Research Library

Social Capital and College Sport: In Search of the Bridging Potential of Intercollegiate Athletics

Intercollegiate athletics in the United States have been linked with enhancing the sense of community between students on campus (Clopton, 2008). Still, little evidence confirms that maintaining a prominent athletics program contributes to the social capital of students on campus…

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Soccer Attendees’ Preferences for Facilities at the Fionia Park Stadium: An Application of the Discrete Choice Experiment

The discrete choice experiment (DCE) is introduced in sports economics by empirically investigating soccer attendees’ preferences for facilities at a soccer stadium in Denmark. The appropriateness of the strategy of differentiating prices based on quality of opponents (A vs. B…

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Shooting for Lithuania: Migration, National Identity and Men’s Basketball in the East of England

The accession of the ‘A8 states’ into the European Union initiated considerable migration into Western Europe. The impact upon local communities has seen significant attention, yet little research exists that focuses upon migrant experiences and identity specifically in sport. This…

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Serving the State and the Private Sector: The Paradoxical Effects of the Reconstruction of Public Action on the Career Paths of Sports Ministry Agents in France

Faced with the problems of governing high-level sports policy in France caused by the mobilisation of various categories of private actors, and with the downgrading of France in the ranking of leading sports nations, the Sports Ministry instigated a reform…

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Seniors in Sport: The Experiences and Practices of Older World Masters Games Competitors

This study aims to understand the views, practices and experiences of seniors who participate regularly in sport within the context of identity management and cultural notions of sport and aging. We conducted on-site interviews and observations of male and female…

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Seeking Spirituality Through Physicality in Schools: Learning from ‘Eastern Movement Forms

This paper argues that we might learn from the ways in which Eastern movement forms with a self-cultivation focus approach the development of spirituality through physicality. It also argues that these movement forms have potential to assist in the development…

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School Board Decision-Making and the Elimination of Sport Participation Fees

Public schools in the US are increasingly charging ‘pay-to-play’ fees for participating in sports. Although these fees can cause reductions in participation, particularly for children from lower-income families, pay-to-play has become a legitimate practice within the field of public education.…

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Saturday Night’s Alright for Tweeting: Cultural Citizenship, Collective Discussion, and the New Media Consumption/Production of Hockey Day in Canada

Drawing upon data collected during the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s 2011 Hockey Day in Canada broadcast, this paper examines how users of Twitter variously reproduced or contested this mediated television program. Three emergent themes from these data are discussed: the sociocultural…

Read OnSaturday Night’s Alright for Tweeting: Cultural Citizenship, Collective Discussion, and the New Media Consumption/Production of Hockey Day in Canada

Same But Different? Exploring the Organizational Identities of Swedish Voluntary Sports: Possible Implications of Sports Clubs’ Self-Identification for Their Role as Implementers of Policy Objectives

The aim of this study is to contribute to the ongoing discussion of sports clubs’ propensity to act as policy implementers. Theoretically, we conceptualize this propensity as contingent on an alignment between a sports club’s organizational identity and the cultural…

Read OnSame But Different? Exploring the Organizational Identities of Swedish Voluntary Sports: Possible Implications of Sports Clubs’ Self-Identification for Their Role as Implementers of Policy Objectives

Salvaging National Pride: The 2010 Taekwondo Controversy and Taiwan’s Quest for Global Recognition

In this article, we analyze Taiwan’s grassroots reactions to the disqualification of taekwondo icon Yang Shu-chun in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, in order to examine how a technical dispute induced political and popular campaigns that variously blamed the governing…

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Rustic Obsessions: The Role of Slovenian Folk Pop in the Slovenian National Imaginary

The article explores the relationship between Slovenian national identity and popular music. A substantial empirical research (150 interviewees from 4 different Slovenian regions) has been conducted to find out what kind of music Slovenians themselves perceive as typically Slovenian and…

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Riding in the Shadows: The Reaction of the British Print Media to Chris Froome’s Victory in the 2013 Tour de France

