Methodology in Sports History: Learning from Legal Scholarship?

The brief note aims to illustrate how historical context has contributed to my writing on modern sports law and principally through two pieces of work – the first relating to the historical, sui generis origins of the legality of combat or fighting sports, which continues to stretch the boundaries of core principles of criminal law, such as reasonable consent to bodily harm, to their utmost; and second, and more generally, the ‘historicalegal’ influences on the development of modern sport in mid-nineteenth-century Britain. Before that is done, it is best to give some account of research methodologies in legal scholarship and principally as they apply to legal history.     

‘Sport qua science’: Michel Serres’ ball as an asset of knowledge

Abstract

This article concerns the use of sport as an asset of knowledge in academia. The background to this is sport’s neglected role and isolation in academia, save for in sundry sports sciences. By mapping the academic use of philosopher Michel Serres’ sport metaphors, a new perspective of the relationship between sport and science is explored. A mixed-methods approach was chosen to review the literature using Serres’ concept of the ‘quasi-object’. The findings show that the concept appeals to a wide array of disciplines within the social sciences and the humanities. The article suggests that there exists a parallel sport science in academia that flies under the radar of regular sport disciplines, a sort of ‘sport AS humanities’. This proposed ‘sportive science’ focuses on other aspects of sport than its already existing sport study counterparts. Thus, sport qua science acknowledges its topic as an asset of knowledge, not as a mirror of society.     

A survey of literature on the history of sport in Britain

Truistically, sport reflects political, ideological, economic, social and religious precepts and practices. Anthropologists, sociologists and historians for some time have produced a growing body of knowledge on sport, indicating that it can be studied from various disciplinary perspectives and shed light on issues ranging from social class conflict and gender inequalities, to nationalism and colonialism. [1 [1] Cashmore, Making Sense of Sports; Jarvie and Maguire, Sport and Leisure. ] Within the Jewish community of British-ruled Palestine, the conflict between the religious Judaic commandment on refraining from any work and the playing of sport on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest, became a public issue. This paper describes the conflict over sport on the Sabbath in Jewish Palestine in the 1920s and 1930s in two specific settlements. This conflict offers evidence of a historical approach from which to view broader historical phenomena, including ideological disagreement regarding the role of religion in modern Jewish nationalism, muscular Christian legacies and anti-imperial assertion.     

A comparison of time-motion and technical–tactical variables between age groups of female judo matches

Abstract

The aim of the study was to verify differences between age groups of female judo matches in time-motion and technical–tactical analysis. The sample was composed of pre-cadet (13–14 years, n = 148), cadet (15–16 years, n = 228), junior (17–19 years, n = 104) and senior (>20 years, n = 237) groups. The time-motion indicators consisted of total combat time, standing combat time, displacement without contact, gripping time, total time of techniques, groundwork combat time and pause time, per match and by each combat/pause cycle. Technical and tactical variables were also collected. The one-way analysis of variance and a post hoc test were conducted, P ≤ 0.05. Cadets, with a median of 7 (2, 12), had a number of combat/pause cycles different from junior, with 3 (1, 8.5). Regarding time-motion per match and per cycle, senior had longer total combat time, standing combat time and gripping time than other groups. Senior presented lower frequency of leg techniques than pre-cadet, cadet and junior. Time-motion and technical–tactical variables effects in female judo athletes emphasise the difference between seniors and other groups.     

Israel–Malaysia Relations and the Place of Football

Abstract

While seeking to establish their respective international positions following their foundation, Israel and Malaysia also interacted with each other. However, in light of the Israeli–Arab conflict, and mainly due to Malaysia’s domestic considerations and geo-political interests, the interactions remained limited and official relations were not established. This study relies on the notion that sport is potentially an important tool for engagement between states. It examines contemporaneous Israeli and Singapore press and brings together the various episodes and voices pertinent to the way Israel–Malaysia relations unfolded through football until the 1970s. The paper offers an historical perspective on the relations by focusing on a game that was highly popular in both countries. I argue that, while considering the various limitations that were involved, the Prime Minister of Malaysia and President of the Asian Football Confederation, Tunku Abdul Rahman, cautiously maintained the football channel with Israel open. Accordingly, in light of the significantly low-level of other means of contact, football functioned as a carefully managed yet meaningful line of communication by involving a prime minister, senior sports administrators, athletes, football fans, journalists, and sports readers. The essay thus contributes a case study to the emerging body of literature on football relations between states.     

