Sports Studies Commons^™

Differences Between Upper- And Under-Classmen In Intercollegiate Athletics, Benjamin Boezinger, Jessie Woodyard

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

The purpose of this study was to explore differences between upperclassmen and underclassmen regarding the predictors of enthusiastic and constrained commitment to athletics.

Strengths-Based Leadership Traits In Intercollegiate Student-Athletes, Caitlin Thilges

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the top five HIGH5 leadership strengths of collegiate level student-athletes in relation to formal and informal leaders. Collegiate student-athletes (N = 97) completed the HIGH5 Test, designed to assess leadership strengths. A frequency analysis was conducted on the whole population resulting in the strengths of: Coach, Empathizer, Deliverer, Time Keeper, and Philomath emerging as prominent. Formal and informal leaders’ strengths were also analyzed. Emergent strengths shared between formal and informal leaders were: Deliverer, Time Keeper, Coach, and Empathizer. Whereas the strength of Believer emerged in formal leaders and Optimist and Thinker emerged …

An Exploration Of Commitment In Walk-On Athletes, Clint Huemann

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine two types of commitment with intercollegiate athletes as well as differences between walk-on (non-scholarship) athletes and scholarship athletes (partial/full) using the sport commitment model (SCM; Scanlan et al., 2016). Participants included 153 Division I athletes (54 males, 98 females, & 1 nonbinary) from 12 different intercollegiate sports at the University of Northern Iowa. These participants were between the ages of 18 and 24 years of age (M = 20.26 years, SD = 1.31). Approximately 35% of the participants were on a full scholarship, 41.8% were on partial scholarship, and 22.9% of the …

Young Athletes' Perceptions Of Playing Through Pain, Aubri Keesee

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Throughout the early career of an athlete, they are introduced and socialized into the sport ethic culture of risk of playing through pain. The purpose of this paper was to examine factors thought to influence young athletes’ conformity to the sport ethic by playing through pain. These factors included: athletic identity, fear of failure, and perceived pressure from important others to play through pain (Jessiman-Perreault & Godley, 2016; Nixon, 1994). The researcher contacted sport club organizations, recreational clubs, and school principals to seek cooperation. Participants included 140 male and female athletes aged 11-18 years old. Participants completed the Risk of …

"I Was A Trailblazer": A Phenomenological Study Of The Baseball Playing Experience Of Girls, Aj Richard

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Baseball is a reflection of America (Briley, 1992). The game is immersed in traditions. Many of these traditions are gendered. Baseball is built on myth, and these myths have served the purpose of keeping baseball white, heterosexual, and male. Baseball is also characteristic of enduring inequalities and discrimination. Sixty years after Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball, owners, managers, coaches, CEOs, and fans are still overwhelmingly white and male (Chang, 2017; Lapchick, 2019). Although the participation of girls in baseball can be traced back to the beginnings of the game, they have faced persistent opposition. According to Batts Maddox (2019), …

An Analysis Of Youth Participation In Athletics, Jonathan Wayne Klein

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

School athletics has a significant impact on the development of youth. This study is an exploration of the differences between youth who participate in school athletics and those who do not. Specifically, the study examined youth academic performance and behavior referrals, and variables such as grade level, age, gender, and ethnicity. In addition, the study examined whether or not there was a relationship between participation in the school’s free or reduced lunch program and athletic participation.

To determine the differences and relationships of youth that participate in school athletics and those who do not participate, an existing dataset of 4,078 …

Aquatic Managers Of Northeast Iowa : A Description Of Current Practices Of Staff Training And Implementation Detailing Competencies, Frequency, And Evaluation, Tracy N. Carey

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study is to identify and describe how aquatic managers implement aquatic staff training and development. According to the American Society for Training and Development, U.S. organizations spend more than $50 billion annually on employee training. Organizations place an important emphasis on training and development for their employees. Aquatic facilities play an important role in the communities they serve. Operating an aquatic facility has become increasingly more complex in recent years due to new technology with filtration systems, differentiating certifications and facility regulations.