On 21 July 2013 Chris Froome became only the second British cyclist to win the Tour de France. This paper examines how the events surrounding Froome’s victory in the 2013 Tour de France were reported in the British (London-based) print…

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Review of The Global Football League: Transnational Networks, Social Movements and Sport in the New Media Age

Globalisation has had a profound impact on European football and English football in particular. A series of political and economic transformations took place in the 1990s which reflected wider global transformations outside of the sport. Clubs sought additional funding from…

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Rethinking Identity Politics: The Multiple Attachments of an ‘Exclusive’ Sport Organization

This paper draws on a multi-sited ethnography of the North American Chinese Invitational Volleyball Tournament and examines the attachments and relationships that participation nurtures. I argue that rather than being exclusive, the NACIVT and its participants foster and nurture multiple…

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Resisting the World-Class City: Community Opposition and the Politics of a Local Arena Development

While the public subsidy of major league sport franchises and associated urban development projects remains wildly popular in some constituencies, these expenditures have, increasingly, been met with organized resistance. This article examines the formation of Voices for Democracy (VFD)—a grassroots…

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Representing Taiwan: International Sport, Ethnicity and National Identity in the Republic of China

This article outlines and analysis the political character of Taiwan’s relationship with international sport, and in particular with the Olympic movement. In so doing, it seeks to add to the understanding of the links between sport and the formation and…

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Religiousness as a Factor of Hesitation Against Doping Behavior in College-Age Athletes

Religiousness is rarely studied as protective factor against substance use and misuse in sport. Further, we have found no investigation where college-age athletes were sampled and studied accordingly. The aim of the present study was to identify gender-specific protective effects…

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Reflections on communication and sport: On fanship and social relationships.

In this essay, Walter Gantz reflects on the importance of communication and sport and the evolution of his research on fanship and social relationships. Cutting across two overlapping dimensions—physical location and technology—this essay characterizes key ways that sports fanship may…

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Refining the Nation’s ‘New Gold’: Music, Youth Development and Neoliberalism in South Africa

This essay explores the work of the Field Band Foundation (FBF) in South Africa, a non-governmental organisation that has been working nationwide since 1997 to create opportunities for the development of ‘life skills’ in youth in predominantly socioeconomically underprivileged communities…

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Reactions to Implementing Adventure-based Learning in Physical Education

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the reactions of 13 pre-service teachers (PTs) implementing an adventure-based learning (ABL) unit through the lens of occupational socialization. Data were collected through interviews, critical reflections and reflection of videotaped ABL…

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Re-Immersing into Elite Swimming Culture: A Meta-Autoethnography by a Former Elite Swimmer

This paper presents two meta-autoethnographies written by a former elite swimmer. In the first meta autoethnography, the swimmer revealed doubts in relation to details, emotions and inner-thoughts that she had included in her historical autoethnographic work. As a means of…

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Rationales Rhetoric and Realities: FIFA’s World Cup in South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was heralded by mainstream media outlets, the local organisers, the South African government and FIFA as an unequivocal success. The month-long spectacle saw South Africa Take centre stage and host the world’s largest single sporting…

Read OnRationales Rhetoric and Realities: FIFA’s World Cup in South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014

Radical Sports Journalism?: Reflections on ‘Alternative’ Approaches to Covering Sport-Related Social Issues

In this paper we report findings from a study of what we are calling ‘sports media activism’ (or ‘SMA’). We were interested in how, why, and for what purposes a range of sport media activists are engaging with sport-related social…

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Put on the wig it’s time to ball: Experiences of a collegiate men’s basketball fan group

The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of a collegiate men’s basketball fan group. Little research has been undertaken exploring student fan groups, especially using ethnographic methods. The primary researcher attended two men’s home basketball games at…

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Public policies, body practices and social representations on ageing. A case study: the national sports plan and the sports games , Buenos Aires Province

In this paper we present the ideas of a number of speeches from which public policies have been designing and implementing that have embodied body practices (related to sport) with seniors and who build a particular social representation of ageing.…

