OTTAWA, November 28, 2021 – As part of the 2021 National Kinesiology Week and the 2nd National Virtual Kinesiology Conference – the 2021 Kin Can Conference, presented by Hexfit, that took place from November 22 to 28, the Canadian Kinesiology Alliance announces the winners of the 2nd  Canadian Kinesiology Awards,  the leading national awards honoring excellence in kinesiology.

The Canadian Kinesiology Awards are awarded for outstanding achievement in Canada’s kinesiology industry. In 2020, they were in their inaugural year, and were established as a platform for kinesiology professionals to be recognized and celebrated for their talent, hard work, and success.

The Canadian Kinesiology Alliance (CKA) is pleased to recognize Canadian professionals for their achievements. The award will become a globally recognized symbol of excellence, as well as a powerful launching pad for careers, kinesiology clinics, and universities looking to establish themselves in a competitive marketplace.

The Canadian Kinesiology Alliance Awards are an acknowledgment by peers that the winners are among the very best in their field in the country. Awards were granted for outstanding achievement in the following categories: Kin of the Year, Researcher of the Year, Kinesiology Event of the Year and Best Speaker of the 2021 Kin Can Conference. A Jury evaluated the 24 nominations using a ranking system and consensus methods. The committee considered the process by which an initiative was undertaken, its outcomes and its compliance with the values, mission and vision statement of the CKA. The Jury included 5 people, different actors in the field of kinesiology such as kinesiologists, CKA Past Presidents and a member of CCUPEKA representing the researcher circle.

 

THE WINNERS

Concurrently, the 1st Kin Case Challenge was held on Nov. 27th 2021 in which four teams of students, mentors, Kinesiologists and researchers competed in resolving one kinesiology case.

The runner-up team was KinTellect From UBC, and the winning 1st place team was KinSync from Queen’s.

 

Event/Initiative of the Year

This event or initiative of the year award is given to any initiatives for raising awareness of kinesiology or for the advancement of kinesiology, or events which had significantly promoted kinesiology services or physical activity, wellness or lifestyle in an innovative way. The nominees for the event/initiative of year were the NLKA Kins on Health Accord, the OKA Start, Join, Lead the Movement, the University of Alberta Practicum and Case Competition, and three events from First Line Education, that is What Can I Do With My Kin Degree, the Kinpreneur Summit and the Kin Week 5 Day Challenge.

The Jury has given a special mention to NLKA for reaching high level influencers by putting Kinesiologists on Health Accord, a governmental group to work on a 10 year transformation of health services in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Now the winner
Based on feedback from a survey of OKA members, the idea for a targeted campaign to increase awareness and the use of kinesiologists in the insurance sector emerged. The OKA Board and Armstrong Strategy Group (ASG) undertook the development of the campaign process and materials that were designed for maximum impact,

By pivoting this campaign from a provincial campaign to a national campaign, the OKA and ASG have brought together all provincial kinesiology associations under the leadership of the CKA to deliver a common message that will benefit all kinesiologists

The Movement Campaign is intended to unify Canadian Kinesiologists under a single banner. By utilizing common messaging and design, we are ensuring that any outreach conducted in any province shares the same look and feel and similarities that will present a united front to insurance companies and benefit plan sponsors.

From a small beginning it has grown into a national campaign that has brought everyone together to push a common and unified message.

The winner for the 2021 Event/initiative of the year is Start, Join, Lead the Movement by the OKA Board of Directors and Armstrong Strategy Group along with all PKAs and CKA.  Accepting the prize was Jory Kettles, OKA President

 

Speaker of the Kin Can Conference

Best Speaker of Kin Can Conference is awarded to a presenter from the Kin Can Conference, who has demonstrated significant innovation, enthusiasm, interest, interaction and curiosity to participants. It is the only award of the night voted on by conference attendees. The nominees were Conny Glenn, John Gray, and Charmi Lad, Lora Giangregorio, Vanessa Ferreira , Hélène Thériault, Logan Harris, Kristen Parker, Nicole Hollohan, Michael Rosenblat, Levi Frehlich, and Scott Forbes.

For the presentation on  Resilience Through Exercise, the winner of the 2021 Speaker of the year Award is Logan Harris.

