Football in Inter-war Northern Ireland: Ballymena Football and Athletic Club Limited – Religious and Political Exclusivity or Civic Inclusivity?

Historians have almost universally seen association football in the north of Ireland as a divisive influence. The impacts of sectarian and political tensions on the game have been stressed, alongside the extent to which this sport supposedly feeds into existing divisions. Much of the work carried out has concentrated on the last four decades, though even studies outside this period of widespread civil disorder have highlighted these problems. This paper uses the surviving records of the Ballymena Football and Athletic Club, the local press, census returns and other records to consider aspects of one particular Northern Irish club in the 1920s and 1930s. This short consideration of the players, supporters and shareholders suggests that at least in this case football was successful in bringing together and developing cooperation between men of widely differing political and religious views. While the club was a not a financial success, it was a social and sporting one. The evidence available suggests there was little exhibition of sectarian tension at any level.

Le football en Irlande du Nord dans l'entre-deux-guerres: Ballymena Football and Athletic Club Limited - exclusivité religieuse et politique ou intégration civique

Les historiens ont presque universellement perçu le football en Irlande du Nord sous l'angle d'une influence séparative. L'impact des tensions sectaires et politiques sur le jeu a été souligné, en même temps que la manière dont ce sport est censée s'intégrer dans des divisions existantes. La plupart des travaux effectués se sont concentrés sur les quatre dernières décennies, bien que même les études sur d'autres périodes que celle des troubles civiles aient mis en évidence ces problèmes. Cet article utilise les archives du Ballymena Football and Athletic Club qui ont survécu, la presse locale, des rapports de recensement et d'autres rapports pour reconsidérer les dimensions d'un club particulier d'Irlande du Nord dans les années 1920 et 1930. Ce bref regard sur les joueurs, les supporters et les actionnaires suggère qu'au moins dans ce cas, le football est parvenu à réconcilier et développer la coopération entre des hommes d'origines politiques et religieuses largement différentes. Si le club ne fut pas un succès économique, il en fut un sur le plan social et sportif. Les sources disponibles suggèrent qu'il y a eu peu d'affichage de tensions communautaires à quelque niveau que ce soit.

El fútbol en la Irlanda del Norte de entreguerras. Ballymena Football and Athletic Club Limited: segregación religiosa y política o integración cívica

Casi todos los historiadores han considerado el fútbol en Irlanda del Norte como una influencia segregadora. Se ha subrayado el impacto sobre este deporte de las tensiones sectarias y políticas, así como el grado en que el fútbol se supone que ha alimentado las divisiones existentes. Gran parte de la investigación desarrollada se ha centrado en las últimas cuatro décadas, aunque otros estudios sobre periodos anteriores a esta época de desórdenes civiles generalizados han recalcado estos mismos problemas. El presente artículo utiliza los archivos conservados del Ballymena Football and Athletic Club, la prensa local, registros del censo y otros documentos para analizar aspectos de un club norirlandés en concreto en los años 20 y 30 del siglo XX. Este breve estudio de los jugadores, los seguidores y los accionistas sugiere que por lo menos en este caso el fútbol consiguió integrar y estimular la cooperación entre hombres con creencias políticas y religiosas muy diversas. Si bien el club no constituyó un éxito económico, sí lo fue desde el punto de vista social y deportivo. La información disponible indica que en su seno hubo pocas manifestaciones de tensiones sectarias de cualquier tipo.

Fußball in Nordirland zwischen den Weltkriegen: Ballymena Football and Athletic Club Limited – religiöse und politische Exklusivität oder bürgerliches Mitwirken

Historiker haben Fußball in Nordirland fast übereinstimmend als trennenden Einfluss wahrgenommen. Neben dem Umfang, in dem sich dieser Sport vermutlich auf die bereits vorhandene Spaltung auswirkt, wurde das Einwirken von konfessionsgebundenen und politischen Spannungen auf das Spiel untersucht. Ein großer Teil der durchgeführten Forschung konzentrierte sich auf die letzten vier Jahrzehnte, obwohl auch Studien außerhalb dieser Periode des weitverbreiteten bürgerlichen Widerstands diese Probleme hervorgehoben haben. Diese Abhandlung verwendet noch existierende Aufzeichnungen des Ballymena Football and Athletic Clubs, der lokalen Presse, Volkszählungsberichte und weitere Aufzeichnungen, um die Erscheinung eines ausgewählten nordirischen Klubs in den 1920er und 1930er Jahren nachzuvollziehen. Diese kurze Betrachtung der Spieler, Unterstützer und Anteilseigner lässt vermuten, dass Fußball, zumindest in diesem Fall, erfolgreich darin war, Männer mit äußerst unterschiedlichen politischen und religiösen Ansichten zusammenzubringen und ihre Kooperation zu fördern. Während der Klub kein finanzieller Erfolg war, so war er es doch in sozialer und sportlicher Hinsicht. Das verfügbare Material deutet darauf hin, dass konfessionelle Spannungen auf den verschiedenen Ebenen kaum sichtbar wurden.

