Positive environments in youth football

Derived from Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT) is the notion that the social environment may promote athletes’ basic psychological needs, which are considered important for positive development and optimal motivational functioning. The present study investigated the predictive value of perceived justice and coach feedback on basic needs satisfaction in the context of youth football. Participants were Norwegian youth football players (N?=?532) participating in a national tournament. During the initial stage of the tournament, players completed the Coaching Feedback Questionnaire, Perceived Justice in Sport Questionnaire and Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale under supervision. Regression analysis showed that perceived justice and positive/instructive coaching feedback positively predicted players’ needs satisfaction, while negative feedback and non-reinforcement/ignoring mistakes were not significant predictors of needs satisfaction. Together, perceptions of justice and coach feedback explained 24% of the variance in athletes’ needs satisfaction. The findings thereby indicate that athletes’ perceptions of fairness and coach feedback are important in understanding youth athletes’ needs satisfaction.     

Efficient sample preparation in immuno-matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry using acoustic trapping

Acoustic trapping of minute bead amounts against fluid flow allows for easy automation of multiple assay steps, using a convenient aspirate/dispense format. Here, a method based on acoustic trapping that allows sample preparation for immuno-matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry using only half a million 2.8 μm antibody covered beads is presented. The acoustic trapping is done in 200 × 2000 μm² glass capillaries and provides highly efficient binding and washing conditions, as shown by complete removal of detergents and sample processing times of 5-10 min. The versatility of the method is demonstrated using an antibody against Angiotensin I (Ang I), a peptide hormone involved in hypotension. Using this model system, the acoustic trapping was efficient in enriching Angiotensin at 400 pM spiked in plasma samples.     

Close Strangers or Strange Friends? The London Olympics and Anglo-Norwegian Sports Relations in a Historical Perspective

This article studies similarities and disparities between the two nations England and Norway as they could be observed before and during the London 2012 Olympics, and discuss them in the historical perspective of geopolitical and sportive relations. The main perspective is how these relations have been seen and experienced from Norway. The article also studies whether the London Olympics of 2012 did present new forms of relationships between the two geographical neighbours. The article discusses the role of ball games, preferably team handball at the 2012 Games, as one example of where sporting interests differ. The article reflects upon these matters in a historical context. It builds upon traditional historical methods, document and media analysis. It also looks at the 2012 London Olympics against the background of the former London Games of 1908 and 1948, and the overall historical sports relations between England, ‘land of sport’ and a small country like Norway, who generally has been on the receiving end of these interchanges. Such asymmetric relationships invite to a critical use of perspectives like cultural imperialism and post-colonialism. The article discusses whether such perspectives can be fruitful also when one discusses matters between the so-called First World nations. As the title of the article indicates, Norway and England are both close, politically and culturally, while also being strangers to one another, e.g. in parts of the sports culture. The 2012 Olympics seemed to reinforce this impression.     

Energy turnover during 24 hours and 6 days of adventure racing

Abstract

Energy turnover was assessed in two conditions of mixed ultra-endurance exercise. In Study 1, energy expenditure and intake were measured in nine males in a laboratory over 24 h. In Study 2, energy expenditure was assessed in six males during an 800-km Adventure race (mean race time 152.5 h). Individual correlations between heart rate and oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O₂) were established during pre-tests when kayaking, cycling, and running. During exercise, energy expenditure was estimated from continuous heart rate recordings. Heart rate and [Vdot]O₂ were measured regularly during fixed cycling work rates to correct energy expenditure for drift in oxygen pulse. Mean energy expenditure was 18,050 ± 2,390 kcal (750 ± 100 kcal · h^?1) and 80,000 ± 18,000 kcal (500 ± 100 kcal · h^?1) in Study 1 and Study 2 respectively, which is higher than previously reported. Energy intake in Study 1 was 8,450 ± 1,160 kcal, resulting in an energy deficit of 9,590 ± 770 kcal. Body mass decreased in Study 1 (?2.3 ± 0.8 kg) but was unchanged in Study 2. Fat mass decreased in Study 2 (?2.3 ± 1.5 kg). In Study 1, muscle glycogen content decreased by only 60%. Adventure racing requires a high energy expenditure, with large inter-individual variation. A large energy deficit is caused by inadequate energy intake, possibly due to suppressed appetite and gastrointestinal problems. The oxygen pulse, comparing start to 12 h of exercise and beyond, increased by 10% and 5% in Study 1 and Study 2 respectively. Hence, estimations of energy expenditure from heart rate recordings should be corrected according to this drift.     

