Current Students

Siobhan Henderson (PhD5) 

Hometown:
Saint-Hubert, Quebec

Degrees:

• BSc in Kinesiology, McGill University
• MA in Kinesiology and Physical Education, Specialization in Sport Psychology, McGill University

Current Degree:

• PhD (in progress) Sport Psychology, McGill University

Funding:

• Bloom, G. A., & Henderson, S. Evaluation of the Talk Today program delivered in a hybrid format to elite adolescent male hockey players and their support staff. Funded by the Mitacs Accelerate Program and Canadian Mental Health Association (Ontario), 2023–2024.
• Recipient of the Dan Q. Marisi Award in the Department of Kinesiology & Physical Education at McGill University, 2023.
• Recipient of the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC) Doctoral Scholarship, 2022–2026.
• Recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s, 2019.
• Recipient of the Graduate Excellence Award in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education at McGill University, 2018, 2020.
• Recipient of the Cooke Fellowship in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education at McGill University, 2018.

Research Interests:
The research for my master’s degree explored the desired coaching behaviours during competitions of six Canadian national team springboard and platform divers. Among our findings, athletes perceived their coaches to play a crucial role in facilitating their performance during competition, which included helping them to direct their attention, prevent doubt from settling in, and manage their emotions. However, athletes discussed certain emotions and behaviours of the coach that negatively affected their mood and performance. Consequently, the nature of high-performance coaching requires individuals who can manage various challenging situations with their athletes and their collective team, while ensuring that their own emotional and psychological states are at optimal levels to operate effectively under these numerous pressures. Some of these demands include job insecurity, long hours, high workload, traveling, media pressure, team performance, and player satisfaction. Collectively, this can affect an athlete’s performance and a coach’s mental health. To date, the majority of research on mental health and well-being in elite sport has focused on athletes. The lack of research on the mental health of elite coaches is surprising given that several international consensus statements have identified the important role of coaches in safeguarding the mental health of their athletes (Breslin et al., 2019; Moesch et al., 2018; Reardon et al., 2019; Van Slingerland et al., 2019). The closest line of research is coach burnout, which has found that coaches can experience burnout and exhaustion as a result of various stressors that make up their job. Additionally, coaches have historically suppressed the symptoms of burnout to avoid being perceived as vulnerable or weak in the elite sport context. Given their reluctance to disclose and seek help for experiencing psychological distress, it seems reasonable that similar thoughts and behaviours may exist with regard to their own mental health issues. Therefore, the focus of my doctoral research is to gain a better understanding of mental health in elite sport from the perspective of the coach and to provide recommendations to better support them in this high-pressure environment. We hope this program of research will contribute to helping coaches cope with the demands of their profession to ensure their own mental health and well-being.

About me:
My interest in sport psychology stemmed from my background in competitive sport as a national level springboard diver and my experience as a youth sport coach. In particular, the coaches that I have had over the course of my athletic career have been instrumental in my development and diving success. As a result, I have been the recipient of the “Trophée Philippe Comptois” awarded by Diving Québec to an athlete who demonstrated perseverance and tenacity in the face of adversity as well as the “Ripple Effect Athlete Award” by Diving Canada, which is given to an athlete who is a positive role model and whose actions, ideals and values have impacted others in a positive way. My background in diving and coaching led me to become increasingly interested in the coach’s role in facilitating successful performances in sport. For these reasons, I decided to pursue a doctoral degree in sport psychology, specializing in high-performance coaching, to further understand what it takes for coaches to be at their best in a demanding environment, subsequently allowing them to optimize athlete development and performance.

Publications:

Henderson, S., Alexander, D., Bloom, G. A., & Jowett, S. (2024). The coach-athlete relationship in high-performance sport: A behavioural perspective. In V. Girginov & M. Sarkar (Eds.), Routledge resources online: Sport studies. Routledge.  Preview

Henderson, S., Bloom, G.A., & Heath, N.L. (under review). Ice hockey coaches’ perceptions of their role in supporting athlete mental health.   

