2020 – Page 8 – The Sport Journal

Assessing the Outcomes of a Brief Nutrition Education Intervention Among Division I Football Student-Athletes at Moderate Altitude

Authors: Sam T. Lawson, Julia C. Gardner, Mary Jo Carnot, Samuel S. Lackey, Nanette V. Lopez, and Jay T. Sutliffe

Corresponding Author:
Jay Sutliffe, PD, RD
Flagstaff AZ, 86011
Jay.sutliffe@nau.edu
928-523-7596

Sam T. Lawson is an undergraduate research assistant and student at Northern Arizona University.

Julia C. Gardner is a research coordinator with the PRANDIAL Lab at Northern Arizona University. Mary Jo Carnot is professor of Counseling, Psychological Sciences, and Social Work at Chadron State College in Chadron, NE.

Samuel S. Lackey is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Northern Arizona University.

Nanette V. Lopez is Assistant Professor in Health Sciences at Northern Arizona University.

Jay T. Sutliffe is Professor of Nutrition and Foods and the Director of the PRANDIAL Lab at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ.

Assessing the Outcomes of a Brief Nutrition Education Intervention Among Division 1 Football Student-Athletes at Moderate Altitude

Abbreviations
HEI: healthy eating index
g: grams
mg: milligrams
oz: ounces
kcal: kilocalories
std.: standard
DGA: Dietary Guidelines for Americans
USDA: United States Department of Agriculture
RDA: recommended dietary allowance
RM: repetition maximum

ABSTRACT

College students are notorious for having poor quality diets and student-athletes are no exception. Collegiate football student-athletes often fail to meet overall energy requirements necessary to meet activity demands (65). The research herein assessed diet quality, body composition and physical performance of selected student athletes following completion of a brief, 8-week nutrition education intervention. The participants consisted of 55 Division I collegiate football players, aged 18-24 years (mean age 19.8±1.2yrs). Results indicated that group education sessions on nutrition had minimal impact on outcomes, perhaps due to the voluntary nature of the training. However, independent of the intervention, there were significant changes across time for the total scores on the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015), strength performance measures, and total body water. Participants with higher HEI-2015 scores versus lower scores did not differ on strength performance or body composition outcomes. Specific nutrients, including sodium, protein, and solid fats negatively impacted strength performance, especially for the bench press measures. At moderate altitudes, athletes may struggle to maintain sufficient hydration (41). In this study, athletes with higher hydration levels (based on total body water and extracellular water) improved performance from pre to post assessments of strength performance in bench press, back squat, and power clean. The results highlight the importance of nutrition on athletic performance, especially the negative impact of unhealthy choices. Educational sessions on nutrition designed to improve eating habits may need to consider social influences, including everyday eating situations, via a combination of group and individualized approaches.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-06-01T08:19:54-05:00July 3rd, 2020|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Decreasing Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Wrestlers

Authors: Ashley Spires BSN, RN-BC

Corresponding Author:
Ashley Spires BSN, RN-BC
7985 Lancaster Circleville Rd
Lancaster, OH 43130
Ashley.spires@va.gov
614-257-5388

Ashley Spires is Care Manager and Registered Nurse for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, an Ohio University Doctor of Nursing Practice candidate and a youth and middle school wrestling coach at a central Ohio public school system.

Decreasing Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Wrestlers: Educating Coaches, Protecting Teams

ABSTRACT

Lack of coach education, standardized disinfection protocols, and standardized return to play procedures amongst wrestling programs have led to a high incidence of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections (SSTI) in the school age and adolescent athletic community. An educational intervention was performed with coaching staff in a pre/post intervention study. SSTI rates were calculated both pre and post intervention to assess for effective intervention in reducing SSTI incidence in the youth athletes. Pre-intervention review of aggregate infection data revealed a 22.6% SSTI occurrence rate. Post-intervention the SSTI occurrence rate was reduced to 3.5%. A McNemar chi-square test was run and the results were statistically significant at X 2 (1) = 54.721, p < 0.001. The intervention had a significant impact in lowering the SSTI rate in wrestlers. Future directions include improved education of youth wrestling coaches to include recognition of SSTI as well as best practice disinfection and infection control protocols.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-05-06T09:25:50-05:00June 26th, 2020|Sports Medicine|Comments Off

Validity of 3-D Markerless Motion Capture System for Assessing Basketball Dunk Kinetics – A Case Study

Authors: Dimitrije Cabarkapa¹, Andrew C. Fry¹ and Eric M. Mosier²

Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO

Corresponding Author:
Dimitrije Cabarkapa, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, USAW
1301 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045
University of Kansas
E-mail: dcabarkapa@ku.edu
Phone: +1 (785) 551-3882

Validity of 3-D Markerless Motion Capture System for Assessing Basketball Dunk Kinetics – A Case Study

