Author: Andre Coleman

Violence and Sports

For as long as sports have been around, the issue of violence has always played an influential role and raised some controversy. Violence that occurs in and around the sporting world has resulted in severe physical and psychological repercussions for those involved. Mild forms of violence are accepted in some sports such as football and hockey. Participants in these sports, by the very act of taking part, have accepted the “inevitability of rough contact” (Maguire). These participants, however, cannot control injuries sustained from activity that violates the written and unwritten rules of the sport. An example of this occurred in 2003, when football player Bill Romanowski attacked and injured one of his teammates, Marcus Williams, during a scrimmage. Williams was forced to retire after Romanowski confronted Williams after a play, ripped off his helmet, and crushed his eye socket with a punch. Another instance of this occurred in this year’s NHL playoffs when a player named Niklas Kronwall hit a player named Martin Havlat. In the process it is likely that Havlat got a concussion, either from the hit itself, or the fall, or both. Havlat was unconscious on the ice for about a minute and because of the concussion, he missed the rest of the playoffs and some long-term damage may have occurred. Critics claim that violence in sports is a good way to release aggression and that violence draws more attention and improves ratings, but sport commissioners and league officials need to make stricter rules because violence in sports impact society in a negative way, causes long-term damage, and can escalate to other issues.

In the article “Violence and Sports – Ugly but Useful,” psychology professor and author Joseph Maguire discusses how violence is an integral part of contemporary sports. Maguire claims that aggression and violence are natural and that these two traits are instinctive and inevitable aspects of human behavior. He also claims that, “sports are seen as a form of catharsis; they allow for the safe and channeled release of the aggression that is part of every person’s instinctive makeup” (Maguire). Take boxing for example the aggressive nature of a boxing contest is an action that will not necessarily be well embraced outside of the sports arena. If two people start punching each other in the middle of the street they will get in trouble, but once they step into a ring in front of an audience, its socially acceptable. Maguire’s claim that violence in sports allows athletes to release aggression is a flawed underlying assumption. What he is saying is that if these athletes could not participate in sports then they would find other ways to release their anger and aggression, such as murder and rape. If this was the case, then retired athletes would all be in jail, and thats rarely ever an occurrence. Not everyone in the world is a violent person and most athletes do not play their sport to release aggression; they play either for money or the love of the game. Maguire also goes into more detail discussing what kind of violence is acceptable in sports. He explains:

“Borderline violence” consists of behaviors that violate the official rules of the sport but that are accepted by players and fans alike as a legitimate part of the game. Such behavior – a fistfight in ice hockey or an intentional foul in association football’s penalty zone – is rarely subject to legal proceedings and tends to be dealt with by penalties imposed by referees, umpires, or league administrators.

Baseball players get into scuffles all the time. A baseball player can throw a baseball 90 mph at another player’s head and then fistfight over the incident and only receive a few games suspension. That is a little ridiculous considering the serious injuries that have occurred. Fights in baseball have resulted in serious injuries that can easily prevented by a stricter punishment. If the punishment was say, jail-time for example, then baseball players would definitely think twice before fighting. Violence in sports is not an integral part of the game, and the punishment should be much greater than what it currently is.

In the book Media, Sports, & Society, author Lawrence A. Wenner discusses how violence in sports is acceptable because sports spectators love aggression and that it improves audiences and television ratings. Wenner states that serious sports have nothing to do with fair play, “it is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard for all rules, and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence” (275). Despite Wenner’s statement being a little extreme, he is correct that spectators do love aggression. For example, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a league of fighting which includes mixed-martial-arts. It has drawn an overwhelming amount of attention and despite some people calling it “human cockfighting” it has drawn high ratings. UFC’s success comes from blood-thirsty fans that enjoy watching violence in sports from their own living rooms. Wenner also explains:

There is a bloodthirstiness in people that manifests itself in mob scenes. People feel safer accepting violence when they are seated in numbers of other spectators. A group of spectators watching an organized event that they know is going to be violent is far more likely to accept violence and mayhem than bystanders on a street who witness a violent crime. (277)

Spectators may enjoy violence from the comfort of their seats or their home, but what about the athletes that are partaking in the violent events? It is sad that our society has reached a point where people can enjoy watching violence and not think about the repercussions. Many athletes are seriously injured through events that can be avoidable; but audiences enjoy watching aggression and it will continue as long as ratings are up. The society is coming closer to the point when fighting in the street will not be looked on with disdain by the public. The recent surge in staged fights at schools, with the purpose of filming and posting on the internet is another example. Many students do not turn away in disgust at these fights; instead, they egg on the participants and happily record them. It cannot be argued that the majority of sports spectators enjoy aggression and roughness in sports; but in order to save sports, most of the fighting and all the inappropriate aggression needs to be abolished. Fans can still enjoy watching a game without violence and spectators will continue to watch sports even if a stand is taken against violence and the rules are stricter. For example the 2007 Stanley Cup Final featured the Anaheim Ducks and the Ottawa Senators. The two teams were ranked 2nd and 3rd in game misconduct respectively, with Anaheim leading the league in fighting majors with 71. The 2007 Stanley Cup had below-average television ratings and the United States rankings on NBC were down 20% from the previous year’s series. On the other hand, the 2008 Stanley Cup drew one of the highest Stanley Cup ratings ever. The Detroit Redwings and Pittsburgh Penguins combined for only 72 fighting majors during the course of the 2007-08 season, which was one more than the Anaheim Ducks of 2007.

In the book “Sport Matters” author and sociology professor Eric Dunning discusses how violence in sports impacts other aspects of society in a negative way. He begins by talking about the violent behavior of the crowd at sporting events and some of the riots that have occurred. An example he gives was during a Monday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets in 1977. Dunning describes that riots broke out during the game due to rowdy and drunk fans and the game was interrupted half a dozen times. Two fans died while another thirty spectators were taken to the hospital; and this riot was not even one of the worse ones. Dunning stated that “the Foxboro police chief claimed to have seen ‘even worse’ incidents (171). People may ask then what causes these riots and what makes fans so violent and aggressive? Dunning answers this question by suggesting:

In common with other Western industrial societies, the USA has highly publicized mass spectator sports, some of which, especially baseball, (gridiron) football, and (ice) hockey, have a pronounced macho emphasis. The USA also has a long-established tradition of street gangs, and the dominant norms of masculinity – the ‘John Wayne’ image – lay stress on fighting and ability to ‘handle oneself’. (175)

Our society promotes being “manly” and “macho” and this has led to an inappropriate aggression by spectators in sports Spectators are supposed to watch and enjoy the game, acting violent and disrupting the game is certainly uncalled for. Another example of how violence in sports impacts other aspects of society in negative ways is how parents act at their children’s sporting events. In the article “Aggression in Sports” author and Psychology professor Daniel L. Wann states that “parents of children involved in sports often behave aggressively in sporting environments” (S32). Violence and aggression comes into play due to the competitive nature of sports and parents wanting to see their child succeed. A parent getting involved in their child’s sport is great, but like professional sport spectators, they cross the line when they bring violence into sports.