Regulation and deregulation in education policy: new reforms and school sports in Swedish upper secondary education

During the 1990s, neoliberal reforms in Sweden increased local school actors' possibilities to develop school profiles regarding both organization and content. This restructuring has increased the total number of school sports programs as well as the possibilities for upper secondary schools and sports clubs to develop elite and amateur sports on a local level. In a new educational reform, the Swedish Government criticizes parts of the Swedish school sports system. The Government believes that the majority of local school sports programs and courses obstruct the maintenance of national equivalence, that upper secondary schools use school sports to attract pupils for economic reasons and that some pupils involved in school sports may fail to reach the academic or vocational goals of regular upper secondary education. Using critical discourse analysis, the present paper illustrates how educational policies are linked to wider symbolic meaning systems in an attempt to legitimize, define and organize upper secondary schools and to characterize pupils as either eligible or ineligible to participate in school sports. The analyses are based on various types of empirical data: policy documents, official letters from the sports movement on the government bill and in-depth interviews. The results indicate that the reform represents a shift in the policy rhetoric: from a normative rhetoric highlighting pupils' social and emotional reasons for choosing school sports, to a rational rhetoric emphasizing efficiency, standardization and regulation of pupils' educational choices. Using school sports as an example, the paper shows how the main aim of the reform—to raise educational standards and maintain national equivalence—is achieved through social differentiation, meaning that pupils with the right performance indicators are selected for participation in programs to which they are suited.     

The Next Chapter: Continuing the Dialogue

ABSTRACT

This article is the next chapter in the conversation about doctoral physical education teacher education (D-PETE) programs. The author challenges PETE faculty members to continue the dialogue started in this special issue about D-PETE programs.     

The Journey of the Counselor and Therapist: Research Findings and Perspectives on Professional Development

This article summarizes a reformulation of the main findings and perspectives from a cross-sectional and longitudinal qualitative study of the development of 100 counselors and therapists. The results are presented as a phase model and as a formulation of 14 themes of counselor/therapist development. The following six phases are described: The phases of the lay helper, the beginning student, the advanced student, the novice professional, the experienced professional, and the senior professional. The themes describe central processes of counselor/therapist development. The themes are addressing different issues such as shifts in attentional focus and emotional functioning, the importance of continuous reflection for professional growth, and a life-long personal/profession integration process. Sources of influence for professional functioning and development are described. The results show consistently that interpersonal experiences in the personal life domain (early family life and adult personal life) and the professional life domain (interacting with clients, professional elders, and peers) are significant sources of influence for professional development.     

The Concordance between Teachers’ and Parents’ Perceptions of School Transition Practices: A Solid Base for the Future

This study focuses on parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of practices aimed at easing the transition to formal schooling (e.g., familiarization with the school, discussions about the school entrants). A total of 230 preschool teachers, 131 elementary school teachers, and 2,662 mothers and fathers filled in a questionnaire containing items on how important they considered different preschool-school transition practices. The participants considered the various transition practices to be at least somewhat important. On average, familiarization with the school was considered to be most important, whereas teacher co-operation and joint writing of curricula were considered to be least important. The perceptions of the participant groups differed from each other significantly in almost all practices. We suggest that the information on school entrants should be transferred within joint meetings between transition partners and other professionals whenever possible.     

Child Readers and the Worlds of the Picture Book

Children as readers of picture books and the ways they respond to, and make meaning from, such texts are the focus of this article, which reports on a small-scale study undertaken in Norway and Wales, UK. The theoretical framing of the research draws on concepts of the multimodal ensemble in picture books and of the reading event as part of a social practice. The research design was developed from the team’s analysis of two texts, Pappa by Svein Nyhus (1998) and What does Daddy Do? by Rachel Bright (2009). Twenty-four children, who were 7 and 8 years old, took part in the study. This was built around two reading events for each book, staged as an immediate response and as a guided response. The data subsequently collected were analysed according to three overarching organisational principles, as book world, real world and play world. For both Daddy and Pappa, the first reading event showed the children’s responses were mainly directed towards exploring the book world. On the second reading event, references to the real world predominated for Daddy, while for Pappa the book world was again dominant. Across both reading events and for both books, the playworld revealed those occasions when the children expanded the meaning of the story, demonstrating an inventive ability to play with the text. Overall, the children’s responses moved fluidly across the three worlds, showing them to be energetically making connections between the reading, their experience of books and their own lives.