ISSN: 1543-9518|Vol. 24

About U.S. Sports Academy

The United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, accredited sports university created to serve the nation and the world with programs in instruction, research, and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare our men and women for careers in the profession of sports using modern technologies and traditional teaching methodologies.

Factors Associated with Anxiety Among Division III Student-Athletes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Authors: Philip J. Brenner1, JoAnne Bullard2, and Robert Weaver2

1Graduate student from the Athletic Training Program, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA
2Department of Health and Exercise Science, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA

Correspondence:

Philip J. Brenner, MS, LAT, ATC
201 Mullica Hill Road

Glassboro, NJ 08028
Philbrenner97@gmail.com

Philip J. Brenner, MS, LAT, ATC graduated from Rowan University with a Masters in Athletic Training. Philip’s areas of research interest include: Mindfulness interventions for student athletes’ and the impact of COVID-19 on student athletes.

JoAnne Bullard, PsyD., CMPC, CSCS is currently an assistant professor at Rowan University in the Health and Exercise Science department. JoAnne’s areas of research interests include well-being of student athletes, mindfulness for performance, motivation and anxiety in athletics and academics, and athletic transitioning.

Robert Weaver, Ph.D is a professor and community health program coordinator at Rowan University in the Health and Exercise Science department. Robert’s research interests include social determents of health, food security and insecurity, and research methods in health science.

Factors Associated with Anxiety Among Division III Student-Athletes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of collegiate student-athletes due to canceled sports seasons. This led to an increase in anxiety symptoms among Division III student-athletes. Collegiate female student-athletes have reported increased anxiety during the pandemic, but it is unknown if individualized or team sport athletes have similar anxiety symptoms. The purpose of this study is to determine the association between anxiety symptoms, gender, and sport-type of Division III student-athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Qualtrics survey assessed demographic information, concerns and worries surrounding the pandemic, and generalized anxiety symptoms using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale (GAD-7). Participants were male and female Division III collegiate student-athletes in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) during the 2020-2021 fall, winter, and spring sports-seasons. They were categorized as either an individual athlete or a team sport athlete. Chi-square analyses and prevalence ratios were conducted on SPSS version 27. There were significant differences between male and female GAD-7 responses X2= 30.119 (df=3, n=435), p=.000. There were no significant differences between non-gender specific sport-type athletes and anxiety. Female individual sport athletes were three times more likely to report mild-severe anxiety symptoms than female team sport athletes (PR=3.2, 95% CI, 1.66-6.16, p=0.000). In conclusion, female individual sport athletes were at greater risk for reporting anxiety symptoms compared to female team sport athletes, male individual sport athletes, and male team sport athletes. The application of sports is that associated colleges need to provide additional assistance in counseling, telehealth, and social support to collegiate student-athletes to help lessen the mental distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

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2023-02-16T17:23:11-06:00February 3rd, 2023|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off on Factors Associated with Anxiety Among Division III Student-Athletes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study
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Predictive Validity of the Physical Skills Test of the 40-yard Dash and Draft Placement in the NFL Draft

Authors: Raymond Tucker and Willie Black

Department of Kinesiology, University of Houston Victoria, Victoria, TX, USA.

Correspondence:

College of Education and Health Professions Kinesiology Department University of Houston Victoria, USA.
University of Houston at Victoria
3007 N. Ben Wilson
Victoria, Texas 77901
Phone: (361)-570-4381
Tuckerr1@uhv.edu

Raymond Tucker, D.S.M., CFSC, CSCS * D, EXOS – XPS, FMS, USATF, USAW, is an Associate Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Houston Victoria in Victoria, TX. His research interest focused on coaches’ leadership skills, program design, and performance measures used in strength and conditioning.

Willie J. Black, Jr. Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Houston in Victoria, Texas. His research interests focus on leadership, physical education pedagogy, and
social justice in physical education.

Predictive Validity of the Physical Skills Test of the 40-yard Dash and Draft Placement in the NFL Draft.

