Lab director
Dr. Kaleigh Pennock
Dr. Pennock (she/her) is the founder and director of the RISE Youth Sport Lab and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo. She holds dual Masters' degrees from Lund University and Leipzig University as part of the European Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology (EMSEP) program. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education with a concentration in sport psychology, and her postdoctoral training at Western University in the School of Kinesiology.
Her research interests lie in understanding constructions of risk, responsibility, and well-being in youth sport. Dr. Pennock’s work emphasizes the complex interplay of personal, social, and cultural factors that shape athletes’ experiences in sport and highlights the responsibility of sport leaders in safeguarding athletes and fostering positive development opportunities. Drawing from interdisciplinary perspectives concerning risk culture and informed by an intersectional and anti-racism lens, her research concentrates on 1) sport-related concussion and maltreatment; 2) risk and harm in community sport organizations; and 3) sport experiences for Black Canadian youth athletes.
Dr. Pennock is affiliated with the University of Waterloo's Community Sport Research Group and is a member of the Canadian Concussion Network (CCN), the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS), the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS), and the International Society of Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise (QRSE).
Research coordinator
Gabriela Estrada, Msc
Gabriela (Gaby) Estrada is a community-engaged scholar and practitioner whose work lies at the intersection of sport, equity, and belonging. She holds a Master of Science in Exercise Science from the University of Toronto, where her thesis explored the movement-based experiences of racialized women in Scarborough. As a first-generation Canadian with Guatemalan roots, Gaby’s research and advocacy are grounded in a commitment to amplifying the voices and lived experiences of equity-deserving communities in sport and physical activity.
Gaby currently serves as Executive Director of the Girls Forward Foundation (formerly Fast and Female), a national charity dedicated to empowering girls through sport, movement, and education. Since 2017, she has helped lead the organization’s transformation toward a more intersectional and inclusive approach to gender equity in sport. In addition to her leadership work, Gaby facilitates a grassroots girls’ soccer program in Scarborough, engaging over 400 girls since 2022 through culturally relevant and community-driven programming.
Her academic interests include intersectionality in sport and physical activity, community-based research methodologies, sport and social change, gender equity in sport, and the experiences of racialized and immigrant women in movement spaces.
Postdoctoral scholars
Dr. Braeden McKenzie
Dr. McKenzie (he/him) is a post-doctoral fellow within the RISE Youth Sport Lab. He received his MSc and PhD from the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto where his research focused on understanding the intersection of risk, risk communication and injury throughout diverse sport spaces. Shifting the lens of analysis for the so-called concussion crisis from dominant bio-medical perspectives to more critically grounded theory was a large objective across both of Braeden's graduate degrees.
Together with Dr. Pennock, Dr. McKenzie has developed extensive experience in employing critical qualitative methodologies to understanding risk and injury within sport settings. His work also centres the importance of identity, recognizing that risk and injury are not experienced in the same ways across diverse populations.
Undergraduate students
Kelly Dao
Kelly is a Kinesiology Co-op student at the University of Waterloo. Her research interests lie within the field of concussions, female experiences in sport and rehabilitation, and community sport on health and wellbeing. Outside of academics, you can find Kelly playing tennis and ultimate frisbee, finding new crafty projects, and hanging out with her dog.
Lab alumni
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Musabbiha Meghjee, REC 475 independent study.
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Project: South Asian women's sport and recreation experiences in Canada.
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