Sports Studies Commons^™

Economics Of Recruiting Interactions In Collegiate Sport: An Analysis In Game Theory And Matching Markets, Jessica Twaddle

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

This paper seeks to explain the interactions involved in recruiting prospective student-athletes to universities, particularly in the sport of softball. By employing the concepts of Game Theory, Prisoner’s Dilemma, and Matching Markets, the market for recruiting is explored and explained. Recent legislative changes in the market are then examined as well as possible outcomes as a result. Research on commitments in softball and lacrosse was collected in order to make claims in regard to incentives. The market for recruiting is compared to the residency placement matching system. Ideas are presented on ways to achieve a market that clears where outcomes …

An Investigation Into The Creation Of Goal Scoring Opportunities In Women’S International Football; And A Comparison To Men’S International Football, Mark Scanlan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Football is the most popular sport in the world, played in over two hundred countries and it is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), who host a World Cup every four year for both men and women. Women’s football is growing in terms of popularity, with this growth in popularity, research into the women’s game has begun to emerge. However, to date there is very little published research in women’s football that describes effective attacking strategies and the creation of goal scoring opportunities (GSO). Video of each match (52) from the Women’s World Cup (Canada 2015) was …

Baseball In The Background: Season Ticket Holder Retention In Summer Collegiate Baseball, Susan Wallrich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate season ticket purchasing motives in summer collegiate baseball, specifically in the Northwoods League. The Sport Fan Motivation Scale (Wann, Schrader, & Wilson, 1999) was used in this study to determine fan attendance motives at summer collegiate baseball games. The literature review examines fan motivation, sports as entertainment, and season-ticket holder retention. The results from this study were obtained by administering a modified version of the Sport Fan Motivation Scale (Wann et al., 1999), a 20-question, 5 point, Likert scale survey to season ticket holders of a Northwoods League team. The outcome of …

Evaluation Of A Family Fitness Program: The Fit Fam Program, Steven Childs

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Background: One method to increase physical activity levels and overall health of children with disabilities is to involve entire families in physical activity programs. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the seven-week self-directed fitness program, the Fit Fam program. Methods: Six parents of children aged six to 20 with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) participated in a one week in-person educational fitness program prior to participating in a seven-week self-directed family fitness program in which participants utilized skills learned and a provided, individually-tailored physical activity program for their family and tracked each family members physical activity on …

I Skate Therefore I Am: Athletic Identity Amongst Collegiate Level Hockey Players, Rachel E. Berg

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study explores athletic identity among men’s, women’s and sled hockey athletes and whether or not there is significant differences between the groups. An exploratory study was done that consisted of a quantitative survey that utilized the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale, better known as the AIMS, in order to look in to the three types of athlete’s identity (Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993). A snowball sample was used to garner participants from men’s, women’s and sled hockey teams from a moderately sized New England College, for the survey. There were 7 responses from each team, a total of 21 …

What Happens Now? Coaching And Leading Following A Student-Athlete Death - A Phenomenological Study, Peter Mcgahey

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

College students die and sometimes these students are student-athletes. This transcendental phenomenological study described and explored the lived leadership experiences, related to the components of Transformational Leadership, of NCAA sports team coaches who led their team following an unexpected death of a student-athlete. No research to date had focused on this leadership phenomenon. Five NCAA sport team head coaches participated in semi-structured interviews to learn more about their coaching leadership experiences during this time of crisis. The study participants shared their intensely emotional and personal leadership experiences of leading and coaching their teams during a time of crisis. There were …

A Theoretical Framework Of Sports Team’S Well-Being: An Integrative Perspective Of Emotional Intelligence And Equivocality On Trust And Happiness, Drew Sannes, Wooyang Kim

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Abstract – The purpose of this study is to develop and provide an integrative conceptual model of sports teams’ well-being to achieve a win-win situation of happiness for all stakeholders of sports teams, grounded in role theory and commitment-trust theory. We first conceptualized the well-being as an ultimate consequence by exploring sub-dimensions of happiness and provide relevant propositions linking with the respective antecedents. Second, we explored the effect of antecedents of sports team’s well-being in the spectrum of the anchor between positive and negative sides on the resultant outcomes – i.e., trust and happiness. Third, we examined the role of …

Reframing Sports Psychology: A Phenomenological Perspective On Mental Imagery, Motivation, Emotions And Teamwork, Daniel Mcloughlin, Rachel Sowinski

