Research on implications of social distancing in athletics receives grant

Congratulations to Dr. Derek Silva, Assistant Professor of Criminology, who has received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Engage Grant of $24, 246 for a study, “COVID-19, Serious Leisure, and Risk Tolerance: A case study of a crossfit gym.” Dr. Silva has teamed with Dr. Dale Spencer of Carleton University to study identity, loss, and risk tolerance as the world returns to sport in the post-COVID-19 world.

“We are trying to make sense of how people have to cope (and continue to cope) with the abrupt and prolonged loss of sport in their daily lives,” says Dr. Silva.

Dr. Silva will explore the implications of social and physical distancing on people’s lives related to going to the gym. The project will focus on the impact of the continued absence of leisure activities that are central their identity, sense of self and community, health and risk tolerance. The project aims to provide insights into the real affects that COVID-19 has on people in relation to the physical and mental well-being and the importance of sport.

Drs. Silva and Spencer will explore how intense leisure like crossfit, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) or strength conditioning where participants’ identity is often intertwined with their athletic endeavours, the abrupt loss of that identity-forming activity during quarantine affected them and how they are navigating their return to sport in light of COVID-19. They will also study how people regard their sense of risk tolerance or how much risk they will take on to get back to their activities. 

“We are looking to uncover some of the most important characteristics of ritualized sport that matter to participants,” says Dr. Silva. The project has become much bigger than anticipated. Initially, the research was to be undertaken through one single crossfit gym (or “box”), Bytown Crossfit in Ottawa, but the list of partners have grown to include gyms in Toronto, London, and Calgary with more possibly to come. “It has become a really huge project that will go one beyond this SSHRC Grant,” says Dr. Silva.

“These are the questions we are trying to grapple with so that, perhaps, we can be better prepared for the next pandemic,” says Dr. Silva.

Drs. Silva and Spencer have had a long-standing interest in collaborating on a project related to sport and sporting culture. They share a mutual interest in the social dynamics of rituals associated with sport (how rituals are formed during interactions with sport), in identity construction, and risk tolerance. Both also have a particular interest in studying heavily ritualized sport, like crossfit and MMA.

“Naturally, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Engage Grant Special COVID-19 initiative represented a perfect opportunity to collaborate in our shared interests,” says Dr. Silva.

For more information, please visit https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/results-resultats/recipients-recipiendaires/2020/peg-jun2020-covid19-eng.aspx