Collegiate athletes and career identity

Given the unique experiences of collegiate athletes and the need to facilitate their transition as they complete postsecondary education and join the workforce, the present study sought to evaluate a group-administered career development program at a US university focused on preparing students for the transition into professional life upon graduation. Utilizing the quantitative portion of the Life After Sport Scale, we surveyed National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I student athletes to examine the relationship between attending the career intervention sessions and career-athlete identity. Results suggested that attending one or more program session workshops was not significantly related to career-athlete identity, while student gender had the strongest association with this potentially important construct in student athlete career development. Research and practice implications of these findings are discussed.     

Identity regulation in the North American field of men’s professional ice hockey: An examination of organizational control and preparation for athletic career retirement

Quality of adjustment to athletic career retirement is dependent, in part, on athletic identity salience, or the degree to which one defines themself in the athlete role. Researchers, however, have seldom explored how athlete identities are shaped and reshaped by organizations and managers prior to retirement. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to examine identity regulation in the North American field of men's professional ice hockey. Results from the study indicate that managers regulated a bipartite athletic identity, defined by performance excellence and beneficence; a largely self-directed, non-sporting alternative; and a nascent merger between the two. Further, regulation was found to limit individual development and, in turn, preparation for athletic career retirement. In an effort to assist athletes in developing identities that are more conducive to retirement and individual long-term well-being, the author suggests that organizations and managers in professional ice hockey challenge and reform extant practices and modes of regulation.     

天津市部分大学生运动员和专业队运动员应对策略的比较研究

采用《中国运动员应对量表》,对天津市的68名大学生运动员和64名专业队运动员进行调查研究。结果表明,大学生运动员和专业队运动员在应对策略上分别以集中解决问题和集中处理情绪的直接应对为主,且在处理情绪维度上大学生运动员和专业队运动员存在显著性差异。大学生运动员的应对策略在集中处理情绪维度上存在性别差异,在遇到应激时,男大学生比女大学生运动员更加注重对情绪的处理。     

普通高校高水平运动员自主学习能力研究

重视培养普通高校高水平运动员的自主学习能力,是解决学训矛盾的重要方法.学生运动员自主学习能力的培养不仅是他们在校期间解决学训矛盾的需要,也是他们将来可持续发展的需要,是适应终身学习的需要.     

高尔夫运动后备人才职业生涯规划初探

通过对优秀运动员职业生涯规划研究现状的分析与探讨,分析竞技高尔夫后备运动员职业生涯规划问题,从个人和社会两个角度分析了我国竞技高尔夫运动员职业生涯规划的重要性,从而达到促进运动员个人全面发展的目的。研究表明:职业生涯规划是竞技高尔夫事业发展的内在需要也是其根本保障,这一规划有利于竞技高尔夫运动员明确自身奋斗目标,也有利于他们更好地进行自我定位,也有利于其自我管理水平的提高。     

Perspectives of mentoring: The Black female student-athlete

The purpose of this study was to understand Black female collegiate athletes’ perception of mentors and the characteristics of their current mentors. Understanding their definition of a mentor and the persons whom fulfill the psychosocial and career mentor roles will provide insight on the mentor–mentee relationship. In addition, the researchers found it necessary to ascertain the persons whom fulfill the athletic mentor role due to the collegiate athletic status. This study is approached from a critical feminist lens, utilizing a qualitative questionnaire to capture and analyze the voice and perceptions of the Black female athletes (n = 38) from two Division I universities. Critical race theory and Black feminist thought were employed to capture the “multiple jeopardies” of the Black female athlete, thus recognizing race, or racism, and gender, or sexism, are at the fore of their daily experiences. The findings revealed Black female athletes’ definitions of a mentor were characterized by the traditional mentor qualities such as a guide, a supporter, and a role model. Further analysis indicated the women had three distinctly different persons to fulfill each mentor dimension to include: career/academic support, psychosocial support, and athletic support. However, the characteristics of those persons who fulfilled each dimension were family members, with greater influence by the coach on the athletic support dimension. Based on the findings it would benefit administrators to recognize these characteristics and persons of influence when providing support services and developmental programs for the Black female collegiate athlete.     

Coming to America: challenges and difficulties faced by African student athletes

There is a considerable lack of literature on international student athletes despite the extent to which colleges and universities are increasingly relying on them to heighten the winning reputation of their sports programs. This research focuses on international student athletes from Africa. Based on interviews of 16 student athletes from seven different African countries, the range of their experiences upon entering universities in the United States, particularly their challenges, were identified. Many of the serious issues affecting the student athletes were matters related to the host environment's underestimations about the African student athletes’ desires to learn, misunderstandings about their culture and religions and other negative assumptions that undermined their academic success. We also found that the vast majority of these student athletes experienced negative stereotypes and discrimination based on their race and their region of origin.     