Psychology Department Student Scholarship

The majority of research in the field of sports psychology focuses on quantifiable, evidence-based, universally applicable theory. Current evidence-based programs of intervention are heavily based on symptomatology and often ignore the lived experiences of athletes; an unspoken assumption seems to exist that events, dialogue, and emotions will elicit identical responses from all athletes. Many clinicians find a large portion of their work focused on the subfields of mental imagery, motivation, emotions, and teamwork. Each topic has a dominating theory, which is typically derived from the concepts of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. While CBT certainly has its benefits, its shortcomings are evident in …

Crash And Burnout: The Sophomore Slump In College Athletics, Jessica Ferguson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study analyzed and compared the severity of performance slumps of collegiate student-athletes in general and across academic years. The factors examined with performance slumps included athlete burnout, academic burnout, relationship satisfaction, and grade point averages. The first hypothesis was that reduced accomplishment scores from the athlete burnout questionnaire would indicate the severity of performance slumps. The results did not support the hypothesis. The second hypothesis was that the severity of performance slumps would positively correlate with academic burnout and negatively correlate with relationship satisfaction. The results supported this hypothesis. The third hypothesis was that student-athletes who experienced a performance …

Female Roller Derby Athletes’ Athletic Identity And Systematic Pursuit Of Leisure, Hungling (Stella) Liu, Timothy Baghurst, Michael Bradley

Health and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Athletic identity is a foundational element of an individual’s self-concept and affects psychological, social, and behavioral characteristics. The purpose of this study was to investigate a women-dominated sport, roller derby, by exploring the relationships between athletic identity of women athletes and serious leisure pursuit in the sport. Participants were 578 women registered with the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) who completed an online survey regarding their athletic identity. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed demographic variables (family income) were a minor predictor of participants’ serious leisure pursuit. Internal and external components of athletic identity were positively associated with participant’s level …

Going Undrafted: Survival Of Undrafted Free Agents And Seventh Round Draft Picks In The Nfl, Trey Smith

CMC Senior Theses

Over the years there have been a lot of undrafted free agents that have had successful careers in the NFL. The monopsony structure for rookies entering the NFL and the fact that undrafted free agents get to pick what team they play for suggests that there is an advantage in not getting picked in the draft. To explore this possibility, this paper compares the probabilities of remaining in the NFL for undrafted free agents and seventh round draft picks through logit regressions and survival analysis. In doing so, this paper describes the processes the NFL takes in order to find …

The Nfl As A Mega-Crisis: Applications Of Fractal Theory, Cory Young, Terry Rentner

International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference

The National Football League (NFL) is facing a reputation crisis—a serious problem for a powerhouse institution that airs its Super Bowl in 180 countries. Public and media scrutiny for its handling of domestic abuse cases and denial of concussions leading to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) have left the NFL with a mega-crisis. Television ratings are down, player injuries are up, and fewer youth are participating in the sport. This research, presented at the International Crisis and Risk Communication conference, addresses the CTE and domestic abuse scandals in the NFL and details the League’s responses to both high-profile cases. We provide …

Coaching Life Skills Through Sport: An Application Of The Teaching Personal And Social Responsibility Model To Youth Sport In Eswatini, Zenzi Huysmans

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Adolescence is a formative developmental period where youth learn the life skills and values needed to become compassionate and civically-engaged young people and navigate increasingly challenging global environments. Youth in eSwatini face major context-specific challenges that impede their healthy development as well as limited engagement with government initiatives intended to support their development. This feasibility study aimed to employ youth sport as a creative and engaging context to facilitate life skills development in underprivileged youth in eSwatini. Specifically, this study explored the youth participation experiences, positive youth outcomes, and implementation successes and challenges of a sport program for underprivileged youth …

The Spirit-Led Coach: An Alternative Approach To Athletic Coaching, Sean Silverii

Doctor of Ministry

The world of sports is an approximate 620 billion dollar industry, claiming an attendance of a little over 124 million fans in 2016 just within the top five professional sports leagues. In the United States alone, it is estimated 20 to 30 million kids play recreational sports, while another 10 million teenagers play interscholastically each year. With these factors in mind, all forms of power, greed, corruption, violence, selfindulgence, etc. has seeped its way into athletics and culture like a virus. Recently, a bleacher report revealed that findings of an FBI probe into college basketball is expected to be released …

Normative Functional Performance Values In High School Athletes: The Functional Pre-Participation Evaluation Project, James A. Onate, Cambrie Starkel, Daniel R. Clifton, Thomas M. Best, James Borchers, Ajit Chaudhari, Eric Schussler, Bonnie L. Van Lunen

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context: The fourth edition of the Preparticipation Physical Evaluation recommends functional testing for the musculoskeletal portion of the examination; however, normative data across sex and grade level are limited. Establishing normative data can provide clinicians reference points with which to compare their patients, potentially aiding in the development of future injury-risk assessments and injury-mitigation programs.

