A multidimensional approach to talent identification and selection in high-level youth Australian Football players

There is limited research in talent identification in youth Australian Football (AF), especially the factors that underpin selection into higher-level development programs. Therefore, this study explored age-related differences in high-level youth AF players and investigated characteristics influencing selection into a high-level development program. Anthropometry (stature, sitting height, body mass), maturity (estimated age at peak height velocity), motor competence (Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder), fitness (change of direction speed, lower body power and upper body muscular endurance) and coach skill ratings (kicking, marking and handballing) of 277 state academy players (U13-U15) were assessed. MANOVAs identified significant age-related differences for anthropometry, fitness, and coach skill ratings. Furthermore, 90.9 and 90.0% of U15 selected and deselected players were classified correctly. Selected players were more mature, taller, heavier, more explosive, faster at changing directions, and had superior kick technique and marking results. These results demonstrate considerable age-group performance outcome differences, highlighting that high-level academies should aim to select or deselect after 15 years of age. Additionally, it appears earlier maturing players are favoured for selection into a high-level academy. While practitioners must consider the confounding effect of maturation, early maturing players may be favoured for their ability to withstand increasing demands in higher-level youth AF.     

Research Supplement

When they were working in the Psychology Department of Meanwood Park Hospital the authors undertook a pilot study of attitudes towards mental retardation among secondary school pupils. The results indicate confusion about the nature and causes of mental retardation and highlight concerns about integration of children with special educational needs into mainstream education. As a result, a much larger investigation was conducted, which also attempted to promote positive attitudes. The results of the later study are being analysed. Catherine Kyle is now clinical psychologist at Ravenspark Hospital, Irvine, Ayrshire.     

Three waves of gay male athlete coming out narratives

Recent announcements by Michael Sam, Jason Collins, Robbie Rogers, and others belong to a longer tradition that I label the gay male athlete coming out narrative. I chart this rhetorical genre in three waves, corresponding to the historical moment in which each narrative was published and the rhetorical tactics that each set of authors use to reconcile their identities as gay athletes and argue for the existence and suitability of gay men in professional sports. Of particular note are contemporary third-wave narratives which introduce the actively out, visible, gay male body becoming aware of his place in history as a rhetorical opportunity for social intervention. Even as I recognize the limits of athletes’ ability to represent the diversity of interests, values, and politics of the broader LGBTQ movement, I argue that these narratives should become part of what Charles E. Morris III calls “the diverse domain of the usable past.” These narratives indicate the importance of understanding genre evolution alongside individual biography, historical context, and shifting values within broader attempts at social transformation.     

Immersive Audio Storytelling: Podcasting and Serial Documentary in the Digital Publishing Industry

Structural shifts behind the rise of podcasting have led to programming aimed at sustaining audience attention, a development coinciding with the sharp increase in engaged time with digital longform content among mobile users. This study industrially and culturally situates 3 case studies: True Murder (a pioneering precursor to This American Life producers’ Serial), S-Town (Serial’s successor that far exceeded its listenership), and Ear Hustle (Radiotopia’s experiment in subject-produced content made by two inmates at San Quentin State Prison). Each case illustrates how distinct sectors of the podcasting industry approach the production of absorbing nonfiction through transparent journalism featuring self-reflexive metanarrative.     

Did the Gamemakers Fix the Lottery in the Hunger Games?

The Hunger Games is an annual event in the fictional country of Panem. Each year, 24 children (tributes) are chosen by lottery from 12 districts to fight to the death in the arena for the entertainment of the Capitol citizens. Using statistical analysis and computer simulations, we will explore the possibility that the Gamemakers, those in charge of planning the Hunger Games, fixed the lottery. Using the fictitious data from Suzanne Collins' book the Hunger Games, we show how students can learn how to perform a permutation goodness of fit test.     

Intensity-dependent reductions in resting blood pressure following short-term isometric exercise training

To reduce resting blood pressure, a minimum isometric exercise training (IET) intensity has been suggested, but this is not known for short-term IET programmes. We therefore compared the effects of moderate- and low-intensity IET programmes on resting blood pressure. Forty normotensive participants (22.3 ± 3.4 years; 69.5 ± 15.5 kg; 170.2 ± 8.7 cm) were randomly assigned to groups of differing training intensities [20%EMG_peak (~23%MVC, maximum voluntary contraction, or 30%EMG_peak (~34%MVC)] or control group; 3 weeks of IET at 30%EMG_peak resulted in significant reductions in resting mean arterial pressure (e.g. ?3.9 ± 1.0 mmHg, P < 0.001), whereas 20%EMG_peak did not (?2.3 ± 2.9 mmHg; P > 0.05). Moreover, after pooling all female versus male participants, IET induced a 6.9-mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure in female participants, but only a 1.5-mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure in male participants, although the difference was not significant. An IET intensity between 20%EMG_peak and 30%EMG_peak is sufficient to elicit significant resting blood pressure reductions in a short-term training period (3 weeks). In addition, sexual dimorphism may exist in the magnitude of reductions, but further work is required to confirm this possibility, which could be important in understanding the mechanisms responsible.