World-leading sports psychology will give Canadian Olympians a leg up

Canada’s Alex Bruce (L) and Michele Li celebrate their victory over Australia’s Leanne Choo and Renuga Veeran during their women’s double badminton quarterfinals match at the London Olympics on Aug. 1, 2012. Originally from Hong Kong, Li has lived in Canada since she was 6 years old. Some of Canada’s best athletes come from other countries. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/GettyImages)

TORONTO—For a country born of immigration, fuelled in part today by the ingenuity and experience of its newcomers, there’s a distinct advantage to being the world leader in multicultural sports psychology.

Some of Canada’s best athletes come from other countries.

Robert Schinke is the Canada research chair in Multicultural Sport and Physical Activity and a humanities professor at Laurentian University. His current research focuses on the intersection of multiculturalism and sports psychology, a field in which Canada is second to none.

It’s actually a brand new trajectory in sport and exercise psychology called cultural sports psychology.

— Robert Schinke, Canada research chair in Multicultural Sport and Physical Activity

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With up to 20 percent of Canada’s elite athletes born in another country, understanding how their cultural background factors into their sports performance can play a major role in coaching them to success.

But it turns out it isn’t just the new Canadians who benefit. When coaches let their foreign-born athletes share their own athletic culture, like a more intense work ethic or emphasis on results, it can boost everyone’s performance.

“They actually motivate their domestic teammates to a higher level,” says Schinke.

“When coaches are really inclusive of culture, they actually permit these newcomers to share some of their culture and customs. … That seems to advantage the team context as a whole, be it a team or an individual sport.”

That’s what’s known in the social sciences business as “reciprocal acculturation,” or in layman’s turns, I give you some of my culture and you give me some of yours.

“So it doesn’t actually just enrich the athlete and it doesn’t just give them an advantage, but it actually gives their Canadian teammates an advantage,” says Schinke.

It’s a situation that may be fostered more in Canada than other countries because of our uniquely welcoming view of multiculturalism.

“Canada is a highly inclusive country. We embrace our cultural diversity, and I think one of the ways we do so is actually by making a space for a reciprocal acculturation in the sports context. And ironically, by doing so, we don’t just create a space for these newcomers to feel welcome, but we actually facilitate peak performance,” he says.

It works both ways. Immigrant athletes also benefit from the softer approach of Canada’s more parental coaches.

“They encourage [athletes] to go to university, they want them to have a social life, and some balance in their life. This is oftentimes contrasted in their early sport experiences before they relocated to Canada.”

At other times though, that same approach is problematic, and it is important that coaches can recognize the difference.

Different Coaching Methods

Schinke says athletes from Eastern Europe might be used to a more direct coaching method that demands performance, while Canadian coaches risk leaving their athletes wanting for a firmer hand.

“They oftentimes find the [Canadian] sports system overly forgiving of lax performance in training. For example, if an athlete is under achieving in a day of training, a coach might say, ‘We’ll lower the expectations, you’ve got high demands in terms of your studying,’ and what have you. They’re very forgiving. This would never happen in [the athletes’] culture of origin.”

Psychology becomes a critical advantage in a world where fractions of a second separate the medalists from the forgotten.

“There’s oftentimes a disconnect where the athlete might not be motivated by the approach of the coach.”

The different approaches can leave foreign athletes swinging between the two methods. If they are doing well, they will feel closer to their Canadian teammates. If not, they could see the Canadian system as weak and ineffectual.

Schinke said his findings look to be part of a solid trend based on early research that forms a pilot study for a longer-term look at the cultural aspect of sports psychology.

The research by Schinke and his team is still in its infancy but with three years worth of funding by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, they’ve begun to uncover the secret dynamics of multicultural athletics.

The researchers plan to spend time with athletes, observing them to see how these cultural aspects play out.

They will look at national team athletes only—athletes funded by Sports Canada who perform at the international level at major events like international competitions or the Pan American Games.

For coaches dealing with a team dynamic, understanding the cultural dynamics of sports in the home countries of their players can present opportunities and help them avoid potential challenges.

To that end, the Coaching Association of Canada has also funded Schinke and his team to look into the issue.

“It’s actually a brand new trajectory in sport and exercise psychology called cultural sports psychology, and Canada is the world leader in that area,” says Schinke.

In this intersection of cultural diversity and sport psychology, Canada is at the front lines in finding ways for coaches and athletes of different cultures to—be they newcomers or aboriginals—be propelled rather than hindered by cultural differences.

Psychology becomes a critical advantage in a world where fractions of a second separate the medalists from the forgotten.

In future years, a deeper understanding of the multicultural dynamic of sports psychology could give Canada an edge over its international competitors, with our coaching staff benefitting from the lessons of other countries, just as Canada does as a nation.

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