Objective: To establish normative functional performance and limb-symmetry data for high school-aged male and female athletes in the United States.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Athletic training facilities and gymnasiums across the United States.

Patients or Other Participants: A total of 3951 male and female athletes …

Inter-Rater Agreement And Validity Of A Tackling Performance Assessment Scale In Youth American Football, Eric Schussler, Richard J. Jagacinski, Susan E. White, Ajit M. Chaudhari, John A. Buford, James A. Onate

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Long term neurologic injury and concussion have been identified as risks from participation in American football. Altering tackling form has been recommended to reduce the risk of neurologic injury caused by head accelerations when tackling. The purpose of this research is to determine the inter-rater agreement and validity of the Qualitative Youth Tackling System (QYTS), a six-item feedback scale to correct tackling form, when utilized by novice and expert raters.

Hypothesis: Experienced raters will have higher levels of agreement with each other and with motion capture when compared to novice raters. Methods: Both novice and experienced raters viewed video …

Female Cyclists: Two Essays From The 1869 Hancock Jeffersonian, Paige Zenovic

Nineteenth-Century Ohio Literature

Paige Zenovic introduces and explains two nineteenth-century essays from the Findley, Ohio Hancock Jeffersonian on the subject of women riding bicycles from the time when they were first being introduced to Ohio.

Jocks For Justice: How Sports Media Reflects And Propagates Societal Narratives, Laura Kathryn Reifsnyder

CMC Senior Theses

Sports presents one of the most popular forms of entertainment in society, and sports media continues to expand its billion-dollar influence through new television deal and broadcasting rights. But with a population of journalists who are overwhelmingly white, straight, and male, sports media is promoting the hegemony of said image by reproducing stereotypes in its broadcasts to audiences around the country. Mainstream media regurgitates these stereotypes in their coverage of minority athlete by portraying black players as unintelligent or “thug”-ish, women as “butch”, and gay athletes as effeminate. These representations allow for the perpetuation of the white, heterosexual male narrative …

Fifa World Cup: Factors That Explain The Performances Of National Football Teams, Shivaan Seth

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the determinants of FIFA World Cup performances of nations. The study incorporates socioeconomic, cultural, demographic and football-specific factors to investigate how World Cup results can be explained. A linear regression is used to study the last five tournaments, and the model finds that being seeded for the draw, and the host country effect are statistically significant variables. Additionally, I discover two new variables – namely, having a star player and having become a member of FIFA before 1924, as being statistically significant in my analysis.

Analysis Of The Economic Impact Of Constructing A Nba Arena On The Host City, Grant Gilchrist

CMC Senior Theses

Using economic data collected from 24 different Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the US, this thesis investigates the impact of constructing a new National Basketball Association (NBA) arena on the host city’s economy. When a simplistic model is implemented, which does not control for other economic factors or individual subject heterogeneity, significantly positive economic impacts of arena construction are observed. However, when a more appropriate model specification is implemented that controls for economic activity and individual heterogeneity, these effects are no longer statistically significant. This comparative analysis ultimately highlights the importance of appropriate model specification and supports the conclusion that new …

Exploring The Relationship Between Group Cohesion And Compassion In Varsity Athletes, Theo Chu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Compassion is a prosocial behaviour characterized by kindness and a non-judgmental attitude to reduce one’s suffering. Typically, it is thought of as a behaviour we express outwardly to others, but compassion can also be directed internally toward ourselves. This is known as self-compassion. The benefits of having compassion for other people have been largely studied in employment settings and everyday life behaviours. Moreover, research has shown self-compassion is also related to many positive outcomes. Compared to compassion for others, self-compassion has been studied in sport, however it is still in its infancy. Although research has demonstrated the importance of both …

The Effects Of Two Different Sports Drinks On Rpe And Finishing Speed Of An Endurance Run In Highly Trained Distance Runners, Matthew J. Feldhake

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a protein-containing sport drink with a traditional non-protein sport drink has on ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and finishing speed of an half marathon. Of the possible factors that would support including protein in a sport drink the primary one was its inhibitory effect on serotonin release in the brain. This could help attenuate perceived exertion, thus allowing individuals to compete at a higher level for longer durations (Davis, Alderson, & Welsh, 2000).