Age and Cardiovascular Response to Submaximal Treadmill Exercise in Males

Abstract

The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine the relative importance of the attributes that student–athletes use when determining their choice of a university. A second purpose was to compare previous athletic institutional choice studies with the results of this study to determine if the most important attributes were similar and to compare and contrast methodologies. Six hundred five Division I student–athletes (344 baseball players and 261 softball players) from all eight national geographic regions of the NCAA participated in this study. The experimental procedure was based on Information Integration Theory and a 2¹⁰ fractional factorial design that resulted in 32 “choice sets.” These choice sets were composed of universities described by 10 attributes. This framework required that the student–athletes choose from among three university profiles, thereby realistically simulating the decision process. The results for the aggregate sample show that the “Amount of Scholarship” attribute was the most important factor in the institutional choice process. Many demographic variables were analyzed (sex, race, amount of scholarship received as a freshman, amount of perceived financial need, self-reported grade-point average, questionnaire completion procedures, in-state/out-of-state status, NCAA region, and rank in high school) in conjunction with the choice set data in a post-hoc framework. The results for a subset of these variables are reported in this paper; differences (in the order of importance of the attributes) were found among groups. A primary finding of this study is that a student–athlete's perceived financial need has a critical impact on the institutional choice process. A second important finding is that, although “Amount of Scholarship” was determined to be the most important attribute, this result stands in stark contrast to previous studies that have investigated the institutional choice process of student–athletes.     

Masculinity, moral atmosphere, and moral functioning of high school football players

In order to identify factors associated with on-field moral functioning among student athletes within the unique context of football, we examined masculine gender role conflict, moral atmosphere, and athletic identity. Using structural equation modeling to assess survey data from 204 high school football players, results demonstrated that moral atmosphere (i.e., the influence of coaches and teammates) was significantly associated with participants' process of on-field moral functioning across the levels of judgment, intention, and behavior. Neither masculine gender role conflict nor athletic identity significantly predicted moral functioning, but the results indicated that participants' identification with the athlete role significantly predicted conflict with socialized gender roles. Results suggest that in the aggressive and violent sport of football, coaches can have a direct influence on players' moral functioning process. Coaches can also have an indirect effect by influencing all the players so that a culture of ethical play can be cultivated among teammates and spread from the top down.     

现代运动训练负荷的主要特征

在现代运动训练中,无论哪个等级和水平的运动员,都极其注重运动负荷的科学安排。本文归纳论述的现代运动训练的负荷特征,主要是就高水平运动员的训练而言,并力求反映运动负荷科学安排的某些规律,这对水平较低的运动员和业余训练运动员也是可资借鉴与参考的。     

运动性心律失常研究现状与前景

运动心脏作为运动员所特有的＂高功能,高储备,大心脏＂一直被认为是运动员良好体能状态的重要保障,但在运动训练监控中我们发现一些运动员或多或少存在某些心脏结构改变和心律失常现象,往往影响运动员的系统训练和竞技水平的提高,常常困扰着运动员和教练员。运动医学研究也显示,在大运动量训练与反复大强度运动后运动心脏细胞与亚细胞的形态结构与功能代谢发生了某些失代偿性改变,引起运动性心肌微损伤,而且,右心房、右心室及内膜下心肌组织是运动心脏对大运动量训练与反复大强度运动的敏感区域,又称易损部位。尽管目前运动性心肌微损伤现象已为人所知,且运动性心律失常发生也与运动性心肌微损伤有关,但其病因、病理及发病机制尚不十分明了,运动员心肌微损伤与运动性心脏意外的发生很难早期诊断、预测和防治。针对优秀运动员潜在心脏隐患的调研也证实优秀运动员存在较高的心律失常风险,且专项训练年限长的运动员更为常见,一些运动员因此而退赛,甚至退役。运动性心律失常已经成为影响运动员体能、健康以及正常训练比赛的重要原因之一,制约了部分优秀运动员竞技水平和比赛成绩的提高。部分退役运动员留下了永久性的心律失常。本文主要针对运动性心律失常的常见类型以及病理变化与发生机制进行了综述与探讨,并对未来研究前景进行了展望,希望开展运动性心律失常电生和分子病理的研究,规避运动场上心血管意外的发生,保障运动员健康、延长运动寿命。     

提高大学生运动员非智力因素水平的有效途径研究

运用文献资料法、访谈法和逻辑分析法,对大学生运动员非智力因素进行系统研究,提出提高大学生运动员非智力因素水平的途径,为增强运动员的竞技能力、提高运动成绩、真正成为出色的运动员奠定基础。     

