CoASTaL lab

Welcome to the Community Active Sport Training and Learning (CoASTaL) Lab of Cape Breton University. This Lab is funded by the Canadian Foundation and Research Nova Scotia for Innovation as an initiative with Dr. Bettina Callary’s Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Sport Coaching and Adult Learning. Her research program themes encompass various projects in understanding effective coaching approaches of specific populations of athletes as well as coach development:

  1. Coach developers/coach development strategies; 
  2. Psychosocial understanding of inclusive coaching:
    • Coaching Masters Athletes; 
    • S&C coach development; 
    • Women coaches; 
    • Holistic coaching of high-performance athletes;
    • Indigenous coaches

Room bookings

The CoASTaL lab research facility has two rooms available for bookings. These are spaces catered to research-focused initiatives. More information and details can be found through the following booking button.

Book a room

Current Group

Bettina Callary
Canada Research Chair in Sport Coaching and Adult Learning and an Associate Professor, Cape Breton University (CBU). View recent publications.

The faculty of the CoASTaL lab are mostly affiliated with the Sport and Physical Activity Leadership Program at CBU.

Simon Barrick
Assistant professor, Department of Experiential Studies in Community and Sport, CBU.

  • Teare, G., Potwarka, L., Bakhsh, J., Barrick, S., & Kaczynski, A. (2021). Hosting the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and wellbeing among Canadian youth. European Sport Management Quarterly. 21(5), 636-657. DOI: 10.1080/16184742.2021.1942124
  • Barrick, S., Bridel, W., & Bard Miller, J. (2021). Striving for newcomer inclusion: A critical analysis of Canadian Intro to Sport programs. Leisure/Loisir. 45(1), 1-34. DOI: 10.1080/14927713.2021.1872406
  • Rose, V., Barrick, S., & Bridel, W. (2021). “Pretty tough and pretty hard”: An intersectional analysis of krump on So You Think You Can Dance. Journal of Dance Education. 21(4), 236-246. DOI: 10.1080/15290824.2020.1738014
    Project Titles:
  • Exploring the lived experiences of newcomers to Canada in introductory winter sport programs
  • Two-eyed seeing when leading a Mi’kmaq surf program
  • Building diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) capacity in Canadian curling
  • Sporting old age: Why age representation matters in sport

Allison Jeffrey
Assistant professor, Department of Experiential Studies in Community and Sport, CBU.

  • Markula, P., Jeffrey, A., Nikolai, J., & Deol, S. (2023). Becoming an Affirmative Community: Mature dancers’ experiences in an age-aware contemporary dance class. In Dance On! (pp. 151-163). Routledge.
  • Jeffrey, A., & Thorpe, H. (2023). Relational Ethics of Care in Pandemic Research: Vulnerabilities, Intimacies, and Becoming Together-Apart. Qualitative Inquiry, 10778004231163497.
  • Thorpe, H., Jeffrey, A., Fullagar, S., & Pavlidis, A. (2023). Reconceptualizing women’s wellbeing during the pandemic: Sport, fitness and more-than-human connection. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 47(1), 3-35.

Colin McLaren
Assistant professor, Department of Experiential Studies in Community and Sport, CBU.

  • Schertzinger, M., McLaren, C. D., Simard, M., Fransen, K., & Bruner, M. W. (2023). Using the Social Identity Approach to Understand Pro-Social and Anti-Social Moral Behaviour Toward Teammates in Competitive Youth Soccer. Journal of Exercise, Movement, and Sport (SCAPPS refereed abstracts repository), 54(1).
  • McLaren, C. D., Bruner, M. W., Murata, A., Martin, L. J., & Côté, J. (2022). Sampling and Specialising in Children’s Sport: Implications for Research and Coaching Practice. Routledge Handbook of Coaching Children in Sport, 293-302.
  • Balish, S. M., McLaren, C., Rainham, D., & Blanchard, C. (2014). Correlates of youth sport attrition: A review and future directions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 15(4), 429-439.

Shaun Ranni
Assistant professor, Department of Experiential Studies in Community and Sport, CBU.

  • LeVatte, L., Phillips, C., O’Rourke, K., & Ranni, S. (2023, September). Professionalism & Leadership Development in Ice Hockey: Understanding Social Emotional Learning Experiences of Coaches in Atlantic Canada. In Linköping Hockey Analytics Conference (pp. 12-24).

Sarah Arseneau
Research Assistant – The effect of physical activity on cognitive and social outcomes in older adults at risk of dementia

David Ogbuah
Cape Breton University Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach

John Hudec
Assistant professor, Department of Experiential Studies in Community and Sport, CBU.

Bradley Sheppard
Black and African Canadian student support advisor, Nova Scotia Community College, Marconi Campus.

  • Diversity training.

Catalina Belalcazar
Ph.D. Student, University of Ottawa
Undergraduate Project: Playing Naturally: A Cape Breton Naturalized Playground Case Study
Masters Project: Personalized coach education for Masters football coaches in Ibagué, Colombia

  • Belalcazar, C., & Callary, B. (2022). Coach Developers on a Masters Football Coach Development Programme in Colombia. In T. M. Leeder (Ed.), Coach Education in Football: Contemporary Issues and Global Perspectives. Routledge. Submitted.
  • Callary, B., Belalcazar, C., Rathwell, S., & Young, B. W. (2021). The Way Ahead for Coaching Masters Athletes. In B. Callary, Young, B. W., & Rathwell, S. (Eds.), Coaching Masters Athletes: Advancing research & practice in adult sport. Routledge.
  • Belalcazar, C., & Callary, B. (2020). Coaching Masters Athletes in Colombia. International Sport Coaching Journal, 8(1), 113-121. https://doi.org/10.1123/iscj.2020-0058

Kimberley Eagles
Bachelor of Arts Community Studies with Honours in Psychology, Cape Breton University
Undergraduate Project: Exploring disciplinary practices of Masters sport 

  • Eagles, K. & Callary, Bettina. (2020). Goal setting in masters sport: An autoethnography of a masters kettlebell athlete and coach. Journal of Sport Pedagogy and Research. https://doi.org/10.47863/RPAR9358
  • Gearity, B., Callary, B., Szedlak, C., & Eagles, K. (Under review). Defining psychosocial strength and conditioning coaching competencies: A qualitative participatory action research approach. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Keigan Nicholson
Student, Cape Breton University
Project Title: Two-eyed seeing in coaching: Implications for culturally sensitive Indigenous coach education

Current Associated

Brian Gearity, Director & Assistant Professor Sport, S&C, and Fitness Coaching. Director of MA in Sport Coaching at the University of Denver

Doug Lionais, Associate Professor, Cape Breton University: title of project: The social and economic impacts of sport resorts in post-industrial communities

Steven Rynne, Associate Professor, University of Queensland

Christoph Szedlak, Ph.D., University of Southampton

Matthew Smith, Senior Lecturer, University of Winchester

Clayton Kuklick, Assistant Professor, University of Denver

Beth Barz, Ph.D. student, Queen’s University