featured the launch of the CSPS’ draft report on sport participation measurement, Sport Participation in Canada: Evaluating Measurements and Testing Determinants of Increased Participation. The daylong session focused on dialogue between scholars, representatives of National Sport Organizations, and civil servants from the Ontario and Canadian governments to develop final policy recommendations.

May 25
Symposium: Scholar, Activist, Athlete: A Celebration in Honour of Bruce Kidd

A daylong academic symposium, in honour of University of Toronto professor and CSPS member Bruce Kidd, that featured presentations from scholars, policymakers, and sports figures. The symposium focused on a variety of pressing sociocultural issues in contemporary sport. Sir Murray Halberg, a former Olympian and current ‘Sport for All’ advocate, presented the keynote speech.

November 5-6
Symposium: Sport Policy (Ottawa, ON)

Five sessions and a keynote address planned in association with the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and the Sport Canada Research Initiative.

November 4
Conference: Sport Canada Research Initiative 3rd annual conference (Ottawa, ON)

Conference brought together grant holders to give progress reports on their research, and Sport Canada staff.
(Organized by the CSPS, the Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society, Lucie Thibault/Brock University, and Sport Canada)

May 18-20
Conference: Olympic Reform
– A Ten-Year Review (Toronto, ON)
Conference brought together IOC members, activists and academics to consider the status of Olympic Reform some 10 years after the Salt Lake City bid scandals, and to recommend further reforms.
(Organized by CSPS and the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto)

November 19-21
Conference: Sport Canada Research Initiative 2nd annual conference (Gatineau, QC)

Conference brought together grant holders to give progress reports on their research, and Sport Canada staff.
(Conference organized by the CSPS, the Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society, and Sport Canada)

August 1-3
Workshop: 1st Korean Workshop on Sport Policy (Seoul, KOREA)

Series of six extended (half day) lectures:

Day 1 am: Sociology of sport and sport policy
Day 1 pm: High performance sport vs. sport for all
Day 2 am: Policy issues in high performance sport and sport for all
Day 2 pm: Sport policy and gender issues
Day 3 am: Sport policy and social class issues
Day 3 pm: What sport can do

(Organized by the Korean Society for the Sociology of Sport and Korean National Sport University)

May 20-22
Conference: To Remember is to Resist –
40 Years of Sport and Social Change, 1968-2008 (Toronto, ON)
Refereed proceeding from this conference were published as a special issue of Sport in Society (2010, Volume 13, Issue 1) and the book 40 Years of Sport and Social Change, 1968-2008: “To Remember is to Resist” published in 2010 by Routledge.

(Organized by the CSPS, New College, and the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto)

November 22-23
Conference: Sport Canada Research Initiative 1st annual conference (Gatineau, QC)

Conference brought together grant holders to give progress reports on their research, and Sport Canada staff.
(Conference organized by the CSPS, the Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society, and Sport Canada)

June 2-3
UN Secretary General’s Study of Violence Against Children – North American Regional Consultation (Toronto, ON)
The CSPS was invited to organize the consultation session on Violence Against Children in Sport.
 

March 26-27
Workshop: Practical sociology of sport and policy issues (Tsukuba, JAPAN)

The workshop consisted of three sessions, focused on:

  • Sport and three forms of child labour

  • Social opportunity or social control?: Ideas for the prevention of youth delinquency and violence

  • From what we know to what we can do: Critical sociology and progressive social change

November 28-30
Conference: Sport Canada Participation Research Round Table (Gatineau, QC)

This conference brought together Canada-wide sport research representatives with Sport Canada and the granting councils in order to plan the form of the Sport Canada Research Initiative.
(Co-organized with and the Research Centre for Sport in Canadian Society and Sport Canada)

September 7-8
Conference: The Politics of Obesity (Toronto, ON)

(Co-organized by the Centre for Sport Policy Studies and the Centre for Girls’ and Women’s Health and Physical Activity)

October 30-31
Symposium: Sport and social policy in Canada (Montréal, QC)

Four session symposium, planned and participated in, with Jean Harvey, at North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Conference.
 

June 26
Colloquium: Paradoxes of Illness and Fitness (Toronto, ON)

Fourth Annual Colloquium of the Centre for Sport Policy Studies

September 27-29
Colloquium: Talented Children in Sport, Music and Dance: How can we nurture talent without exploiting or abusing children?
(Toronto, ON)
This was the Third Annual Colloquium of the Centre for Sport Policy Studies. The UN General Assembly was supposed to hold a Special Session on Children – an end of decade review of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but the session was cancelled because of 9/11. To mark the date, the CSPS held a colloquium at which researchers who have described the exploitation, abuse, and lack of protection for physically talented children met experts in child labour, individuals who have been involved in writing union agreements for children in the entertainment industry, and representatives from dance and music. They worked to develop a set of recommendations to address the question in the colloquium title.

