‘Science’, ‘Wind’ and ‘Bottom’: Eighteenth-Century Boxing Manuals

The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of a plethora of sporting professionals, many of whom were involved in developing training and coaching practices. Teaching the skills, the ‘science’, of boxing became an important source of income for professional fighters while some practitioners also developed careers as trainers, normally operating on behalf of the wealthy ‘amateurs’ who retained professionals in order to make profitable wagers. These practices were described in some of the early instructional manuals of the period, notably a detailed analysis of wrestling by Parkyns in 1713, who considered technique, fitness, and diet, and by Godfrey in 1747 who included a seminal section on boxing in his A Treatise upon the Useful Science of Defence. The proliferation of boxing manuals in the last quarter of the century reflected both a revival of interest in the sport and a desire to record the essential elements of this martial ‘science’ since it was only now that contemporaries believed a full understanding had been achieved of the importance of ‘wind’ (endurance), ‘bottom’ (courage), and ‘science’ (technique). This paper explores a number of texts where authors discussed these essential components of boxing performance and highlights the longevity of their methods of athletic preparation.     

‘Let’s work on your weaknesses’: Australian CrossFit coaching,masculinity and neoliberal framings of ‘health’ and ‘fitness’

CrossFit (CF) is one of the fastest growing exercise regimens in the world. However, sociologists have been relatively slow in examining the place of CF coaches in contemporary CF fitness culture. CF coaches are key figures in the production, promotion and consumption of CF fitness services. Therefore, coaches are a sociologically compelling group to examine. Drawing on interviews with male CF coaches in Tasmania, Australia, this paper argues that the way that CF coaches become qualified, interact with clients and understand ‘health’ and ‘fitness’ is shaped by the confluence of masculinity and neoliberalism. As CF grows in Australia alongside other fitness regimens, these findings pose a unique set of concerns for the Australian fitness industry, especially in relation to the ways that CF coaches translate the meaning and practice of ‘health’ and ‘fitness’ to their athletes.     

Modern English football fandom and hyperreal, ‘safe’, ‘all-seater’ stadia: examining the contemporary football stage

Through a critique of various social, cultural, political and technological changes in English football as a result of the Taylor report into the safety of football stadia post-Hillsborough in 1989, this paper explores the way in which the modern ‘safe’ all-seater stadium is often experienced by fans in a hyperreal and relatively passive fashion. The paper then considers some of the challenges posed by these developments and the potential for fans to renegotiate and adapt in the face of a middle classing of football discourse. Finally, the paper examines the social control agenda inherent within the neoliberal development of all-seater stadia, whilst highlighting the response of the English Football Supporters Federation and their ‘Safe Standing Campaign’. The paper will conclude by offering a tentative critique of an innovative response by Manchester City F.C. supporters and their participatory ‘Poznan’ celebration in all-seating areas based on auto-ethnographic interpretation.     

Ancient Greek ‘Amateurism’, the NCAA and the Courts

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has recently been the target of many lawsuits challenging its definition and regulation of amateurism, which it holds as providing unique moral and social benefits for both its scholar-athletes and society at large. This conception of amateurism is inherited from nineteenth-century models of ancient Greek athletics via figures such as John Mahaffy and E.N. Gardiner. This influence is evident in legal cases involving the NCAA or athletics in general, and hence amateurism is cited by judges and others as a long-standing Western cultural tradition which encourages moral and social development. This is problematic, however, as not only is it historically questionable, but also the citation of cultural heritage in legal dicta has seen legal criticism or reversal.     

‘Safeguarding’ sports coaching: Foucault,genealogy and critique

This paper offers a genealogical account of safeguarding in sport. Drawing specifically on Foucault's work, it examines the ‘politics of touch’ in relation to the social and historical formation of child protection policy in sports coaching. While the analysis has some resonance with the context of coaching as a whole, for illustrative purposes it focuses principally upon the sport of swimming. Our analysis demonstrates how the linked signifiers of ‘abuse’, ‘protection’ and ‘safeguarding’ produce both continuity and change in the philosophy and meaning around coaching practice, giving rise to particular notions of ‘government’ and regulation, risk aversion and prohibitions, and values. Within a culture of fear in sports coaching and society, the analysis traces the development of swimming policy following the exposure of select high-profile cases or critical incidents, where such historical events prompted a series of authoritative statements about the nature of child protection discourse in sport and education, and practice.     