 

Researcher of the Year

The Researcher of the year award encompasses Professors, faculty members, or researchers who have demonstrated significant work to advance the science of kinesiology and competency in the field of kinesiology or a division of the field. The nominees were David Behm, and Trisha Scribbans.

Special mention is given to Trisha Scribbans for having been dedicated to specific research area, and doing great things with clients

For his "prolific"work in the last year,
with a career h-index of 74 (60 is considered exceptional), and over 25,000 citations, his research has been used to validate, initiate, and provide new ideas for research in the field that has positively impacted individuals internationally in the areas of rehabilitation, sport performance and basic exercise physiology (e.g., muscle fatigue). The many media requests for interviews illustrate that the research meets a need for further information from the public. His research has changed the static stretching paradigm (static stretching impairs performance), provided exercise recommendations with COVID restrictions, validated foam rolling effectiveness, examined and validated a variety of performance and training enhancement techniques, initiated and disseminated world leading information on non-local muscle fatigue, among other issues;

For his internationally and nationally recognition as a leader in kinesiology research providing relevant and novel research information in a variety of areas including sport science, rehabilitation, basic exercise physiology among others.

The winner for the 2021 Researcher of the year award is Dr. David Behm

 

Kinesiologist of the Year

The final award of the celebration was attributed to a kinesiologists, individual or team, who has demonstrated significant leadership, innovation, engagement, passion, and achievement in the field of kinesiology, physical activity, human kinetics, wellness, lifestyle, sports, and who has/is making positive, sustainable contributions  to help Canadians move better. The nominees were AJ Stephen, Dasha Maslennikova, Kevin Douillette, Spencer Raposo, Rebecca Ataman & Angela Perreira, and Jesse & Magan.

A special mention is given to AJStephen for being nominated by a client of 89 y.o. We salute you.

For making it all about hiring kins and only kins;

For being an outstanding professional in her field, growing a unique, kinesiology-only business by building a team of top notch kinesiologists;

For making a growing impact on the local population;

For having built a solid reputation within her local health network;

For overseeing a diverse team which is mostly female and includes immigrants, queer people and people of colour;

For her creativity, integrity, professionalism and accountability;

For advancing kinesiology by building a purpose built kinesiology studio and adding positions for kins and for creating jobs for kins;

The winner for the 2021 Kinesiologistn of the year award is Dasha Maslennikova from symmetrix.ca

Many congratulations to all winners, their commitment to bettering the field of kinesiology this year was evident in your continued efforts. Thank you for representing kinesiology with such esteem. Congratulations

The winners will receive recognition from the industry. They were celebrated at the closing ceremonies of the 2021 Kin Can Conference, and announced in  the CKA’s media: Canadian Kinesiology Awards press release, eNewsletter, websites, social media platforms. The Canadian Kinesiology Awards are included in the CKA Annual Report.

The winners will be profiled in the CKA eNewsletter, which is distributed across Canada to over 4800 affiliated Kinesiologists. The winning work will also be archived online in the Canadian Kinesiology Awards gallery on the CKA website.

This moment is sponsored by Human Kinetics who has been a great support of kinesiologists in  extraordinary in the field of professional development. I would like to extend my appreciation to Human Kinetics for supporting the Awards Celebrations tonight

Lastly, the Canadian Kinesiology Alliance is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Throughout the year, many events and milestone were highlighted.

 

THE CANADIAN KINESIOLOGY ALLIANCE

Kinesiologists are human-movement specialists. As trained health professionals, they use the science of exercise and movement to promote health and well-being; prevent, manage and rehabilitate chronic conditions; restore function and optimize human performance in the workplace, clinical settings, sports and fitness. They work with people of all ages and with physical abilities, in many settings, in order to improve the quality of life, often by using interventions that include physical activity.

The Canadian Kinesiology Alliance (CKA) is a non-profit corporation that advocates and promotes the advancement of the profession of kinesiology in Canada. The CKA strives to be recognized as the unifying voice for the profession of kinesiology in Canada and to have a positive impact on Canadians. On a national level, the CKA represents ten provincial kinesiology associations (PKAs) that are member associations and over 4,800 affiliated kinesiologists. The CKA establishes and promotes the standards of the profession across Canada.

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To find a kinesiologist, visit www.cka.ca.

To schedule an interview or for more information, contact: Sophie Allard, APR, AH!COM at 514 499-3030, ext. 771 or sa@ahcom.ca.