Therefore, aquatic managers must ensure their lifeguards are capable and competent of doing everything …

The Impact Of Content Knowledge, Specialized Content Knowledge, Peer Analysis And Self-Analysis On Pre-Service Physical Education Teachers' Error Detection Abilities, Debra S. Sazama

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigated the change in specialized content knowledge (SCK), specifically error detection skills, and sought to answer the following questions: (a) Does attending a common content knowledge (CCK) and SCK workshop and assessing videotaped performances of a volleyball skill (forearm pass) result in increased ability to identify performance errors in that skill?, and (b) Does attending a CCK and SCK workshop and then assessing one’s own performance have a greater impact on error detection skill development as compared to assessing the performance of a peer?

Participants were 20 undergraduate physical education teacher education (PETE) students (12 male and 8 …

Effects Of Immediate Family Presence On Sport Performance, Jessie Pauley

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

This study was done to analyze and examine whether the presence of immediate family at sporting events has an effect on an athlete's perception (e.g., motivation, anxiety levels, self-confidence) on athletic performance.

Female Athletes' Perceptions Towards Alcohol And Performance: A Psychological Approach, Stephanie Dalmacio

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Alcohol consumption amongst athletes has been a frequently debated topic with common beliefs being mostly negative. This study aimed to investigate former and active female athletes’ perceptions toward alcohol consumption prior to competition. The design used for this study was exploratory-descriptive in nature. A questionnaire was administered to 111 female athletes from 17 different countries. Since the majority of the respondents were tennis players (n = 85), results were presented for this more homogenous group. The questionnaire was comprised of 10 questions that examined demographics, perceptions regarding whether alcohol was more likely to help or hurt performance, and alcohol consumption. …

The Determinants Of Nfl Player Salaries, Trevor Draisey

Honors Program Theses

Using performance data from 2013 and salary data from 2014 for 426 offensive skill position players in the National Football League (NFL), this study analyzes the determinants of player salaries in rookie and veteran NFL contracts. It is the first study to use fantasy football statistics as a measure of performance across positions. The results indicate that performance, as measured by fantasy football statistics, is the primary determinant of veteran players’ salaries. Under the 2011 NFL Players Association Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), draft position is the primary determinant of rookie players’ salaries.

The Variation Of Center Of Mass Excursion Within And Between Innings And Its Relationship To Pitched Ball Velocity In Collegiate Softball Players, Leah Renee Embrey

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to measure the changes to excursions of the COM with pitch count and innings pitched in a collegiate softball game. Additionally, the effect of excursion on pitched ball velocity was investigated.

Twenty-six collegiate pitchers were recorded using a high speed video camera. The first three fastballs and the last three fastballs in each inning were used to determine the COM position during the stride foot takeoff, the lead foot touchdown, and the release. Ball velocity was also calculated from the digitization of each video. MatLab and Excel were used to calculate the excursions between …

From College To The Nfl Playoffs: An Analysis Of Individual Contribution To Team Success, Elizabeth Mastalio

Honors Program Theses

This study focuses on NFL teams that have made the NFL playoffs following the 2007-2011 seasons. These teams will be analyzed to investigate relationships between characteristics of the college career of the top players on each of these teams and the teams’ achievements in the NFL playoffs.

Determinants Of College Hockey Attendance, Max Martino

Honors Program Theses

The determinants of Division I men’s college hockey attendance are examined. Data includes 58 schools over the past 10 years. Based on previous studies of sports attendance potential determinants include a team’s success in current and past seasons, demographic variables such as enrollment and the percentage of students who are women, and potential competition from other sports. Higher winning percentages and winning the NCAA championship in the previous season increased attendance, while having a basketball team in the AP Top 25 reduced attendance. There is some evidence that being within 75 miles of an NHL team reduced attendance, while the …

What Variables Explain Differences In Coaching Salaries For Division I Women's Sports?, Tyler Lange

Honors Program Theses

This paper examines the possibility of discrimination based on gender and/or race in NCAA Division-I coaching. High-profile male coaches earn higher salaries than female coaches, which could reflect labor-market discrimination. This paper investigates the determinants of coaches’ compensation. Because the number of female coaches in men’s sports is trivial, this study is limited to women’s sports. Using salary data from the 2012 fiscal year for public universities in three Division-I conferences – Missouri Valley, Big 10, and Big 12 – I look at a variety of revenue and non-revenue generating women’s sports. I model head coaches’ annual salaries as the …

Effects Of A Short Term Mental Skills Training Program On Mental Toughness, Mitchell Edward Mleziva