班干部轮换制在大学生运动员自我管理教育中的作用

培养和造就大学生运动员成为德、智、体全面发展的合格人才，是高等院校的一项中心任务。现行高水平运动队管理大多是班干部“终身制”，该模式具有较多弊端，极不利于新时期高校运动人才培养，故而提倡用班干部“轮换制”替代“终身制”，以促进大学生运动员自我管理、自我教育能力的提高。     

Sport injuries as the main cause of sport career termination among Finnish top-level athletes

Abstract

Injuries are common among athletes, and are sometimes so severe that they affect an athlete's career in sport. As studies on sport career termination are few, we conducted a study to investigate the role of injuries as a reason for ending a sport career. The study group consisted of 574 male and female top-level cross-country skiers, swimmers, long-distance runners and soccer players who responded to a retrospective postal questionnaire in 2006. Twenty-seven athletes (4.9%, 27/548) reported ending their sport career because of injury. A follow-up interview was conducted by telephone in 2007 (n=20 volunteered to be interviewed) to confirm sport career termination and the reasons for this. Fifteen of the interviewed athletes terminated and five continued their sport on the same level as earlier. Female athletes (12/15) terminated their sport career more frequently than male athletes (3/15). Athletes who reported terminating their sport career because of injury were on average two and a half years older (24.1 years vs. 21.6 years, P=0.006) than athletes who continued the sport. All the swimmers (n=5) who were interviewed terminated their career because of a shoulder injury. All the soccer players who ended their career (n=4) were female and had a severe knee injury, such as anterior cruciate ligament injury. Most of the athletes who terminated their sport career (70.4%, 19/27) reported that the injury caused them mild or moderate permanent disability. We found that sports injuries play a significant role in terminating a career in sport, and in some sports events injuries may commonly be the main reason for sport career termination. Injury prevention and adequate treatment and rehabilitation of injuries are thus essential to avoid the long-term consequences of severe sport injuries.     

“It's Cheesy When They Smile

Building on previous research in which we provided an opportunity for female college athletes to construct their own photographic portrayals, this study explored young female athletes' perceptions of the college athlete photographs. Fifty-two girls participated in focus group interviews where they viewed and discussed the images. The young athletes particularly liked images they perceived to show authentic athletes (e.g., in athletic settings, with appropriate sport attire), images they could relate to due to personal experiences, and images that reflected competent and passionate sportswomen. Images perceived as revealing a lack of motivation, poor sporting attitudes, and nonathletic poses generally were disliked. Images depicting multiple social identities (e.g., an athlete in a dress) were controversial and generated much discussion.     

"It's cheesy when they smile:" what girl athletes prefer in images of female college athletes

Building on previous research in which we provided an opportunity for female college athletes to construct their own photographic portrayals, this study explored young female athletes' perceptions of the college athlete photographs. Fifty-two girls participated in focus group interviews where they viewed and discussed the images. The young athletes particularly liked images they perceived to show authentic athletes (e.g, in athletic settings, with appropriate sport attire), images they could relate to due to personal experiences, and images that reflected competent and passionate sportswomen. Images perceived as revealing a lack of motivation, poor sporting attitudes, and nonathletic poses generally were disliked. Images depicting multiple social identities (e.g., an athlete in a dress) were controversial and generated much discussion.     

专业运动员腰部扭伤的原因和预防措施

运动损伤所带来的负面影响是显而易见的,它不仅影响运动员的身体健康,使其不能正常参加训练和比赛,还会妨碍运动成绩的提高,缩短运动寿命,必须给予足够的重视。对运动损伤来讲,防重于治。指出教练员和运动员应树立伤病防治的意识,科学合理地安排训练计划,避免运动损伤的发生。阐述了专业运动员最为常见的腰部扭伤的预防,指出运动员腰部扭伤的原因、临床表现、诊断和预防措施,以期帮助教练员运用现代科学知识,遵照运动训练的规律,认真钻研训练方案和训练计划,从而有效地避免和减少运动员腰部扭伤的发生。     

Emotional intelligence,servant leadership,and development goal orientation in athletic directors

Scholars and policy makers have long considered sport as a vehicle for promoting young athletes’ well-being, educational experience, and citizenship skills. Athletic directors can play a significant role in this process by establishing organizational goals that can foster the development of young athletes and also by ensuring that other personnel abide by these goals. However, little is known about methods athletic directors can use to focus on such development goals in the midst of the current winning-at-all-costs culture surrounding sports. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between emotional intelligence, servant leadership, and development goal orientation among high school athletic directors. A total of 445 athletic directors located in 48 states in the United States completed an online survey. The results indicated that emotional intelligence is positively associated with servant leadership, which in turn is positively associated with development goal orientation. The mediation analysis also revealed that servant leadership fully mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and development goal orientation among athletic directors. The findings of this research assist in understanding how sports governing bodies can educate athletic directors to initiate development-oriented reform of the winning-at-all-costs culture in sports.