For a ‘United’ Kingdom and a ‘Greater’ Britain: the British Olympic Association and the limitations and contestations of ‘Britishness’

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, the Home-Nations of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales joined forces in competing in the Olympic Games under the banner of ‘Great Britain’ (or deviations thereof). The Olympics served as an important symbolic site for fostering and promoting a broader ‘British’ national identity. In practice, however, the prevalence and persistence of competing national identities and allegiances roiled early attempts to create a unified British Olympic team. These counter-prevailing forces of nationalism further served to undermine the British Olympic Association's ambitious attempt to unite the British Empire in a ‘Greater Britain’ team for the 1916 Berlin Olympic Games. As this work will reveal, ‘Britishness’ was a layered, contested and racially homogenous term that was interpreted and applied differently across various parts of the British Isles and its Empire.     

Africa and the ‘World’ Cup: FIFA Politics,Eurocentrism and Resistance

The development of African football in the international playing arena during the last 25 years has been such that several noted commentators have predicted that the name of an African nation will soon be appearing on the World Cup trophy. [1 Most notably, Walter Winterbottom and Pelé expressed their belief that an African nation would win the World Cup before the new millennium. Such predictions remain unfulfilled, but the assertion of the former FIFA President João Havelange that an African team would qualify for the last four by, at the latest, 2002, was a feat that Cameroon and Senegal both narrowly missed out on during the 1990 and 2002 World Cups respectively. See F. Osman Duodo, ‘On the Threshold of Eating With Kings’, FIFA Magazine, Oct. 1996, 13–14. ] With the exception of Senegal's valiant efforts in reaching the quarter-finals of the 2002 tournament, the relatively weak performances of the continent's other representatives at the two most recent editions of the game's premier international tournament would not appear to bear out this assertion. [2 During France ‘98, only Nigeria qualified for the knock-out phase. At Japan/South Korea 2002 only Senegal reached the latter stages of the competition although the four other teams narrowly failed to progress from the group stages. ] The promise offered by Cameroon's quarter-final appearance at Italia 90, Nigeria and Cameroon's Gold medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic football tournament and African successes in FIFA's under-age competitions thus remains unfulfilled. [3 Nigeria and Ghana have twice won the biennial under-17 World Youth Championship since its inauguration in 1985. ] However, the disappointment that greeted the early exits of most of the African representatives in 1998 and 2002 should not conceal the fact that, in a political sense, both tournaments were a major victory for the African game. When one considers that African representation at the World Cup has historically been restricted by a Eurocentric bias at the heart of FIFA, the participation of five nations at both France 98 and Japan/South Korea 2002 allows these tournaments to be viewed as significant milestones for African football. Drawing on analyses of primary archival materials and other sources, this essay examines the ways in which the World Cup Finals, and more specifically, the political debate surrounding the distribution of places for the tournament has come to represent one of the key arena's in which Africa's quest for global football equity has manifested itself. [4 For a discussion of Africa's struggle for global equity within FIFA see P. Darby, Africa, Football and FIFA: Politics, Colonialism and Resistance (London and Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 2002). ] The essay concludes by assessing the extent to which the discourse on Africa's place at the World Cup can be read as a reflection of broader First World-Third World power relations.     