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Context: Mental toughness is considered to be one of the most important psychosocial skills an athlete can attain to be successful in sports competition. Mental toughness has also been acknowledged as one of the most popular terms used in sport psychology and is the least understood. The majority of mental toughness research focuses on how mental toughness should be defined, is developed, and the key aspects of mental toughness. Minimal research has examined whether an athlete’s mental toughness can change or improve due to the use of a mental skills training program. Objective: To determine if mental toughness can change …

Understanding Motivating Factors For College Students Involvement In Club Sports, Ryan Thomas Houselog

Graduate Research Papers

College club sports offer many positive benefits to students. Some of those benefits include: (a) an opportunity for college students to belong to highly organized and skilled teams; (b) development of good time management skills with multiple commitments, such as balancing time between a sport and school; (c) establishing an understanding of what it takes to be committed to something and the effort needed to be successful; (d) development and improvement of athletic skills; (e) social opportunities; and (f) an extension of one’s identity development. On average, 78% of college campuses offer club sports through the Rec Sports Department (Nirsa …

3d Variability In Ball Toss And Impact Location For Tennis Serves In Collegiate Female Players, Javier Ignacio Hervas

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Recent research has been focusing in the tennis serve to get deeper knowledge about its phases and the factors involved for better performance. This study analyses one aspect of the tennis serve that it was not being considered before, and not too much information was available to the public: The tennis ball toss. A player who can develop consistency and a high efficiency of serve percentage during a tennis match will increase their chances of success. The objective of the tennis serve is to place the ball in the opposite court within the opposite serve quadrant to where the opponent …

Concussions: Education For Coaches And Safe Return To Play For Athletes, Catherine Fettkether

Honors Program Theses

Head injuries can occur due to a variety of reasons, including falls, auto accidents, and contact sports. In 2010 the Center for Disease Control reported that 2.5 million traumatic brain injuries occurred in the United States. Any injury the body sustains requires that a person take the appropriate steps to have the most successful outcome. Appropriate action with an injury is not just limited to recovery, but being aware of the potential injury and acting accordingly. This is even more important when the injury is sustained by the brain. A situation in which brain injuries are becoming a larger issue …

In Defense Of Defense: A Statistical Look At Roster Construction, Coaching Strategy, And Team Defense In The National Basketball Association, Luke Ronald Peterson

Honors Program Theses

The three major organized sports featured in the United States – baseball, basketball, and football – cover the spectrum of analytic probability. Baseball, with its basic two parts, pitcher and batter, lies at the easy or low end of the analytic spectrum and so it was the first sport to be studied. From early baseball cards first appearing in the 1890s to The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstracts of the 1980s to the SABRmetrics of today, baseball coaches and fans everywhere are adding a page on analytic probability to their playbooks. Football lies at the high or difficult end of …

Longitudinal Analysis Of Perceived Body Image, Sport Commitment, Burnout, And Athletic Injury, Erik Chaouch

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Injury is a risk that all athletes face while participating in sport. How injuries affect athletes perceived body image, sport commitment levels, and burnout levels are not yet fully understood. Athletes are aware of what the media portrays an athlete as, aware of what peers think an athlete should look like, and even have their own pre-conceived notions as to what an athlete’s body should look like. Many athletes perceive their bodies to be appropriate for their sport, yet there is dissatisfaction with their own bodies in the context of what is socially considered to be attractive. A distorted body …

Does International Recruiting Make Sense In The Missouri Valley Conference?, Natalie Johnson

Honors Program Theses

The primary purpose of this research study is to examine the prevalence and effects of international recruiting on team performance of women’s swim and dive teams in the Missouri Valley Conference. This research will evaluate the issues that influence coaches’ and athletes’ decisions to recruit or compete internationally, including evaluating the strength of in-state and regional recruitment pools, athlete retention rates by geographic region, and the correlation between the number of Top 8 finishes to the number of Top 8 finishers by region.

