sport – Page 3 – The Sport Journal

Factors That Influence Collegiate Student-Athletes to Transfer, Consider Transferring, or Not Transfer

Authors: Jared K. Richards, Undergraduate Student, Shelley L. Holden, Ed.D., Steven F. Pugh, Ph.D.

Corresponding Author:
Steven F. Pugh
HPE-1002
Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Sport
University of South Alabama, 36688
sfpugh@southalabama.edu
251-460-7131

Steven Pugh is a professor and program leader for teacher education programs in health and physical education, Shelley Holden, is an associate professor in health and physical education and Jared Richards is an undergraduate, exercise science major in the B.S. program at the University of South Alabama.

Factors That Influence Collegiate Student-Athletes to Transfer, Consider Transferring, or Not Transfer

ABSRACT
Student-athletes deal with many stressors every day of their collegiate career and each athlete responds to these stressors in different ways. Some thrive, while others seek new environments. The purpose of this study was to assess the reasons college student-athletes reported for transferring, seriously considered transferring, or not transferring from their original university. Also, the study examined transfer status and perceived stress and/or internal locus of control scores. Little research investigating factors related to athlete transfer decisions has been done. Participants were collegiate student athletes aged 17-23. Results indicated that 56% of athletes that transferred or seriously considered transferring listed coaching style as a reason, while 88% of athletes that have not transferred listed academics as a reason for remaining in their current setting. Data indicated that one factor does not typically convince a student-athlete to transfer, rather, it is a complex interaction of many factors.

Keywords: Athlete attrition, Sport, Coaching

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U.S. Sports Academy2016-08-17T16:28:06-05:00October 6th, 2016|Sports Coaching|Comments Off

How Mindfulness Training may mediate Stress, Performance and Burnout

Submitted by P. Furrer1*, Dr. F. Moen2*, and. Dr. K. Firing3*

1* Master student; Faculty of Teacher Education; The Nord-Trøndelag University College; Levanger, Norway

2* Associate Professor; Department of Education; Norwegian University of Science and Technology; Trondheim, Norway

3*Associate Professor; Department of Leadership; The Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy; Trondheim, Norway

Frode Moen is currently the head manager of the Olympic Athlete program in central Norway, where he also has a position as a coach / mental trainer for elite athletes and coaches. He also is an associate professor at the Department of Education at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He previously has worked as a teacher in high school where sport was his major subject, and he has been a coach for the national team in Nordic combined in Norway for several years. Frode received his Ph.D. in coaching and performance psychology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His research focuses mainly on coaching in business, coaching in sport, communication, performance psychology and relationship issues.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article was to explore the influence of mindfulness training on stress, perceived performance in school and sports, and athlete burnout among junior elite athletes. One goal was to determine the usefulness of mindfulness training in performance enhancement and burnout prevention in junior elite sports. A mindfulness-training program (MTP) was conducted with 29 junior elite athletes over a period of 12-weeks. Six of the athletes who were participating in the MTP were randomly chosen to voluntarily participate in a semi structural interview that explored possible effects from the MTP. Our qualitative analyses showed that the mindfulness intervention had a positive impact on the athletes’ awareness and recovery. The authors also discuss positive effects on the athletes’ focus and performances. The findings are discussed against the usefulness of mindfulness training in athlete burnout prevention.

Key words: mindfulness, stress, athlete burnout, sport

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U.S. Sports Academy2015-07-16T13:25:18-05:00July 15th, 2015|Contemporary Sports Issues|Comments Off

Ethical Considerations of Genetic Manipulation in Sport

Submission by Dr. John T. Ehrbar1*

1* Student of doctoral studies in sports management at the United States Sports Academy

ABSTRACT

New technologies are currently being developed that will enable medical professionals to modify genes for medicinal purposes. As the process continues to be refined, the emergence of a controversial new use for this technology has ignited some serious debate. Scientists have submitted that genetic modification could potentially be used as a method of performance enhancement in sport. There are different schools of thought on this type of performance enhancement, and researchers and theorists have argued the advantages and disadvantages of using such a technology. These arguments are discussed in the present review. Though the ethical debate on this matter is in its infancy, a general consensus is that the allowance of genetic modification for the purpose of enhancing performance in sport will most certainly create a new look, along with new concerns, for sport in the future.

Key words: ethics, gene doping, sport, performance, enhancement (more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2015-05-28T10:08:23-05:00May 27th, 2015|Contemporary Sports Issues|Comments Off

Normative profiles for serve speed for the training of the serve and reception in volleyball

Submitted by José Manuel Palao¹ and David Valadés²

¹Department of Physical Activity and Sport, Faculty of Sport Science at the University of Murcia, Spain.
²Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Alcalá University, Alcalá de Henares. Madrid, Spain.

ABSTRACT

The objectives of the present study were: a) to assess normative profiles for the serve speed of peak-performance volleyball players in order to guide practice sessions for men´s teams (study 1) and women´s teams (study 2), and b) to establish the possibilities and the ranges of speed that a volleyball throwing machine can offer for working on reception in volleyball (study 3). In studies 1 and 2, the serve techniques and the maximal speeds were analysed in men´s (2097 serves) and women´s (2056 serves) volleyball. Study 3 consisted of analysing the release speeds of the ball that are generated from the various speed settings that can be programmed with the throwing machine. The results provide normative profiles for the ranges of speed of the different types of serve for both men´s and women´s volleyball. Additionally, they indicate the speeds that a volleyball throwing machine provides for reception training in volleyball.

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U.S. Sports Academy2019-10-28T14:01:47-05:00July 23rd, 2014|Contemporary Sports Issues, General, Sports Coaching|Comments Off

Sartrean Ethics and Sport for Development and Peace Programs

Submitted by Zachary Smith

Zachary Smith is a graduate student in sport studies at the United States Sports Academy and currently resides in Grand Rapids, MI.

ABSTRACT

The United Nations recently declared the first ever International Day of Sport for Development and Peace in recognition of “the power of sport to erase cultural barriers and mobilize people around the world” (9). Unfortunately, while many organizations recognize the ethical neutrality of sport in name, this is often functionally forgotten as sport is co-opted for use by other programs. This paper aims to briefly outline this functional issue by observing the cognitive dissonance within the UN’s statement and its characterization of the Olympics and World Cup events as archetypes of sport for development and peace programs. It will briefly examine this dissonance through the lens of a Sartrean ethic of ambiguity and recast the Olympic and World Cup events as archetypes of cultural hegemony. Finally, it will be suggested that until this dissonance is reconciled, SDP’s will suffer from “inauthenticity,” severely hampering the program’s ability to achieve stated development and peace goals, jeopardizing the “survival of sport as a noble human enterprise” (Morgan, 1976 p. 93) and turning it into a “mere vehicle for the exploitation of man’s own self interests” (Morgan, 1976 p. 91).

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U.S. Sports Academy2017-04-18T08:56:48-05:00July 17th, 2014|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off