Queen’s Research Update

I got a message this week from Matthew Vierimaa, the Queen’s Graduate student that was involved with a project with the league last season. He presented at the National Coaching Conference in Washington DC and he reports that it went well, and the research that was presented was well-received, which was both encouraging and satisfying. There was a general consensus that what the league is trying to accomplish is extremely important but lacking in the general youth sport landscape. For clarity on the last point Matthew said, “at the conference, it became evident that the majority of youth sport programming in the US is heavily focused on early specialization and high performance, even at a young age. Based on some of the responses I received, it seems that sport programs that are accessible to a wide range of youth (in terms of both skill level and socio-economic status) are severely lacking. In that regard, I think that the league provides a very fascinating and admirable model since it tends to attract such a diverse group of youth to the program and sport.” Matthew is hoping to come back to the league again next season to continue his research work. He and his colleagues have been very happy with the cooperation that the league has shown to support the research efforts of the university.

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