There have been some instances where violence in sports has not been enough and athletes have turned to illegal actions to supplement their aggression. For example many athletes including household names such as Kobe Bryant and Mike Tyson have been accused of rape. Former pro-football quarterback and current Executive Director of the Sports Leadership Institute Don McPherson discusses the connection between sexual violence and sports:

Early in life most boys hear the insult ‘you throw like a girl’ or something of this nature. I call it the language of sport as it attacks ones masculinity in an effort to inspire or degrade. The reality is that it teaches and perpetuates sexist and misogynistic attitudes and until it’s addressed, sport will continue to be a breeding ground for narrow masculinity and misogyny.

Violence in sports makes masculinity a desired attribute and in some cases, athletes who strive for a sense of masculinity turn to sexual violence. Athletes have also turned to illegal actions other than rape and sexual violence and have caused fatal damage. An example of this is when former wrestler Chris Benoit murdered his family and then committed suicide. It was a tragic incident and was thought to have occurred because of steroid abuse, but was later found that it was brought on by mental problems due to multiple concussions. In the article “The Concussion Time Bomb” author Steve Maich describes that “In rare cases, victims might suffer from post-concussion syndrome in which symptoms refuse to subside, or return with a vengeance when patients physically exert themselves” (50). In Benoit’s case, the concussions he received while wrestling caused him to return with a vengeance toward both himself and his family, resulting in fatal damage.

In the book Sex, Violence, & Power in Sports, America sociologist and author Mike Messner discusses how violence in sports can cause serious long-term damage. Similar to what happened with Chris Benoit, multiple hits and blows in sports can lead to damage that in some cases can not be fixed. Messner explains:

The way athletes are taught to regard their bodies as machines and weapons with which to annihilate opponents often results in their using violence against their own bodies. Partly for this reason, former professional players in the United States have an average life-expectancy of about fifty-six years – roughly fifteen years shorter than the overall average life-expectancy of U.S. males. (95)

American culture and the media still glorify the violence in sports despite the thousands of serious and permanent injuries that occur every year. Athletes are taught to play through pain and though it gives the athlete a masculine and tough persona, playing through pain can lead to serious damage. An example of this is

Messner states, “Although most wore these injuries with pride, like badges of masculine status, athletes also grudgingly acknowledge that their healthy bodies were a heavy price to pay for glory” (95).

The Ultimate Exercise

The smell of sweat, rubber and rust swirl through the air as an athlete prepares to step under a squat bar loaded with the next weight he is about to move. As the athlete steps under the bar, he thinks about his position and form. Then removes the weight and using proper technique, moves the weight for multiple repetitions before returning the weight back to the rack.

The squat is a movement that is extremely useful for people of all ages or gender. This is because it is a natural movement that is found in everyday life. It also has other health benefits that can help improve things like joint pain, muscle mass and tone, as well as cardio vascular health. With proper technique and form, the squat can improve multiple aspects of life.

There are many different styles of squatting. Although at the core of it they all are the same motion, each squatting style has its own benefits compared to the others. Some different examples of squat styles include the style most people think of when they think of squatting. This is back squat. There is also front squat and overhead squat. Within each of these styles there are also different variations to these motions to create improvements in different aspects of life.

The back squat is the most recognizable form of the squat. This style in itself has many benefits, but to unlock these benefits you must make sure that you have the proper form and technique. This is imperative for your health and safety. According to Dariusz Czaprowski, Ryszard Biernat, and Agnieszka Kedra in their article “SQUAT – RULES OF PERFORMING AND MOST COMMON MISTAKES Squat – methodology of teaching,” they break down learning the squat into three stages

Stage one talks about reshaping the body so that the movement starts with a “hip hinge (Czaprowski 4).” Czaprowski also states that when people begin their attempt at a squat, they usually begin with bending their knees. This causes “shearing and compression forces” on the knee. This is why the hip hinge should be the first action when completing the squat. (3)

The motion of the squat is the next important stage. This motion is best described in “Back Squat Exercise: A Primer” by John M. Cissik. He breaks done the motion of the squat into three different phases. These phases are broken down into “Start, Descend, and Ascend” (Cissik 29). Cissik starts talking about the Start position by saying,

At the beginning of the back squat, the barbell is positioned on the squat rack. The athlete should step underneath the bar so that it rests on the back of his/her shoulders. The bar should be positioned where it is comfortable or the athlete. The athlete should stand up and step out of the squat rack. The feet should be even and between hip width and shoulder width apart with the weight on the athlete’s heels. The athlete should look straight ahead or slightly up. Before beginning the descent, the athlete should inflate the chest and pull the shoulders back, this action tightens the muscles along the spine helping to protect the lumbar vertebrae. (29)

By performing the steps given here by Cissik, the athlete will have a very safe starting position.

One the athlete is in the start position, Cissik then explains step by step the safe way of descending with the weight. This is very important because improper form, as stated before, can take away from the benefits of the exercise as well as increase the possibility for injury. The second phase is the descend. This phase is described by Cissik by saying,

From the start position, the athlete descends by pushing the hips back and unlocking the knees. As this is done, the weight remains on the heels. The athlete should squat down until the thighs are parallel to the floor, unless there is an injury that would modify this. As the athlete is descending, the chest needs to remain inflated with the shoulders pulled back. (29)

At the bottom of the descend phase immediately starts the third and final stage of the squat the Ascend (Cissik 29). At this point in the squat the athlete is at their lowest point. The article then explains how to perform the Ascend phase:

Once the athlete has reached the bottom position, the athlete should reverse directions and stand up. As this is done, the hips and shoulders need to rise up at the same speed to prevent the athlete from toppling forward. The athlete needs to remember to keep the chest inflated and the shoulders back throughout the ascent. (Cissik 29)

After the completion of the Ascend phase the athlete has then completed the entire squat.

With an understanding of the form and motion of the back squat, why would someone want to add this into their workout program? There are multitudes of benefits that are cited in multiple articles and journals including increased mobility, strength, functional strength, as well as many other benefits to be described later in this paper.

