About the Hub
As participants return to sport across Canada, coaches have a vital role to play. Their influence, observation, and personal connection in working with sport participants, place them in a critical role to support those who are experiencing low mental health as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While well positioned to help the children and youth they are coaching in dealing with mental health issues, many coaches do not feel they have the knowledge or confidence to do so.
Mental health has been identified by federal, provincial, and territorial (FPT) governments as the greatest risk to Canadians as a result of COVID 19. The COVID 19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on youth mental health and is particularly associated with depression and anxiety (Nearchou et al., 2020). Evidence has shown that between 40-48% of children and adolescents have been shown to have mental health issues during the pandemic (Liang et al., 2020) (Wang et al., 2020).
Powered through our partnership of over 500 sport organizations at all levels across Canada, the Coaching Association of Canada is uniquely placed through their network, capacity, and expertise, to enhance and deliver mental health awareness and literacy training. The project will engage hundreds of thousands of citizens in the communities in which they live, including: coaches, teachers, and community sport leaders; the children, youth and adults they coach, teach and lead; and the wider community in which they live. The project will specifically focus on reaching those disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including: remote communities, Indigenous communities, newcomers to Canada, socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, and Canadian Armed Forces families.
