Using football cultures as a vehicle to improve mental health in men: the case of the Redcar and cleveland boot room

This paper sets out to appraise (from the perspective of members) the impact of a localized, football-based mental health intervention. Commissioned in late 2015, the ‘Redcar and Cleveland Boot Room (BR)’ was implemented in response to mass redundancy in the local area, coupled with regional suicide rates in men that exceed the national average. Interactive discussions with BR members revealed that: (a) the language of football and shared identity were important for initiating and sustaining engagement in the BR; (b) peer-support and mentoring combined with member-led activities were active ingredients of the BR and (c) that the BR was an effective vehicle for building mental health resilience. This evaluation adds to the evidence base on the value of football as a context to engage adult males in community-based interventions targeting mental health resilience.     

Does performance justify the underrepresentation of women coaches? Evidence from professional women’s soccer

In this paper, the authors empirically analyze the influence of the gender of the coach on team performance in women’s soccer leagues. Moreover, the authors examine the role of initial experience of coaches (as professional players) as an attribute that converges with gender diversity and influence performance. The sample includes the top divisions in France, Germany, and Norway from 2004 to 2017. The results from the regression model show that the gender of the coach is not a significant determinant of team performance (points per game). In addition, the initial experience of coaches does not alter the results. Therefore, managerial decisions of clubs with regard to the employment of coaches should not rely on gender.     

Contextual factors on physical demands in professional women’s soccer: Female Athletes in Motion study

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of contextual factors on relative locomotor and metabolic power distances during professional female soccer matches. Twenty-eight players (forwards, n?=?4; midfielders, n?=?12; defenders, n?=?12) that competed in a 90-min home and away match (regular season only). The generalised estimating equations (GEE) was used to evaluate relative locomotor and metabolic power distances for three contextual factors: location (home vs. away), type of turf (natural vs. artificial), and match outcome (win, loss and draw). No differences were observed for home vs. away matches. Moderate-intensity running (20.0?±?1.0?m?min^?1 and 16.4?±?0.9?m?min^?1), high-intensity running (8.6?±?0.4?m?min^?1 and 7.3?±?0.4?m?min^?1) and high-metabolic power (16.3?±?0.5?m?min^?1 and 14.4?±?0.5?m?min^?1) distances were elevated on artificial turf compared to natural grass, respectively. Relative sprint distance was greater during losses compared with draws (4.3?±?0.4?m?min^?1 and 3.4?±?0.3?m?min^?1). Overall physical demands of professional women’s soccer were not impacted by match location. However, the elevation of moderate and high-intensity demands while playing on artificial turf may have implications on match preparations as well as recovery strategies.     

A Ṭā’ifa in Exile: Sayf al-Dawla and the Survival of the Banū Hūd

In 1145–1146, Sayf al-Dawla returned to al-Andalus to create an independent kingdom and return the Banū Hūd of Zaragoza to prominence. His task was a difficult one, not least because he’d spent a decade serving the Christian king Alfonso VII. After a year of campaigning, Sayf al-Dawla secured a base of support in Murcia. However, he died shortly after his coronation in a battle with Christian allies who were allegedly sent by Alfonso to help him. In addition to providing an explanation for the battle and his death, the article examines how Sayf al-Dawla promoted the legitimacy of his state through his coinage, adherence to Andalusī traditions, and a network of fellow exiles. It interprets the Zaragozan ?ā’ifa as a moveable faction rather than a fixed geographical entity and connects Sayf al-Dawla’s kingdom to later movements to demonstrate how his actions preserved the Banū Hūd’s prestige in Andalusī imaginations.     

宋代丰城黄得礼家族事迹考略--以黄得礼、黄彦平、黄畴若为例

宋代丰城黄得礼家族,与著名文人黄庭坚所属分宁黄氏同为一源。此家族是典型的科举世家,自黄得礼进士起家,子孙登科者众多。家族人物普遍具有较高的文学才华,然其著述多零落散佚,唯有黄彦平《三余集》因被《四库全书》收录而传世。家族历代仕宦,连绵不断,黄畴若在宋宁宗朝出任台谏,参与嘉定更化等重要政治事件,提议并主持创建安边所,后出外治蜀,政绩显著,列传《宋史》。     

Wartime imaginings of an archipelagic community: Fajar Asia and the quest for peninsula Malayan and Indonesian unity

During a brief period in the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia, Malaya, including Singapore, was administratively placed with Sumatra under Japan’s 25th Army. From 28 March 1942 to April 1943, the two territories that had been separated by British and Dutch colonial rule since the mid-nineteenth century were considered one territory. This article explores how Malay intellectuals, through articles written in the magazine Fajar Asia, took advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to strive for a Malaya-Sumatra and Malaya-Indonesia community. This article will analyse the various wartime imaginings of a joint archipelagic community within the pages of Fajar Asia and highlight tensions within this project which resulted in an impasse as to how such a unity should or could be achieved.     