Sex,sport and justice: reframing the ‘who’ of citizenship and the ‘what’ of justice in European and UK sport policy

Universalist claims are often made about sport which is, as a consequence, increasingly written into national and international policy as an entitlement of citizenship or even human right. Further, in most countries physical education (PE) is a compulsory component of children's education, and sport is seen as central to this. Consequently, in the interests of justice sport must aspire to be egalitarian, that is, relevant to and meaningful for boys and men, and girls and women. In this context three fundamental questions are asked in relation to sport: (1) Do all citizens want to participate? (2) Who counts as a citizen? and (3) What are justice and equality? Feminist political and citizenship theory particularly the work of Pateman, Lister and Fraser is used to explore these questions and interrogate the ‘who’ of citizenship and the ‘what’ of justice in relation to framing sport policy in Europe and the UK. It is argued that notwithstanding the extensive use of the Council of Europe definition of sport,¹1. ‘“Sport” means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or obtaining results in competition at all levels' (CE, 1992 CE. (1992/2001). European sports charter. Retrieved from https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=Rec(92)13&;Sector=secCM&;Language=lanEnglish&;Ver=rev&;BackColorInternet=9999CC&;BackColorIntranet=FFBB55&;BackColorLogged=FFAC75 [Google Scholar]–2001 CE. (1992/2001). European sports charter. Retrieved from https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=Rec(92)13&;Sector=secCM&;Language=lanEnglish&;Ver=rev&;BackColorInternet=9999CC&;BackColorIntranet=FFBB55&;BackColorLogged=FFAC75 [Google Scholar]). and despite or even because of the widespread adoption of the language of gender equality and gender mainstreaming, although formal sport citizenship rights might be accorded to all individuals and regarded as gender neutral, this masks a discourse of androcentric sport citizenship. This has captured European and UK sport policy and provision and is hindering further progress towards gender justice in sport and therefore PE. Given the universal and compulsory aspirations of sport particularly within PE, gender justice should be conceptualised not only as cultural recognition, political representation and economic redistribution within the normalised frame of competitive performance sport or ‘sport for sports sake’; but also as a critical meta-political remapping and reframing of sport as sport and physical recreation or ‘sport for all’.     

Child abuse,child protection,and defensive ‘touch’ in PE teaching and sports coaching

This text introduces recently completed research on ‘no touch’ sports coaching, by placing it in a broader social context which problematises the way child abuse and child protection (or safeguarding) are conceived and discussed in terms of policy and practice. It also provides a brief indicative summary of the research findings and offers a discussion of moral panic, risk society and worst case thinking, before drawing on Foucault's work on governmentality to offer an explanation of how the current situation arose. The authors suggest that the approach to discussing child abuse, and the guidelines and training stemming from the dominant discourse, for the most part initiated by the NSPCC's Child Protection in Sport Unit, together create an environment in which many coaches and PE teachers are confused and fearful, and consequently unsure of how to be around the children and young people they teach and coach.     

Transnational fan reactions to transnational trends: Norwegian Liverpool supporters, ‘authenticity’ and ‘filthy-rich’ club owners

Despite claims that local and transnational supporters in the English Premier League (EPL) may be closer to each other in terms of commitment and ‘authenticity’, than often imagined, our knowledge about how transnational fans, as one of EPL’s global components, responds to other global developments in the league is limited, given what is known about traditional fans’ meeting with EPL’s ‘global powers’. This research investigates perspectives and attitudes of transnational fans; a set of Norwegian Liverpool supporters, and their experiences of the club’s ‘foreign’ ownership, as articulated on an interactive message board. Crucially, whereas the attitudes towards ownership are mixed, the findings suggest an adoption of ‘traditional’ fan cultures, and reinforce claims that local and transnational fan cultures perhaps are closer, and display more similarities, than imagined. Certain findings also strengthen the argument sustaining that ‘authentic’ fandom should not solely be seen in terms of geographical origins or presence inside stadiums.     

