Welcome to the Risk, Injury, Safety, and Equity (RISE) Youth Sport Lab

Dr. Kaleigh Pennock and the RISE Youth Sport Lab, in partnership with Brock University and Black Girl Hockey Club, hosted Telling Our Stories: Black Girls and Women in Hockey at MLSE LaunchPad in Toronto on May 3, 2026. The event brought together more than 40 Black girls and women from across the Greater Toronto Area for a day of hockey, creative activities, and discussion focused on identity, representation, and inclusion in sport.

Participants took part in hockey skills sessions led by Coach Abbah Copeland, creative activities, and facilitated conversations about their experiences in the game. The event also featured guest speakers Angela James, Jam Gamble, and Simone Saunders, who shared personal reflections on creating space for Black girls and women in hockey. Insights from the event will help inform future research, resources, and recommendations to support more equitable and inclusive hockey environments across Canada. Learn more by visiting our project page!

Photo by Dan Harbridge. From left to right: Dr. Tunisha Singleton, Dr. Janelle Joseph, Angela James, Renee Hess, Dr. Kaleigh Pennock

RISE Lab Director Dr. Kaleigh Pennock presented research from our Black Hair & Belonging project at the 10th International Conference on Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise (QRSE), hosted by the University of Toronto in May 2026.

The presentation, Black Girls’ Hairstories: Untangling Black Hair, Inclusion, and Belonging in Sport and Recreation, explored how Black girls navigate sport and recreation spaces through their experiences with hair, identity, belonging, and self-expression.

The Black Hair & Belonging project explored how Black girls in Canada experience sport and recreation through the lens of hair, identity, belonging, and self-expression. Using interviews and autophotography, the research centered participants' hairstories to better understand the connections between culture, community, exclusion, joy, and resistance.

We are proud to see this work shared with an international audience and to contribute to ongoing conversations about creating more inclusive sport and recreation environments for Black girls and women!

Learn more about the Black Hair & Belonging project by clicking here.

From left to right: Dr. Braeden McKenzie, Dr. Lynda Mainwaring, Dr. Kaleigh Pennock

Congratulations to Kelly Dao and Mathusiga Sivakumar, undergraduate students in the RISE Youth Sport Lab, on their recent conference presentations.

At the Eastern Canadian Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium (ECSEPS) in Niagara Falls, Kelly presented original research examining media discourses concerning women athletes and sport-related concussions. This presentation identified key themes regarding the identity, legitimacy, and strength of women as athletes related to their concussion experiences. A great opportunity presenting at a graduate-level conference! 

Kelly and Mathusiga presented their work at the Bertha Rosenstadt National Undergraduate Research Conference hosted at the University of Toronto.  Kelly presented on the evolution of media narratives for women and sport-related concussions across two time period (2010-2018 and 2019-2025). This work emphasized a shift in the coverage of women’s concussions, from the need to ‘protect’ women from concussions, to ‘heroic’ tales of redemption that underscore problematic narratives concerning gender, injury, and sport ethic. Mathusiga (Mathu) presented on concussion education materials within Ontario sport organizations under Rowan’s law legislation. This work highlighted how existing concussion education materials lack sport-specific contexts or adequate athlete diversity or representation, and as such, may be limited in their effectiveness to support athlete decision making concerning concussion. Incredible work by these two promising scholars, congratulations!