Articles by author: Brock University

• Perseverance paves the path to success, former Sabres coach tells Brock graduates

  Tuesday, June 10, 2025 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE – JUNE 10, 2025 – R0072

  When Ted Nolan wanted to learn how to play hockey as a young child, he made his own ice rink — one pail of water at a time.

  It was a trying task, taking what seemed like 1,000 trips across the backyard, with his eight-year-old gait causing spills along the way.

  Each step counted. Each drop mattered. And driven by determination, Nolan’s fresh ice came to be.

  The rink was born from perseverance. It is where Nolan, who would go on to play for the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins and coach the Buffalo Sabres, would learn to play the sport that would change his life.

  The celebrated former National Hockey League (NHL) player and coach encouraged Brock’s graduating class to embrace that same “no-quit” attitude while delivering the Convocation address on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 10. As part of Brock’s 117th Convocation, Nolan was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University in recognition of his work inspiring youth in sport and giving back to Indigenous communities across Canada.

  Born and raised on Garden River First Nation to a family of 12, Nolan spoke candidly about his family’s struggles.

  Living in a house with no electricity or indoor plumbing, he learned to make the most of what he had.

  This included his first pair of skates — three sizes too big — which were the perfect fit when rubber boots were added as their liner.

  Each challenge was an opportunity to keep his father’s sage advice close to heart — and he hoped Brock’s graduates would do the same: “You don’t have to have the best to be the best. The only thing you have to do is give your best.”

  Nolan would use that drive and his refusal to quit to propel his success in the world of hockey.

  When he faced systemic racism in the sport he loved so dearly, he pushed forward, refusing to let the hurtful actions of others change his course.

  Nolan would go on to lead teams to championships, coach the Latvian national team at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, and earn the Jack Adams Award (1996-97), which named him the league’s Coach of the Year during his time with the Sabres.

  But those accomplishments did not come without their challenges.

  “Life throws you curveballs,” Nolan said while reflecting on the dark days that followed both the career-ending injury that took him off the ice at 26 and his departure as an NHL coach many years later.

  But hard work — and the support of family — helped him to find a new path.

  He has since founded the Ted Nolan Foundation, which has raised millions of dollars for scholarships benefiting Indigenous women across Canada. Alongside his two sons, he is also co-founder and President of 3Nolans, an organization providing hockey skills development training for Indigenous youth in First Nation communities across Canada.

  While you may not know how life is going to work out, you can have faith that giving your all will take you wherever you strive to go, Nolan said to Brock’s graduates.

  From June 10 to 13, about 3,800 graduands from seven Faculties will receive their degrees as part of Brock’s 117th Convocation. All ceremonies take place in the Ian Beddis Gymnasium of Brock’s Walker Sports Complex and will be livestreamed online at brocku.ca/livestream

  For more information and the full schedule of Brock’s Spring Convocation, visit brocku.ca/convocation

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

  *Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 289-241-5483

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock-led research seeks to prevent child deaths on farms

  Friday, June 06, 2025 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE – JUNE 6, 2025 – R0071

  William Pickett is still haunted by stories he’s read while studying farm fatalities over the past three decades.

  From children killed by farming equipment to toddlers who have drowned on expansive properties, the tragic cases have lingered on the mind of the Brock University Professor of Health Sciences.

  “You go into the coroner’s office, and you get a bunch of files of all the deaths on farms,” Pickett says. “Included in those is a large stack of children and toddlers. Most of the kids who are being killed are preschoolers. It’s sad — they can be really vulnerable.”

  Supported by a Project Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Pickett and his national research team are studying farm environments to better understand factors contributing to child death and major injury.

  Through various records, researchers have insight into the deaths of more than 500 children killed on farms in the past 30 years as well as “10 times as many” children seriously injured, Pickett says. But less is known about farm culture and the deeper reasons why these tragedies occur or what can be done to standardize safety protocols, especially within farm family units.

  Knowledge about farming culture and social norms may help to develop injury prevention programs that will be adopted by the farming community, Pickett says. In the past, top-down approaches from public health and medical communities haven’t worked consistently, so a new method is needed, he adds.

  “Farms are generally independent businesses where the workplace and home are often one, so a lot of occupational health and safety rules available to other industries can’t be applied,” he says.

  Added to that challenge is society’s tendency to view incidents as isolated “freak accidents,” often leading to no further investigation as “everyone has suffered enough and there is nothing to be done,” says Pickett.

  Pickett’s team, which includes Brock Associate Professor of Health Sciences Valerie Michaelson and researchers from the Universities of Saskatchewan and Alberta, will conduct in-depth interviews with 80 people from four groups: teens living on farms, owner-operators who are parents, young adults who grew up on farms, and rural health-care and safety professionals.

  The focus of these interviews is to explore social norms, traditions, beliefs and practices underpinning farm work and life. These would include how children are supervised as they learn about, and contribute to, farm operations, the extent to which they’re protected from risks they might be exposed to, and how farming communities view outside protocols and safety measures.

  The research team will then code and analyze injury reports from across Canada to document the connection between social norms and injury events. They aim to map out how often and why injuries occur, who is at most risk and — from a grassroots perspective — what can be done to address norms that put children at highest risk.

  “Respect for the perspectives of the farm community and our study participants is central to our plans,” says Pickett. “Our hope is to develop a new, and badly needed, knowledge base that supports innovative, evidence-based strategies to prevent these unacceptable tragedies.”

  The Government of Canada’s CIHR Project Grant Program supports research with the greatest potential to advance health-related fundamental or applied knowledge, health research, health care, health systems and/or health outcomes.

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  *Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 289-241-5483

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  Categories: Media releases