‘Too Semitic’ or ‘Thoroughly ‘Anglicised’? The Life and Career of Harold Abrahams

Harold Maurice Abrahams (1899–1978) – the British-Jewish athlete made famous by the film Chariots of Fire – won gold for Britain in the 100 m sprint in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Far from being the ‘outsider’ depicted in Chariots of Fire, however, Abrahams’ ‘Anglicisation’ was extensive and played an important role in his life before, during and after his athletics career. Abrahams’ integration went hand-in-hand with his sporting success – something which was celebrated by British Jewry. Such was his assimilation, that by 1936 – a year when Abrahams courted controversy over his stance on the Berlin Olympics – he was criticised for having ‘lost’ all attachment to the community of his birth. In contrast to the film, where Abrahams is seen to be ‘too Semitic’, the Bedford athlete was actually ‘thoroughly Anglicised’. A desire to move into or support middle-to-upper class British society characterised Abrahams’ personal and sporting life much more so than his Jewishness. As time progressed, Abrahams’ Jewish origins meant less and less, both to Harold himself and to those around him.     

‘Old’ Football and the ‘New’ Codes: Some Thoughts on the ‘Origins of Football’ Debate and Suggestions for Further Research

A close reading of recent contributions to the ‘origins of football’ debate suggests that there is now more consensus among scholars about the broad sequence of events than is rhetorically allowed. However, this consensus itself rests on some shared conceptual and methodological illusions. These include: a continual naivety about the use of the name ‘football’ in the primary source materials; asystematic underestimation of forms of play (and a collateral overestimation of the importance of rules and codifications) in the development of football; and, above all, a widely shared, and very dubious, conviction that the pursuit of the historical origins of football is a meaningful activity. This article analyses each ofthese illusions in turn and suggests some methodological and substantive alternatives to them. These alternatives sum to the conclusion that the origin of both modern football codes is a far more remarkable and many-sided story than has been appreciated, even in the very best research to date. Moreover, it is a story whose many dimensions and implications go well beyond the borders of Britain, and indeed beyond the history of ‘soccer’ or ‘rugby’ alone.     

‘Studentship’ and ‘impression management’ in an advanced soccer coach education award

The purpose of this study was to investigate how coaches perceived and responded to the content knowledge and assessment processes that they were exposed to during an advanced level soccer coaching award programme. In-depth interviews were conducted with six coaches who had successfully completed the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) ‘A’ Licence in the UK. Using the concepts of the ‘dialectic of socialisation’, ‘studentship’ and Goffman's (1959) work on ‘the presentation of the self’ as analytical pegs, the discussion highlights how the coaches were far from ‘empty vessels’ waiting to be filled. Rather, the findings reveal the active role that the respondent coaches played in terms of accepting, rejecting and resisting the knowledge, beliefs and methods espoused by the coach educators. Finally, perceiving of coach learning as a negotiated and contested activity is discussed in terms of its implications for existing and future coach education provision.     

From ‘philosophy of sport’ to ‘philosophies of sports’? History,identity and diversification of sport philosophy

My goal in this article is to give a portrait of how modern sport philosophy, which started in 1972, developed from relatively narrow paradigmatic borders to become a diverse and multi-paradigmatic international discipline. This development has included several changes but also some continuity. I identify three main tenets that may be viable in the future. One is to focus on the traditional sport philosophical paradigm, which had an ambition to identify the essence of sport. A second option is to develop more specific approaches, focusing on single sports or types of sport, like football or climbing. A third alternative is to develop a philosophy, not only of sport but of ‘homo movens’, studying the moving human being in different environmental and socio-cultural contexts. All three options are viable and should be welcomed.     

‘It’s alpha omega for succeeding and thriving’: parents,children and sporting cultivation in Norway

It has become increasingly apparent, internationally, that childhood is a crucial life-stage in the formation of predispositions towards sports participation and that parents are increasingly investing in the sporting capital of their children via a process of ‘concerted cultivation’. It is surprising, therefore, that parents’ involvement in the development of their children's sporting interests has received so little attention in Norway, given that sport is a significant pastime for Norwegians and participation has been steadily increasing – among youngsters, in particular – over the past several decades. Through a qualitative case study of a combined primary and secondary school in a small Norwegian city, this study sought to add to recent explorations of the role of parents in children's sporting involvement in Norway. As expected, it was evident that sport becomes taken for granted and internalised very early on in Norwegian children's lives. Less expected was the recognition that children's nascent sporting interests were often generated by sports clubs via early years schooling and, therefore, that parents played only one (albeit very important) part in the formation of their youngsters’ early sporting habits. Thus, parents, sports clubs and early years schooling appeared to form something akin to a ‘sporting trinity’ in youngsters’ nascent sporting careers. These findings may have implications for policy-makers looking towards Norway for a ‘recipe’ for sports participation.     