ABSTRACT

Basketball is one of the most popular international sports, but the current sport science literature does not directly address on-court performance such as force and power during a game. This case study examined the accuracy of a three-dimensional markerless motion capture system (3-D MCS) for determining the biomechanical characteristics of the basketball dunk. A former collegiate (NCAA Division-I) basketball player (age=26 yrs, height=2.08 m, weight=111.4 kg) performed 30 maximum effort dunks utilizing a two-hands, no-step, two-leg jumping approach. A uni-axial force plate (FP) positioned under a regulation basket sampled data at 1000 Hz. Additionally, a 3-D MCS composed of eight cameras placed 3.7 m high surrounding the recording area collected data at 50 Hz, from which ground reaction forces were derived using inverse dynamics. The dunks were analyzed by both systems for peak force and peak power. Peak force (X±SD) was similar (p<0.05) for both systems (FP= 2963.9±92.1 N, 3-D MCS= 3353.2±255.9 N), as was peak power (FP= 5943±323, 3-D MCS= 5931±700 W). Bland-Altman plots with 95% confidence intervals for both force and power indicated all measurements made with the 3-D MCS accurately assessed peak force and peak power during a basketball dunk as performed in the current study. These data provide strength and conditioning professionals with a better understanding of the magnitude of forces and powers that athletes experience during a basketball game, as well as validate use of a novel technology to monitor athletes’ progress and optimize overall athletic performance.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-05-06T09:16:36-05:00June 19th, 2020|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Local sport club structures and their effect on athletic performance: The relationship between formalization and athletic performance in swimming

Authors: Douglas Wharam, Ed. D., Sandra Geringer, Ed. D., Roch King, Ph. D., Mickey Kerr, DSM

Corresponding Author:
Doug Wharam, Ed.D.
222 25^th Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37203
fdwharam@students.ussa.edu
703-472-1658

Doug Wharam is the Associate Head Coach of the Nashville Aquatic Club in Nashville, Tennessee, and a three-time USA Swimming National Team and four-time USA Swimming National Junior Team coach.

Dr. Sandra Geringer is the Director of Recreation Management and Sports Studies at the United States Sports Academy.

Dr. Roch King is the chair of Sports Coaching at the United States Sports Academy.

Dr. Mickey Kerr is the Associate Dean of the School of Exercise and Sport Science at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Local sport club structures and their effect on athletic performance: the relationship between formalization and athletic performance in swimming

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study applies an organizational structure perspective to athletic performance in competitive swimming in the United States. This research examines via survey the top USA Swimming clubs in the country as defined by their Club Excellence Program ranking. The Club Excellence Program is a voluntary program administered by USA Swimming that ranks teams based on the achievements of their elite 18 years and younger performers. The research focused on collecting contextual variables and structural variables relating to formalization. The relationship between the level of club formalization and elite athletic performance was examined.

Surveys were collected via Survey Monkey and were distributed to 241 teams who appeared on the 2018 and 2019 USA Swimming Club Excellence list. There were 128 responses received, a response rate of 52.6% and 121 cases were selected for analysis. A Spearman’s rho correlation was run to assess the correlation between the total formalization score a club attained and their Club Excellence ranking. There was no statistically significant correlation between the ranked data of Club Excellence Ranking and Total Dimension score, r_s(112) = .113, p = .237. A multiple regression analysis was run to determine whether the survey questions could predict Club Excellence ranking. The multiple regression model statistically significantly predicted Club Excellence ranking, F(21, 90) = 1.824, p < .05, adj. R² = .135. Variables that added statistically significance to the prediction included: Does your club have formal work plans? Does your club have a policies and procedures manual? and How often are athlete training programs, progress, and competition plans evaluated?

The results are relevant for coaches and team administrators and suggest the existence of a positive relationship between elements of organizational formalization and athletic performance within the sample. USA Swimming club teams, as well as other local sport clubs wanting to have athletes perform at a consistently high level should assess their current level of formalization and determine whether it meets the baselines established in this survey.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-05-06T09:04:25-05:00June 12th, 2020|Research, Sports Management|Comments Off

Conceptualizing Sport Volunteer Tourism: Setting a Direction for Future Research

Authors: George Karlis, Aida Stratas, Wahid Hamidi, and Ioanna Maria Kantartzi

Corresponding Author:
George Karlis, Ph.D.
25 University Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5
gkarlis@uottawa.ca
613-562-5800 ext. 2452

George Karlis is a Full Professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, Canada. His area of research focuses primarily on leisure and society.

Aida Stratas is a Ph.D. candidate and part-time professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Her area of research focuses on leisure and aging.

Wahid Hamidi is a Ph.D. student in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, Canada. His area of research focuses on initiating and maintaining physical activity and exercise behavior, and injury prevention and concussion management in the academic and athletic settings for varsity student-athletes. He is a recipient of the University of Ottawa Admission Scholarship.

Ioanna Maria Kantartzi is a Ph.D. student in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Her area of research focuses on leadership in recreation and sport settings. She is a recipient of the University of Ottawa Stavros Niarchos Scholarship.

Conceptualizing Sport Volunteer Tourism: Setting a Direction for Future Research

ABSTRACT

Research shows that increased interest and participation in sport within the leisure and recreation industry has fueled the desire of people to travel and volunteer in sporting events (22, 11). Since the 1980s, the reliance of mega sport and other sporting events on sport volunteer tourism has continued to grow, yet little research exists conceptualizing sport volunteer tourism. This paper provides an overview of the conceptualization of sport volunteer tourism as it appears in existing literature and identifies directions for future research that may be helpful for the evolution and refinement of the industry. The paper includes the following five recommendations for future research: (1) identify the attributes of conceptualizing sport volunteer tourism, (2) discern the attributes of sport volunteer tourists, (3) recognize the distinct types of sport volunteer tourism, (4) determine the distinct types of sport volunteer tourists, and (5) distinguish “sport volunteer tourism” from “sport tourism” and “volunteer tourism.”

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-07-06T10:24:37-05:00June 5th, 2020|Commentary, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off