     

The Cultural Bond? Cricket and the Imperial Mission

The Cultural Bond? Cricket and the Imperial Mission

Cricket tours provide an excellent insight into the relationship between the colonies and England during the Imperial era. New Zealand has never had much of a cricketing legacy, but the game was still cherished and English tours were enthusiastically followed because they provided a link with ‘home'. Two English cricket teams visited New Zealand in the Edwardian age, the Lord Hawke XI in 1902-03 and the MCC in 1906–07. These tours were intended to be a panacea for a struggling local game while providing an extension of the cultural bonds of Empire. Both tours were rich in Imperial code and ceremony but their impact was lost in translation. The Lord Hawke XI, although all conquering, failed to win the hearts and minds of the New Zealand public because of a series of on-field moments of poor sportsmanship, and the public response to the treatment of the professionals in the team. The MCC team provided a fair challenge to New Zealand team, but lacked the star appeal of the Lord Hawke team, leaving the public somewhat underwhelmed. Both tours exemplify the difficulty in balancing the ideals inherent in the game with the realities of colonial sporting expectation.

Le lien culturel ? Le cricket et la mission impériale

Les tournées de cricket donnent un excellent aperçu des relations entre les colonies et l'Angleterre pendant l'ère Impériale. La Nouvelle-Zélande n'a jamais vraiment eu d'héritage en cricket, mais le jeu était aimé et les tournées de l'Angleterre étaient suivies avec enthousiasme parce qu'elles fournissaient un lien avec la ‘maison’. Deux équipes de cricket anglaises ont visité la Nouvelle-Zélande dans la période Edwardienne, The Lord Hawke XI en 1902-3 et le MCC en 1906-7. Ces tournées étaient destinées àêtre une panacée pour un jeu local combattif en fournissant une extension des liens culturels de l'Empire. Les deux tournées furent riches en signes et cérémonies impériaux mais leur impact fur perdu dans la traduction. The Lord Hawke XI, bien que remportant tout, a échouéà gagner les c?urs et l'esprit du public de Nouvelle-Zélande en raison de leur faible sportivité dans une série d'événements sur le terrain et de la réponse publique au traitement des professionnels dans l'équipe. L'équipe MCC a opposé un défi honnête à l'équipe de Nouvelle-Zélande, mais n'a pas été aussi attractive que celle du Lord Hawke XI, sans parvenir vraiment à combler le public. Les deux tournées illustrent la difficultéàéquilibrer les idéaux inhérents au jeu et les réalités des attentes coloniales.

¿Un vínculo cultural? El críquet y la misión imperial

Las giras de críquet proporcionan una visión excelente de la relación entre Inglaterra y las colonias durante la época imperial. Nueva Zelanda nunca ha gozado de una gran tradición criquetera, pero el juego era apreciado y las giras de equipos ingleses tenían un seguimiento entusiasta, ya que proporcionaban un vínculo con ‘la madre patria’. Dos equipos de críquet ingleses visitaron Nueva Zelanda en la época eduardiana, el Lord Hawke XI en 1902-03 y el MCC en 1906-07. Se pretendía que estas giras fueran una panacea para el débil críquet local, al tiempo que supusieran un refuerzo de los lazos culturales con el Imperio. Ambas giras estuvieron preñadas de ritual y ceremonia imperial, pero su impacto quedó mitigado por problemas de comunicación intercultural. El Lord Hawke XI, aunque lo ganó todo, no pudo conquistar los corazones y las mentes del público neozelandés a causa de una serie de episodios antideportivos en el campo, y de la respuesta del público al tratamiento de los profesionales en el equipo. El MCC supuso un reto limpio para el equipo de Nueva Zelanda, pero carecía del atractivo estelar del Lord Hawke, lo que dejó al público más bien frío. Ambas giras ejemplifican la dificultad a la hora de hallar un equilibrio entre los ideales propios del juego y las realidades del deporte colonial.

