Dynamic balance performance varies by position but not by age group in elite Rugby Union players – a normative study

This cohort study aimed to provide normative Y Balance Test scores for an elite Rugby Union population, while investigating the effect player age groups (senior/under-20), playing positions (forwards/backs) and anthropometrics (height and body mass) had on performance. Two-hundred and sixty-one elite male under-20 (n = 50) and senior (n = 211) players completed baseline Y Balance Test during the 2015/2016 season. One-way ANCOVA and post-hoc t-tests were used to investigate the effect playing position, player group, height and weight had on performance. The cohort was then stratified into groups (age group and/or playing position), and normative percentiles were presented. There was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in Y Balance Test performance between playing positions, when controlling for age group. This difference did not remain when controlling for player body mass. Post-hoc analysis demonstrated that backs had a longer normalised reach distance, with medium-large and small-medium effect sizes for the under-20 and senior cohorts respectively. The one-way ANCOVA analysis suggests that this difference is likely due to the larger differences in player body mass between forward and back playing positions. The normative values presented in this paper may be used by clinicians and researchers to aid injury prevention and rehabilitation strategies.     

Gender encounters: becoming teachers of physical education

Pre-service teachers of physical education (PE) bring understandings about gender and bodies to their university studies. These understandings are partially informed by biographies and experiences and bear potential to mediate learning and processes of becoming teachers. In this paper we explore technologies of power/knowledge and technologies of self that inform understandings of gender and the constitution of PE teacher subjectivities. Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted with pre-service teachers studying at an Australian university. Foucault's theoretical perspectives around the constitution of subjects were drawn on to analyse data. Findings reveal that discursive practices frame particular ‘truths’ around gender and, hence, possibilities for being teachers of PE. Discourses of sport were significant in establishing a male norm for bodies and subjectivities. This was problematic for female participants who also turned to discourses of nurturing in constituting their subjectivities. Implications are raised for PE teacher educators with regard to disrupting hegemonic discourses as means for developing pedagogies for greater justice.     

Assessing and Promoting Cultural Relativism in Students of Counseling

Multicultural counseling is often promoted as a core element in counselor development. As such, educational efforts aim to increase counselors’ cultural relativism, or their ability to recognize their own enculturation and to appreciate the value of other cultural norms. This mixed qualitative-quantitative study explored the relationship between counselor and human service professional trainees’ moral development levels and their cultural assumptions after they had experienced a course in cultural diversity. Four themes were noted: (i) reflexivity about culture, (ii) orientation toward activism and advocacy, (iii) differences in attitudes toward sexual orientation and religion, and (iv) increased alertness to culture. Implications for culturally alert practice are discussed.     

Adductor longus mechanics during the maximal effort soccer kick

Groin pain is a common cause of athletic disability and often involves the adductor longus. A common complaint of patients with groin problems is pain while preparing to kick the ball. The purpose of this study was to examine muscle length and activation of the adductor longus while kicking a soccer ball. Three-dimensional joint positions and muscle activation were obtained from 15 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 male soccer players during maximal effort kicks. Musculoskeletal modeling techniques incorporating joint position and muscle attachments were used to estimate adductor longus length from the beginning of the kicking leg's swing phase until ball strike. The maximum rate of stretch of the adductor longus (22.3 ± 5.3 cm/s) and maximum hip extension (23.3 ± 8.8°) occurred near 40% of swing phase. Activation of the adductor longus occurred between 10% and 50% of the swing phase. Adductor longus maximum length occurred at 65% of the swing phase. Maximum hip abduction (25.3 ± 5.4°) occurred at 80% of swing phase. The adductor longus appears to be at risk of strain injury during its transition from hip extension to hip flexion. This knowledge could be applied to muscle injury prevention and rehabilitation programs to aid with treatment of adductor longus related groin pain.     

The role of early childhood settings for 4–5 year old children in early academic skills and later achievement in Australia

Formal early childhood education programs have been shown to promote the early academic skills of young children. However, the academic benefits acquired through program attendance fade quickly in the early elementary school years. Using a nationally representative sample of Australian children, we describe the programmatic and teacher differences between different types of formal early childhood programs for children between 4 and 5 years old—pre-year 1, school-based preschool, standalone preschool, and center-based child care. We examine the child and family background characteristics that are correlated with selection into different settings and how these settings are associated with children's early academic skills and on their subsequent achievement. We focus on understanding if there are differential academic benefits accrued from each program type and whether or not these benefits persist into the early elementary school years. Results indicate that maternal employment and economic disadvantage are correlated with program participation and that pre-year 1 and preschool teachers have higher qualifications. Results also show that children who attended a pre-year 1 program held an initial, significant advantage in early academic skills compared to children enrolled in center child care. Center child care was associated with higher early math skills than preschools. Children who did not attend any early childhood programming lagged behind their peers in school readiness skills. By middle childhood, all the early skill advantages had disappeared, showing rapid fadeout of academic benefits acquired from these specific types of early childhood programs. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Professionalism among broadcast newsmen in an Urban area

The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 was the result of negotiations between local governments and the cable television industry. Not all affected parties agreed the Act would benefit them. The purpose of this survey of local regulators and cable companies was to assess perceptions of current relationships and the perceived impact of the Act. The results indicated that those from the cable industry most satisfied with the status quo were deregulated franchises who felt the new law would benefit them. Local regulators with franchises requiring public hearings prior to changes felt the new law would have negative effects.