Lefebvre, J. S., Henderson, S., Salomie, A., Heath, N. L., & Bloom, G. A. (2023). A mixed-methods examination of a mental health awareness program in elite ice hockey. International Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 21(3), 557–578.  Preview

Henderson, S., Bloom, G.A., & Alexander, D. (2022). Desired coaching behaviours of elite divers during competition. International Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 20 (6), 1777-1794.  Preview

Marc Glaude (PhD2) 

Hometown:
Montreal, Quebec

Degrees:

• BSc in Physical and Health Education, Université de Montréal
• MA in Kinesiology and Physical Education, Specialization in Sport Psychology, McGill University

Current Degree:

• PhD (in progress) Sport Psychology, McGill University

Research Interests:
My master’s thesis research explored professional athletes’ perspectives of the group dynamics in gridiron football. Among our findings, players perceived several impediments to cohesion that were specific to the professional sports context, such as high roster turnover and players being perceived as commodities by management. Furthermore, the participants described assistant coaching factors that fostered group cohesion, such as open-mindedness and adaptability. Unlike previous studies on assistant coaching in University football (Rathwell et al. 2014; Sinotte et al., 2015), this study was one of the first to include an elite sample of professional athletes who provided their perspectives on the contextual factors that influenced group dynamics in a professional sport team. Considering that effective coaching, including improving team dynamics, is context dependent (Côté & Gilbert, 2009), further investigations in professional sports can contribute to improving athlete outcomes, such as improved performance and satisfaction. As such, the goal of my doctoral research is to expand the body of literature on group dynamics in professional sports, specifically by providing the perspectives of other stakeholders, such as assistant coaches, head coaches, and general managers. While certain components of group dynamics in professional sport are known (Carron et al., 2002; Filho et al., 2014), there is little descriptive evidence about how they are influenced by the professional environment and its group members. Therefore, this area of research can help researchers, applied practitioners, and professional sport personnel better understand how to improve individual and team outcomes in professional sports, such as player satisfaction and team success.

About me:
My interest in sport began at a young age. I participated in many youth team sports and particularly excelled in football. As a result, I was provided with the opportunity to play on the University of Montreal varsity football team as an offensive lineman while pursuing my studies in physical and health education. Following my undergraduate degree, I was selected by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 2017 CFL entry draft. During my first professional training camp, injuries kept me off the field and I chose to end my athletic career. However, I still wanted to remain involved in football, and coaching was the next logical step. Since 2018, I have been an Assistant Coach with the McGill University football team where I am responsible for the offensive line unit and the team's mental performance. From my above-mentioned experience, I have observed that coaches not only play a central role in athletic and personal development, but they also have a significant influence on the dynamics of the groups they coach. Therefore, I have decided to pursue a doctoral degree in sport psychology with the main objective of increasing my understanding of effective coaching strategies to improve team dynamics.

Publications:

Glaude, M., Bloom, G. A., & Martin, L. J. (2024). An in-depth exploration of a positional subgroup in professional sport. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 36(2), 320–341.  Preview

Clarke, H., Bloom, G. A., & Glaude, M. (in progress). Exploring coaching practices in professional tennis.

Claudia Zeppetelli (PhD1) 

Hometown:
Montreal, Quebec

Degrees:

• MA in Psychological Basis of Kinesiology, Western University
• BSc in Kinesiology, McGill University

Current Degree:

• PhD (in progress) Sport Psychology, McGill University

Funding:

• Recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master's, 2024.