Kulturelle Bindung? Kricket und die imperiale Mission

Kricket-Reisen eröffnen einen exzellenten Einblick in die Beziehung zwischen England und dessen Kolonien in der Ära des Imperialismus. Neuseeland hatte nie ein umfassendes Kricket-Erbe gehabt, trotzdem wurde das Spiel stets geschätzt und Besuche aus England fanden großen Anklang, da sie eine Verbindung zur ‘Heimat’ darstellten. Im edwardianischen Zeitalter bereisten zwei englische Kricketmannschaften Neuseeland; zum einen die Lord Hawke-Elf im Jahre 1902/03, zum anderen der Marylebone Cricket Club 1906/07. Diese Touren sollten ein Allheilmittel für die hiesigen Probleme des Spiels sein, indem sie eine Erweiterung der kulturellen Verbindung des Empires herstellten. Beide Touren waren durch ausdrucksstarke, imperiale Sprache und Zeremonien gekennzeichnet, deren Bedeutung aber nicht verstanden wurde. Obwohl sie alle Spiele gewann, schaffte es die Lord Hawke-Elf nicht, die Herzen und den Geist der neuseeländischen Öffentlichkeit für sich zu gewinnen, was mit einer Reihe von Unsportlichkeiten auf dem Feld und den öffentlichen Reaktionen in Bezug auf die Behandlung von Profisportlern im Team zusammenhing. Die Mannschaft des Marylebone Cricket Club stellte für das neuseeländische Team eine ansprechende Herausforderung dar, ihr fehlten jedoch die Stars, über die das Lord Hawke-Team verfügte, weshalb das Publikum weitgehend unbeeindruckt blieb. Beide Reisen verdeutlichen die Schwierigkeit, die inhärenten Ideale des Spiels mit den Realitäten der Erwartungshaltung im Kolonialsport übereinzubringen.

     

Taiwan and the 2001 Baseball World Cup: The National Impact of a World Sporting Event

National identity is one of the most contentious issues in Taiwan. This paper examines the relationship between the staging of the 2001 Baseball World Cup (BWC) and wider issues such as that of Taiwanese nationalism and broader sociopolitical values in Taiwan. It attempts to explain the impact on Taiwanese nationalism of hosting such a sports mega-event. The paper argues that baseball in general, and the 2001 BWC in particular, was a political vehicle utilised by the ‘new’ government to promote social integration/national identity; and it evaluates the responses of the Taiwanese to baseball used for this purpose.

Taiwan et la Coupe du Monde de baseball de 2001 : l'impact national d'un événement sportif mondial

L'identité nationale est l'un des questions les plus litigieuses à Taïwan. Cet article examine les relations entre l'accueil de la Coupe du monde de base-ball 2001 (BWC) et d'autres aspects plus généraux comme ceux du nationalisme taïwanais et plus largement des valeurs sociopolitiques à Taïwan. Il tente d'expliquer l'impact de l'accueil d'un tel méga-événement sportif sur le nationalisme taïwanais; L'article soutient que le base-ball en général et la coupe du monde de 2001 en particulier furent un véhicule politique utilisé par ‘le nouveau’ gouvernement pour promouvoir l'intégration sociale et l'identité nationale et il évalue les réponses des Taïwanais dans le base-ball à cette fin.

Taiwan y el Mundial de Béisbol de 2001: impacto nacional de un acontecimiento deportivo mundial

Una de las cuestiones más controvertidas en Taiwan es la de la identidad nacional. Este artículo examina las relaciones entre la celebración del Mundial de Béisbol de 2001 y otros aspectos más generales como el nacionalismo taiwanés y los valores sociopolíticos en Taiwán. Intenta explicar el impacto que tuvo sobre el nacionalismo taiwanés el hecho de albergar un acontecimiento deportivo de este nivel. El artículo postula que el béisbol en general, y el Mundial de 2001 en concreto, fueron un instrumento político utilizado por el “nuevo” gobierno para promover la integración social y la identidad nacional, y valora las respuestas de los taiwaneses al uso del béisbol con este propósito.

Taiwan und die Baseball Weltmeisterschaft 2001: Der nationale Einfluss einer Weltsportveranstaltung

Die nationale Identität ist eine der umstrittensten Angelegenheiten in Taiwan. Diese Arbeit untersucht die Beziehung zwischen der Ausrichtung der Baseball Weltmeisterschaft (BWC) im Jahre 2001 und weitreichenderen Problemfeldern wie dem des Nationalismus und allgemeineren soziopolitischen Werten in Taiwan. Es wird versucht, den Einfluss eines derartigen sportlichen Großereignisses auf den taiwanesischen Nationalismus zu erklären. Die Abhandlung zeigt, dass Baseball allgemein, besonders aber die Weltmeisterschaft 2001 als politisches Werkzeug von der ?neuen” Regierung benutzt wurde, um die soziale Integration/nationale Identitätsstiftung voranzutreiben. Darüberhinaus werden die Reaktionen der Taiwanesen auf den zu diesem Zweck verwendeten Baseballsport untersucht.

     

Some Light on the Jumping Event in the Ancient Olympic Games: Suggestions Provided by the Purchena Games of 1569

In 1569 in the Spanish village of Purchena, a games was held in which a contingent of Turkish soldiers took part – many of them natives from the area that in antiquity was called Greece. These Turks celebrated several events in these games typical of the land of their birth. One of these events was the triple jump.