Abstract

Tucker, R. Predictive Validity of the 40-yard dash Physical Skills Test and Draft Position in the NFL Draft. To determine whether faster times by offensive and defensive positions correlate to higher draft positions in the NFL draft, the authors of this study looked into the correlation between the National Football League (NFL) combine test results of the 40-yard dash. Data was collected and analyzed from 1,009 players invited to the NFL combine between 2018 and 2020. The results of the research discovered a statistically significant correlation between the 40-yard dash for the offensive positions of WR rs = .436, n = 147, p = .001; TE rs = .356, n = 58, p = .05; OL rs = .373, n = 77, p =.05; and for the defensive positions of LB rs = .573, n = 83, p =. 001; S rs = .510, n = 82, p = .05. These results suggested that faster times in the 40-yard dash for various offensive and defensive positions correlated to better draft position in the NFL draft.

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2023-01-18T13:42:07-06:00January 27th, 2023|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off on Predictive Validity of the Physical Skills Test of the 40-yard Dash and Draft Placement in the NFL Draft
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The Effect of Coaches’ Leadership Behaviors on Athletes’ Emotion Regulation Strategies

Authors: Adem Solakumur1, Ahmet, N. Dilek2, Yilmaz Unlu3 and Murat Kul4

1Department of Sports Physical Education, Faculty of Sport Sciences, The University of Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal, Bolu, Turkey
2Department of Sports Recreation, Faculty of Sport Sciences, The University of Bartin, Bartin, Turkey
3Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Sport Sciences, The University of Bartin, Bartin, Turkey
4Department of Sports Management, Faculty of Sport Sciences, The University of Bayburt, Bayburt, Turkey

Corresponding Author:

Adem Solakumur, Ph.D
Department of Physical Education, School of Physical Education and Sports,
University of Abant Izzet Baysal, Golkoy Kampusu, 14030, Bolu/TURKEY
orcid.org/0000-0001-8377-7912
Office Phone: +903742534571
mobile phone: +90 505 933 1502
Fax: +90 374 2534636
Email: adem.solakumur@ibu.edu.tr

(1) Adem Solakumur, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Department of Physical Education at the University of Abant Izzet Baysal, His research interests focus on sports management and psycho-social issues.
(2) Ahmet Naci Dilek, Ph.D., is a researcher in the field of social relations and recreational activities.
(3)Yılmaz Ünlü, Ph.D., is a researcher in the field of Social Relations and Sport Management.
(4) Murat Kul is associate professor in Sports Management and Physical Education at the Bayburt University.

The Effect of Coaches’ Leadership Behaviors on Athletes’ Emotion Regulation Strategies

Abstract

Purpose: There are various studies that show that the attitudes and behaviours of sports stakeholders (e.g., coaches, supporters, managers, etc.) have positive and negative consequences on the emotion regulation strategies of athletes. In these studies, there is not enough evidence to reveal the effect of the leadership behaviors of the coaches who interact and direct the athlete, who is the subject of the sport, Specifically, there is not enough evidence to indicate the impact of leadership behaviors on the emotional states of the athletes. Therefore, this research examines the effect of four dimensions of coaches’ leadership behaviors (e.g., educational and supportive, democratic, explanatory and rewarding, and autocratic) on athletes’ emotional regulation strategies (e.g., suppression and cognitive reappraisal).

Theoretical background: The research is supported by the theory of “Multidimensional Sports Leadership.”

Methods: In order to collect data in the research, the “Leadership Scale for Sports” and “Emotion Regulation Scale” were used together with a personal information form. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were applied to determine the relationships between variables. The data were obtained from a total of 378 athletes including 168 women and 210 men. A survey was used as part of a field study on participating athletes.

Findings: “Autocratic” leadership behaviors of the coaches positively predicted the “Suppression” strategy of the athletes. Additionally, explanatory and autocratic leadership behaviors of coaches predict the “Cognitive Reappraisal ” strategy of the athletes in a positive way. “Autocratic” leadership behaviors of coaches positively predicted the “Suppression” strategy of the athletes. Additionally, “Explanatory and Autocratic” leadership behaviors of coaches predict the “Cognitive Reappraisal ” strategy of the athletes in a positive way.

 Results: Trainers, by considering how leadership behaviors can positively affect the emotion regulation strategies of the athletes can create a healthy sports environment that will support sportive performance and success.

