2020 – Page 2 – The Sport Journal

A Review of Student-Athlete Responses to Team Sport Eliminations by NCAA Division I Schools

Authors: Mark Mitchell and Rob Montgomery

Corresponding Author:
Mark Mitchell, DBA
Professor of Marketing
Associate Dean, Wall College of Business
NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR)
Coastal Carolina University
P. O. Box 261954
Conway, SC 29528
mmitchel@coastal.edu
(843) 349-2392

Mark Mitchell, DBA is Professor of Marketing at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC.
Rob Montgomery, DBA is Professor of Marketing at the University of Evansville (IN).

A Review of Student-Athlete Responses to Team Sport Eliminations by NCAA Division I Schools

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the budgets of college athletic departments at all levels. In response, some institutions have elected to eliminate specific team sports. This study examines how student-athletes respond when their schools announce the intent to eliminate their sports. The NCAA transfer portal can be used to identify the responses of affected student-athletes. For the team eliminations made in Spring/Summer 2020, the affected student-athletes tended to enter the NCAA transfer portal to attempt to find a new school to meet their athletic and academic goals. The actions were taken even though most schools announce the intent to honor the scholarships of affected student-athletes even with the elimination of their sports. Over 40% of NCAA Division I and II student-athletes receive partial or no athletic aid. These students are paying tuition and fees while competing in their sports. As schools study the possible elimination of team sports, they must be mindful to consider the total cost of eliminating a sport and not simply the reduction in the athletic budget. The presence of partial scholarships may make it advantageous to continue such sports to retain those student-athletes and the tuition and fees they pay.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-11-20T09:15:58-06:00December 1st, 2020|Research, Sports Management|Comments Off

Who Are the Undergraduate Equestrians in the Intercollegiate Horseshows Association, and What Are Their Lifestyle Habits?

Authors: Jessie Bitler, Amanda J. Sandroni, Shelby Yeager, Helen Batisti, Diane M. DellaValle^*

Nutrition, Athletic Training and Exercise Science Department (NATES), Marywood University, Scranton, PA, USA

Corresponding Author:
Diane M. DellaValle, PhD, RDN, LDN
Marywood University
2300 Adams Ave
Scranton, PA 18509
Ph: 570-348-6211
Fax: 570-340-6029
Email: ddellavalle@marywood.edu

Jessie M. Bitler, MS was a graduate student at the time this study was conducted, and this was her thesis research.

Amanda J. Sandroni is a graduate student and dietetic intern at Marywood University. Her research interests focus on food allergies and intuitive eating in college students.

Shelby W. Yeager MEd, ATC, LAT, FMSC, NASM-CPT, PES, CES is an Associate Clinical Professor of Exercise Science and Athletic Training at Marywood University. Her interests focus on functional movement screening and injury prevention in athletes.

Helen E. Battisti, PhD, RDN, CDN was an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at the time this study was conducted. Her research interests include the use of the horse in psychosocial therapy.

Diane M. DellaValle, PhD, RDN, LDN is an Associate Professor of Nutrition. Her research interests include improving nutrition status and performance of collegiate athletes.

Who Are the Undergraduate Equestrians in the Intercollegiate Horseshows Association, and What Are Their Lifestyle Habits?