In this article we study the possibility that the jump celebrated by those Turks of the sixteenth century was the same jump that was practised in that part of the eastern Mediterranean during the time of the ancient Olympic games.

Eclairages sur les rencontres de sauts dans les Jeux Olympiques Antiques: suggestions fournies par les Jeux Purchena de 1569

En 1569 dans le village espagnol de Purchena, des jeux ont été tenus dans lesquels un contingent de soldats turcs a participé, dont beaucoup provenant d'une région que l'on appelait dans l'Antiquité la Grèce. Ces Turcs ont célébré plusieurs épreuves dans ces jeux typiques de leur terre d'origine. L'un était le triple-saut.

Dans cet article nous étudions la possibilité que le saut célébré par ces Turcs du 16ème siècle fut le même que celui qui a été pratiqué dans cette partie de la Méditerranée orientale pendant le temps des jeux Olympiques antiques.

Algunos datos sobre el salto de longitud en los Juegos Olímpicos de la Antigüedad: pistas proporcionadas por los Juegos de Purchena de 1569

En 1569 tuvieron lugar unos juegos deportivos en la ciudad española de Purchena. En ellos tomó parte un contingente de soldados turcos, muchos de ellos originarios de la región denominada Grecia en la Antigüedad. En los mencionados juegos estos turcos celebraron varias competiciones típicas de su tierra. Una de estas competiciones fue el triple salto.

En este artículo estudiamos la posibilidad de que la competición de salto celebrada por aquellos turcos del siglo XVI fuera la misma que se practicaba en esa parte del mediterráneo oriental en los tiempos de los Juegos Olímpicos de la antigüedad.

Neues zum Sprung bei den antiken Olympischen Spielen: Anregungen von den Spielen von Purchena im Jahr 1569

1569 wurden im spanischen Dorf Purchena Spiele veranstaltet, an denen ein Aufgebot von türkischen Soldaten teilnahm, von denen viele ursprünglich aus der Gegend kamen, die in der Antike Griechenland genannt wurde. Diese Türken veranstalteten verschiedene Wettbewerbe bei diesen Spielen, die für ihr Geburtsland typisch waren. Einer dieser Wettbewerbe war der Dreisprung.

In diesem Artikel wird die Möglichkeit erörtert, ob der von den Türken veranstaltete Sprungwettbewerb des 16. Jahrhunderts der gleiche war wie der, der in diesem Teil des östlichen Mittelmeerraums zur Zeit der antiken Olympischen Spiele stattfand.

     

The Validity of the Sit-and-Reach Test and the Modified Sit-and-Reach Test in Middle-Aged to Older Men and Women

Abstract

A growing concern for the establishment of a national system of education was clearly evident in France during the last decades of the eighteenth century. Physical education was afforded an important role in the educational projections of the period. Beginning with La Chalotais' Essai d'éducation nationale (1763) authors began to express more and more support for the inclusion of a comprehensive program of physical education. Gabriel Coyer's De l'éducation publique (1770), Louis Philipon de la Madelaine's Vues patriotiques sur l'education du peuple (1783) and De l'éducation des collèges (1784), and Jean Ver dier's Maison d'éducation physique et morale (1772) and Cours d'éducation à l'usage des eleves (1777) all contributed significantly to the concept that physical education must constitute an important and integral part of any comprehensive and viable plan for national education. Among the most important deliberations of the various French revolutionary assemblies between 1789 and 1795 were those dealing with education as a concern of the state. Legislators tried valiantly to establish a sound national plan for education. The educational reports and projects presented to the various revolutionary assemblies by Talleyrand, Condorcet, Lepelitier, Lakanal, Romme, and Daunou are usually considered by educational historians to be the most significant. Each of these specified that due attention must be devoted to physical education for children and youth. The proposals, the decrees and the debates which they precipitated did much to attract attention to the importance of the subject. It seems most likely that the period from 1763 to 1795 in France witnessed the establishment of a precedent in modem times for the concept of state concern and support for physical education.     

Ideology and sociability: a review of new French research into the history of sport under the early third republic (1870–1914)

P. Arnaud (ed.), Les Athlètes de la République: gymnastique, sport et idéologic republicaine 1870–1914 (Toulouse: Editions Privat, 1987). Pp.423. FF175. ISBN 2–7089–532330.

P. Arnaud and J. Camy (eds.), La naissance du mouvement sportif associatif en France: sociabilitiés et formes de pratiques sportives (Lyons: Presses Universitaires de Lyon, 1986). Pp.422. FF 128. ISBN 2–7297–02938.     

