Determination of football pitch locations from video footage and official pitch markings

The ability to determine a specific location on a football (soccer) pitch from television footage would provide a cost-effective method of obtaining competition-specific information on many professional and international teams. This study presents the accuracy and reliability of a new method of calculating ball location from simulated television coverage and known pitch markings. The coordinates of 99 markers of known location on a football pitch were digitized from video. An intersection point was determined from the equations of two lines that form pitch markings and the relationship from this point to other known pitch coordinates was calculated using a curve-fitting based method. Average error between known and reconstructed measures was 0.21 m for pitch width and 0.11 m for pitch length from a view simulating television coverage. Inter- and intra-rater reliability analyses showed researchers could consistently reconstruct pitch locations to within less than half a metre. The accuracy and reliability of this method will be sufficient for most practical uses in an applied sport environment, although the level of accuracy required will depend on the specific application. This method could be applied to other sports to determine specific locations on a pitch or court or to improve current competition analysis systems.     

A latent profile analysis of student restudy decisions

Metacognition and Learning - Do all learners make the same restudy decisions, or is there heterogeneity within the population? The present study combines three previously published datasets and...     

Understanding capacity through the processes and outcomes of interorganizational relationships in nonprofit community sport organizations

Engaging in relationships with other organizations is one way for nonprofit community sport organizations (CSOs) to acquire needed resources, knowledge, and other social benefits while achieving important public purposes and building community cohesion. This study explored the processes and outcomes of interorganizational relationships in CSOs through semi-structured interviews with presidents of these organizations (N = 20). The findings revealed key relationship processes including trust, consistency, balance, and engagement as well as specific management skills. The findings also revealed that relationships impacted CSOs through enabling improvements to program/service quality and operations, and enhancing community presence. The study contributes to the interorganizational relationship literature and our understanding of how relationships advance organizational goals in this small nonprofit context.     

A Consumer‐Driven Approach to Increase Suggestive Selling

Several research articles have been published demonstrating the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in improving suggestive selling behavior of sales staff (e.g., Johnson & Masotti, 1990; Martinko, White, & Hassell, 1989; Mirman, 1982; Ralis & O'Brien, 1986). Procedures employed in these studies made use of two classes of personnel to implement the intervention: (1) personnel internal to the organization or (2) external consultants. The current study examined the efficacy of a consumer‐driven approach to improve suggestive selling behavior of three employees of a fast food franchise. Customers delivered either a verbal prompt or praise to an employee after they had placed their order. Delivery of a prompt or praise depended on whether or not the employee made a suggestion for an additional food purchase. This consumer‐driven intervention increased suggestive selling behaviors of all three employees, and was associated with higher suggestive sales in each case.