1. Exploring Momentary Experiences of Psychological Rest Among Varsity Athletes
Everyone knows athletes need to train to improve, and that hard training takes high-quality recovery. We usually focus on the physical parts of recovery, but what about the mental side?
What We’re Asking
We’re running a study to better understand how varsity athletes experience psychological rest throughout the day. For one week, participants will complete a short 1–2-minute survey on their phones every couple of hours. These surveys will ask about what you’re doing, where you are, and how rested or stressed you feel in that moment.
Your responses will help us learn what kinds of environments and activities support better rest and recovery for student-athletes.
How It Helps You
You’ll receive up to a $30 Amazon gift card for participating, and you’ll have the option to receive a personalized report of your own results.
What Next
Want to learn more? Click HERE to read the full Letter of Information.
Want to sign up? Click HERE to let the researchers know you’re interested.
2. Evaluation of the Transformational Coaching Survey
Effective coaching depends not only on what coaches do but also on how they do it. The PLAYS Research Group is currently conducting a study to assess how leadership behaviours relate to athlete motivation and enjoyment. By supporting this work, you will not only help advance this important research but also gain insights that could benefit your coaching practices and your athletes.
What We’re Asking
In this project, we are asking youth athletes (ages 13-19) to complete a 15-minute questionnaire about their coaching leadership styles, motivation, and affect. Athletes must compete in a team sport and interact with a current coach 2+ times per week in practices or games. As a thank you, participating athletes may choose to be included in a random draw for one of 10 $25 Amazon gift cards. Importantly, all athletes’ responses will be anonymous and this study has received ethical approval by the Queen’s University General Research Ethics Board.
How It Helps Your Organization
If 10 or more of your athletes complete the survey, you will receive a summary report of their responses. This report could serve as a valuable tool for understanding how transformational leadership principles are influencing your team. We can even discuss strategies to take your coaching to the next level.
What Next
If you are interested, simply let us know by emailing the project lead at stuart.wilson@queensu.ca, so that we can send you the materials—including an email blurb and social media graphic—to share with your athletes.
You can read more about the project in the Letter of Information, which will also be accessible by potential participants. On behalf of the PLAYS research team, thank you for your time and consideration of this project—we would love to hear from you!