The History and Geography of a Forgotten Olympic Project: The Spring Games

This article concerns the project put forward in the late 1980s to create a third type of Olympic Games in the French Pyrenees. The idea consisted of organizing a gathering for new outdoor sports (climbing, mountain biking, rafting, canyoning, hang gliding, paragliding, skateboarding, etc) designed as a third Olympic event: the Spring Games (the Jeux de Printemps in French). The whole project was entitled: Pyrénées: Laboratoire de l'Olympisme (literally, Pyrenees: Laboratory of the Olympic ideal). This study, based on written documents and oral accounts, provides details of the nature of the project and the major actors. Complications in the local organization of the programme caused it to end prematurely, and only a first event took place under the name of the Pyrenean Games of Adventure in 1993 on the boundary between France and Spain (Jeux Pyrénéens de l'Aventure or los Juegos Pirenaicos de la Aventura).     

Opportunities for all the Team: Entrepreneurship and the 1966 and 1994 Soccer World Cups

Abstract

Little research has been published as to the ways in which the commercial aspects of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s (FIFA) World Cups are organized. Extant literature has instead tended to focus upon infrastructure issues, economic geography, and cultural aspects. Drawing upon ‘swarm theory’ and historian Wray Vamplew’s typologies of entrepreneurial activity in sport, we compare and contrast the commercial aspects of two World Cups; first, the 1966 tournament held in England, the first time that a serious attempt had been made to produce and licence a mascot character (‘World Cup Willie’) to exploit merchandizing opportunities. This approach became an important part of World Cups thereafter; Second, the 1994 tournament in the USA, the most commercially successful World Cup ever, realizing record profits and catalyzing the re-launch of elite professional soccer in the USA. These cases enrich understanding of the networks and entrepreneurial activity of the World Cup, one of the most significant sporting and cultural mega-event projects in the world.     

The neutrality myth: why international sporting associations and politics cannot be separated

International sporting associations (ISAs) like the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) have throughout the twentieth century promoted political neutrality as a source of autonomy. With FIFA and the IOC’s official adherence to the United Nations’ human rights conventions in 2017, FIA remains one of the few large ISAs where neutrality is not underpinned by a corrective on human rights. However, this position is in conflict with the ethical obligations FIA contracted when it was given full recognition by the IOC in 2013. To discuss this problematic, this paper draws upon J.S. Mill’s On Liberty and the concept of ‘inaction’ as a source for ways in which the FIA might reconsider its current stance.

Abbreviations: IOC (International Olympic Committee); FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile); FIFA (International Federation of Football Associations); ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross); ISA (International Sporting Associations); UEFA (Union of European Football Associations)     

Statistics,gymnastics and the origins of sport science in Belgium (and Europe)

Abstract

This paper analyses the introduction of statistics in the field of gymnastics and its effect on the institutionalisation of physical education as a fully fledged academic discipline. Soon after Belgian independence, Adolphe Quetelet's research already resulted in large-scale anthropometric statistics – indeed, he developed an index that is still being used and is better known under the name of the body mass index. His insights were applied by promoters of gymnastics who wanted to make physical education more scientific. Thus, Clément Lefébure, director of the Ecole Normale de Gymnastique et d'Escrime in Brussels, set up a comparative experiment (with pre- and post-test measurements) by which he intended to show that the ‘rational’ method of Swedish gymnastics produced much better results than the ‘empirical’ method of Belgian/German Turnen. Lefébure's experiment, which was cited internationally but which was also strongly contested by opponents, was one of the factors that led to Swedish gymnastics being officially institutionalised in 1908 at the newly founded Higher Institute of Physical Education of the State University of Ghent, the first institute in the world where students could obtain a doctoral degree in physical education. Although it rested actually on very weak scientific foundations, the bastion of Swedish gymnastics built in Belgium in that pre-war period collapsed only in the 1960s. From then on, sport science could develop fully within the institutes for physical education.     

To be a Jew and Champion in Vichy's France: Alfred Nakache – From the Swimming Pool to the Nazi Camps (1940–44)

Set against the background of France's cultural history during the Second World War, this biographical study concerns Alfred Nakache, a swimming champion of Jewish origin. Through his conditions of existence, the study amply demonstrates the exclusion, followed by the extermination, of Jews in France. At a time when the ‘Révolution Nationale’ (National Revolution) had been established as political dogma, it also demonstrates the bipolarity of the swimmer's identity, as both an emblem standing for the ‘New Man’ in the eyes of the ‘Commissariat Général à l'Education Générale et aux Sports (CGEGS)’ (commission for general education and sport) and a member of an inferior race for the Nazi occupiers and the ‘Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives (CGQJ)’ (administrative body concerned with French policy towards Jews). Although temporarily protected by his rank as an athlete and his network of contacts, the hardening of German policies, together with widespread collaboration during 1943, led the leading actors of the sport world to curtail his sport achievements, thus marking the beginning of progressive anonymization which, in turn, finally ended in his deportation in January 1944.     