Match-Fixing: A Historical Perspective

Abstract

Match-fixing has a long history, but while use of drugs in sport has a substantial secondary literature, match-fixing has only recently begun to attract the attention of historians. This essay begins with a brief overview of its global contemporary contexts, the broad range of sports where it now surfaces, increased recognition of its moral, social, and economic threat, and the varied responses of leading sports organizations, legal gambling operators, police forces, governmental departments, and regulators. The following section explores the challenges of finding any reliable evidence of match-fixing in the past. Such material can include reports of criminal trials and investigations, the decisions of national and international sporting bodies, journalistic investigations, players confessions, suspended investigations, and the many various unsubstantiated allegations of fixing. An overview shows that match-fixing has been a major and substantial long-standing historical continuity in sport usually but not always is linked to gambling and sporting materialism. Examples are brought forward to show that it could be found in Ancient Greece and Egypt, and was widespread across the early modern and modern periods in Britain, America, and Australia. The essay concludes by suggesting some key questions which a future agenda for the historical study of match-fixing might address.     

Sport science integration: An evolutionary synthesis

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to point out one way of integrating the supposedly incommensurate disciplines investigated in sports science. General, common principles can be found among apparently unrelated disciplines when the focus is put on the dynamics of sports-related phenomena. Dynamical systems approaches that have recently changed research in biological and social sciences among others, offer key concepts to create a common pluricontextual language in sport science. This common language, far from being homogenising, offers key synthesis between diverse fields, respecting and enabling the theoretical and experimental pluralism. It forms a softly integrated sports science characterised by a basic dynamic explanatory backbone as well as context-dependent theoretical flexibility. After defining the dynamic integration in living systems, unable to be captured by structural static approaches, we show the commonalities between the diversity of processes existing on different levels and time scales in biological and social entities. We justify our interpretation by drawing on some recent scientific contributions that use the same general principles and concepts, and diverse methods and techniques of data analysis, to study different types of phenomena in diverse disciplines. We show how the introduction of the dynamic framework in sport science has started to blur the boundaries between physiology, biomechanics, psychology, phenomenology and sociology. The advantages and difficulties of sport science integration and its consequences in research are also discussed.     

布依族传统体育现状及传承发展研究

通过文献资料法、观察法、历史研究法等对布依族传统体育现状及传承发展问题进行分析,从布依族传统体育的历史渊源、项目分类、发展现状、传承发展等方面进行了述评,旨在对布依族传统体育的传承发展做研究铺垫,以期为后续研究做支撑。     

Defining sport tourism: a content analysis of an evolving epistemology

ABSTRACT

This paper conducts a systematic evaluation of one of the primary journals in the field of sport tourism research since its establishment in 1993. Drawing on extant literature with varying disciplinary approaches, this meta-review traces the development of key concepts and definitions underlying an evolving epistemology connected to sport tourism, as evidenced within the Journal of Sport & Tourism (JS&T). It does so by examining research specific to content previously unexplored. The study first conducted a content analysis based upon a keyword search, focusing on phrases in which sport and tourism appeared together. The study reviewed all texts, including articles, book chapters and editorials (n?=?517), for the years 1993–2014. We then constructed a thematic analysis based upon the most common defining elements found within these texts. These extracted definitions were analyzed according to their paradigmatic elements. Based on these findings, this paper suggests the need to further define the epistemological boundaries of sport tourism for the twenty-first century.     

Relationships between talent development environments and mental toughness: The role of basic psychological need satisfaction

ABSTRACT

Although the talent development environment and mental toughness are critical for athletes to realise their athletic potential, there is a dearth of literature on whether the talent development environment can enhance mental toughness among those athletes who are identified with athletic potential (i.e., talented athletes). Drawing on self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), this research examined the relationships between the talent development environment, basic psychological needs satisfaction and mental toughness. Talented athletes (n = 261) completed a survey measuring key features of the talent development environment, needs satisfaction and mental toughness. The results of structural equation modelling indicated that three environmental factors (i.e., long-term development focus, holistic quality preparation and communication) were positive predictors of needs satisfaction, which then positively predicted mental toughness. The talent development environment may be considered for promoting talented athletes’ mental toughness.     

