Award Winner

An Associate Professor at the Department of Sport Management at Brock University, Dr. Kyle Rich also holds positions as an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of New Brunswick, and as Special Graduate Faculty at the University of Guelph. He is also a research associate with the Niagara Community Observatory. His research focuses on a multitude of areas across the field, including rural sport development, recreation, and sport policy implementation  – all with a focus on participatory, community-based, and localized approaches.

With a background and academic training in kinesiology, Dr. Rich’s interdisciplinary scholarship demonstrates a commitment to engaging deeply with communities and community partners, emphasizing the need to understand the field from theory to practice, and how sport plays out on paper, in communities, and on the pitch. He writes extensively around underrepresented groups and their experiences in policy and programming, focusing on inclusion and exclusion.

His body of work includes over 30 peer-reviewed publications, 10 book chapters, and numerous contributions through scholarly presentations, organized events, editorial and adjudication services for journals, professional organizations, and funding agencies, bridging the gap between academia and practice. A recipient of numerous awards and recognitions in his career, including the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award (2024) at Brock University, and the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies Emerging Scholar Award (2022), Dr Rich has established himself as an emerging academic in the field.

In discussing the award and situating research in the field, Dr Rich says, “I think we could see a lot more local research on how policy is impacting different kinds of organisations, and how that changing policy is impacting the way sport for development is understood, or sport for development is being included in broader sport development systems or structures.”

The JSFD Early Career Scholar Award recognizes emerging researchers whose work meaningfully advances sport for development theory, practice, and community impact. The evaluation process was overseen by the JSFD Early Career Scholar Award Committee. All committee members reviewed each nomination. Any member of the award committee who declared a conflict of interest with a particular candidate was excluded from providing an evaluation for that candidate, and other committee members or additional evaluations were utilized to undertake the review process.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Rich on this well-earned recognition.