Sandwiched Between Sport and Politics: Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile,Formula 1, and Non-Democratic Regimes

As the governing body of world motorsports since 1904, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has, through the growth of Formula 1, become increasingly embedded in the globalization of commerce and faced with difficult political issues. Specifically, FIA events are used to sanitize the image of undemocratic countries, and FIA is, thus, becoming increasingly entangled in spheres other than sport. This presents a challenge to a sporting body which traditionally follows the principle of not mixing sport and politics. To explore this topic, two Formula 1 races where sport and politics are intertwined are chosen as examples: the 1985 South African Grand Prix and the 2016 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. As the holding of both events evoked controversy, for various reasons, this paper investigates whether something has changed at FIA along the way, and, in that case, what? As findings demonstrate, while the races differ and the context has changed, the FIA has kept its policy despite the fact that it has become increasingly difficult to maintain its neutral stance.     

Health education assessment practices used by physical education and health teachers in a collaborative action research

ABSTRACT

Background: The school setting is the ideal environment for encouraging students to adopt health-promoting behaviours (Chong, McCuaig and Rossi, 2018, “Primary Physical Education Specialists and their Perceived Role in the Explicit/Implicit Delivery of Health Education.” Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education 9 (2): 189–204. doi: 10.1080/25742981.2018.1452163). Schools are actively supporting the implementation of health education (HE) initiatives, and the potential contribution of physical education (PE) to these initiatives is recognised in a number of countries (Gray, MacIsaac and Jess, 2015, “Teaching ‘Health’ in Physical Education in a ‘Healthy’ Way.” Retos 28 (1): 165–172; Haerens, Kirk, Cardon and De Bourdeaudhuij, 2011, “Toward the Development of a Pedagogical Model for Health-Based Physical Education.” Quest 63 (3): 321–338. doi: 10.1080/00336297.2011.10483684). One of the biggest challenges faced by PE teachers is the assessment of student learning in the area of health (Bezeau, 2019, “L’accompagnement d’enseignantes en éducation physique et à la santé visant l’optimisation de leurs pratiques évaluatives en éducation à la santé.” PhD diss., Université de Sherbrooke; Turcotte, Gaudreau, Otis and Desbiens, 2010, “Les pratiques pédagogiques d’éducateurs physiques du primaire en éducation à la santé.” In Éducation à la santé, edited by Claire Isabelle, Louise Sauvé, and Monique Noël-Gaudreault, 717–738. Montréal: Revue des sciences de l’éducation). These challenges highlight the need for professional development that meets the needs of PE teachers in regard to the health component, in particular in terms of assessment practices (Turcotte, 2010, “Problématisation: l’éducation à la santé et l’éducation physique.” In Faire équipe pour une éducation à la santé en milieu scolaire, edited by Johanne Grenier, Joanne Otis, and Gilles Harvey, 25–48. Québec: Presses de l’Université du Québec). However, teachers report that the professional development provided to better integrate health into PE is ineffective (Alfrey, Cale and Webb, 2012, “Physical Education Teachers’ Continuing Professional Development in Health-Related Exercise: A Figurational Analysis.” European Physical Education Review 18 (3): 361–379. doi: 10.1177/1356336X12450797; Makopoulou and Armour, 2011, “Teachers’ Professional Learning in a European Learning Society: the Case of Physical Education.” Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 16 (4): 417–433. doi: 10.1080/17408989.2010.548060). In order to optimise assessment practices in HE, the development of training methods that answer the real needs of PE teachers constitutes a potential solution to this problem. In this study, two PE teachers were supported in the operationalisation and appropriation of an innovative problem-solving process aimed at optimising their assessment practices in HE.

Objectives: The objectives of this article are to describe: 1) the operationalisation of strategies established by the participants targeting their assessment practices in HE, and 2) the evolution of these practices.

Method: A collaborative action research (CAR) approach was taken, and four methods of data collection were used: 1) individual interviews; 2) group interviews; 3) participant observation, and 4) logbooks. The data was collected over a 12-month period, overlapping two school years, and then analyzed through content analysis.

Findings: Results suggest that, despite the planning and implementation of strategies considered effective by the participants, their assessment practices in the gymnasium progressed very little, while their practices outside the gymnasium evolved considerably.

Conclusion: If we want to optimise assessment practices in HE, or teaching practices in general, we must put aside the question ‘why,’ and focus on ‘how’ to meet the challenges related to the implementation of this type of professional development. Bringing real change to teaching practices is a long process that requires an investment of time and effort from teachers, and starts with the optimisation of practices outside the learning environment.     