Read OnPublic policies, body practices and social representations on ageing. A case study: the national sports plan and the sports games , Buenos Aires Province

Protecting the NFL/ militarizing the homeland: Citizen soldiers and urban resilience in post-9/11 America

In this article I focus on intersections between the National Football League’s (NFL) security practices and the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) counter-terrorism agenda, including new policies and legal structures that support pre-emption, protection, and preparation activities that manage…

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Promoting the ‘arriviste’ city: Producing neoliberal urban identity and communities of consumption during the Edmonton Oilers’ 2006 playoff campaign

In the spring of 2006, the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Edmonton Oilers made a surprise run to the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 16 years. Predictably, hockey fans and media pundits responded enthusiastically to the one-time return…

Read OnPromoting the ‘arriviste’ city: Producing neoliberal urban identity and communities of consumption during the Edmonton Oilers’ 2006 playoff campaign

Promoting Buddhism through Modern Sports: The Case Study of Fo Guang Shan in Taiwan

In the past, traditional Buddhism in China focused on chanting and meditation that detached itself from the society. However, after generations of strenuous efforts to promote ‘Humanistic Buddhism’, several Masters have been encouraging religion to engage more in daily lives.…

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Profile of self-reported problems with executive functioning in college and professional football players

Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), such as that experienced by contact-sport athletes, has been associated with the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Executive dysfunction is believed to be among the earliest symptoms of CTE, with these symptoms presenting…

Read OnProfile of self-reported problems with executive functioning in college and professional football players

Producing mobility through locality and visibility: Developing a transnational perspective on sports labour migration.

To date, studies of sports labour migration have afforded little attention to analysis of how individual athletes relate to historical and macro- structural power relations and forces. In this article, we set out to develop a transnational perspective on sports…

Read OnProducing mobility through locality and visibility: Developing a transnational perspective on sports labour migration.

Predisposed to participate? The influence of family socio-economic background on children’s sports participation and daily amount of physical activity

From a Bourdieu-inspired understanding of how personal resources (‘capitals’) enable certain practices in certain contexts, the links between families’ cultural, social and economic capitals, and children’s daily physical activity were investigated in 500 suburban Danish schoolchildren using questionnaire data and…

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Power, politics and sport for development and peace: Investigating the utility of sport for international development.

Sport is currently mobilized as a tool of international development within the “Sport for Development and Peace” (SDP) movement. Framed by Gramscian hegemony theory and sport and development studies respectively, this article offers an analysis of the conceptualization of sport’s…

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Power plays and Olympic divisions: Bilingualism and the politics of Canadian viewing rights at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games

There have been innumerable political debates around the world over the distribution of live sporting events in the digital era. Typically, these deliberations involve competing claims and interests associated with sport, commerce, cultural and broadcasting policies, and, at times, language…

Read OnPower plays and Olympic divisions: Bilingualism and the politics of Canadian viewing rights at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games

Political correctness, selection bias, and the NCAA Basketball Tournament

Allegations of selection bias toward the major conferences and teams with committee representation have previously been levied on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Basketball tournament selection committee. We illustrate the source of this bias is political correctness. When using…

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Playing with the big boys: Basketball, American imperialism, and subaltern discourse in the Philippines

The global diffusion of sport is both a complex topic and a thematic presence in sport history and sociology circles. Studies of colonialism, human geography, and cultural appropriation are just a few of the channels to the international dissemination of…

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Playing with the autoethnographical: Performing and re-presenting the fan’s voice

My article plays with notions of performativity and representation to repudiate assumptions of one-dimensional fandom. In particular, due to its self-reflexive writing style, I argue that autoethnography can articulate and show the subject-fan voice through evocations of first-person, insider experiences.…

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Playing in the New Media Game or Riding the Virtual Bench: Confirming and Disconfirming Membership in the Community of Sport

This essay explores a set of new media user trends that are (re)shaping fan–athlete interaction through (para)social connections. Acting as bonding agents, the trends considered either contribute to or detract from membership in the community of sport. Accordingly, social leveling…

Read OnPlaying in the New Media Game or Riding the Virtual Bench: Confirming and Disconfirming Membership in the Community of Sport

Players’ perspectives on the positive impact of video games: A qualitative content analysis of online forum discussions

On game forums, players often discuss the positive impact of video games on their lives. We collected 964 messages from top ranked game forums (via Alexa.com) and analyzed them using a coding scheme based on an existing taxonomy about the…

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Place disparities in supportive environments for extracurricular physical activity in North Carolina middle schools.

