2017 – Page 3 – The Sport Journal

Representations of Female Athletes in Sports Nutrition Advertising

Authors: Joylin Namie & Russell Warne

Corresponding Author:
Joylin Namie, Ph.D.
Social Science Department
Truckee Meadows Community College, RDMT 334G
7000 Dandini Boulevard
Reno, NV 89512
(775) 673-8216
jnamie@tmcc.edu

Joylin Namie is an instructor in the Social Science Department at Truckee Meadows Community College. Her research centers on issues related to media, gender, culture, and health. Previous publications have addressed athlete representation and public health in sports nutrition marketing, and the dangers of sports nutrition supplements. Her current research focuses on risk management and concussions among female equestrians.

Representations of Female Athletes in Sports Nutrition Advertising

ABSTRACT
Located at the nexus of sports, media, and food, sports nutrition advertising is a rich site for examining competing discourses of gender representation. Although closely associated with male competitive sports, images of female athletes are increasingly employed in the marketing of these products. This article utilizes a social semiotic approach to analyze portrayals of female athletes in sports nutrition packaging, websites, and commercials. In a marked departure from televised sports coverage, in which this marketing is often embedded, results highlight increased visibility for women, reduced sexualization, and significant variation in the representation of physically active female bodies. Although female athletes exhibit their largest presence on product websites, they are also featured in television commercials aired during major televised sporting events, providing increased exposure of women’s athletics to general sports viewing audiences. At the same time, a number of semiotic devices are employed by marketers to preserve masculine hegemony in the sporting realm. These include the marginalization of female athletes in terms of numbers and, in the case of commercials, time onscreen. Other devices include clothing, setting, the image act and the gaze, power and the visual angle, the absence of voice, and decontextualization, rendering female athletes stereotypes, rather than individuals. It is postulated that increased visibility of female athletes in ways that emphasize their athletic ability over their sexuality may contribute to the normalization of female participation in sport for viewers in the continuing absence of television coverage of women’s athletics.
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U.S. Sports Academy2017-09-08T09:49:08-05:00October 19th, 2017|Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

The Examination of Relationships between Academic Self-Efficacy, Academic Procrastination, and Locus of Academic Control of Athletes in Different Sports

Authors: Zehra CERTEL1, Melek KOZAK2
(1) Akdeniz University, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Turkey.
(2) Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, High School of Physical Education and Sports, Turkey.

Corresponding Author:
Zehra CERTEL
Akdeniz University, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Turkey
Konyaaltı/Antalya, 07070
zcertel@akdeniz.edu.tr
(0242) 310 6825

(1) Zehra CERTEL is an assistant professor in Physical Education and Sport Education Department at the Akdeniz University studying teaching and learning approaches in physical education and sport.

The Examination of Relationships between Academic Self-Efficacy, Academic Procrastination, and Locus of Academic Control of Athletes in Different Sports

ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to examine locus of academic control, academic procrastination, and academic self-efficacy of athletes participating in university sports games in terms of academic achievement, sport branches, and gender. Moreover, it is aimed to reveal the relationship among locus of academic control, academic procrastination, and academic self-efficacy. The sample of this study consisted of 302 athletes (individual athletes = 121, team athletes = 181) participating in the 13th “KOÇ SPORT FEST” University games organized in Antalya, Turkey. The average age of athletes is 21.45 ± 2.22 and the average license years of them are 8.43±3.93. The personal information form, “Locus of Academic Control Scale,” “Academic Procrastination Scale,” and “Academic Self-Efficacy Scale” were used as data collection tools. In the analysis of the data, since the data showed normal distribution, a t-test was used for paired comparison; and the Pearson correlation coefficient was used for examining the relationship among variables. There is a statistically significant difference between external locus of academic control and academic procrastination in terms of the gender of the athletes. The academic achievement of the athletes is significantly different from their academic self-efficacy, locus of control academic external and internal, and academic procrastination. External locus of academic control is significantly different in terms of participating on a team or individually. Significant relationships have been found among external and internal locus of academic control, academic procrastination, and academic self-efficacy. When external locus of academic control in athletes increases, academic procrastination levels within them increases. When internal locus of academic control in athletes increases, the self-efficacy level within them increases. It is found that male athletes have higher scores on external locus of academic control and academic procrastination than female athletes. Athletes with high academic success have better internal locus of academic control and academic self-efficacy scores. Athletes participation on team sports have higher external locus of academic control scores than individual athletes.
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U.S. Sports Academy2017-09-19T14:34:37-05:00October 17th, 2017|Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Analyzing Hair Pulling in Athletics

Authors: Laura Ruhala, Richard Ruhala, Emerald Alexis, E. Scott Martin

Corresponding Author:
Laura Ruhala, Ph.D.
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Kennesaw State University
1100 S. Marietta Pkwy
Marietta, GA 30060
lruhala@kennesaw.edu
812-589-2982

Dr. Laura Ruhala is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kennesaw State University. Her research topics include biomechanics and engineering pedagogical techniques. She is an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education. She enjoys collaborating with her husband and colleague, Dr. Richard Ruhala.