Making Sense of the Online Forum Posts of Two Books on Zheng He’s Voyages

This paper studies the online forum posts at the websites of Amazon and Goodreads of two books on Zheng He’s voyages. The findings are threefold: First, most of the online forum participants play their due roles and satisfy the six conditions of Dahlberg’s model of an ideal online public sphere. Second, the emerged themes match the six conditions of Dahlberg’s model. The readers’ reviews at the two Western social media websites are mostly positive and rational. Implications of the study are also discussed.     

A genealogical analysis of Peter Arnold's conceptual account of meaning in movement,sport and physical education

We write as critical theorists who share an interest in how conceptions of physical education are taken forward in policy and practice. In this respect, we are particularly intrigued by Peter Arnold's conceptual account of meaning in movement, sport and physical education, and the subsequent ways in which his ideas have informed national curriculum ambitions. Despite the prominence of Arnold's influence, we are concerned that there has been an insufficiently rigorous and robust review of his theorising to date, particularly in relation to where his ideas originated from. Accordingly, we critically discuss the merits of adopting a genealogical approach in order to support a detailed analysis of Arnold's conceptual account of meaning in movement, sport and physical education; one which especially focuses on learning ‘about’, ‘through’ and ‘in’ movement. We conclude by questioning a number of the complex strands of Arnold's work in the expectation that greater lucidity and purpose can emerge. This it is argued will be beneficial in terms of providing clarity on aim or aims statements in physical education, which in turn can secure greater policy coherence and practice gains.     

Swedish PE teachers’ understandings of legitimate movement in a criterion-referenced grading system

Background: Physical Education (PE) has been associated with a multi-activity model in which movement is related to sport discourses and sport techniques. However, as in many international contexts, the Swedish national PE syllabus calls for a wider and more inclusive concept of movement. Complex movement adapted to different settings is valued, and in the national grading criteria qualitative measures of movement are used. This research seeks to examine how the wider concept of movement is interpreted and graded. Drawing on Bernstein’s concept of the pedagogic device, the paper explores teachers’ roles as active mediators in the transformation of national grading criteria for movement and the kinds of movement that are valued in teachers’ grading practices. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate what PE teachers consider legitimate movement in a criterion-referenced grading system and the factors that influence their grading practice. The Repertory Grid (RG) technique was employed in order to access their tacit knowledge. Methodology: Seven Swedish PE teachers were interviewed, all of whom teach and grade years seven to nine in different compulsory schools. Using the RG technique, the teachers were asked to reflect on the aspects they considered important for achieving a high grade. The national grading criteria for years seven to nine were then presented one at a time and the teachers were asked to describe how they assessed and graded each requirement. The teachers were also asked whether any specific factors had influenced their grading. In the content analysis, the second part of the interview was attended to first and the results were interpreted in light of Bernsteins’ concept of the pedagogic device. Findings: Sport techniques and competitive sports influenced the teachers’ interpretations of what constitutes complex movement. The aspect of fitness also appeared to be valued by the teachers in that it facilitates the valued movement. In some cases the difficulty of describing movement qualities in words could reduce the concept of movement to something measurable and quantifiable. The teachers’ concerns about students’ unequal opportunities to develop and demonstrate their skills also influenced the teachers’ interpretation of complex movement. Conclusions: In the transformation of national grading criteria to grading practice, the pedagogic actions taken inform and limit the way in which legitimate movement in PE is conceptualised. Adopting a concept of movement that is wider than competitive sports allows the structures of inequality to be addressed and enables the movements performed by students with other moving experiences than competitive sports to be valued. The tension between the demands of transparency in a high stakes grading system and the inability to articulate the quality of complex movements is problematic. There is a need to verbalise teachers’ conceptions about physical education knowledge to be able to discuss and develop the concept of movement. In this process, the RG technique is a potentially useful tool. Having the language to discuss movement qualities also enables us to strengthen the interrelation between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.     

Exploring the effects of substituting basketball players in high-level teams

Substituting basketball players during competition is a key process to optimise collective performance. Available research on this topic is scarce, probably due to the difficulty in isolating these effects; thus, the aim of this study was to identify the temporal effects of substitutions in basketball (Spanish professional basketball league). The sample was composed of 1118 substitutions gathered from 21 basketball games. The analysed variables were coach-controlled (player and team’s personal fouls, player in and player out roles, player’s in and out minutes on-court and timeout situation); on-court (foul committed, free throws, 2- and 3-point field-goal effectiveness) and situational variables (scoreline, quality of opposition, game location and game quarter). The results showed positive scoring performances after the substitution for all the analyses. During the first quarter, there were significant effects for fouls committed, scoreline and game location after the substitution. The player’s out personal fouls, free-throw effectiveness, player in, minutes on-court player in, timeout situation and 3-point field-goal effectiveness were significant during the second quarter. The team’s personal fouls, game location, and scoreline were identified as important in the third quarter. The fourth quarter did not show significant effects on the independent variables. Current findings allow optimising coaches’ plans and team management of on-court and bench players throughout the game.