ABSTRACT

As there is currently little research available on collegiate equestrians, the purpose of the current study was to describe the health and lifestyle habits of undergraduate members of the Intercollegiate Horseshows Association (IHSA). This cross-sectional study consisted of an online survey of demographic, riding, health, and academic characteristics. Participants (n=528, 20.3±1.4 years old, 96% female, 91.7% white; BMI 23.2±3.7 kg/m²) reported 11.7±4.5 years of riding experience. Most reported very little to no alcohol consumption, and not smoking. Eighty-three percent reported 1-3 servings/day of both fruits and vegetables, and 84.6% reported sleeping 6-8 h/night. GPA was negatively related to the number of naps reported (r=-0.19, p<0.001), and alcohol servings (r=-0.15, p=0.001). Work hours per week was negatively related to hours of sleep per night (r=-0.14, p=0.006), and positively related to alcohol servings (r=0.12, p=0.03). Greater physical activity (PA) time within sport was related to more experience (r=0.13, p=0.003), horse ownership (r=0.30, p<0.001), greater vigorous PA time outside of sport (r=0.25, p<0.001), and more fruit consumed per day (r=0.16, p<0.001). While our results did show that these equestrians engaged in healthy lifestyle habits, we found that taking more naps and drinking more alcohol were both negatively related to student GPA, and that working more hours was negatively related to hours of sleep per night and was positively related to drinking more alcohol. It is important to describe the characteristics of this group due to their uniqueness in order for College and University Services to develop health and nutrition programs appropriate to serve their unique needs.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-08-12T11:28:37-05:00November 27th, 2020|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

How the NFL Responded to the Colin Kaepernick Protests in 2016-2017 and How the League Responded to Athlete Protests During the Black Lives Matter Movement of 2020: A Sport Study, Social Phenomenological Approach

Authors: Ben Donahue, MS, MEd

Corresponding Author:
Ben Donahue, MS, MEd
3304 Sierra Meadows Dr.
Bakersfield, Ca. 93313
(425) 359-3248
btpdonahue@hotmail.com

Ben Donahue has worked for over 25 years in sports at the k-12, college, and professional levels. His experience includes athletic director, game day operations and guest relations, football operations, coach, and baseball scout. Currently, he is a public-school teacher and contributing writer for brownsnation.com and profootballhistory.com.

How the NFL Responded to the Colin Kaepernick Protests in 2016-2017 and How the League Responded to Athlete Protests During the Black Lives Matter Movement of 2020: A Sport Study, Social Phenomenological Approach

ABSTRACT

This study examined the use of social phenomenological research by examining key figures in the National Football League (NFL) after the Colin Kaepernick and George Floyd, Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. The author researched several responses from NFL personnel and the NFL commissioner after both events. These responses were divided into statements made in 2016-2017 (Kaepernick protests) and statements made in 2020 (Floyd/BLM protests). Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the author coded the statements into specific themes, and then analyzed and interpreted the themes as relating to phenomenological awareness. This approach used phenomenological analysis to better understand the latent or ‘disguised’ reason for an experience to come to light.

The results of the study show that, while the primary impetus of both protests were the same, the responses from NFL personnel were vastly different for each protest. Key to these responses were the influences of external interests that put pressure on the NFL to respond in a specific way. These external interests included government figures, NFL fans, and the public at large. The conclusions of this study suggest that in the future, the NFL should take greater care to look for the underlying causes of their employees’ concerns before assuming that they implicitly understand those concerns. The applications of the study can be used as a teaching tool for other sports organizations, including coaches and sport administrators, as they work to respond to matters of great concern and importance to their employees.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-11-04T11:08:36-06:00November 24th, 2020|Research, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Nutrition status of female division I college gymnasts: a descriptive study

Authors: Hilary Green¹, Ruth Litchfield¹, and Ulrike Genschel²

¹Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
²Department of Statistics, Iowa State University, Ames Iowa

Corresponding Author:
Hilary L. Green, MS, RDN
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
2312 Food Sciences Building
536 Farm House Lane
Ames, IA 50011-1061
hilarygreen2014@outlook.com
910-728-7063

Hilary L. Green, MS, RDN is a BS/MS graduate of Iowa State University in Diet and Exercise who performed research under the guidance of Dr. Ruth Litchfield. Her research interests focused on nutrition, inflammation, and the recovery status of division I collegiate female gymnasts.

Ruth Litchfield, PhD, RD, LD is currently a faculty member and Nutrition Extension State Specialist at Iowa State University. Her research interests include nutrition education, health promotion, sports nutrition, educational technology, and school nutrition.