This study was conducted using nine members of the Eastern Illinois University Men's Cross Country team. …

Racial Complexities Of Outdoor Spaces: An Analysis Of African American’S Lived Experiences In Outdoor Recreation, Matthew Charles Goodrid

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the racial power imbalances that exists within the outdoor recreation industry. Despite participation rates being quantified, limited research explores the lived experiences and perspective of people of color. In this study, I explore the socio-historical development of outdoor recreational spaces, existing environmental habitus and African Americans lived experiences in outdoor recreation. To emphasize the voice of the participants, twelve African American millennials were interviewed. Questions in the interviews revolved around their perception of outdoor recreation and personal experiences while participating in outdoor recreation. Three overarching themes emerged from their stories, i) the typology of outdoor recreation, ii) …

Case Study On Inclusive Design And Operations At One Campus Recreation Center, Kelly Cartner

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The case study highlights the evaluation of one campus recreation center in terms of its inclusive design and operation on the basis of physical disability inclusion. Because of the plethora of barriers in campus recreation centers, those with physical disabilities are limited in their recreation choices and do not take part in recreation as their able-bodied counterparts. This study measures, observers, and evaluates one campus recreation center to determine its level of inclusiveness for those with physical disabilities. The AIMFREE survey was conducted along with observations and extensive interviews with staff that run the campus recreation center and those with …

Evaluating Crime As A Negative Externality Of Hosting Mega-Events: Econometric Analysis Of The 2012 London Summer Olympics, Nicholas Le

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

Analysis of the benefits and the drawbacks of hosting large-scale sporting events like the Olympics or World Cup frequently ignore the effects of crime due to its relatively small economic impact in comparison to employment and consumption effects. Literature has frequently tied sporting events and tourism to crime, in addition to observing proximity effects on crime during sporting events. This research seeks to confirm both by implementing a difference-in-difference regression that can show whether crime increased during the Olympics, in particular in London boroughs which hosted venues for the Games. Ultimately, the research concludes that crime in London as a …

Collegiate Recreation Participation And Student Retention, Progression, And Graduation, Gabriela Mccollum

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between collegiate recreation participation and students’ retention, progression, and graduation (RPG) rates. This study employed a quantitative, ex post facto research design along with descriptive analyses of two research questions. Archival data were gathered for an incoming first-year cohort of 3,516 students at a research-intensive university in the Southeast United States. The present study found that participants within the cohort who were classified as high participation in collegiate recreation were more likely to be retained from the first to the second year. Evidence of this finding was presented with statistical …

Loyalty Program Effectiveness: An Examination Of Mainstream And Niche Sport Fan-Team Relationships, Lisa S. Rufer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of using loyalty programs on sport fans’ relationship quality and fan engagement toward sport organizations. This study also sought to explore which relationship quality and fan engagement factors potentially differed as a result of using loyalty programs. Since there are two major defined sport levels, differences were explored across niche and mainstream sport organizations. Using relationship marketing as the theoretical framework, participants (n = 678) were administered a 55-item instrument that included revised relationship quality and fan engagement scales. Quantitative data were used to run confirmatory factor analyses, analyses of …

8917: Athletic Training Student Application Of Quality Improvement During Clinical Education: A Report From The Athletic Training Clinical Education Network, B. C. Jones, C. E. Welch Bacon, J. M. Cavallario, S. E. Walker, R. C. Bay, B. L. Van Lunen

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Context: A component of quality improvement (QI) is the ability to reflect on the effectiveness of one's practice. Past research has demonstrated that QI is more frequently implemented in patient encounters (PEs) in which athletic training students (ATSs) are assisting the preceptor. As one of the core competencies, QI will be a required curricular content component in all professional athletic training programs in 2020.

Objective: To assess whether ATSs are integrating concepts of QI during PEs as a part of their clinical experiences.

Design: Multisite, panel design.

Setting: Three Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education-accredited professional athletic training programs …

Alternative Models Of Sports Development In America: Solutions To A Crisis In Education And Public Health, B. David Ridpath

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

In the United States, the entanglement of sports and education has persisted for over a century. Multimillion-dollar high school football stadiums, college coaches whose salaries are many times those of their institutions’ presidents, psychological and educational tolls on student-athletes, and high-profile academic scandals are just symptoms of a system that has come under increasing fire. Institutions large and small face persistent quandaries: which do they value more, academic integrity or athletic success? Which takes precedence: prioritizing elite teams and athletes, or making it possible for all students to participate in sports? How do we create opportunities for academic—not just athletic—development …

A Profile Of Game Style, Physical, Technical And Tactical Skills, And The Pathways That Underpin Expertise In Australian Youth Soccer Players, Bradley Scott Keller

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The attainment of expertise has been the focus of research in many domains including music, chess and sport. This research has progressed with many theories detailing the best way to develop expertise and nurture talent in sport. Soccer is a multifaceted sport which requires a number of physical, technical and tactical skills to be successful, making it difficult to achieve expertise. Although Australia’s performance on the international stage is improving, there is a lack of evidence to inform the most effective development pathways to support the next wave of talented youth soccer players. Therefore, the aim of the thesis was …