Books reviews

J. Neils (ed.), Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993). Pp. 227, 24 colour plates, 170 b&w illus. $49.50 (£37.50) cloth; $19.95 (£13.95) paper. ISBN 0–691–03612–8 (cloth); 0–691–00223–1 (paper).

Steven H. Lonsdale, Dance and Ritual Play in Greek Religion (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993). Pp. xxi + 352. Illustrations, bibliography, indexes. $39.95. ISBN 0–8018–4594–7.

Ramachandra Guha, Spin and Other Turns: Indian Cricket's Coming of Age (London: Penguin Books, 1994). Pp. xii + 158. Rs 100. ISBN 0–14–024720–3.

Robert Mechikoff and Steven Estes, A History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education: From the Ancient Greeks to the Present (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown, 1993). Pp. 391. $29.50. ISBN 0–697–12159–3. Elliot J. Gorn and Warren Goldstein, A Brief History of American Sports (New York: Hill and Wang — Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993). ISBN 0–8090–1561–7. Pp. 290. $11.95.

Richard O. Davies, America's Obsession: Sports and Soceity since 1945 (Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace, 1994). Pp. 274. $16.00. ISBN 0–03–073332–4.

Ted Vincent, The Rise and Fall of American Sport: Mudville's Revenge (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994). Pp. 358. ISBN 0–8032–9613–4.

Leonard Koppett, Sports Illusion, Sports Reality: A Reporter's View of Sports, Journalism and Society (Urbana and Chicago: University of Ilinois Press, 1994) paperback reprint of book originally published in 1981. Pp. xiv + 296. ISBN 0–252–06415–1.

Gilbert Andrieu, Force et beauté. Histoire de l'esthétique en éducation physique (Bordeaux: Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 1992). Pp. 252. FF150. ISBN 2–86781–125–2.

Charles Fountain, Sportswriter: The Life and Times of Grantland Rice (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993). Pp. 327. $25.00. ISBN 0–19–506176–4.

Peter Levine, Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).

Charles S. Prebish. Religion and Sport: The Meeting of Sacred and Profane (Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1993). Pp. xix + 243. ISBN 0–313–28729–5.

Tom Derderian, Boston Marathon: The History of the World's Premier Running Event (Champaign: Human Kinetics Publishers, 1994). Pp. xxvi + 606. $21.95 (paperback). ISBN 0–87322–491–4.

Kevin McAleer, Dueling, The Cult of Honor in Fin‐de‐Siècle Germany (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994). Pp. 268. $24.95. ISBN 0–691–03462–1.     

Tradition,transformation and taboo: European games and festivals in Latin America, 1500–1900

This article builds on an emerging corpus of work that seeks to uncover the history and social, cultural and political significance of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in the United States. However, it also marks a departure from any of the published work to date because for the first time it addresses the place of Gaelic games in the lives of the Irish émigré in the San Francisco Bay area. The article accounts for the origins and early history of the GAA there, and details the key agents and agencies responsible for the Association's development during the first 50 years of its existence. In doing so, it reveals that the GAA's growth in San Francisco appears to have been more moderately paced than it was in some of America's other centres of Irish immigration, particularly Boston, New York and Chicago. The article concludes by exploring the reasons for this and argues that a combination of quantitative differences in levels of Irish immigration to America's Pacific and Atlantic coasts and qualitative differences in the nature of the experiences of the Irish émigré in San Francisco were key in this regard.     

The role of sport in reflecting and shaping group dynamics: The “intergroup relations continuum” and its application to Fijian rugby and soccer

A significant body of knowledge exists around the role of intergroup relations in sport for development and peace (SFDP). However, while numerous SFDP researchers have investigated overt conflict, scholars have typically overlooked the varied nature of intergroup relations in comparatively stable SFDP environments. In addressing that issue, the authors explore intergroup relations in the context of Fiji, a country which in recent years has moved from a society characterized by the politics of coup d'état to democratic government and relatively peaceful social relations. That said, Fiji has long been shaped by a fundamental cultural divide between Indigenous Fijians (iTaukei) and Fijians of Indian ancestry (Indo-Fijians): this is reflected in the de facto separatism between these groups in relation to their role in rugby union and Association football (soccer). The authors present a qualitative framework—the Intergroup Relations Continuum (IRC)—by which to map intergroup relations as they apply in Fiji according to identity, ethnicity and sport. While the IRC is applied here in a Fijian context, the model is intended to be generalizable, aiming to provide a practical instrument for researchers, sport managers, policymakers and local stakeholders. The goal is to allow them to visually illustrate group affinities, rivalries, and sensibilities in terms of collective relationships that characterize sport and society.     