Analyzing Hair Pulling in Athletics

ABSTRACT
This paper investigates biomechanical and ethical issues surrounding long hair in athletics, with a focus on the population of athletes in the National Football League (NFL), the professional organization for American football, who is most affected. Background on the NFL rules regarding player hair length is described. Unlike grabbing a player’s facemask, it is not a penalty to grab and pull hair under certain situations in the NFL. The 2,905 players listed on rosters as of June 2015, are analyzed by their age, NFL units, positions, hair length, and style. Trends in player hair length are illustrated, and it is found that nearly ¾ of players with long hair, defined as long enough to reach their jersey, wear them in a dreadlock style. Three documented case studies of extreme hair pulling incidents by tackling in the NFL are described. A case study of hair tackling in women’s college soccer is also described. An engineering analysis is conducted to estimate the amount of force applied to a player’s hair during an actual NFL hair tackle. The forces are a function of the angle at which the hair is grabbed, and at some angles, the impulsive force applied to a player’s head and neck may exceed 500 pounds. Finally, the ethics behind hair tackles are investigated: both looking at the responsibility of the NFL for its players, as well as player sportsmanship.
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U.S. Sports Academy2017-08-29T14:33:33-05:00October 12th, 2017|Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Can the working alliance between coaches and athletes explain athlete burnout among junior athletes?

Authors: Frode Moen(1) and Kenneth Myhre(2).

Corresponding Author:
1. E-mail address: frmoe@online.no, Tel.: +47 932 487 50.
Centre for Elite Sports Research, Department of Education and Lifelong Learning, Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.

2. Centre for Elite Sports Research, Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.

ABSTRACT
Research suggests that the numbers of athletes who are suffering from burnout symptoms are considerably. In this study, the authors explore associations of working alliance between coaches and athletes on positive- and negative affect, worry and athlete burnout in a group of Norwegian junior elite athletes. An online survey, consisting of the Working Alliance Inventory, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Worry Questionnaire and the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire was completed by a sample of 358 junior elite athletes. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modelling. The theoretical model in this study explained 66 % of the variance athlete burnout. These effects mainly derived from positive affect, negative affect, worry and the working alliance directly. However, working alliance also showed a significant indirect effect through the mediating variables positive affect, negative affect and worry. These results are discussed in a cognitive and affective activation-perspective.
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U.S. Sports Academy2017-08-29T10:10:02-05:00October 5th, 2017|Research, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

An Examination of Sport Management Master’s Programs in the United States

Authors: Jennifer Willett, Chris Brown, & Bernie Goldfine

Corresponding Author:
Jennifer Willett, Ph.D.
Kennesaw State University
520 Parliament Garden Way NW
Kennesaw, GA 30144
jbeck@kennesaw.edu
470-578-6486

Jennifer Willett is an Associate Professor in the Department of Exercise Science and Sport
Management at Kennesaw State University.

Christopher Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of Exercise Science and Sport
Management at Kennesaw State University.

Bernie Goldfine is a Professor and the Physical Activities Coordinator in the Department of
Health Promotion and Physical Education at Kennesaw State University.

ABSTRACT
With an increasing amount of sport management master’s programs being created within the U.S. and internationally, little seems to be known about their curriculum and overall structure. A total of 194 sport management master’s programs from the United States were examined on curricular and accreditation standards based on COSMA accreditation and the Common Professional Component (CPC). Data was collected from school websites and results varied and ultimately showed that curriculum is different, indicating that sport management master’s programs do not necessarily follow a specific program model. Results suggest that the examination of graduate curriculum should support the notion that program curriculum needs to evolve through the work of all parties (institutions, practitioners, industry) involved.
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U.S. Sports Academy2017-08-29T09:05:03-05:00September 28th, 2017|Sports Management|Comments Off