Native Americans,Puritans and ‘Brahmins’: genesis,practice and evolution of archaic and pre-modern football in Massachusetts

First, this paper will track the origins of archaic and pre-modern football in Massachusetts. It will then analyse the genesis and development of the Boston Game. Finally, it will provide an explanation why the pre-modern Boston Game/Harvard Game was abandoned by the students of Harvard University in favour of modern rugby.     

Impact ‘fingerprints’ and preliminary implications for an ‘intelligent mouthguard’ head impact dosimeter

An in vivo head impact dosimeter, termed the ??intelligent mouthguard??, is under development at the Cleveland Clinic. The intelligent mouthguard facilitates correlation of acute and accumulative impact dosage with injury risk. As part of intelligent mouthguard dosimetry development for boxing and mixed martial arts participants, head and neck impact dosage was quantified in the laboratory for seven (7) punch types. Impact dosage data for punches were collected, which generated unique ??fingerprints?? for use with the intelligent mouthguard computational algorithm. Additional calculations were made on parameters based on each punch ??fingerprint?? and injury risk. Each of the punches had a unique ??fingerprint??. The hook imparted the most severe impact dosage, with the cross and oblique hook inducing the next most severe impact dosages, respectively. The impact dosage ??fingerprints?? determined here will be used to identify punch types during intelligent mouthguard human trials in 2012. Intelligent mouthguard dosimetry will be available soon for other contact sports (American Football, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse) to monitor head?Cneck impact dosage for correlation to acute or accumulative injury risk.     

‘Supporters,not consumers.’ Grassroots supporters’ culture and sports entertainment in the US

Abstract

Based on ethnographic research with supporters’ groups in the US, this article explores how Ultra and other global models of fandom are being appropriated by soccer fans in the US and Canada. I argue that these fans enact more than stylistic expressions of fandom but instead contest the boundaries of locally accepted models fandom. Most notably, organized soccer supporters in the US reject the notion of being simply consumers of sports entertainment and see themselves instead as stakeholders in the teams they follow and as de facto constituents that the clubs need to be accountable to. At the same time, the global and local organizational structures and histories of professional soccer confront these fans with specific restrictions in how they are able to articulate their interest as fans.     

Young Chinese Australians' subjectivities of ‘health’ and ‘(un)healthy bodies’

Young people with English as an Additional Language/Dialect backgrounds are often identified in public health messages and popular media as ‘bodies at risk’ because they do not conform to the health regimens of contemporary Western societies. With increasing numbers of Chinese students in Australian schools, it is necessary to advance teachers' understandings of the ways in which these young people negotiate notions of ‘health’ and ‘(un)healthy bodies’. This paper explores the ways in which young Chinese Australians' understand health and (un)healthy bodies. The data upon which this paper focuses were drawn from a larger scale study underpinned by critical, interpretive, ethnographic methods. The participants in this study were 12 young Chinese Australians, aged 10–15 years, from two schools. Photographs of a variety of bodies were sourced from popular magazines and used as a means of interview elicitation. The young people were invited to comment on the photographs and discuss what ‘health’ and the notion of a ‘(un)healthy body’ meant to them. Foucault's concepts of discursive practice and normalisation are used alongside Chinese concepts of holistic paradigms and Wen–Wu to unpack the young people's subjectivities on health and (un)healthy bodies. The findings invite us to move beyond Western subjectivities of health and (un)healthy bodies and highlight the multidimensional and diverse perspectives espoused by some of the young Chinese Australians in this study. The research findings can inform future policy and practice relevant to the exploration of health and (un)healthy bodies in health and physical education and health and physical education teacher education.