A ‘Triumph of the Will’? Andrew Marton's Der Dämon des Himalaya and the National Socialist Need for Heroes

The article explores the appropriation of Andrew (Endré) Marton's 1935 feature film Der Dämon des Himalaya (Demon of the Himalayas), produced during Prof Dr Günter Oskar Dyhrenfurth's Internationale Himalaya Expedition 1934, for National Socialist propaganda purposes in the context of the tragic 1934 German Nanga Parbat expedition. Specifically, it demonstrates – via a detailed analysis of the film's genesis – the degree to which National Socialist sports and cultural officials would tolerate the work of an ‘un-German’ film production team in order to communicate the exemplary image of the new ‘heroic’ German mountaineer.     

Strength Peddlers: Eddie O’Callaghan and the selling of Irish strength

Building on Geraldine Biddle-Perry's 2014 discussion of Gamage's department store, and seeking to address the still existent historical dearth on sporting retail, the following article highlights the case of Eddie O’Callaghan, an Irish bicycle and physical culture retailer operating in fin de siècle Ireland. Focused exclusively on O’Callaghan's trade in ‘Sandow Developers’, an elastic workout device sold by famed physical culturist Eugen Sandow, the article examines three distinct marketing approaches taken by O’Callaghan's company from 1898 to roughly 1906. To do so, the article begins with a brief discussion of cycling and physical culture in Ireland, so as to provide a background to O’Callaghan's situation. Following this, the article explores three distinct marketing approaches taken by O’Callaghan and his associates at the dawn of the twentieth-century. The article concludes by exploring the possible reasons for O’Callaghan's retreat from physical culture commerce by 1906. In doing so, it is argued that O’Callaghan and his affiliates called upon ideas of gender, strength and health in their bid to attract Irish consumers. The article thus sheds light on the then nascent physical culture market alongside larger questions of gender and sporting retail in the Irish sphere.     

The School Sport Co-ordinator Programme: Changing the Role of the Physical Education Teacher?

Over the last decade or so, young people have increasingly become a focus of UK sport policy. Fuelled in part by concerns such as the increasing levels of childhood inactivity and obesity, and the lack of international success in sport, a plethora of policy initiatives aimed at young people have been developed. In April 2000, the government published its sport strategy document, A Sporting Future for All, pulling together all the threads of recent policies, and in it, restating its commitment to youth sport, sport in education, excellence and sport in the community. One such policy initiative, the School Sport Co-ordinator programme, is the focus of this paper. The School Sport Co-ordinator programme, currently being introduced into schools in England, is an initiative that involves two government departments (sport and education) and a number of other agencies, reflecting the government's current agenda to ensure 'joined up policy' thinking. It aims to develop opportunities for youth sport through co-ordinated links between PE and sport in schools, both within and outside of the formal curriculum, with those in local community sports settings. The essence of the School Sport Co-ordinator programme is to free up nominated teachers in schools from teaching to allow them time for development activities, specifically to encourage schools and community sports providers to work in partnership. This paper draws on data from an ongoing research project examining the implementation of one School Sport Co-ordinator partnership, 'Northbridge'. Drawing on in-depth interviews, it explores the perceptions of the newly established School Sport Co-ordinators of their changing role. The paper highlights some of the initial tensions and challenges for them in their task of working across different educational and sporting contexts.     

Childhood practice and play as determinants of adolescent intrinsic and extrinsic motivation among elite youth athletes

Abstract

The study empirically tested the postulate of the Developmental Model of Sport Participation (DMSP; Côté, J., Baker, J., & Abernethy, B. (2007). Practice and play in the development of sport expertise. In R. Eklund & G. Tenenbaum (Eds.), Handbook of sport psychology (pp. 184–202). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley) that diversified childhood self-led sport play will beneficially affect future, adolescent intrinsic motivation. Participants were 178 elite youth athletes (age 15.3?±?1.5 years) from several game and non-game sports; 117 were members of the federal state or national junior squad in their respective sport. A questionnaire measured current (adolescent) intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of the youth athletes using the Sport Motivation Scale (Pelletier, L. G., Fortier, M. S., Vallerand, R. J., Tuson, K. M., Brière, N. M., & Blais, M. R. (1995). Towards a new measure of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation in sports: The sport motivation scale (SMS). Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 17, 35–53) and their earlier volume of childhood engagement (through 12 years) in coach-led practice and self-led play in their respective main sport and other sports. Analyses revealed that adolescent intrinsic motivation was not significantly correlated with earlier childhood self-led sport activities, self-led play in particular, or childhood sports diversification. Furthermore, considering all different types of childhood sport activities together in multiple regression analyses, they did not provide meaningful explanatory power regarding adolescent intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. In summary, the results did not provide support for the postulate of the DMSP among elite youth athletes. The findings suggest that future research may seek to enable more robust empirical substantiation of the DMSP postulate.