Kennedy brings new approach to Athletics

It was a crisp morning in December when Michael Kennedy clipped into his skis at his first cross country ski race. That was more than 20 years ago, and it was a day that ignited a passion for athletics that would take him on both a personal and professional journey.

Kennedy began racing competitively at a young age. While cross country skiing was his first love, he soon began competing in a relatively new sport at the time - triathlon.

"There wasn't much interest in triathlons back then," said Kennedy. "There was a small, core group of guys who would train and race together, but it wasn't the phenomenon it is today."

Over the years, Kennedy wanted more out of sport than just racing. He began coaching a young group of cross country skiers from Edmonton Nordic, took on the role of technical director for Cross Country Alberta, and became a wax technician for one of the largest ski and wax distributors in Canada.

Although Kennedy worked and played in the industry, it wasn't enough. He wanted to know more about the science behind sport performance, a curiosity that earned him a BPE and an MSc in exercise physiology.

"From there I decided to tackle a PhD in Rehabilitation Science. I wanted to gain a new perspective on how exercise science could be utilized in a rehabilitation setting to effect significant change on health outcomes of clinical populations."

After graduating last June, Kennedy landed a position in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the U of A as Assistant Professor in Athlete Health.

The newly created position takes a novel approach to sport performance and athlete development. It combines aspects of technical and tactical issues related to each sport with sport science research to enhance the health, well being, and ultimately the performance, of its varsity athletes.

"This is an innovative approach to athlete development in Canada," explains Kennedy. "It represents a fundamental shift to a holistic model where the term 'health' encompasses a variety of concepts related to the physical, psychological, medical, and personal aspects of the student athlete."

Kennedy relishes the opportunity to collaborate with such a diverse group of colleagues. From master coaches and therapists to sport scientists, he is fully aware of the wealth of experience and knowledge he can tap into.

"My job is to add value and support to the extremely successful athletics department at the U of A. Through monitoring, communication, and efficient data management we are going to gain clues as to which health factors are the most important for the various sports. We can then use this data to tweak programs and training with the idea that healthier athletes - those with less chronic injury and long-term illness - are better performers in their sport."

He believes this approach will drastically change our understanding of healthy athletes in the future.

Kennedy also plans to continue his research into hypoxia as it relates to sport performance, and sees an opportunity to develop unique performance tests for athletes that can be validated for both general and sport specific factors.

With hundreds of athletes to test and monitor, an active research portfolio, graduate students, a new baby, and waxing for a pro cross country ski team, Kennedy has his hands full. But he doesn't seem to mind.

"It's my dream job," he said, smiling. "I get to be around athletes and high performance sports all day. It doesn't get much better than that."