Ulrike Genschel, PhD is an associate professor of statistics. Her research interests are in the areas of statistics education, education research methodology, general statistical methodology, and robust statistics.

Nutrition status of female division I college gymnasts: a descriptive study

ABSTRACT

Research has shown the female athlete triad to be prevalent among aesthetic sports like gymnastics, where decreased energy intake can increase the risk of one or more components of the triad. The importance of nutrition in recovery for elite athletes, including collegiate gymnasts, has also been noted. The purpose of this paper is to examine anthropometric measures and dietary intake during the pre-season and competitive season among division I collegiate female gymnasts. Variable measures were collected in August, December, and April and analyzed using descriptive statistics via SPSS (v25) and SAS (v9.4). Results suggest a decrease in body fat from August to December. Energy, carbohydrate, dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, vitamins (folate, K, D) and choline intakes did not meet current recommendations and diet quality was fair. This study demonstrated suboptimal dietary intake, indicating the need for nutrition interventions to improve nutrient intake and diet quality in collegiate female gymnasts.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-12-03T16:08:01-06:00November 20th, 2020|Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Recreational sport opportunities for youth with disabilities: Perspectives of recreation directors in New England

Authors: James MacGregor¹, Deb Risisky², Kevin McGinniss¹

¹ Department of Recreation, Tourism and Sport Management, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
² Department of Public Health, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Corresponding Author:
James MacGregor, EdD
Department of Recreation, Tourism, and Sport Management
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street
New Haven, CT 06514
Office: 203.392.6385
macgregorj1@southernct.edu

James MacGregor, EdD, is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Recreation, Tourism, and Sport Management. His research areas include inclusion and recreation, disability studies, and sport leadership development.

Deb Risisky, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Public Health. Her research is in evaluation of adolescent health programs, youth violence, and educational success of youth.

Kevin McGinniss, EdD, is an Assistant Professor and Director of Sport Management in the Department of Recreation, Tourism, and Sport Management. His research is in intercollegiate athletics and disability sports.

Recreational Sport Opportunities for Youth with Disabilities

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Inclusive recreation practices are one of the most recognized means of providing recreational sport opportunities for youth with disabilities. Municipal recreation departments are responsible for ensuring opportunities to partake in youth sport programs. This study evaluates the extent to which recreation departments are providing inclusive recreational sport opportunities to individuals with disabilities.

Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design mail survey to gather data from recreation directors across New England. The two dependent variables for this study are provision of inclusive services and perceived challenges to providing those services. The independent variables include director recreation/sport education, years as a director, and community size. Analysis included univariate, bivariate, and ANOVA for the quantitative data. Qualitative data were reviewed for commonalities.

Results: There were 136 respondents for a response rate of 34.8%. Most (85%) directors noted their agency provided some inclusive recreation. Areas of success included accessible facilities and accommodations/modifications. Areas of needed improvement included staff training and providing transportation for individuals with disabilities. The only significant factor was years as a Director (F=4.315; p=0.016). The multiple comparison test found statistical significance between those with the fewest years of experience (x̄=22.14) and highest experience (x̄=19.57). The top challenges in providing inclusive recreational sport was additional expense, and the lack of training for the provision of these services.

Conclusions: Without director support, inclusive recreation can be difficult to achieve. Director support, including making inclusion an agency priority, reflecting inclusion in the agency’s mission, and hiring practices was imperative to facilitating an inclusive recreation environment and program. Financial concerns and need for staff training are the biggest obstacles to providing inclusive recreational sport programming.

Applications in Sport: Training of recreation and youth sport staff members, including those that aspire to be directors, can have a great impact on opening opportunities for inclusive recreational sports. University academic recreation and sport management programs need to embed the principles and practices of inclusion into their curriculum. In-service training can be an important tool to increase inclusion offerings to the community, increasing the amount of staff members who can facilitate increased opportunities for inclusive recreational sport.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-11-04T11:00:04-06:00November 17th, 2020|Research, Sports Coaching|Comments Off