---

Who am I?

My name is Derrik Motz and I am PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa. My SSHRC-funded (Canada Graduate Research Scholarship) doctoral dissertation aims to explore athletic identity across adulthood to develop a comprehensive, holistic, and realistic understanding of athletic identity for adults.

My dissertation is divided into three studies that explore, describe, and model relationships athletic identity across adulthood:

In Study 1, I used a critical realist approach and elaborative think-aloud interviews, prompted by the AIMS3G (Brewer et al., 2022) to explore participants’ experiences as athletes across three age cohorts (25-34, 35-55, and 56+). This study is currently submitted for peer review.

Here is a poster I created and presented at SCAPPS 2025, for the 35-55 age cohort from Study 1 (link):

In Study 2, I plan to leverage the AIMS3G lineage of athletic identity surveys, as well as other adjacent surveys, to develop a comprehensive assessment tool of athletic identity that considers all ages and competition levels of adult athletes. This study is currently in the data collection phase.

In Study 3, I plan to use this adult-oriented athletic identity assessment tool to test relationships between athletic identity and identity-pertinent constructs (e.g., life satisfaction, fulfilled life, well-being). This study is currently in the data collection phase.

---

published works

Motz, D., Callary, B., Rathwell, S., Young, B.W. (in press). Masters athletes’ preferences for adult-oriented coaching practices. International Sport Coaching Journal.

Walsh, Z., Motz, D., Turgeon, S., Rathwell., S. (2025). ‘Getting back to you’: A multiple case study of successful sport re-engagement in ‘Rekindler’ Masters athletes. Revue phénEPS-PHEnex Journal, 15(2). https://ojs.acadiau.ca/index.php/phenex/article/view/4605

Motz, D*., Belalcazar, C.*, Callary, B., Rathwell, S., Young, B.W. (2024). Coach Mentorship Using the Adult-Oriented Sport Coaching Survey. International Sport Coaching Journal. (Advance online publication) https://doi.org/10.1123/iscj.2024-0038 (*denotes shared first authorship).

Turgeon, S., Motz, D., Rathwell, S., & Camiré, M. (2024). Initial development of the French-Canadian Coaching Life Skills in Sport Questionnaire (FC-CLSS-Q). PHEnex Journal 14(2). https://ojs.acadiau.ca/index.php/phenex/article/view/4490

Motz, D., Rathwell, S., Callary, B., & Young, B. W. (2023). Invariance testing of the Adult-Oriented Sport Coaching Survey across Masters athletes’ age, gender, competition level, and sport. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 28(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/1091367X.2023.2203137

Motz, D., Young, B. W., Rathwell, S., & Callary, B. (2023). How do adult-oriented coaching practices change over time and correspond with changes in key criterion outcomes? An 8-week study. International Sport Coaching Journal, 11(1), 67–75. https://doi.org/10.1123/iscj.2022-0051

Motz, D., Rathwell, S., Young, B. W., & Callary, B. (2022). Adult-oriented coaching practices are positively associated with quality sport experience criteria. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 21(2), 329–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2022.2043927

Rathwell, S. & Motz, D. (2021). Roles of Masters Athletes. In Callary, B., Young, B. W., & Rathwell, S. (Eds.) Coaching Masters athletes: Advancing research and practice in adult sport (pp. 93 – 106). Routledge. [Link]

Rathwell, S., Young, B.W., Callary, B., Motz, D., Hoffmann, M.D., Currie, C. (2020).  The Adult Oriented Sport Coaching Survey: An instrument designed to assess coaching behaviours tailored to adult athletes. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 42(5), 368-385. doi: https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2020-0031

---

Conference presentations

Motz, D., Rathwell, S., & Young, B.W. (2025, Oct 2-4). A critical realist exploration of athletic identity in middle-aged adult athletes. Journal of Exercise, Movement, and Sport (Psychomotor Learning Abstracts; SCAPPS), 56(1). Charlottetown, PEI. [LINK]

Motz, D., Callary, B., & Young, B.W. (2024, July 15—19). Masters athletes’ preferences for adult-oriented coaching practices [Poster presentation]. Fédération Européenne de Psychologie des Sports et des Activités Corporelles (FEPSAC), Innsbruck, Austria.

Walsh, Z., Motz, D., Turgeon, S., & Rathwell, S. (2024, April 30). Returning to competitive sport following a prolonged pause in participation: Presenting a model of successful adult sport re-engagement. [Oral presentation]. Symposium on Aging Research, Waterloo, ON.