The main benefits that many people, men and women, should be interested in are that the squat increases functional strength as well as an increase in flexibility and strength. These will benefit not only in moving weight at a weight room, but also in doing daily activities.

The squat motion is an extremely primal motion that has been used since human beings have been on the earth. They have used this motion to hunt food, gather food items such as berries and vegetables, and move obstacles. This is why when an athlete does a squat they not only work their lower body, but they also are working the nervous system (Vales). The squat is also found throughout our day. The functionality of this movement allows us to do things like lift heavy objects and jump to reach an object. The squat also aids in creating proper posture (Cohen).

Although men are normally viewed as the type of athlete that would perform a squat, there are also many benefits for women. These include (but are not limited to) aiding in conception and the birthing process, weight loss, muscle toning, and improve balance (Daniel). Squatting in the later weeks of pregnancy helps in the birthing process by opening the pelvic area. This creates a shorter delivery time. It also creases a safer environment for a woman and her baby. Squatting increases balance and leg strength. Gains in these areas decrease the risk of falls protecting both the woman and child (Martinez).

Some of the main benefits of a squat come for an athlete or someone trying to become fit. The squat not only helps with the functionality of daily live but also helps with muscle growth, increases testosterone production, increases speed as well as vertical jump, and tones abs and muscles (Vale).

Other than the well-known back squat there many other variations of squatting you can incorporate into a workout to activate different muscle groups for specified training. The main squat variations other than your typical back squat include the Front Squat, Over-Head Squat, Zercher Squats, Anderson Squats, Bulgarian Split Squats, and One-Legged Squats. Each of these squats use the same general motion, but all have different techniques to improve your specific areas of fitness (Smith).

The first variation most typically used after the Back Squat is the Front squat. This style of squatting consists of holding a barbell across the shoulders on the front side of the body. Placing the bar here trains the quadriceps, core, and the upper back more by putting a greater emphasis on these areas. This squat is also much easier to perform correctly due to the position of the center of gravity. By including this lift into a workout regimen, athletes will gain greater strength in the core and upper back as well as increase balanced leg strength (Smith).

The front squat is also a better alternative for people struggling with some back problems. This is because the Front Squat decreases spinal compression as well as spinal flexion and Torque (Behar). The author, Jeff Behar, explains in his article “7 Benefits of Front Squats” by explaining “The difficulty of the exercise [The Front Squat] results in less weight being able to be used. Less weight on the bar, equals less spinal compression.” He also tells readers that “By carrying the bar in the front, you reduce spinal flexion. This makes the Front Squats a safer leg exercise for your back” (Behar).

After the Front squat in popularity is the Over Head Squat. This movement helps increase balance, mobility and muscular control by holding a barbell over the head. Also, this variation of the squat helps perfect the Snatch lift. Smith explains this by saying “The overhead squat strengthens the midpoint of the barbell snatch and is essential to mastering that particular lift.” This lift also emphasizes hip mobility more than any other variation of the squat (Smith).

Another squat style that can help you in other aspects of lifting exercises is the Zercher Squat (Smith). In the article, Smith explains the motion of the squat by saying “With your elbows bent at your side, place the barbell in the crook of your bent elbows. Squat until your elbows go between your knees or the bar touches your thighs. That’s one advantage of the Zercher: It tells you when you reach depth.” This movement is accepted by many lifters that do deadlift due to the similar base of a deadlift movement (Smith).

After performing many of these styles, athletes may notice that they “Bounce” at the bottom of the movement. The Anderson Squat was designed to take away this bounce and create a more honest lift from the bottom of the squat. This lift also helps with control at the bottom of the squat movement. This will help with your other squat movements (Smith). The motion is explained by the author when he says

Simply place the barbell on the safety pins in a rack at a height that would be at or near the bottom position of your squat. Be sure to pause between reps with the bar on the safety pins. This will ensure you don’t cave to the temptation to bounce for assistance. (Smith)

All of the variations of the squat motion talked about so far have required the use of both legs activating at the same time. The last two are different in the fact that you use one leg at a time. The One-Legged squat and Bulgarian Squat both require balance and strength to be performed, but when mastered they both train balance (Smith). This is because your body is more stable when you stand on two legs.

The Bulgarian Split is performed similarly to the back squat with position of the barbell. The difference comes when you place one foot behind you. The squat motion is explained by Smith in his article by saying “Place one foot a few feet behind you on a bench or raised platform. Keeping an upright torso, begin by pushing your hips back, like in a back squat. Allow your back leg to bend at the knee.” This squat uses unilateral movement to correct imbalances between the right and left side of the body. This style of squat can also be done using a Front Squat bar position (Smith).

The final squat variation is the One-Legged Squat. This is described by Smith as “The ultimate test of unilateral strength like the one-armed push-up or pull-up.” This is because the athlete is squatting their bodyweight on a single leg. This variation is very useful in developing balance. Once this motion is mastered, the athlete can then perform the movement while holding light weights (Smith).

Although there are many forms and variations to the squat, they all are the same basic motion at its core. This is why the squat is essential to any fitness program. With so many benefits, the squat is so essential to the holistic health and fitness of any athlete at any fitness level.

Works Cited

Behar, Jeff. “7 Benefits of Front Squats.”MuscleMagFitness.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 July 2014. http://www.musclemagfitness.com/fitness-and-exercises/weight-lifting/7-benefits-of-front-squats.html.

Cissik, John M. “Back Squat Exercise: A Primer.”Modern Athlete and Coach(2011): 29-31.UF OneSearch. Web. 25 July 2014. http://metis.findlay.edu:2113/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=da7d75bd-90ab-4944-a0c0-7d198225b8c0%40sessionmgr110&vid=2&hid=115.

Cohen, Ron. “A New Persective on Squats, Lunges, and Living Life.”Contemplative Fitness. N.p., 6 Mar. 2010. Web. 25 July 2014. http://contemplativefitness.me/2010/03/06/a-new-persective-on-squats-lunges-and-living-life/.

CZAPROWSKI, DARIUSZ, RYSZARD BIERNAT, and AGNIESZKA KEDRA. “SQUAT – RULES OF PERFORMING AND MOST COMMON MISTAKES Squat – methodology of teaching.”Polish Journal of Sport & Tourism19 (2012): 3-7. Web. 23 July 2014. http://metis.findlay.edu:2113/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=95bf5c29-9499-438b-88cb-6403cb194804%40sessionmgr115&vid=2&hid=115.