Research Interests:
Research has explored the various barriers that women in elite sport encounter, such as a lack of equality, underrepresentation, and limited resources (Andrijiw & Pink, 2024; Taylor et al., 2023). Given the precarious nature of working in elite women’s sport, scholars have become increasingly interested in the mental health and well-being of elite female athletes and coaches (Burillo et al., 2024; Perry et al., 2021). For example, elite female coaches often partake in invisible, unpaid work (Sveinson et al., 2022) that can negatively influence their mental health (Carson et al., 2018). Furthermore, elite female athletes may be more likely to experience interpersonal conflict, financial challenges, and discrimination than their male counterparts, which can decrease their mental health and well-being (Walton et al., 2021). As such, the primary aim of my doctoral research is to expand the knowledge on elite female athletes and coaches’ mental health and well-being. To do so, my first study will explore the well-being and perceived barriers of former dual career professional female ice hockey players. Findings from this study can provide information on how the professional women’s sport environment influences athlete well-being. My second study will explore elite coaches’ perspectives of how they foster well-being within coach-athlete relationships, including gender differences between male and female coaches. Finally, after focusing on athlete well-being in the first two studies, the third study will prioritize the coach through the creation and delivery of a mental health intervention for elite female coaches. Taken together, this proposed area of research can help scholars, athletes, and coaches better understand mental health and well-being within elite women’s sport, including strategies to maintain personal well-being for elite female athletes and coaches. With more attention brought to this subject, it is possible that athletes and coaches can learn to grow and sustain their well-being to cope with the stressors of their role(s).

About me:
Nearing the completion of my bachelor's degree, I discovered a profound interest in sport psychology; I was particularly drawn to the psychological factors influencing sport performance. This led me to Western University's Psychological Basis of Kinesiology graduate program, where I immersed myself in subjects such as sport leadership, body image in sport, and exercise and sport psychology. The topic of women in sport was salient throughout my two years at Western, and I found myself not only connecting to the content but wanting to pursue it further. In addition, my personal experiences in team sports such as soccer and competitive dance, coupled with both positive and negative psychological influences from coaches and teammates, further fueled my desire to explore this field. In particular, I am planning to study and learn more about elite athlete and coach mental health and well-being. From an applied standpoint, I am currently interning with the McGill Men’s Hockey Team as a mental performance consultant. Being able to pursue research and applied work through the McGill Sport Psychology Research Lab helps enirch my competencies as a graduate researcher and mental performance practitioner.

Publications:

Zeppetelli, C., & Bloom, G. A. (in progress). Exploring well-being and perceived barriers of former dual career professional female ice hockey players.

Christopher Cinelli-Faia (MA3) 

Hometown:
Montreal, Quebec

Degrees:

• BA in Physical and Health Education, McGill University

Current Degree:

• MA (in progress) Sport Psychology, McGill University

Funding:

• Recipient of the Wilkinson Award in the Department of Kinesiology & Physical Education at McGill University, 2023.
• Recipient of the Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master's, 2021.
• Recipient of the 1938 Champions Award, 2022.
• Recipient of the Jean Béliveau Award, 2023.

Research Interests:
Coaching psychology and team cohesion

About me:
Growing up, I participated in many different sports, but I always had a strong passion for soccer. My sport involvement provided me with a diverse array of life skills, such as resilience, accountability, and leadership. My passion for physical activity and sport continued into my post-secondary education where I studied physical and health education and represented McGill in Men's Soccer as a goalkeeper for four years. During my time as a goalkeeper for the Redbirds, I discovered that mental skills greatly benefit athlete performance and well-being, which led me to pursue a graduate degree in sport psychology. Generally, my thesis is centered on coaching and athlete leadership, and more specifically, it explores how University soccer coaches involve athlete leaders in the integration of first-year athletes. Currently, I am employed full-time as a Goalkeeper Coach at the CF Montréal Academy, where I work with the Reserve team for the men’s side, as well as the U16 and U18 teams for the women’s side. Additionally, I served as the Goalkeeper Coach and Mental Performance Consultant (in training) for the U15 Canadian Girls National Team during the 2024 CONCACAF Championship.

Adam Pilotte (MA2) 

Hometown:
Châteauguay, Québec

Degrees:

• BA in Physical and Health Education, McGill University

Current Degree:

• MA (in progress) Sport Psychology, McGill University

Funding: 

• Recipient of the Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master's, 2023.

