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 McCain McLean 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 McCain McLean Centre 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.
Dr. Augie Westhaver
Academic Director
Dr. Augie Westhaver is a sociologist with a history of teaching and research in qualitative methodology and ethnography. He grew up in the Prairies, completed his graduate work in British Columbia, and eventually moved to Halifax and Saint Mary’s University in 2004 where he is a full-time tenured faculty. For the past few years, he’s focused his energy on getting a handle on computational approaches in the social sciences and has taught courses in the sociology of sport. More recently, he’s turned his attention to what we can say and do about ensuring the well-being of those working and playing in the sport sector. He is a weightlifting coach in Halifax and deeply cherishes walking his beloved dog, Marvel, because she is very calm and not at all anxious.
Jacob Glover
Managing Director
Jacob Glover has a background in ancient philosophy, contemporary continental philosophy, law, and restorative justice. For the past few years, Jacob has focused on creating more meaningful justice experiences in sport as well as centering wellbeing in the delivery and governance of Canadian sport. Jacob has a BAH from the University of King's College, a MA, JD and LLM from Dalhousie University, and is a NCCP Certified Competition Development Coach for Weightlifting.
Cedric Ralph
Operations Support Specialist
Cedric Ralph graduated from Saint Mary’s University in 2025, 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. 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 thesis, looking at the relationship between Buddhism and Psychology relative to peak performance among athletes. 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.
Dr. MacIntosh Ross
Teaching Fellow
Dr. MacIntosh Ross earned his PhD in sociocultural kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario. Prior to his doctoral studies, Mac completed his MA in history at Saint Mary's University, under the supervision of McCain McLean Centre founder, Dr. Colin Howell. He was raised in both the Annapolis Valley and Cape Breton. As a scholar, Mac focuses on the intersection of sport and human rights, employing a multidisciplinary approach. His work has appeared in the Journal of Sport History, International Journal for the History of Sport, Sport History Review, and Sport and Social Issues. Mac is committed to amplifying the voices of survivors of abuse in sport, organizing and coordinating the group Scholars Against Abuse in Canadian Sport (SAACS) to further these efforts. Once SAACS fulfilled its mandate, Mac and several other activists joined forces to create the Canadian Collective for Human Rights in Sport, of which he is the inaugural chair. In 2024, Mac was awarded the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) Sport History and Social Justice Award, alongside CBC journalist and fellow Nova Scotian, Shireen Ahmed. He was taught at the University of Windsor, St. Francis Xavier University and Western University.