Daniel, Harri. “Benefits of Squats for Women.”BenefitOf.com. N.p., 8 June 2011. Web. 25 July 2014. http://benefitof.net/benefits-of-squats-for-women/.

Martinez, Eliza. “Squats Exercise for Pregnant Women.”The Nest. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 25 July 2014. http://woman.thenest.com/squats-exercise-pregnant-women-1072.html.

Smith, Christopher. “Meet The Squats: 7 Squat Variations You Should Be Doing.”BodyBuilding.com. N.p., 10 July 2013. Web. 25 July 2014. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/meet-the-squats-7-squat-variations-you-should-be-doing.html.

Vales, John. “The 15 Benefits of Squats.”Outlaw Fitness. N.p., 2014. Web. 25 July 2014. http://www.outlawfitnesshq.com/the-15-benefits-of-squats/.

1.0 Introduction

Before the day, the sport is no more joining by the students because they put most of the effort to their class study, and the sport facilities only was important to the minority of applicants who hoped to play in university teams. Although the sport not making interest for student to join at pass time, but nowaday, that has changed, many student was take part in regular physical activity since the benefit of healthy was attach important now.

So a University was require the University sports executive in relation to their project for developing a new University Sports facility. The executive is impressed with most of the work that has been done but has concerns about the viability of the project. It has a problem that these students who study in University may use other facilities nearer their home rather than join the new University facility, because more of them live at home than University hostel. This problem may make University bear a high expensive because of lack of member going join their new sport facibility, so they need to investigate a potential secondary segment of clients for the sports facility other than the full-time students for incerease their revenue to recover the high expensive.

For this goal, the University sport executive need to make a reseach or report of detail and justification of secondary segment, the specific macro environmental issues in the market which will bring the opportunities or threats. Beside that, the promotion and offering of the new University Sports facility is need to plan for attract the new member from outside of the University and also giving a reasonable price to new member for this new University Sports facility .

2.0 Content
2.1 Detail and justification of the secondary segment

Since the University worry about there may lack of their student to joining their new University sport facilities, so they wish can aim to the second segment to rises thier revenue for it.The second segment is target to the ppl who are age 38-56 years old, adult.This is target to the person who are on the way to retire or already retired. This kind of people are very take care for thier healthy at life after their retire and the following life, and since they were reaching a high salary with working many year for their company.So, they willing to pay for the product or service that can improve their healthy. The new University sport facilities can satisfying their need and provide the profesional coach to train thier strenght and health by teach them using the new sport facilities to exercise.

2.2 Macro environmetal Issue

“The company and all of the pther actors operate in a larger macroenvironment of forces that shape opportynities and pose threats to the company.(Kotler,Armstrong 2004)” The macroenvironment include demographic environment, economic environment, natural environment, technological environment, political environment, and cultural environment.

Demography refers to the study of the human populations in terms of size, age, race, occupation, density, location, and density. It is very important to undestand the demographic environment because it is very helpful in deivide the human populations into the market segment and how they going target into which market. For example, according to the born of the years,we can saw there have 3 generations before this, such as baby boomers, who are born between 1946 and 1964, generation X, who are born between 1965 and 1976, and generation Y, who are born between 1977 and 1994. The generation of the baby boomers are the larger number of this 3 generation. So if the marketing segmatation can include this generation and that may bring a high revenue for the market because they are become mature nowaday and getting a stable job and may reaching they higher income earning in this many year they work before. They would like to spend and making purchases when thier income is getting high than other new generation. According to all of this, they also treat their healthy very important because of the larger age and willing to pay for their health care, so if the new Universitiy sport facibilities can segment to this generation and it will bring a opportunities for the University.

Economic environment refer what is the way that make the potential consumer would like to make purchases and willing to pay for the products or services. “Change in major economic variables such as income, cost of living, interest rates , and savings and borrowing patterns have a large impact on the marketplace.(Kotler,Armstrong 2004)” For example, if the personal income of every worker is rising then their purchasing power will increasing and would like to make payment for the products and services, it is provide opportunities to market. In other hand, if the economic fall down and getting bad,such as increasing of the unemployment rates, then the money will be hold by the consumer to survive and reduce the purchasing power.

Natural environment is about the natural resources that a company uses as inputs and the possible of their marketing activities may cause pollution to the natural or no. Threat for this enviroment will bring to the firm or company when their marketing activities are increasing the pollution, cause the shortages of raw materials seriously and increasing governmental intervention because of the complaint from the public sector. All of this will affect the company’s reputation and make it hard to getting their goal or mission because the intervention of the government to their business activities.

The technological environment is one of the fastest changing factors in the macroenvironment and no one can ignore this. That is very important to understand the changes of technological “because competitors will exploit it sooner or later, with implications for your product and its market. (Brassington, Stephen)” Technological advance in a company can help and give opportunity for them to create the new markets and new uses for products and maximum their profit in market. Another advantages that getting technological in advance are can negotiating the right of the skill or technological right and development of the marketable product with successful from it before the competition.

The political environment is strongly affect the marketing decisins and it include the laws and regulation set by the government that limit the business action in social. That is very important for the company to be aware of these restrictions in this market.It always cause the threat for the company since the law and regulation often limit thier activities and they need to making decision for a long time period to fulfill in the right situation.

2.3 Outline of the new university sport facilities’s offer

The benefits that the new university sport facilities going to offer to the member can attract the interest of the people to join whether the main objective of it is improvement of healthy. The offer provided just is a activity that influece and increase the motivation of them to join the new universitiy sport facilities. Here are the offers that provide to the new members:

Bonus for introduce of new member
Lastest model of sport facilities provided
Free professional coach teaching
Security
Free safety insurance
Free try for a day
Discout of member fees
2.4 Pricing strategy

In this new University sport facilities, the amount of the fees to the new member is very important because it may decide how many people willing to join depend to the price. The pricing strategy that use must satisfying the consumer need and enable to pay from every one. The market-penetration pricing can using for it and it is setting a low price with provide high quality of the product and service. It bring advantages to attract larger amount of the consumer to join and also gain larger market share. The lower price setting also can bring the opportunity to consumer to choose the new Universities sport facilities as their first choice. In other hand, it also will have the threat that seeting the lower price.Some of the consumer will treat the lower price will just provide the low quality product or service and they may no willing take risk to try, so in this case, it is need to making communication with them for provide the clearly information from the promotion.