Motz, D., Young, B. W., & Rathwell, S. (March 15-16, 2024). Understanding athletic identity for adult athletes. [Conference presentation – proposal]. Eastern Canada Sport & Exercise Psychology Symposium (ECSEPS), Toronto, ON.

Belalcazar, C., Motz, D., Callary, B., Rathwell, S., & Young, B. W. (2023). A collaborative experience: The case of a coach developer and coach putting adult-oriented coaching into practice. International Sport Coaching Journal (International Council for Coaching Excellence 14th Global Coach Conference), Singapore, Singapore.

Motz, D., Belalcazar, C., Callary, B., Rathwell, S., & Young, B. W. (2023). A coach’s self-initiated professional development across a ski season: How mentorship and adult athletes’ input supported the use of adult-oriented coaching practices. Journal of Exercise, Movement, and Sport (Psychomotor Learning Abstracts; SCAPPS), 54(1). Kingston, ON.

Walsh, Z., Motz, D., Turgeon, S. Rathwell, S. (2023).  ‘If you’ve got a fire, you can rekindle it’: Learning how to re-engage in sport following a lapse through a multiple-case study of Masters athletes. Journal of Exercise, Movement, and Sport (Psychomotor Learning Abstracts; SCAPPS), 54(1). Kingston, ON.

Motz, D. & Rathwell, S. (2023, March 25-26). Using structural equation modeling to examine Identity-based Motivation Theory in Masters sport: Do motivations mediate the relationship between athletic identity and hours of sport investment? [Conference presentation]. Eastern Canada Sport & Exercise Psychology Symposium (ECSEPS), Sherbrooke, QC.

Walsh, Z., Motz, D., Turgeon, S., & Rathwell, S. (2023, March 25-26). A proposed multiple-case study of ‘Rekindler’ Masters athletes: Learning how to re-engage in organized physical activity following a lapse. [Conference presentation]. Eastern Canada Sport & Exercise Psychology Symposium (ECSEPS), Sherbrooke, QC.

Motz, D., Callary, B., Rathwell, S., & Young, B. W. (2022). Cross-lagged analyses of a longitudinal quantitative case study exploring the perspectives of Masters alpine skiers and their coach on adult-oriented coaching practices. Journal of Exercise, Movement, and Sport (Psychomotor Learning Abstracts; SCAPPS), 53(1). Montreal, QC.

Rathwell, S., Motz, D., Callary, B., & Young, B. W. (2022). Using data from Masters athletes and their coaches to question the merit of assessing congruency as a theoretical tenet of coaching models [Published abstract]. Journal of Exercise, Movement, and Sport (Psychomotor Learning Abstracts; SCAPPS), 53(1). Montreal, QC.

Motz, D., Rathwell, S., Young, B. W., & Callary, B. (2022). The adult-oriented sport coaching survey demonstrates configural, metric and scalar invariance in athletes’ responses. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (JSEP), 44(S1). North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA), Waikoloa Village, Hawaii. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2022-0071

Callary, B., Belalcazar, C., Disipio, C., Motz, D., Rathwell, S., & Young, B.W. (2022). Understanding coaches’ reflections on adult-oriented psychosocial coaching practices. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (JSEP), 44(S1). North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA), Waikoloa Village, Hawaii. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2022-0071

---

my public presentations

Motz, D. Callary, B., Rathwell, S., Young, B. (2023). Advancements in Masters sport. Invited webinar for Faster Masters Rowing’s the Older Athlete and Ageing Conference.

Callary, B., Rathwell, S., & Motz, D. (2021). Bowls Canada Masters coach development. Invited coach development webinar for Bowls Canada.

Callary, B., Rathwell, S., & Motz, D. (2021). Coaching Masters rowing: Giving due deliberation to age-tailored approaches. Invited online presentation for US Rowing.

Young, B., Rathwell S., Motz, D. (2020) Coaching Masters speedskaters: Giving due deliberation to age-tailored approaches. Invited webinar for Ontario Speedskating Coach Conference.

Motz, D., Rathwell, S., & Callary, B.  (2020). Pulse 2.0 survey development. Presented to the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC).

Callary, B., Rathwell, S., & Motz, D. (2020). Summer professional development series: Coaching Masters athletes. Invited online presentation for Biathlon Canada.

---

Please contact me for my full CV.