May 8
Sociocultural roundtable: Two topics –The increasing use of sport in international development and the proposed new Canadian sport policy (Toronto, ON)

a) Sport aid (Bruce Kidd & Michele Donnelly)

b) National sport policy (Bruce Kidd & Jean Harvey)

April 15
Sociocultural Roundtable: Open topic (Toronto, ON)

Guest speakers were Joe Maguire (Loughborough University, ENGLAND) and Patricia Vertinsky (University of British Columbia)

January 27-29
Colloquium: The Crisis in High School Sport (Toronto, ON)

An attempt to develop creative solutions to the crisis in Ontario provoked by attempts to make the supervision of extracurricular activities mandatory for high school teachers. The Colloquium materials became a major source of data for the Education Minister’s Advisory Group on the Provision of Co-Instructional Activities. Although the Advisory Group was expected to endorse mandatory supervision, their advice followed the outcome of the Colloquium. 

The Executive Director of the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations, Colin Hood, wrote:

“The University of Toronto Colloquium which you and Bruce Kidd convened, was for me a turning point, in that we began to investigate options and solutions to the obvious problems. Under your guidance we began to look outside the “box” while attempting to retain all that was good about school sport during the last fifty years. 

November 5
Symposium: Cleveland Sessions II: The Crisis in High School Sport (Cleveland, OH)

Organized and chaired this session at North American Society for the Sociology of Sport annual conference.

May 25-27
Colloquium: Sport for All in Canada: Building on the European Experience (Toronto, ON)

Colloquium to address the main participation mission of the CSPS and to draw on European experiences with promoting grassroots sport as a ‘right to participate in sport’.

March 6
Sociocultural Roundtable: Olympic Alternatives (Toronto, ON)

A theme inspired by revelations about the 1996 Toronto Olympic bid, and concerns about the 2008 Toronto Olympic bid; the Roundtable was organized to consider alternative structures for the IOC and the bid process, and means of implementing those alternatives.

25 January
Faculty Forum: Response to the Mills’ Report (Toronto, ON)

A Faculty Forum was organized to generate a response to the Mills’ Report.

Work and Study Opportunities

The CSPS is pleased to welcome visiting scholars as well as other visitors from across the globe. The Centre also participates in an international exchange program with two universities and offers a variety of paid research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students.

JAPAN:
Taketo Kai (Aichi University), 2002
Kazunori Matsumura (University of Tsukuba), 2001

KOREA:
Kim In-Hyung (Pusan National University), 2004

NORWAY:
Kari Fasting (Norges Idrettshogskole), 2002-2003

UK:
Mick Green (Loughborough University), 2002

UNITED STATES:
Keith Harrison (University of Michigan), 1999
Renford Reese (State University of California at Pomona)

2001-02
Joseph Maguire (Loughborough University, UK)
Patricia Vertinsky (University of British Columbia)
Jennifer Smith Maguire (CUNY Graduate School, New York)
Jay Coakley (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs)
Nancy Theberge (University of Waterloo)
Kazunori Matsumura (University of Tsukuba, Japan)

2000-01
Joseph Maguire (Loughborough University, UK)
Patricia Vertinsky (University of British Columbia)
Jennifer Smith Maguire (CUNY Graduate School, New York)
Jay Coakley (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs)
Nancy Theberge (University of Waterloo)
Kazunori Matsumura (University of Tsukuba, Japan)

1999-00
Renford Reese (Cal State Poly at Pomona, USA)
Keith Harrison (University of Michigan, USA)
Kevin Young (University of Calgary)
David Howe (Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education, UK) TWICE
Joseph Maguire (Loughborough University, UK) TWICE
Patricia Vertinsky (University of British Columbia) TWICE
Robert Patman & Martha Bell (University of Otago, NEW ZEALAND)
Alan Ingham (Miami University, Ohio, USA)
Susan Birrell (University of Iowa, USA)
Anita White (Sport England, UK)
Barrie Houlihan (Loughborough University, UK)
Bart Vanreusel (University of Leuven, BELGIUM)
Hanspeter Stamm (University of Zurich, SWITZERLAND)
Jean Harvey (University of Ottawa)
Pirjo Puskala (Finnish Sports Foundation, FINLAND)

Exchange program

The CSPS and Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at University of Toronto have operated student and professor exchanges with University of Tsukuba (JAPAN) and Loughborough University (UK). The most recent of these exchanges occurred in 2008-09 when Master’s student Yosuke Washiya from the University of Tsukuba studied at University of Toronto.

Research work for students

The CSPS is pleased to offer qualified undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to participate as paid research assistants on projects. Please check this site for future positions as and when they become available.

Media

The scholars associated with the CSPS have all been actively involved in providing time and resources to the media. The Centre recognizes its responsibility to make its work available to as wide an audience as possible and to provide informed comment on issues of the day that relate to the work of the CSPS.

CSPS members have made numerous media contributions to television, radio, and print media outlets, such as the Toronto Star and CBC television and radio. CSPS members have also contributed guest editorials to Canadian newspapers.

For media inquiries please contact:

Peter Donnelly
Director, Centre for Sport Policy Studies

KPE Faculty

  • Associate Professor, Social Justice & Equity in Sport
  • Associate Professor, Sport for Development & Peace
  • Professor Emeritus, Sport Policy & Politics