Contemporary Sports Issues – Page 3

Psychological Violence and Pressure Activities Experienced by Football Referees

Authors:
Ercan Polat
Ugur Sonmezoglu
Hasan Birol Yalcin

Corresponding Author:
Dr. Ercan Polat
Ömer Halisdemir University
School of Physical Education and Sports – Department of Sports Management
Bor Road, 9.km 51700, Niğde – TURKEY
E-mail: ercihanpolat@hotmail.com
Phone: +90 388 313 0012
Fax: +90 388 313 0014

Ercan Polat is an Assistant Professor Department of Sport Management at Omer Halisdemir University, Turkey; Ugur Sonmezoglu is a Research Assistant in the Department of Sport Management at Pamukkale University, Turkey; Hasan Birol Yalcin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sport Management at Abant Izzet Baysal University.
Psychological Violence and Pressure Activities Experienced by Football Referees

ABSTRACT
The aim of this research was to determine the psychological violence and pressure faced by football referees in Bolu and Düzce and to disclose the reasons of the events. Phenomenology, one of the qualitative research designs, was used in this research. Criterion sampling and easily accessible methods were used for sampling. Literature review was carried out and open-ended and semi-structured interview forms were obtained accordingly. Interviews were made with 4 different groups consisting of 17 participants by focus group discussion method. The content analysis method was used in the analysis of the obtained data.

In the research, it was found out that psychological violence and pressure elements faced by football referees in workplaces arise from the internal and external environment of the workplaces. The internal environment of the workplace of the referees was stated under subtopics such as social exclusion, lack of assignment, excessive number of assignments, and assignments below their capacities, etc. The external environment of the workplace of the referees was stated under the subtopics including physical violence, swearing and insults, pressure on the institution of the referee and threatening and creating pressure on the referee through public opinion.

In addition to the aforementioned results, the factors leading to the psychological violence and pressure faced by the football referees were found as legal gaps, incoherencies and frequent changes in directions and, regarding as a rival, nepotism, regionalism, jealousy, etc.
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U.S. Sports Academy2017-06-22T08:32:59-05:00July 20th, 2017|Contemporary Sports Issues, Research, Sports Management|Comments Off

The National Football League’s Brand and Stadium Opportunities

Authors: Marcos A. Abreu, Brandon D. Spradley

Corresponding Author:
Marcos Abreu
Doctoral Student
United States Sports Academy
One Academy Drive
Daphne, Alabama 36526
mabreu@students.ussa.edu
251-626-3303

Marcos Abreu is a doctoral student at the United States Sports Academy studying sports management.

The NFL Brand & Stadium Opportunities

ABSTRACT
Besides increasing shared revenue, the NFL’s popularity has helped the league establish a singular brand that continues to benefit its 32 teams by increasing brand equity, which derives from consumer perception of the brand name. The strategy has provided the league’s 32 teams bargaining power over host cities when pursuing public funding for newer stadiums that increase retained local revenue streams. Although hosting cities often provide newer stadiums to ensure teams stay and cities without teams often offer new stadiums to entice teams to relocate, in either case, cities generally justify these decisions and convince taxpayers of their importance with NFL and government analyses that numerous economists consider questionable because the studies generally overlook some basic fiscal realisms.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the NFL’s brand equity increases shared revenue that creates new stadiums opportunities for the League’s 32 teams and how those stadiums opportunities impact; locally generated retained revenues; local economies; Super Bowl hosting opportunities and team relocation. The information presented in this paper could help individuals who work in the area of sports management better understand how an organization’s brand equity influences brand control and agreement value during the negotiation of new revenue stream opportunities.

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-11-02T15:59:40-05:00December 1st, 2016|Contemporary Sports Issues|Comments Off

“I Think It’s Going To Save Lives” Sport Administrator Perspectives on Youth Development Through Sport

Authors: Deb Agnew & Shane Pill

Corresponding Author:
Deb Agnew, PhD
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia 5001
deb.agnew@flinders.edu.au
+61 8 8201 3456

Deb Agnew is a lecturer in the School of Education at Flinders University in South Australia. Her research interests include Australian football, masculinity, sports retirement and men’s health. She is a member of the Flinders SHAPE (Sport, Health and Physical Education) Research Centre and teaches in the Bachelor of Sport, Health and Physical Activity.

Shane Pill lectures in curriculum studies, physical education and sport studies and he is a member of the Sport, Health and Physical Activity (SHAPE) research centre at Flinders University. His research interests include curriculum design and enactment, pedagogy and instructional strategies for games and sport teaching, sport coaching, leadership and management. Shane is the author of four books on game sense teaching and coaching, and he was a major contributing writer to the Cricket Australia S’Cool Cricket resource, the Tennis Australia Hot Shots Tennis resource and the revised AFL Sport Education program.

