athletics – The Sport Journal

Return to Play and Learn: Findings from a Countywide High School Sports-Related Concussion Program

Authors: Gillian Hotz PhD¹, Jacob R. Griffin², Hengyi Ke³, Raymond Crittenden IV², Abraham Chileuitt MD⁴

¹Department of Neurosurgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

²KiDZ Neuroscience Center, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

³Department of Public Health, Division of Biostatistics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

⁴Department of Neurology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Gillian Hotz, Ph.D.
1095 NW 14th Ter
Miami, FL 33136
ghotz@med.miami.edu
305-243-2074

Gillian A. Hotz, PhD is a research professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and a nationally recognized behavioral neuroscientist and expert in pediatric and adult neurotrauma, concussion management, and neurorehabilitation. Dr. Hotz is the director of the KiDZ Neuroscience Center, WalkSafe, and BikeSafe programs.

Return to Play and Learn: Findings from a Countywide High School Sports-Related Concussion Program

ABSTRACT

Purpose
To report return to play (RTP) and learn (RTL) findings of high school athletes with a sports-related concussion (SRC) from a 10-year injury surveillance system. The goal was also to explore differences between athletes who received and did not receive academic accommodations.

Methods

SRC data was entered into a REDCap database by certified athletic trainers (ATs) at 35 public high schools in Miami-Dade County (MDC). A required 6 Steps to Safe Play concussion protocol was implemented between 2012 to 2022. Concussion Clinic data was also reported for as well as symptom scores of post-injury ImPACT retesting.

Results

From review and analysis of the ImPACT retesting scores, the most common symptoms reported included; headache (54.0%), difficulty concentrating (35.0%), sensitivity to light (34.6%), and dizziness (30.5%). Overall, female athletes reported a higher symptom count and severity on post-injury ImPACT assessments than males (7 vs. 4 total symptoms score; p < 0.001), and all but 4 of the 22 reportable symptoms listed on the symptom inventory (vomiting, fatigue, numbness/tingling, and difficulty remembering) were significant (p < 0.05) between males and females. Despite experiencing a greater number of overall SRCs, athletes playing football had a smaller average (p < 0.001) ImPACT total symptom score than athletes playing other sports (10.9 vs. 14.2). Those seen in clinic and receiving academic accommodations were less likely to RTP, have a greater (p < 0.05) ImPACT total symptom score, more days between injury date and post-ImPACT testing, and a greater number of days until returning to play than athletes not academically accommodated.

Conclusions

It is important for concussion providers to identify and monitor symptoms post-SRC. Study findings report that high school female athletes report more symptoms following an SRC and that appropriate academic accommodations should be included when necessary to ensure athletes recover in a safe and timely manner. Understanding how SRC symptoms vary based on an athlete’s circumstances can help in managing SRC and making better RTL and RTL decisions.

Application In Sports

Academic accommodations, when appropriate, should be incorporated and implemented in an athlete’s recovery plan to help them safely return to the field and classroom after an SRC.

Key Words: Concussion, Adolescent, Accommodations, Symptoms

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Vandy Pacetti-Donelson2023-08-25T14:38:06-05:00August 25th, 2023|Research, Sports Management|Comments Off

Marketing Division II athletics to college students: The perceived effectiveness of internally focused promotion tactics

Authors: Martin Barrett and Jeffrey R. Farr

Department of Recreation and Parks Management, Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD, USA

Corresponding Author:

Martin Barrett, PhD
101 Braddock Road
Frostburg, MD 21532-2303
mbarrett@frostburg.edu
301-687-4475

Martin Barrett, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Sport Management at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, MD. His diverse research interests focus on sport and environmental sustainability, the diffusion of non-traditional sports, and divisional reclassification within intercollegiate athletics.

Jeffrey R. Farr, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Recreation, Parks, and Sport Management at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, MD. His research interests focus on understanding the relationships between families and youth sport participation.

Marketing Division II athletics to college students: The perceived effectiveness of internally focused promotion tactics

ABSTRACT

Sport-based incentives such as sales promotions and atmospheric efforts such as augmenting the core product with entertainment programming are widely used in sport to increase attendance at events. Despite this, there is little understanding regarding the effectiveness of marketing and promotion activities in persuading and motivating college students to attend Division II athletic events. Therefore, this paper sought to understand the
perceived effectiveness of different types of marketing and promotion activities, as well as the relationship between perceived effectiveness and existing attendance behavior. Surveys collected from students attending a public university in the Mid-Atlantic region (N=327) revealed that behavioral response incentives – marketing tactics where the sport product is augmented to better match the primary motive for fan attendance – have the greatest perceived effectiveness in persuading and motivating attendance. In addition, behavioral response incentives were positively related to attendance behavior; meaning students who were already regularly attendees perceived these types of marketing and promotion activities to be even more effective. The results from this study should guide athletic marketing efforts at the Division II level in the implementation of marketing and promotion activities to generate optimal return on investment.

Key Words: athletics, marketing, promotion, incentives, atmospherics

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Vandy Pacetti-Donelson2023-05-12T17:48:58-05:00May 12th, 2023|Research, Sports Management|Comments Off

College Football’s Bottom-Line Impact: Exploring the Relationship of Football Performance on Athletic Finances for Division I Institutions Today

Authors: Spencer D. Wyld¹ and David C. Wyld²

¹ Walton College of Business, Department of Finance, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
²Department of Management & Business Administration, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, USA

Corresponding Author:
David C. Wyld, DBA
47042 Scott Drive
Hammond, LA 70401
dwyld@selu.edu
985-789-2127

Spencer D. Wyld, M.B.A., is a doctoral candidate in finance in the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas with a focus on the financial aspects of energy, infrastructure, and transportation.