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2023-01-18T12:28:35-06:00January 20th, 2023|Leadership, Research, Sports Coaching|Comments Off on The Effect of Coaches’ Leadership Behaviors on Athletes’ Emotion Regulation Strategies
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COVID-19 Challenges and Associated Impact on the Design of a Coach Education Research Study in Rugby Union: A Research Report

Authors: Kevin Smith1, Con Burns1, Cian O’Neill1, Nick Winkelman2, Matthew Wilkie2, Edward K. Coughlan1

1Department of Sport, Leisure & Childhood Studies, Munster Technological University, Cork, Ireland

 2Irish Rugby Football Union, 10 Lansdowne Rd, Dublin 4, Ireland

Corresponding Author:

Kevin Smith

Department of Sport, Leisure & Childhood Studies, Munster Technological University, Cork, Ireland

kevin.smith1@mycit.ie

+353 85 73 29 326

Kevin Smith is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sport, Leisure & Childhood Studies at Munster Technological University, Cork, Ireland. His area of research focuses on the evaluation of a coach education framework in school and club settings in rugby union.

Dr. Con Burns is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sport, Leisure and Childhood Studies at Munster Technological University, Cork, Ireland. His areas of research include coaching science, sport science and physical activity promotion.

Dr. Cian O’Neill is Head of the Department of Sport, Leisure & Childhood Studies at Munster Technological University, Cork, Ireland. His areas of research include coaching science, sports performance analysis, human performance evaluation and the broad sports science domain.

Dr. Nick Winkelman is the head of athletic performance & science for the Irish Rugby Football Union. His primary role is to oversee the delivery and development of strength & conditioning and sports science across all national (Men and Women) and provincial teams (Leinster, Munster, Connacht, and Ulster).

Matthew Wilkie is the national high performance coach development manager for Rugby Australia. He previously worked as the head of coach development for the Irish Rugby Football Union. 

Dr. Edward K. Coughlan is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sport, Leisure & Childhood Studies at Munster Technological University, Cork, Ireland. His areas of research include skill acquisition, practice-transfer, deliberate practice, sport science and coaching science.

COVID-19 Challenges and Associated Impact on the Design of a Coach Education Research Study in Rugby Union: A Research Report

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges to many conventional aspects of sport and research with government lockdowns, social-distancing and sanitisation protocols significantly impacting everyday life. The purpose of this report is to outline how a coach education research study in rugby union was adapted, methodologically and procedurally, in response to government health guidelines due to COVID-19, while striving to stay true to the original research design. This design sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a coach education intervention in a practical setting by recording and examining coach’s (n = 5) behaviours, inclusive of their perceptions of relationships with the athletes (n = 68) they coach, and vice-versa, pre- and post-intervention. Prior to lockdown, participants had completed the pre-intervention phase and education intervention, leaving the post-intervention observation phase incomplete. To ensure study completion, this phase transferred online to comply with health regulations. Coaches received video footage and behavioural data from their previously recorded sessions as a surrogate for the planned live observations and were instructed to self-assess their performance using a bespoke mobile application designed by the research team. Numerous challenges were faced in continuing the research study, however, the technology-based methodological adaptations highlighted could provide future researchers with agile solutions, should similar unforeseen pandemic-type restrictions return.

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2022-12-14T16:47:50-06:00December 23rd, 2022|Research, Sport Education|Comments Off on COVID-19 Challenges and Associated Impact on the Design of a Coach Education Research Study in Rugby Union: A Research Report
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Participation Trophies along with Grade Inflation Are Hurting More Than Helping

Authors: Matthew J Williams D.S.M.
Department of Education, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, VA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Matthew J Williams
1 College Avenue
Wise, VA 24293
mjw2em@uvawise.edu
785-452-2353

Matthew J Williams D.S.M., M.B.A., M.S., is an Associate Professor of Sport Management at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. His areas of research interest include NASCAR, COVID-19, college athletics, professional sports, and sport management issues.

Participation Trophies along with Grade Inflation Are Hurting More Than Helping

ABSTRACT

In the early 1900’s we had a philosophy that children who participated in sports would be better citizens in the United States. We believed that sports would allow children to experience responsibility, success, failure, and disappointment in a controlled safe environment. In the last 25 years, times have changed, and we have used sports to reward children with participation trophies regardless of how well they played or their contribution to the team. This change in philosophy has now moved into education and students believe that if they show up to class or do minimal work in the classroom, they should be rewarded with a higher grade than they deserve. This type of behavior has created grade inflation.

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2022-12-14T16:22:04-06:00December 16th, 2022|Commentary, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off on Participation Trophies along with Grade Inflation Are Hurting More Than Helping
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