Aquatic Strategies And Techniques And Their Benefit On Children With Autism, James G. Hall

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Swimming lessons are recommended as a useful health promotion intervention and life-saving skills for individuals with ASD. This qualitative study examined the perceived benefits of swimming lessons for children with ASD, with particular focus on aspects that can potentially help maximize the instruction of lessons for this population. This study utilized multiple methods to gain an in-depth perspective on the implementation of strategies and techniques for learn-to-swim programs for the six subjects with ASD. Semi-structured personal interviews were conducted with two instructors, the parents of the six children along with observational data collected from the researcher. Thematic analysis of the …

Perceptions Of Dimensions Of Service Quality And Recreational Benefits In Collegiate Recreational Sports Programs, Christopher Berne Denison

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

An enduring and essential element of collegiate recreational sports programs is an emphasis on providing high quality, high impact programs and services. In addition, participants in collegiate recreation settings have an expectation to receive benefits as a result of their participation. If recreational sport programs cannot meet the expectations of participants in their pursuit of these benefits, continued participation is unlikely. As collegiate recreational professionals work to continually improve their programs and services, they should also understand the needs and wants of their participants. Understanding what participant needs and wants are should allow leisure service providers to improve the programs …

Effect Of Limb Circumference On Intramuscular Cooling During And Following An Ice Bag Application After Exercise, Marcus A. Sojka

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Context: Ice bags are commonly applied following exercise, but the effect of limb size on cooling duration and rewarming has not been documented. Objective: Investigate the effect of limb circumference on cooling duration to 10°C below resting baseline and examine the subsequent rewarming trends. Design: Two separate designs were used: a 1 X 2 cross-over design on limb circumference (large circumference [LC: 58-63.5cm] and small circumference [SC: 50-54cm]) and duration of treatment (time to 10°C below baseline) and a 2 X 7 cross-over design on the two limb circumference groups (LC and SC) and the rewarming trend at time Imd, …

Preferences Toward Gender Of Coach And Perceptions Of Roles Of Basketball Coaches, Jacqueline Lee Kalin

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Framed within role congruity theory, the current study examined (a) if female collegiate basketball players have a preference toward male or female head and/or assistant coaches, (b) if the gender and enjoyment level of past head coaches influence preferences toward a male or female head coach and/or influence the perceived roles of women's basketball head coaches, (c) if there is a relationship between the perceived roles of women's basketball head coaches and female collegiate basketball players' preferences toward male or female head coaches, and ( d) if the enjoyment level of past and/or current assistant coaches influence preferences toward male …

Comparing Freshmen And Transfer Student-Athletes To Returning Student Athletes On Stress, Social Support, Anxiety, And Injury Risk, Emily Link

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of transitioning to Division I collegiate athletics on the stress-injury relationship and perceptions of social support. The secondary purpose of this study is to compare entering freshman and transfer student athletes to returning student athletes (sophomore, juniors, seniors, and 5th year seniors) on life and sport stress, sport anxiety, and injury occurrence. The injury stress relationship has been examined since Andersen and Williams designed the stress injury model suggesting that many factors occur that could increase the risk of injuries. Some of these factors include an increase in negative life …

Gender Differences In Maximal Aerobic Capacity In Trained Junior Triathletes, Carson Elliott Christen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The major purpose of this thesis was to determine if there are gender differences in maximal aerobic capacity (V02 max) in trained elite junior triathletes. The study analyzed V02 max data on a treadmill and cycle ergometer to determine potential differences in V02 max. A secondary purpose was to determine if significant differences existed in V02max when determined on a treadmill and cycle ergometer. Previous research has identified males have significantly greater V02 max values compared to females for both absolute (ml°min-1) and relative (ml°kg-1min-1) units. Little information is available on whether or not the gender difference in V02 max …

Analysis Of Selected Team Performance Measures And Their Correlation With Game Outcome In 1-Aa College Football, John Paul Hildebrand

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

While the popularity of American Football has grown over the last century, so has the complexity with which the game is played. The hours spent by coaches, players, fans, and experts dissecting every aspect of the game is astonishing. While some people analyze football as a hobby or to report the game, coaches and player's careers are drastically affected by what they can draw from the data research. Statistical analysis strategies in football have become more complex and more widespread over the last 25 years, particularly since the use of computers and computer software has become so common place. Any …

Risk Management Plans For University Athletic Facilities, Brittney Donlin

Honors Program Theses

Researching available literature on the specific topic of risk management planning for athletic facilities indicates that there is a dearth of work in this area1 . This finding is surprising given the number of people attending college and professional athletic events each weekend and recent history of violent incidents, such as the shootings in Tucson, Northern Illinois University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI). The limited articles available in this area provide an explanation of risk management processes and methodologies related to controlling campus risks, mostly focusing on the insuring of physical property against the perils of fire, wind, water and …