Elite footballers as role models: promoting young women’s football participation

Sportspeople are constantly urged to maintain the highest levels of conduct because of their position as ‘role models’ to children. This article reports from a study in progress which explores the experiences of elite female athletes in Britain, and focuses on qualitative interview responses of elite female footballers, all of whom were currently playing at top-flight domestic and international levels and took part in the 2012 Olympics. It explores what they perceive the position as ‘role model’ to mean, how it impinges on their sport performance, and how they work with gifted young footballers to promote sporting excellence as well as community cohesion through grass-roots outreach work. It discusses their thoughts on how role models are currently and can best be used to encourage young women’s football participation from elite down to grass-roots levels, and highlights the amount of responsibility they feel to do this.     

Daddy’s Hands

I remember daddy’s hands folded silently in prayer And reaching out to hold me, when I had a nightmare     

Producing caring qualified teachers: An exploration of the influence of pre-service teacher concerns on learner-centeredness

In a time where students in the United States academic performance continues to lag behind in the international rankings, a disconcerting phenomenon in concerns literature indicates that pre-service and in-service teachers report low levels of concerns regarding the effect implementation of educational innovations have on students. This study explored the relationship of pre-service teachers' learner-centeredness and their concerns related to how learner-centered education affects students. Results indicated that as learner-centeredness increased, so did concerns about student outcomes. Implications for teacher education programmes in the US and abroad will be discussed.     

Trust in media and government: A recursive model for natives of Hong Kong and Mainland China

This study explored whether a female student's level of attractiveness affects the degree to which she is believed when making a claim of sexual harassment, and whether attractiveness is related to perceptions of how likely it is that she will be sexually harassed. Participants viewed one of three photographs of a female model who was made to appear a) unattractive, b) attractive and pristine, or c) attractive but not pristine. Afterwards they read a case file in which the photographed model claimed to have been sexually harassed by one of her professors. Finally, participants rated the photographed model's veracity and their perceptions regarding how likely it was that the model would be sexually harassed. Results indicated that when she was perceived as unattractive, the model was rated as more deceptive and less likely to be harassed than when she was perceived as attractive, regardless of whether she was perceived to be pristine or not. These results and their implications are discussed.     

Virtual worlds and moral evaluation

Consider the multi-user virtual worlds of online games such as EVE and World of Warcraft, or the multi-user virtual world of Second Life. Suppose a player performs an action in one of these worlds, via his or her virtual character, which would be wrong, if the virtual world were real. What is the moral status of this virtual action? In this paper I consider arguments for and against the Asymmetry Thesis: the thesis that such virtual actions are never wrong. I also explain how the truth of the Asymmetry Thesis is closely aligned with the possibility of what Edward Castronova has called closed synthetic worlds. With some qualifications, the ultimate conclusion is that the Asymmetry Thesis is false and that these closed worlds are impossible.     

The double back salto dismount from the parallel bars

The purpose of this study was to identify those mechanical determinants or their trends that distinguished a gymnast's best performance of the double back salto dismount on parallel bars from those judged to be inferior. Dismounts, in the tucked position, by nine Canadian gymnasts were analysed. Unique to this study was the inclusive analysis of multiple performances of the same skill by these athletes. It was felt that within-subject comparisons would reveal the kinematic variables on which the gymnast may focus in order to achieve their best performances. A non-parametric median sign test was used to compare mechanical variables, within subjects, between the dismount judged the best and those dismounts awarded a lower score. Three judges judged each dismount. In comparison to poorer performances of the dismount, statistical analyses revealed that athlete's best performances were characterised by (1) a higher release point, more vertical velocity yet with less angular momentum at take-off, (2) greater height, with a tighter and earlier tuck position during the flight phase, and (3) a greater range of motion and a more compact squat position at landing (all p's < .06).     

The impact of the supporters’ trust movement on women’s feelings and practices of their football fandom

This article looks at the ways in which female football fans in England have responded to and become involved in the cooperative supporters’ trust movement. It examines the history and development of the movement, which offers a new, democratic and equitable way for supporters to become involved in the life of their club, and become part of a new, wider fan community, broader than simple club allegiance. The involvement of respondents in the supporters’ trust movement is explored, profiling the ways in which they have immersed or distanced themselves from the trust concept and community, and comparing their experiences as they have described them in interview. I argue that the trust movement offers the opportunity for supporters to help the game progress in a way that is advantageous to all fans, not just females; and this seems to be an element of the movement that has great appeal to women.