Training is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one’s capability, capacity, productivity and performance. (Wales)

Body’s physiological response during exercise:

Physiological response to exercise depends on intensity, duration and frequency of exercise and also depends on environment surroundings. During exercise requirement of oxygen and substrates in skeletal muscle are increased simultaneously leads to increase removal of metabolites and carbon dioxide. Chemical, mechanical and thermal stimuli affect alterations in metabolic, cardiovascular and ventilator function in order to meet these increased demands (Stokes).

Adenosine triphosphate is a high-energy phosphate molecule that initiate muscle contraction, immediate source of energy supplies to muscle are initially provided by energy sources like ATP and Phosphocreatine before other aspects of metabolism are activated. Pulmonary ventilation increases as increase in respiratory rate to cope up increase in oxygen demand (Stokes)

Some enzymes (ATPase) are able to use the energy stored between ADP and Pi bond. Water is involved is called hydrolysis. Each molecule of ATP releases 7.3 k cal.(30.7 kj) Energy can also provided by acetylate kinase reaction where ATP is produced from the conversion of two molecules of adenosine diphosphate(ADP to adenosine monophosphate(Amp) and ATP. (Stokes)Phosphocreatine stored in the muscle is a high-energy source for skeletal muscle it contributes energy in first 10 seconds of high intensity activities such as sprinting and are rapidly depleted but they provide important energy source in first few seconds of exercise before other aspects of metabolism are activated. (Stokes)

resynthesis of ATP from energy-dense substrates glycolysis is a pathway by which glycogen and glucose are converted to two pyruvate molecules in the presence of oxygen, pyruvate enters the Krebs cycle via acetyl coA. Each turn of the Krebs cycle produces hydrogen carriers that enter the electron transport chain (ETC) and ultimately donate H+ to oxygen to form water, allowing ETC to proceed, however, when oxygen is not present, ETC cannot proceed which prevents flux through the Krebs cycle and result in a build up of pyruvate(Stokes. If it was allowed to continue the glycolysis may stop and no further ATP would be synthesized. Fortunately, pyruvate can accept the hydrogen carrier, forming lactic acid yields only 3 moll ATP per molecule of glycogen, but this can occur in absence of oxygen. In contrast, complete breakdown of glycogen via glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and the ETC yields 39 ATP per molecule of glycogen. (Stokes) Fatty acids are more energy dense than glycogen and there are very large stores of fat in adipose tissue, all energy stored as fat is stored as glycogen, body mass would increase by 50 Kg. Fatty acids are catabolized and enter into the Krebs cycle and ETC. A fully oxidized fat yields 129 molecules of ATP. The rate of resynthesize of fat is too slow to be of great importance during high intensity training. During exercise ventilation might increase from values around 5-6 liters min to >100 liter min. in an average young male, resting oxygen consumption is about 250 ml min and in endurance athlete during internes exercise might reach 5000 ml min (Stokes).Changes which occur in arterial pH, PO2 and PCO2 values during exercise are usually small, the increased reliance on glycolysis results in increased accumulation of lactic acid, which initially leads to an increase in PaCO2. Ventilation increases abruptly in the initial stages of exercise and is then followed by a more gradual increase. (Stokes) Oxygen requirements of working skeletal muscles are dramatically elevated above resting requirements. Resting blood flow to muscle is usually 2–4 ml•100 g muscle?1 min?1, but might increase to nearly 100 ml•100 g muscle?1 min?1 during maximal exercise. The circulatory changes which occur are increase blood flow to muscle leads to increase in cardiac output which leads to increase oxygen consumption. (Stokes) In the body maximum efficiency for conversion of energy nutrients into muscular work is 20-25%, the remaining is released in non-usable form of heat which raises body temperature this heat is due to increase metabolism in the body during exercise and blood supply to skin is increased which in tern stimulates sweat glands which starts sweating which causes heat loss. (Stokes)

Training in Heat (Rg)

This report discuss the temperatures that are considered hot, how the physiology of a human body adjusts an increase in temperature, what the stages of illness that are caused by heat, along with precautions that should be taken while exercising in heat.

Generally the human body tries to maintain a certain body temperature range. This helps it function within its optimal levels. The normal human body temperature is 37°C. Increases in body temperature of 2°C to 3°C generally do not result in causing ill effects. However, increases in body temperature above 40°C to 41°C can be associated with a variety of heat-related problems (Astrand.P, 1986). During exercise, constant heat is produced as a bi-product of metabolism and muscular contraction. This heat increases the core temperature of the body, which alarms its thermoregulatory mechanism, returning the body back to a homeostatic state. There are two important functions contributing to this mechanism are increase in blood flow to the skin, facilitating cooling and increasing sweating. This sweat helps evaporate the heat and lowers the core temperature.

The result of the aforementioned mechanism leads to cardiovascular strain due to the increase in blood flow to skin, blood flowing to the muscles and the decrease of blood plasma volume, due to sweat loss. This leads to a cardiovascular drift. Cardiovascular drift is due to the competition of the blood flow toward the skin and muscles. This leads to a decrease in stroke volume, meaning in order to maintain cardiac output we would have to increase heart rate. Increasing heart rate helps provide proper blood supply to skin and working muscles.

The process of the body’s core temperature increasing occurs when the blood perforates the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus then signals the rest of the body to reduce its exercise intensity (Phil wallace, 2013) . Exercising in hot climates without proper acclimatization can lead to a severe consequence called “Heat illness.” This illness is categorized into different stages based on the pathological events occurring at that time.

(wordPress, 2012)

Figure taken from (Ali Al-Nawaiseh, 2013)

The different stages of heat illness are:

Heat Cramps: It is thought to be due to the ingesting water with no salt during restitution from thermal dehydration.

Clinical Feature – Defined by a painful muscle cramp.

Heat exhaustion: It is caused by sweat loss that results from exposure to high environmental heat or hard work.

Clinical Feature – Defined by clinical symptoms that involve a high body core temperature and signs of cerebral ischemia such as weakness, fatigue, discomfort, anxiety, dizziness, and headache.

Heat syncope: It reflects cardiovascular failure caused by reduced venous return to the heart due to excessive seat loss.

Clinical features – Includes dizziness, fainting, and pale face.

Heat stroke: It is the most severe heat-related disturbance and can be fatal.

Clinical Feature – Core temperatures greater than 40°C accompanied by hot and dry skin, indicative of impaired thermoregulation. It is also associated with delirium, convulsions or coma, indicating, impaired central nervous system function.