Research Interests:
Coach-athlete relationship and coach leadership 

About me:
Growing up, I always enjoyed sports, and I particularly developed an unwavering passion for the game of hockey. My involvement in hockey helped me develop valuable life skills, such as goal setting, leadership, and perseverance. In part, these skills enabled me to compete at high levels, including in U SPORTS, where I spent 5 years playing with the McGill Redbird men’s hockey team. During my playing career, I also developed a keen interest in coaching, which partially led me to pursue an undergraduate degree in physical and health education. Furthermore, I attended multiple hockey coaching conferences to learn more about effective coaching practices. Taken together, these interests motivated me to pursue a graduate degree in sport psychology, where my research explores head coaches’ perspectives on the coach-athlete relationship in the unique context of the National Hockey League. My ultimate goal is to translate this knowledge into helping me become a world class ice hockey coach.

Rachael Manning (MA2) 

Hometown:
Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia

Degrees:

• BSc (Hons) in Psychology, Acadia University

Current Degree:

• MA (in progress) Sport Psychology, McGill University

Funding: 

• Recipient of the Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master's, 2023.

Research Interests:
Coaching psychology and athlete mental health

About me:
For as long as I can remember, I have always had a strong interest and passion for sport. Growing up as a competitive athlete in both soccer and ringette helped me acquire fundamental life skills such as discipline and resilience, in addition to gaining some of my closest friendships to this day. After ending my journey as a competitive athlete during my undergraduate degree, I wanted to find a new purpose in sport using my personal experiences and knowledge. It was then that my passion for sport transferred over to my studies and led me to complete my honours thesis, with a focus on support for elite athletes’ mental health. This study opened my eyes to the growing field of research in sport and inspired me to pursue a graduate degree in sport psychology, where my research interests are centered on the experiences of professional women coaches. Through my research, I hope to gain insight into the career development of successful women coaches and give voice to women coaches who can serve as role models for other women in the industry.

Callie Vaudry (MA1) 

Hometown:
Hamilton, Ontario

Degrees:

• BA in Psychology, Youngstown State University

Current Degree:

• MA (in progress) Sport Psychology, McGill University

Research Interests:
Athlete mental health, resilience, and coaching

About me:
I have had an extensive passion and involvement in sports from a young age, including skating before age two to playing elite ice hockey and lacrosse. My journey toward a master's degree in sport psychology has been profoundly shaped by my experiences as a Division I lacrosse player in the United States. While pursuing my undergraduate degree at Youngstown State University, I suffered two serious knee injuries, which both required surgery and extensive rehabilitation. My recovery periods included intense physical and mental challenges. These experiences ignited my passion for understanding the psychological aspects of sport performance, recovery, and the role of a coach in helping athletes overcome multiple barriers. Pursuing a master's degree in sports psychology at McGill will enable me to research the effects of coach-athlete relationships on resilience and the importance of mental health in sport performance.

Alexandre Gagnon (MA1) 

Hometown:
Gatineau, Quebec

Degrees:

• BA in Physical and Health Education, McGill University

Current Degree:

• MA (in progress) Sport Psychology, McGill University

Funding:

• Recipient of the Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master's, 2024.

Research Interests:
Coaching effectiveness and leadership

About me:
From a young age, my passion for sports has been a central part of my life, especially my love for hockey, a sport that tremendously helped me develop my character as a person and interact with many coaches and teammates who have been instrumental in my development. Thanks in large part to these mentors, I became particularly interested in teaching, promoting, and enacting healthy lifestyle habits, which motivated me to complete an undergraduate degree in Physical and Health Education at McGill University, all the while playing for the McGill Redbirds hockey team. During my time with the McGill Redbirds, I have interacted with remarkable people, while also assuming various leadership roles within the team. In fact, I am honoured to have won the Dr. Randy Gregg award in U Sports men’s hockey in 2023-2024. This award is presented annually to reward student-athlete excellence and is based on outstanding achievement in ice hockey, academics, leadership, and community involvement. Specific to leadership, I am particularly intrigued by transformational leaders/coaches who not only drive their teams toward excellence but also support student-athletes on a personal level, helping them to become the best versions of themselves. I am therefore pursuing a graduate degree in sport psychology in which I plan to explore players’ experiences with and perceptions of effective coaching practices. It is my hope that this study will contribute to the development of holistic coaching methods that simultaneously improve team performance and student-athlete personal growth.