The Decline of the ‘Elite’ Sport Officials and the Dissolution of the Israeli Sport Association

This historical study will examine the rise of a hegemonic group of sports officials in Israel during the period between 1948 and 1996. The formation of this group is a unique phenomenon of the Israeli sport society. The main argument of the study is that officials of rival sport centres, ‘Hapoel’ and ‘Maccabi’, founded a joint elite group as a side effect of the ‘fifty-fifty’ agreement, signed in 1951. The agreement stated that the Israeli Sport Association, the National Olympic Committee and the Israeli Football Association would be mutually led by officials of both organizations. The members of this elite group, who enjoyed access to economic resources and other benefits, adopted a hedonistic lifestyle, in contrast to the social ethos of Israeli society in the first and second decades of the State. Three events dismantled the group in the middle of the 1990s. The first one was the establishment of the Elite Sport Department in 1984. The second was the establishment of independent Federations by Yadin Machnes. The third was the Maliniak Commission Report. These three events led to the collapse of the Israeli Sport Association in 1996 and to the fall of the Israeli hegemonic group.     

The Development of Chinese Martial Arts in Taiwan since 1949

Abstract

In Taiwan, the historical development of traditional Chinese martial arts, or kuoshu and wushu as they are called today, has been quite diverse. This paper examines the development of Chinese martial arts from 1949 to 2017 in the context of Taiwan based on available historical evidence and in-depth interviews. The results show that there were three major historical periods in the development of Chinese martial arts. The foundation period was inaugurated when Chinese martial artists fled to Taiwan with the Nationalists. During this period, martial arts studios spread throughout the country and people began learning the traditional Chinese martial arts skills together with the national physical education curriculum incorporated martial arts in schools. Chinese martial arts in Taiwan then entered the competitive sports period when the Chinese government to promote competitive martial arts internationally and to standardize the practice and grading system required for competitions. During this period, standardized rules for nationwide competition were established, and sports instructors and athletes were trained to participate in international wushu competitions. Currently, the Chinese martial arts have been modernized and being practised to build confidence, mental discipline, and physical strength as well as for self-defence, recreational pursuits, and competition.     

Urine specific gravity as an indicator of dehydration in Olympic combat sport athletes; considerations for research and practice

Urine specific gravity (U_SG) is the most commonly reported biochemical marker used in research and applied settings to detect fluid deficits in athletes, including those participating in combat sports. Despite the popularity of its use, there has been a growing debate regarding the diagnostic accuracy and the applicability of U_SG in characterizing whole-body fluid status and fluctuations. Moreover, recent investigations report universally high prevalence of hypohydration (～90%) via U_SG assessment in combat sport athletes, often in spite of stable body-mass. Given the widespread use in both research and practice, and its use in a regulatory sense as a ‘hydration test’ in combat sports as a means to detect dehydration at the time of weigh-in; understanding the limitations and applicability of U_SG assessment is of paramount importance. Inconsistencies in findings of U_SG readings, possibly as a consequence of diverse methodological research approaches and/or overlooked confounding factors, preclude a conclusive position stand within current combat sports research and practice. Thus the primary aim of this paper is to critically review the literature regarding U_SG assessment of hydration status in combat sports research and practice. When taken on balance, the existing literature suggests: the use of laboratory derived benchmarks in applied settings, inconsistent sampling methodologies, the incomplete picture of how various confounding factors affect end-point readings, and the still poorly understood potential of renal adaptation to dehydration in combat athletes; make the utility of hydration assessment via U_SG measurement quite problematic, particularly when diet and training is not controlled.     

‘Juntos num só ritmo’: FIFA World Cups of 1950 and 2014 as milestones of Brazil’s advances towards regional representation within Brazilian-ness

Due to their periodicity and global reach, sports mega-events play a role in the symbolic construction of an imagined community progress towards a given politic agenda. In the case of Brazil, the FIFA World Cups organized in the country, in 1950 and 2014, may serve as key occasions to the understanding of the historical development of two principles which have been central to Brazilian politics since her independency: unity and modernity; or – as in the national flag motto – order and progress. Therefore, this article sets Brazil’s (inter)national sociopolitical context in the 20th and 21st centuries first halves to, then, analyse the promotional material of the 1950 and 2014 FIFA World Cups (i.e. posters, ceremonies and so on). Such analysis is focused on the (re)creation of Brazilian identity through the games as well as the role of regional cultures in this process.     