Figure taken from (Yamazaki, 2012)

Heat Acclimatization: – Heat acclimatization is a process which body adapts to temperature change. It happens for the first 10-15 days of initial change, but major change occurs for the first 3 to 4 days. Heat acclimation improves endurance exercise performance in the heat, and thermal comfort at a given exercise rate. The primary adaptations that occur during heat acclimation are: Increased plasma volume by 10% – 12%, earlier onset of sweating, higher sweat rate, reduced salt loss in sweat, reduced blood flow to skin and increased synthesis of heat shock proteins

There are many precautions that need to be taken while exercising in hot environments few of them are “obtain players or exercisers history of previous heat illnesses. Allow a period of seven to the ten days for acclimatization. Instruct players to wear appropriate clothing during the acclimatization period. Take regular measurements of the WBGT index. Encourage players to adequately replace fluids. Record body weight of players before and after, during practice and matches. Identify susceptible players. Constantly be vigilant and monitor players for signs of heat illness. Players must have unlimited access to water”. (International Hockey Federation (FIH), 2010)

Training in Cold Conditions (Tyler)

Exercising in cold temperatures is a complex idea. There are many factors and variables that need to be taken into account before contemplating or beginning to exercise in a cold environment or during a cold season. There are four major topics that we will be discussing: A) Metabolic changes B) Cardiovascular changes C) Thermal aspects and D) Adaptations.

Choosing the correct diet for exercising in the cold can be tricky. After researching the subject there has shown to be no one significantly superior style of diet, whether it is carbohydrate, fat or protein dominant. However, one study did show that more work was achieved after a 3-day high carbohydrate diet (600g/day) as opposed to a 3-day normal diet (300g/day) [Thorp et al. 1990]. This would indicate an important relationship between exercise performance in a cold environment and carbohydrate intake. A study conducted by “Doubt and Hsieh in 1991 and Jacobs et al in 1984, 1985” shows us that venous lactate concentrations are higher with exercise in cold temperatures, which is due to the inverse relationship between muscle temperature and glycolysis. Lactate values have shown to be higher in colder temperature (-2°C), these values also seemed to increase at a slower rate than they did at warmer temperature (+24°C); indicating that there may be a temperature-related delay in lactate release. Samples were taken at the end of each incremental increase in workload throughout the study, leading to these results (Therminarias et al. 1989).

Ventilation experiences an increase when the body is exposed to a colder environment. However, the differences between ventilation in a cold environment and that of warmer environment diminish as we increase our exercise workload (Therminarias et al. 1989). As we know, during respiration our lungs work to bring in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. However, if there is an increase in ventilation, this could result in the reduction of end-tidal carbon dioxide. Maintaining higher levels of CO2 within the body could eventually lead toward impaired mental function in persons working in a cold environment (Cooper et al. 1976). When we introduce our body into a cold environment, our body reacts. This is usually in the form of the cutaneous thermal receptors sending distress signals to our central nervous system via afferent signalling.

The body uses two mechanisms to account for higher VO2 during exercise in a cold environment. 1) A flux in our total body heat occurs (Nadel 1984; Park et al. 1984; Rennie 1988; Sagawa et al. 1988) 2) Our net mechanical efficiency is decreased (Pendergast 1988). If a flux in total body heat occurs, the body responds via negative feedback. First the body’s thermal receptors detect an unwanted change in body temperature at the skin. These receptors send a message via afferent messaging to the central nervous system which determines the best way to return the body back to its homeostatic state. A signal then is sent from the brain, to the hypothalamus which responds by sending its own message to our muscles forcing them to repeatedly contract at an express pace, this is commonly referred to as “shivering.” The more the body shivers, the more heat that is produced which in turn raises the body’s core temperature. After a homeostatic balance is regained, we begin to stop shivering as the “heat-promoting” portion of the hypothalamus begins to shut down. When considering the efficiency of our body to perform specific actions, we need to take into account how the cold temperature will affect us. Cold muscles tend to have a reduced contractile force, regardless of whether or not the kinetic energy requirement has been altered. This means that the body may have to try and recruit additional motor units to meet the required work output (Blomstrand et al. 1986). Exposure to a cold climate causes significant peripheral vasoconstriction, resulting in elevation of blood pressure. Cold temperature has the ability to affect cardiac output through an increase in intrathoracic blood volume, which is secondary to peripheral vasoconstriction (Pendergast 1988). The increase in intrathoracic volume is indicated through larger increases in stroke volume (McArdle et al 1976) or total body insulation (Rennie 1988). Increasing the intrathoracic blood volume has shown to increase both left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic dimensions at rest and during exercise (Sheldahl et al. 1984).

Exposure to cold temperatures during exercise can sometimes lead to injury, such as a non-freezing cold injury or frostbite. This can be seen early throughout the distal extremities. The distal extremities depend on blood flow to maintain a suitable local temperature because their intrinsic capacity to generate heat in limited (Doubt & Francis 1989). Our peripheral systems utilize a negative feedback technique to regain a suitable local temperature by alternating vasoconstriction and vasodilation (Rusch et al. 1981).

References

Wales, J. (, 2013). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Training

Stokes , K. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ceaccp.oxfordjournals.org/content/4/6/185.full

Ali Al-Nawaiseh, M. B. (2013). Physiological Responses of Distance Runners during Normal and Warm Conditions . Journal of Exercise Physiology online, 12.

Astrand.P, K. (1986). Textbook of Work Physiology. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies.

International Hockey Federation (FIH). (2010). Competition in Hot and Humid Enivironments . Guidence competition in Hot and Humid Enivironments, 10.

Phil wallace, M. M. (2013, Novemeber 4). Environmental Ergonomics. St catherines, Ontario, Canada.

wordPress. (2012, February 15). Exercise Physiologist. Retrieved March 27, 2014, from wordpress.com: http://exercisephysiologist.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/the-human-homoeothermy/

Yamazaki, F. (2012). Importance of heat acclimation in the prevention of heat illness during sports activity and work. Importance of heat acclimation in the prevention of heat illness during sports activity and work, 8.

C.J, Baker-Fulco et al (2001). Nutrition for Health and Performance.

J.W, Thorp et al (1990). Work Enhancement and Thermal Changes during Intermittent Work in Cool Water after Carbohydrate Loading.

A, Therminarias et al (1989). Influence of Cold Exposure on Blood Lactate response during Incremental Exercise.

D.R, Pendergast (1988). The Effect of Body Cooling on Oxygen Transport during Exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

D.W, Rennie (1988). Tissue Heat Transfer in Water: Lessons from Korean Divers. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

T.J, Doubt (1991 ). Physiology of Exercise in the Cold.

E, Blomstrand et al (1986). Temperature-induced changes in Metabolic and Hormonal Responses to Intensive Dynamic Exercise. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica .

E.R, Nadel (1984). Energy Exchanges in Water. Undersea Biomedical Research.

K.E, Cooper et al (1976). Respiratory and other Responses in subjects immersed in cold water. Journal of Applied Physiology .

L.M, Sheldahl et al (1984). Effect of Central Hypervolemia on Cardiac Performance during Exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology.

N.J, Rusch et al (1981). The Effect of Profound Cooling on Adrenergic Neurotransmission in Cutaneous Veins. Journal of Physiology (London).

S, Sagawa et al. (1988). Water Temperature and Intensity of Exercise in Maintenence of Thermal Equilibrium . Journal of Applied Physiology .

T.J, Doubt et al (1989). Hazards of Cold Water.

W.D, McArdle et al (1976). Metabolic and Cardiovascular Adjustment to Work in Air and Water at 18, 25 and 33C. Journal of Applied Physiology.

Y.S, Park et al (1984). Decrease in Body Insulation with Exercise in Cool Water. Undersea Biomedical Research.

Howley, E. & Powers, S. 2012. Exercise Physiology: Theory and Application to Fitness and Performance. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Hue, O. (2011). The Challenge of Performing Aerobic Exercise in Tropical Environments: Applied Knowledge and Perspectives. International Journal Of Sports Physiology & Performance, 6(4), 443-454.

Hardy and Grace, (1997) outlined the importance of team building research in sport when they suggested whether a team is successful or not is frequently attributed to the effectiveness of their teamwork. To develop the effective team many team building programs attempt to increase cohesion amongst a group as team cohesion can affect performance (Eys et al, 2005). Different areas of group dynamics can be used to increase team cohesion, this section of the report will focus on the research conducted on leadership, role ambiguity and goal setting.

Leadership is an important component for developing cohesion in sports teams (Carron et al, 2005). It has been suggested that effective leadership is a vital contributor to member satisfaction (Reimer & Chellandurai, 1995). Leadership behaviours and styles adopted can have a big impact on team cohesion and subsequent performance. (Carron et al. 2005)

An early study, investigating the relationship between (the coaches) leadership behaviours and team cohesion within sports teams, found adopting a democratic style produced higher levels of task cohesion (Lee et al. 1993). In addition, a variety of studies reported that an increase in social support behaviour increased task cohesion (Lee et al. 1993, Westre & Weiss, 1991; Riemar & Chellandurai, 1995). One study, Riemar & Chellandurai, (1995) went further and examined the leadership behaviours preferred and perceived by players depending on their position. They found defensive athletes perceived and preferred higher levels of social support and democratic and autocratic styles then the offensive athletes. They also found member satisfaction was greatly influenced by social support.

More recent research has tended to focus on the role of the athlete as a leader within the team, for example, the captain. Research has suggested athlete leaders are in fact better than coaches at administering leadership behaviours, such as; a democratic decision making style and social support (Loughead and Hardy, 2005). What’s more, further research has been conducted to assess different types of athlete leadership. For example, Loughead et al, (2006) discovered two types of leader within a sports team; a team captain and a peer leader (supplies leadership to at least 2 team members). In addition, Eys et al, (2007) investigated how 218 athletes perceived the athlete leader distributions within their sports teams. Their results suggest that members of a team are more satisfied when 3 leadership roles (social, task, external) are performed to the same extent regardless of how many are leaders present within the team.

Carron et al, (2005) identified individual clarification of role responsibilities to be one of the most important factors in sport. The vast majority of research on role states in team sports has been on role ambiguity (role clarity) and its relation to performance using the conceptual model proposed by Beauchamp et al, (2002).

The effect role ambiguity had on both task cohesion and task self efficacy was investigated by Eys & Carron (2001). They concluded that members within basketball teams who were unsure of their role responsibilities, reported lower levels of attraction towards the team and felt their team was less unified in their task approach.

Another study, Eys et al, (2003) demonstrated that team member’s perceptions of role ambiguity decreased throughout a competitive season. Additionally, although perceptions of role ambiguity are individual, members of a team could share the same beliefs. Finally, new editions to the team are more likely to perceive role ambiguity compared to experienced members of the team at the start of the season. Nevertheless, as the authors suggested, the results of this study will be difficult to apply to other team sport settings (e.g age group, competitive standards) as it was undertaken on a homogeneous population (Eys et al, 2003).

It has also been reported that greater role ambiguity and role clarity could affect an athletes’ self efficacy, satisfaction and performance. These factors could not only affect the individual but the team as a whole (Forsyth, 1999). Beauchamp & Bray (2001) investigated university athlete’s perceptions of role ambiguity and role conflict among their respective sports teams. Results demonstrated that members who perceived greater levels of role ambiguity and conflict had lower levels of efficacy and were less inclined to perform their role responsibilities. This is concurrent with Bandura, (1997) who suggested a decrease in persistence and effort will occur if the athlete is unclear of their role. The associated performance is also likely to suffer (Bandura, 1997) as indicated by Beauchamp et al, (2002) who found a negative relationship between role efficacy and role performance. Additionally, the relationship between leadership and role ambiguity could prove further understanding of this subject (Eys et al, 2003).

The more detailed, specific and challenging yet realistic a goal is the more effective it will be (Gould, 1993). However, research found team members often set themselves unclear and generally descriptive goals (Brawley et al, 1992).

In addition, when Dawson et al, (2002) interviewed varsity athletes to determine their goal setting habits, they found team members set personal goals and their respective teams had group goals. Research has indicated that team as opposed to individual goals are better for improving team sport performance (Johnson et al, 1997). The authors demonstrated how subjects who set team goals improved their bowling performance in cricket, yet subjects who set personal goals did not.

The addition of team goals to a group has proven successful in the past. Lee (1988) found that adding team goals to female hockey teams had a positive effect on team performance. This was concurrent with Senecal et al’s, (2008) study of female basketball players. Over a season long intervention, they found team cohesion significantly increased in the intervention group compared to the control groups when they utilised team goal setting. Furthermore, Mellalieu et al. (2006) found a goal setting program with professional rugby players to have a positive impact on performance. It has been suggested that goal setting can enhance team cohesion by providing a team focus (Widemeyer & Ducharme, 1997). Focusing on one goal can improve group communication, commitment and satisfaction, improving group cohesion and subsequent performance (Carron & Spink, 1993)

Nevertheless, there have not been many studies carried out in sport that have investigated the effect of team goals on team performance (Widemeyer & Ducharme, 1997), with the majority of studies conducted outside of the sport setting (Weingart, 1992).