David C. Wyld, D.B.A., serves as the Merritt Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University. His research interests involve the intersection of technology, society, sports and business.

College Football’s Bottom-Line Impact: Exploring the Relationship of Football Performance on Athletic Finances for Division I Institutions Today

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This study examines a heretofore unaddressed area in both sport and economics literature, looking at the relationship between on-the-field college football team performance and the financial performance of university athletic operations overall. Methods: The researchers, building upon prior research employing econometrics to sports analysis, utilized data spanning 2005-2018 for 106 Division I college athletic programs to examine how specific aspects of offensive, defensive, and overall team football performance related to four measures of overall athletic department financial performance (donor contributions, corporate sponsorships, ticket sales, and profit). Results: Based on three separate regression analyses, the study found that while institutional and state control variables were important in explaining overall differences in universities’ athletic department performance in terms of donor contributions, corporate sponsorships and ticket sales, some football-specific factors were found to have significance as well. Overall, college athletic departments that had teams which produced exciting football on the field (with scoring and with a lack of turnovers) were found to be better performing off the field financially in contributing to the overall success of their university’s athletic programs. Conclusions: The present research demonstrates for the first time how – and how much – on-field football team performance can play a role in athletic operations overall from a financial standpoint. The researchers go on to analyze directions – and challenges – for future research in this area, especially considering the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for college sports operations. Applications in Sport: For athletic departments and athletic administrators, the findings in the present research provide new insights on what donors, sponsors, and fans of their football programs value in terms of on-field performance of their respective university’s football team.

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U.S. Sports Academy2021-08-20T13:12:01-05:00July 23rd, 2021|Research, Sports Management|Comments Off

Stakeholder Evaluation of the Policy Effects of University Decisions Regarding Athletics

Authors: Brad Stinnett¹, Scott Lasley², and Josh Knight²

¹School of Kinesiology, Recreation & Sport, Western Kentucky University, United States
²Department of Political Science, Western Kentucky University, United States

Corresponding Author:
Dr. Brad Stinnett
Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd. #11089
Bowling Green, KY 42101
Phone: 270.745.4329
E-mail: brad.stinnett@wku.edu

Stakeholder Evaluation of the Policy Effects of University Decisions Regarding Athletics

ABSTRACT

At public universities across the country, key stakeholders see intercollegiate athletics as a mechanism to raise the profile of their institution. Specifically, many universities have identified moving up in level of athletic competition as one part of a strategy to enhance a school’s visibility and reputation. Like all decisions made by public institutions, these are policy choices made by public officials that have consequences for institutions of higher education. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes of two stakeholder groups (faculty and staff) at a Southern regional public university that has made the transition from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Specifically, this study examined and compared how key stakeholders evaluate the decision to move from the FCS to FBS level of competitions. An electronic survey was administered to university faculty and staff to collect data on their attitudes relative to intercollegiate athletics. Aggregate faculty and staff evaluations of the transition from FCS to FBS football and other strategic changes to athletics were compared to each other. Additionally, faculty and staff opinions on the emphasis placed on academics, athletics, and the arts at the university were explored. Results indicate that staff generally view the impact of transitioning to the FBS level more favorably than faculty. Additional findings reveal that faculty, more so than staff, feel that too much emphasis is placed on athletics. This study draws attention to the apparent division that exists on how faculty and staff view decisions made regarding athletics. This divide between faculty and staff relating to decisions and outcomes can make policy questions involving athletics difficult to address. This study can help shape future research on university athletics and how it influences higher education policy. University administrators, such as directors of athletics, can utilize the findings for more effective decision making and to build a bridge with key constituents such as faculty and staff.

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U.S. Sports Academy2019-05-16T10:17:09-05:00May 16th, 2019|Research, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Bullying in Sports: The Definition Depends on Who You Ask

Author: Charles R. Bachand

Corresponding Author:
Charles R. Bachand, MS
112 Rock Lake Road
Longwood, Florida 32750
charles.bachand@knights.ucf.edu
407-937-9284

Charles Bachand is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Central Florida and an athletic coaching educator/lecturer.

Bullying in Sports: The Definition Depends on Who You Ask

ABSTRACT
Research has been conducted regarding bullying in multiple fields of study for many years. The lack of a generally identified definition has limited not only the ability to compare research studies but the ability of organizations to promote rules and regulations consistently. The purpose of this literature review was to potentially find an existing definition that encompasses all aspects of bullying and if one was not identified, to create a comprehensive definition of bullying by using seminal definitions selected based on specific criterion. Methods used to identify these definitions included data base searches using key terms and criterion based in the subject area of education, medical, psychology, and sociology. Results show that there was no definition that included all ten coded indicators of bullying, which indicated there is no existing definition that fully identifies the action of bullying. The development of a complete definition of bullying was created using the coded indicators to assist in future research studies, data collection, coaching education, and the development of rules and regulations in athletic organizations as well as those organizations outside of athletics.
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U.S. Sports Academy2017-10-16T09:47:45-05:00November 9th, 2017|Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off