The purpose of this research was to answer three specific questions: I) How do coaches perceive sport science research? ii) What sources do coaches consult when looking for new ideas? and iii) What barriers do coaches encounter when trying to access new information? All of the high-performance coaches involved in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) were contacted to complete an on-line survey related to these questions. There were 205 coaches who completed at least part of the questionnaire. There was a strong consensus that the CIS coaches believe that sport science makes an important contribution to high-performance sport. Gaps exist between what coaches are looking for and the research that is being conducted, especially in the area of tactics and strategies. Coaches are most likely to consult other coaches, or attend coaching conferences to get new information. Sport scientists and their publications were ranked very low by the coaches as a likely source of sport science information. The barriers to the coaches' access to sport science are the time required to find and read scientific journals, and lack of direct access to a sport scientist. Strategies to remove the barriers could include rewarding sport scientists for successful transfer of their knowledge to practice through direct communication with coaches.

BackgroundPhysical literacy is an emerging construct in children’s health promotion, and may impact their lifelong physical activity habits. However, recent data reveal that only a small portion of Canadian children are regularly physically active and/or meet sedentary behaviour guidelines. To our knowledge, no study has investigated the association between physical literacy and movement behaviour guidelines. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between physical literacy scores in Canadian children who meet or do not meet physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines.MethodsChildren (n = 2956; 56.6% girls) aged 8–12 years from 10 Canadian cities had their physical literacy levels measured using the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy, which consists of four domains (Physical Competence; Daily Behaviour; Knowledge and Understanding; and Motivation and Confidence) that are aggregated to provide a composite physical literacy score. Physical activity levels were measured by pedometers, and sedentary behaviour was assessed through self-report questionnaire. Analyses were conducted separately for each guideline, comparing participants meeting versus those not meeting the guidelines. Comparisons were performed using MANOVA and logistic regression to control for age, gender, and seasonality.ResultsParticipants meeting physical activity guidelines or sedentary behaviour guidelines had higher physical literacy domain scores for Physical Competence and for Motivation and Confidence compared to those not meeting either guideline (both p < 0.0001). Participants had increased odds of meeting physical activity guidelines and sedentary behaviour guidelines if they met the minimum recommended level of the Physical Competence and Motivation and Confidence domains. Significant age (OR 0.9; 95% CI: 0.8, 0.9), gender (OR 0.4; 95% CI: 0.3, 0.5) and seasonality effects (OR 1.6; 95% CI: 1.2, 2.2 spring and OR 1.7; 95% CI: 1.2, 2.5 summer, reference winter) were seen for physical activity guidelines, and age (OR 0.8; 95% CI: 0.7, 0.8) and gender effects (OR 1.7; 95% CI: 1.4, 2.0) for sedentary behaviour guidelines. Knowledge and Understanding of physical activity principles was not related to guideline adherence in either model.ConclusionsThese cross-sectional findings demonstrate important associations between physical literacy and guideline adherence for physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Future research should explore the causality of these associations.

BackgroundThe current physical literacy level of Canadian children is unknown. The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Learn to Play – Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy (CAPL) project, which is anchored in the Canadian consensus statement definition of physical literacy, aimed to help establish the current physical literacy level of Canadian children.MethodsThe CAPL was used to assess the physical literacy (and component domains: Daily Behaviour, Physical Competence, Knowledge and Understanding, and Motivation and Confidence) of Canadian children aged 8–12 years. Data were collected from 11 sites across Canada, yielding a sample of 10,034 participants (5030 girls). Descriptive statistics by age and gender were calculated and percentile distributions of physical literacy scores, including each domain and individual measure, were derived.ResultsThe mean age of participants was 10.1 ± 1.2 years. Total physical literacy scores (out of 100) were on average 63.1 ± 13.0 for boys and 62.2 ± 11.3 for girls. For boys and girls respectively, domain scores were 19.9 ± 4.7 and 19.3 ± 4.1 (out of 32) for Physical Competence; 18.6 ± 7.9 and 18.5 ± 7.4 (out of 32) for Daily Behaviour; 12.7 ± 2.8 and 12.2 ± 2.6 (out of 18) for Motivation and Confidence; and 11.8 ± 2.8 and 12.2 ± 2.6 (out of 18) for Knowledge and Understanding. Physical Competence measures were on average 28.1 ± 8.4 cm (sit-and-reach flexibility), 33.5 ± 9.4 kg (grip strength, right + left), 23.4 ± 14.1 laps (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run [PACER] shuttle run), 61.8 ± 43.8 s (isometric plank), 19.0 ± 3.8 kg/m2 (body mass index), 67.3 ± 10.8 cm (waist circumference), and 20.6 ± 3.9 out of 28 points for the Canadian Agility and Movement Skill Assessment (CAMSA), with scores for boys higher than girls and older children higher than younger children for grip strength, PACER, plank, and CAMSA score. Girls and younger children had better scores on the sit-and-reach flexibility than boys and older children. Daily pedometer step counts were higher in boys than girls (12,355 ± 4252 vs. 10,779 ± 3624), and decreased with age.ConclusionsThese results provide the largest and most comprehensive assessment of physical literacy of Canadian children to date, providing a “state of the nation” baseline, and can be used to monitor changes and inform intervention strategies going forward.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5891-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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BackgroundThe associations between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and physical literacy in children are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the relationships between CRF, measured using the 20-m shuttle run test (20mSRT), and components of physical literacy among Canadian children aged 8–12 years.MethodsA total of 9393 (49.9% girls) children, with a mean (SD) age of 10.1 (±1.2) years, from a cross-sectional surveillance study were included for this analysis. The SRT was evaluated using a standardized 15 m or 20 m protocol. All 15 m SRTs were converted to 20mSRT values using a standardized formula. The four domains of physical literacy (Physical Competence, Daily Behaviour, Motivation and Confidence, and Knowledge and Understanding) were measured using the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy. Tertiles were identified for 20mSRT laps, representing low, medium, and high CRF for each age and gender group. Cohen’s d was used to calculate the effect size between the low and high CRF groups.ResultsCRF was strongly and favourably associated with all components of physical literacy among school-aged Canadian children. The effect size between low and high CRF tertile groups was large for the Physical Competence domain (Cohen’s d range: 1.11–1.94) across age and gender groups, followed by moderate to large effect sizes for Motivation and Confidence (Cohen’s d range: 0.54–1.18), small to moderate effect sizes for Daily Behaviour (Cohen’s d range: 0.25–0.81), and marginal to moderate effect sizes for Knowledge and Understanding (Cohen’s d range: 0.08–0.70).ConclusionsThis study identified strong favourable associations between CRF and physical literacy and its constituent components in children aged 8–12 years. Future research should investigate the sensitivity and specificity of the 20mSRT in screening those with low physical literacy levels.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5896-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.