Disadvantaged rural youth may be especially at risk for obesity and poorer health due to physical inactivity. Research suggests that extracurricular school programs can increase physical activity for this population. This study sought to determine whether local differences existed in…

Read OnPlace disparities in supportive environments for extracurricular physical activity in North Carolina middle schools.

Physical literacy in the United States: A model, strategic plan, and call to action.

Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and with guidance from a 15-member, cross-sector working group, this report offers a deep dive into the central idea behind Project Play. It builds on research showing that children with motor skills competence…

Read OnPhysical literacy in the United States: A model, strategic plan, and call to action.

Physical and sports activities, and healthy and active ageing: Establishing a frame of reference for public action.

Since the 1960s, there has been a change in the portrayal of older people. This change has resulted in the promotion of an active way of life that led, at the turn of the twenty-first century, to the development by…

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Perceiving Penn State: The formative role of interpersonal discussion in third-person perceptions in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal.

We examine the role of interpersonal discussion in an attempt to better understand talk’s contribution to perceived media impacts related to the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University. Through the use of a survey conducted both in the state…

Read OnPerceiving Penn State: The formative role of interpersonal discussion in third-person perceptions in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal.

Perceived environmental church support and physical activity black church members.

Background. Churches are an appealing setting for implementing health-related behavior change programs. Purpose. The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between perceived environmental church support for physical activity (PA) and PA behaviors. Method. Black church members from…

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Perceived coach-autonomy support, basic need satisfaction and the well- and ill-being of elite youth soccer players: A longitudinal investigation

Objectives: Drawing from the basic needs theory [BNT; Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2002). An overview of self-determination theory. In E. L. Deci, & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 3e33). Rochester, NY: University of…

Read OnPerceived coach-autonomy support, basic need satisfaction and the well- and ill-being of elite youth soccer players: A longitudinal investigation

Peddling sport: liberal multiculturalism and the racial triangulation of blackness, Chineseness and Native American-ness in professional basketball

Deploying liberal multiculturalist discourse, the media depicts professional basketball as a post-racial space where all talented players, regardless of their race, can thrive if they work hard. An analysis of the construction of non-white players in the 1930s and in…

Read OnPeddling sport: liberal multiculturalism and the racial triangulation of blackness, Chineseness and Native American-ness in professional basketball

Parenting in relation to children’s sports participation: generational changes and potential implications

This paper presents data on the parenting practices and perceptions of middle-class parents in the domain of children’s sport. Adopting a grounded-theory approach, the data were generated through 16 semi-structured interviews conducted with parents and children from eight different families.…

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Parent–Child Interactions and Objectively Measured Child Physical Activity: A Cross Sectional Study

Parents influence their children’s behaviors directly through specific parenting practices and indirectly through their parenting style. Some practices such as logistical and emotional support have been shown to be positively associated with child physical activity (PA) levels, while for others…

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Parent–child injury prevention conversations following a trip to the emergency department

The goal of the study was to examine how parents use conversation to promote the internalization of safety values after their child has been seriously injured. Parent interviews detailing postinjury conversations were coded for strategies mentioned to prevent injuries in…

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Parent-child interactions and objectively measured child physical activity: a cross-sectional study

Parents influence their children’s behaviors directly through specific parenting practices and indirectly through their parenting style. Some practices such as logistical and emotional support have been shown to be positively associated with child physical activity (PA) levels, while for others…

Read OnParent-child interactions and objectively measured child physical activity: a cross-sectional study