About Us
The Scott McCain & Leslie McLean Centre for Sport, Business and Health designs, enhances, and delivers socially responsible approaches to sport, business, and health. We seek to do this in three key areas: academic research and knowledge mobilization, community engagement and partnerships, and the Saint Mary’s University student experience.
Established as a Senate-approved Research Centre in May, 2010, the Scott McCain & Leslie McLean Centre for Sport, Business and Health facilitates and conducts research on sport, health and wellness. Under the leadership of Dr. Colin Howell, the McCain McLean Centre has had an active history. Its high profile conferences, Putting it on Ice (2012), the 41st annual meeting of the North American Society of Sport History (2013), and the “Thinking Outside the Box: Transnational Lacrosse Conference” (2014) have brought international recognition to the Centre. The Centre has been involved in various smaller symposia and lecture series on a continuing basis. In 2017 we were a co-sponsor of a student conference on the Philosophy of Sport organized by Dr. Lisa Gannett, and of an evening celebrating the all-black hockey line at Saint Mary’s (1970) and a screening of a documentary on black hockey, organized by Dr. John MacKinnon. We hosted the 10th anniversary of our renowned Hockey Conference in 2021, and in 2022, held a virtual talk with Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot and a panel of scholars and athletes to discuss his short film about Lusia Harris, The Queen of Basketball.
In addition to conferences, symposia and guest lectures, the Centre has an active visiting researcher program, including post-doctoral fellows and other academics active in sport and health research. Over the years we have hosted scholars from all over North America, Great Britain, and Europe (including Russia). The CSSH has also been active in community-oriented research initiatives at the local, national and international levels, including work with various sporting bodies such as Sport Nova Scotia, and a number of sport heritage agencies including Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame.
Our research projects address a range of concerns, from a SSHRC-supported study of sporting borderlands to work on mental resiliency and the development of mental health strategies for organizations. Within the University we have been especially committed to involving students in our activities, from conference planning to the development of our Here for Peers student mentoring program, the Healthy Teams project and the Student Athlete Mental Health Initiative. We are presently developing a Student Athletes Village initiative in collaboration with the Department of Athletics.
Finally, we were active participants in the establishment of a certificate program in Health, Wellness & Sport in Society in association with the Faculty of Arts, which offered its first course in the winter of 2018.
Quinn MacDonald
Operations Support Specialist
Quinn MacDonald graduated from Saint Mary's University in 2023, completing her Honours in Psychology and Certificate in Health, Wellness and Sport in Society. Her Honours thesis project investigated the relationship of team identity, and adaptive performance strategies and well-being among student athletes at Saint Mary's University under the supervision of Dr. Jim Cameron. Quinn is also an Open Championship level Irish Dancer. Throughout her Irish Dance career she has qualified and competed on the Regional, Canadian National, North American National and World stage in both solo and team performances under the direction of Rebecca Chapman and Laura Hopper at Rising Tide Irish Dance Academy. She has successfully completed all 12 grade examinations required to take the final examination to become a certified Irish dance teacher (TCRG). Quinn has also completed the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America (IDTANA) Traditional Set Proficiency Project. She has had the opportunity to perform locally with groups such as the Symphony Nova Scotia and Heather Rankin, the Chieftains, for the Charitable Irish Society and corporate events, as well as various community performances and festivals. Presently, Quinn is a coach with Rising Tide Irish Dance Academy and has been since 2018 and is still competing with the goal of returning to the World Championships of Irish dance as a soloist.
Cedric Ralph
Varsity Athlete Research Assistant
Cedric Ralph is in his 5th year at Saint Mary’s University, completing his Honours in Psychology while playing for the Men’s varsity Hockey team. His current research primarily focuses on athletes, and he has a particular interest in the roles of meditation, mindfulness, self-criticism, and self-compassion. Before coming to Saint Mary’s, Cedric spent four years in the Ontario Hockey League with the Guelph Storm. While in Guelph, he had the privilege of being a member of the 2019 OHL Championship team that competed in the Memorial Cup in Halifax. Throughout his hockey career, he’s played in the NHL Prospects Tournament with the Carolina Hurricanes, as well as attended development camp with the Florida Panthers. Concomitantly as a player, Cedric has spent his time as a skills coach training youth hockey players both in Halifax and in Peterborough, Ontario. In 2024, Cedric was awarded the Harry & Lily Rutte Award for Spirituality and the Workplace for his current work on his thesis, looking at the relationship between Buddhism and Psychology relative to peak performance among athletes. His desire to find skillful means and new approaches to athlete well-being and peak performance has granted him a full scholarship from the Mind and Life Institute to join their Summer Research Institute as an emerging participant, focused on the theme “Awakening Compassion in Times of Division: Breaking and Coming Together”. He aims to leverage his experience as a student-athlete, alongside a proficient team of researchers at the Scott McCain & Leslie McLean Centre for Sport, Business, and Health, to pave a path forward for individuals, cultures, and communities to mitigate human suffering and promote human flourishing.
Erin Denny
Varsity Athlete Research Assistant
Erin Denny is in her 5th year at Saint Mary's University, completing a Bachelor of Science with a major in Biology and part of the Health, Wellness and Sport in Society Certificate. She is from Eskasoni First Nation. Erin was a member of the consultation group for the Indigenous U SPORTS transitions research project led by Ryan Francis and Cheryl MacDonald. An Indigenous athlete herself and member of the Saint Mary's University varsity Women's Hockey team, Erin has joined the Scott McCain & Leslie McLean Centre for Sport, Business and Health as a research assistant working on the project design.
Kara MacLean
Varsity Athlete Research Assistant
Kara MacLean will be entering her 4th year at Saint Mary's University in the fall of 2024. She is completing her Bachelor degree in Psychology as well as a Certificate in Health, Wellness and Sport in Society, with the plan of doing her Honours in Psychology. Kara is also a member of the Women's varsity Hockey team at Saint Mary's University.
Marlo Steenbakkers
Varsity Athlete Research Assistant
Marlo Steenbakkers began her education at Saint Mary's University in 2019, completing a 4 year undergraduate degree in Biology, and is currently pursuing her Master's of Business Administration (MBA). Additionally, during her undergraduate degree she completed the Health, Wellness and Sport in Society courses necessary to earn the Certificate in Health, Wellness and Sport in Society, and is planning to obtain the Certificate in 2025. Marlo is a member of the Women's varsity Basketball team at Saint Mary's University. She is entering her 5th year of eligibility, and has won 2 AUS championships with the team during her career (2022-23 and 2023-24). Marlo will be continuing to play basketball in her 6th season.
Dr. Colin Howell
Founder, Retired
Dr. Colin Howell is a retired History professor and the founder of the Centre, which was first known as the Centre for the Study of Sport & Health at Saint Mary’s University. His teaching and research focused on the history of sport, medicine, and health in Canada. At Saint Mary’s, Dr. Howell was also a co-founder of the Atlantic Canada Studies undergraduate and graduate programs, the Gorsebrook Research Institute, and the Austin Willis Moving Images Research Centre. Dr. Howell has published widely in the field of sport and health studies, authoring Blood, Sweat and Cheers: Sport and the Making of Modern Canada (2001), Northern Sandlots (1995), a history of the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax and several edited collections. As of June 2020, Dr. Howell retired from his position with the Centre but will remain on the Advisory Board. We celebrated his 50 years at SMU during summer 2021 at the 10th anniversary of The Hockey Conference, which he founded at Saint Mary’s in 2001. Dr. Howell recently published a book called Hardscrabble Diamonds, Postwar Baseball in New England and the Maritimes, 1945-1960, with McFarland Press (2023).