‘Sportmotorische Bestandesaufnahme’: Criterion- vs. norm-based reference values of fitness tests for Swiss first grade children

Abstract

Health is closely linked to physical activity and fitness. It is therefore important to monitor fitness in children. Although many reports on physical tests have been published, data comparison between studies is an issue. This study reports Swiss first grade norm values of fitness tests and compares these with criterion reference data. A total of 10,565 boys (7.18 ± 0.42 years) and 10,204 girls (7.14 ± 0.41 years) were tested for standing long jump, plate tapping, 20-m shuttle run, lateral jump and 20-m sprint. Average values for six-, seven- and eight-year-olds were analysed and reference curves for age were constructed. Z-values were generated for comparisons with criterion references reported in the literature. Results were better for all disciplines in seven-year-old first grade children compared to six-year-old children (p < 0.01). Eight-year-old children did not perform better compared to seven-year-old children in the sprint run (p = 0.11), standing long jump (p > 0.99) and shuttle run (p = 0.43), whereas they were better in all other disciplines compared to their younger peers. The average performance of boys was better than girls except for tapping at the age of 8 (p = 0.06). Differences in performance due to testing protocol and setting must be considered when test values from a first grade setting are compared to criterion-based benchmarks. In a classroom setting, younger children tended to have better results and older children tended to have worse outcomes when compared to their age group criterion reference values. Norm reference data are valid allowing comparison with other data generated by similar test protocols applied in a classroom setting.     

Cover Stories: English Football Magazine Cover Portrait Photographs 1950–1975

Charles Buchan's Football Monthly and Goal were two mass-circulation football magazines. This comparative case study of the portraits of professional footballers featured on their covers in the first years of their publication, the early 1950s and late 1960s respectively, situates this type of football portrait photograph in its historical context, tracing its origins in art and early photography, as well as discussing the cultural and social influences which contributed to its changing format. Such photographs are considered not as isolated artefacts, but as part of a series or sequence in which significant periods of continuity or change can be discerned. The potential audiences for these visual images, as well as the ambiguities and complexities of discerning their interpretation and reception by contemporaries, are analysed. These photographs, it argues, alongside other sources, reveal how some of professional football's advocates, at specific historical moments, attempted to promote an elevated image of its protagonists as embodiments of a particular style of admirable working-class masculinity, the model professional.     

‘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.     

‘Tours of Imperialism’: Cricket and Cultural Transfer in South Africa, 1880–1910

Abstract

Few can deny the significance of sport in today’s South Africa. The sporting structures upon which this is based were first introduced to the country by the British in the late nineteenth century. In line with policies of cultural imperialism, sports such as cricket were promoted at this time as part of a wider political agenda that encouraged the adoption of an ‘English’ way of life in the region. Sports tours, most notably cricket, were a fundamental part of this cultural transfer between the ‘Mother Country’ and her colonies in Southern Africa. To underpin the study of transnational linkages and transfer in African sports, this paper will offer an historical overview of how ‘British-styled’ sport arrived in South Africa and how the early cricket tours between England and South Africa were constructed to promote distinct political and cultural connections. This paper will explore the early development of cricket in South Africa and investigate its symbiotic link to British imperialism and colonialism via the first tours and sporting exchanges that took place. The origins of the game in South Africa will be examined as well as its development up to 1910 (the date of Union in South Africa) as the site of a constructed transnational 'brotherhood' between Britain and its most coveted African colonies.     

Coaching Efficacy,Player Perceptions of Coaches’ Leadership Styles,and Team Performance in Premier League Soccer

The coaching competency research has demonstrated the role of coaching efficacy and coaching behaviors on various athlete outcomes. However, athlete perceptions of these relationships and how they affect performance are less understood. Purpose: This study examined if coaching efficacy is predictive of player perceptions of coaches’ leadership styles, team atmosphere, and team performance in a soccer season. Method: Fifteen male premier league soccer coaches (M_age = 45.27, SD = 6.07) and 226 players (M_age = 25.66, SD = 3.96) from Botswana participated in the study. All participants completed a background information questionnaire. Coaches completed the Coaching Efficacy Scale. Players rated their coaches’ leadership styles using the Revised Leadership Scale for Sports as well as team atmosphere. Team performance was based on position in the league log and player ratings of the teams’ performance. Results: Findings showed that coaches’ self-ratings on technique efficacy predicted player perceptions of the coaches’ use of all six leadership styles. Game strategy efficacy predicted higher team atmosphere and team performance. Motivation efficacy was not significantly associated with player perceptions of the coaches’ use of any of the leadership styles, while character building efficacy was negatively associated with the various leadership styles. Conclusion: Findings provide support to previous research evidence linking higher coaching efficacy, leadership styles, and team outcomes. The study expands the emergent research within the coaching competency literature that examines player perceptions of coaches’ behaviors and leadership styles.