“I think it’s going to save lives” Sport administrator perspectives on youth development through sport

ABSTRACT
This was a qualitative evaluation of a youth development program that was piloted in four South Australian Southern Football League clubs. It aimed to understand how the youth development program was conducted; to investigate the effects of the program on the health behaviour choices of junior footballers in South Australia and; to provide recommendations on how to improve the delivery of the program. Interviews were conducted with the club administrators of three of the four clubs involved in the program and were analysed through an inductive thematic approach. This research found that there is value in implementing youth development programs. However, in order for youth development programs to be effective in changing club culture a driver for the program is needed. Given sports clubs are often under-staffed and under-resourced developing partnerships with community organisations who have the skills to deliver the appropriate sessions is also a crucial factor in the program’s success.

Keywords: sport development, young men, Australian football

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-09-20T11:43:02-05:00November 10th, 2016|Contemporary Sports Issues|Comments Off

On the Relationship Between Attacking Third Passes and Success in the English Premier League

Authors: Bret R. Myers; Brian Q. Coughlin

Corresponding Author:
Bret R. Myers
204 Eagle Glen Drive
Coatesville, PA 19320
bret.myers@villanova.edu
804-357-5876

Bret Myers is an assistant professor of management and operations at Villanova University. He also works as an analytics consultant for Toronto FC of Major League Soccer. Bret’s research and consulting is at the intersection of core sporting knowledge and the leveraging of data analysis to improve decision making for competitive advantage.

Brian Coughlin is a senior data analyst at Decision Resources Group in Exton, PA. He also serves as director of lacrosse operations at Villanova University. His passion lies in the field of analytics with a specific interest in mining data, analyzing statistics, and offering strategic recommendations that help organizations make better decisions.

On the relationship between attacking third passes and success in the English Premier League

ABSTRACT
This research examined how changes in attacking third pass behavior can impact a team’s ability to maintain leads and secure wins based on data collected from the 2011-2012 English Premier League Season. A team’s attacking third behavior is measured by the number of attacking third passes completed per minute. The results of this paper suggest that while teams tend to complete less passes in the final third when they are ahead in a match vs. being behind, there is evidence to suggest that a drop in attacking third pass behavior when ahead in a match will reduce the likelihood of maintaining a lead and securing three points.

Keywords: Soccer Strategy, Coaching Strategy, Sports Analytics, Soccer Analytics, Protecting a Lead, Staying Aggressive throughout a Match

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U.S. Sports Academy2017-11-02T13:56:33-05:00September 1st, 2016|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Coaching|Comments Off

Leadership: Athletes and Coaches in Sport

Authors: Dr. Sharon P. Misasi*, Dr. Gary Morin and Lauren Kwasnowski

Dr. Sharon P. Misasi is a Professor of Exercise Science at Southern Connecticut State University. Dr. Gary Morin is a Professor of Exercise Science, Assistant Athletic Trainer and Program Director of the Athletic Training Education Program. Lauren Kwasnowski is a Research assistant for this study, undergraduate student in the Allied Health Program at the University of Connecticut and a member/captain of the UCONN Division I Lacrosse team.

*Corresponding Author:
Sharon P. Misasi PhD, AT.
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street
PE 002B
New Haven CT 06515
misasis1@southernct.edu

ABSTRACT
This study investigated the interpersonal aspects and perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship as it pertains to collegiate athletes at Division I and II universities and athletes and coaches of different genders. Electronic surveys were emailed to 50 NCAA Division I and 50 Division II head coaches in the Northeast. Coaches were requested to respond to the survey and email the athlete survey to their respective athletes. These surveys were completed by both coaches and athletes: Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q), Leadership Scale for Sports (LSS). The final instrument, Coaching Behavior Scale for Sports (CBS-S), was completed by only the athletes. There were no significant differences found with the CART-Q. The LSS illustrated several areas of significances in the categories of Training, Democratic Behavior, Autocratic Behavior and Social Support. Although there was no significance found in Positive Feedback there was an interesting finding in that female coaches felt they were less likely to provide positive feedback than their male counterparts. The CBS-S has subscales which include: physical training and planning, technical skills, mental preparation, competition strategies, personal rapport and negative personal rapport. Statistical significance was found in the following subscales: competition strategies, personal rapport and negative personal rapport. The coach is a meaningful person in the lives of athletes and the role they play is vital in the athlete’s sport experience. Our results indicate that the level of competitive division appears to play a role in how athletes perceive their coaches and how coaches perceive themselves. In addition, gender differences among coaches’ affect responses of the athletes and the coaches. Leadership is not a simple process. There is no one way to lead and what works for one may not work for all. Therefore, the best one can do is get to know their athletes and work hard to understand their goals, motivations and needs.

KEYWORDS: Coaching, Effective Leadership, Successful Leadership

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-06-14T15:30:09-05:00July 1st, 2016|Contemporary Sports Issues, General, Leadership, Research, Sports Coaching, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off