Team building intervention

A team goal setting program was chosen as the intervention topic to improve team cohesion (see appendix a). Early research from Widemeyer et al, (1992), as cited in Widemeyer & Ducharme (1997) found athletes felt having a team goal was the most significant contributor to task cohesion from a choice of 35 variables. More recently, Stevens & Bloom (2003) found team goals to be the most effective topic to utilise in a team building intervention. The following team building intervention applied principles from Eys et al, (2006) in Senecal et al. (2008), Widemeyer & Ducharme, (1997) and Widemyer & McGuire, (1996) in Carron et al, (2005).

Step 1: Developing Long term goals

Firstly, the athletes and coaches will work together to decide the long term goal of the team (Kyllo & Landers, 1995) for example, achieve a top 3 position in the league. This will take place during an all day workshop during the first week of pre season. The athletes will work in small sub groups of 3-4 and discuss long team goals for the team (Eys et al, 2005). Once the sub groups have decided a long term goal, the coach will write the goals on the white board and the team will discuss together (Dale & Wrisberg, 1996), narrowing down to one specific and measurable goal (Gould, 1993). The Long term goal will then be posted in the changing rooms for the remainder of the season, to help motivate the athletes (Weldon & Weingart, 1988).

Step 2: developing short term outcome goals

To achieve the long term goal, specific and measurable (Carron et al, 2005) short term goals will be set as stepping stones (Kingston & Hardy, 1997), for example, win the next 3 out of 5 games. To decide the goals, the coach will remind the players of last season’s statistics (eg. Wins, losses, league position) (Widemeyer & Ducharme, 1997). After the long term goals are decided, the players will use these statistics and repeat the same procedure as in step 1 by getting into subgroups (Eys et al, 2005). Once discussed, 5-6 specific and achievable short term outcome goals will be decided (Widemeyer & Mcguire, 1996)

Step 3: Developing short term performance goals

In addition, the players will set performance goals during a second all day workshop, 2 weeks into the pre season. The use of multiple goal setting strategies has been shown to be more beneficial to performance (Filby et al, 1999). For this intervention, the players will only be working towards team goals as previous research has suggested team goals are better for improving team performance (Johnson et al, 1997) and that individually hidden goals have no significant impact on performance (Kyllo & Landers, 1995).

The performance goals will be decided through the use of performance profiling (Dale & Wrisberg, 1996). This will be a group profile for the team as a whole. Firstly, the players will discuss what characteristics they believe a successful football team has. The players will express their opinions to the coach while they write them down onto a white board. The characteristics will need to be specific, so if there too general they will be re-evaluated until clearer. When the athletes and coach are happy that at least ten appropriate characteristics are on the white board, the players will individually and anonymously write all the characteristics off the white board on to paper. Examples of characteristics could be; putting 100% effort into every training session and game, winning over 80% of their aerial battles. The players will then proceed to evaluate their team’s characteristics between a scale of 1-10, with 1 being weak and 10 being strong. Once completed, each characteristic will be calculated as a mean. The lowest mean scores will be the areas developed into performance goals that the team will aim to achieve. Additionally, the coach will use the same procedure to demonstrate their perceptions of the team. At the next group meeting the team will discuss the results (lowest scores) and agree on 5-6 performance goals to improve their perceived weaknesses (Dale & Wrisberg, 1996).

When the specific performances goals are established, the team needs to decide realistic yet challenging target levels for these goals (eg. more than 5 shots on target per game) (Carron et al, 2005). To make sure their realistic and challenging the coach will again provide the athletes with statistics from last season (eg. shots on goal, tackles won). The sub group procedure used in step 1 and 2 will be utilized to achieve this (Eys et al, 2005). After negotiations the team will conclude the appropriate targets for their team. This process will be repeated during the middle and the end point of the competitive calendar (Dale & Wrisberg, 1996) so that the performance goals can be updated throughout the season

Step 4: Monitoring and evaluation of short and long term goals

The Long and short term goals will be continually monitored throughout the intervention. Prior to every match and practice session (1 of each per week) throughout the pre and competitive season the team will be reminded of the goals they set for themselves in attempt to provide a focus for the team and help motivate the players (Weldon & Weingart, 1988). To do this team goals will be written on the white board in the changing rooms, the coach will then highlight the importance of these goals during their team talk.

In addition, after each match team statistics (eg. goals scored and corners won in that game) and the statistics for the agreed performance indices will be posted in the changing rooms. The team members can then look at the statistics and measure their progress towards their target levels.

Step 5: Updating team goals

After every 3-5 games, the coach and players will work with the intervention specialist on evaluating and possibly updating the team goals if needed, eg. Removing or adding performance goals and changing the target level (Senecal et al, 2008). This will be achieved using their performance statistics from the previous 3-5 games and the characteristics of their next 3-5 opponents (Widemeyer & McGuire, 1996). Again, the procedure demonstrated in step 1 will be used to administer the changes.

Stage 6: Praise continued progress toward team goals

During the intervention the coach will continually openly praise his team when they do well and progress toward their team goals, feedback on goal progress may enhance the use of team goals (Widemeyer & Ducharme, 1997).

Step 7: post intervention check.

1 week after the intervention was completed; A 5 question, post intervention questionnaire (Stevens & Bloom, 2002) was completed by every player to assess the effectiveness of the intervention (Senecal et al, 2008). In addition, 1 and 3 months after the intervention is completed interviews will be conducted with each player (Stevens & Bloom, 2003). Players will be instructed to relax and openly discuss their opinions of the TBI’s effectiveness.

Critical analysis of team building interventions in sport

Team building interventions are designed to improve group performance by increasing group cohesiveness (Carron et al, 1997). However previous studies have produced mixed results on the effectiveness of team building interventions (TBI) on improving cohesion. Some were effective (Voight & Callaghan, 2001; Senecal et al, 2008; McClure & Foster 1991; Mellalieu et al, 2006) and some were unsuccessful (Prapavessis et al, 1996; Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Stevens & Bloom, 2002). One study, Steven & Bloom (2003) found their TBI to be effective during the pre season but not throughout the competitive season.

Nevertheless, Brawley & Paskevich (1997) have highlighted many methodological concerns with the research conducted using team building interventions. For example, the pre-test, post-test experimental design employed by various TBI (Voight & Callaghan 2001: Senecal et al, 2008; Prapevessis et al, 1996; Stevens & Bloom, 2002; Mellalieu et al, 2006) makes it difficult to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. Although three of these studies were effective (Voight & Callaghan 2001: Senecal et al, 2008; Mellalieu et al, 2006), due to the absence of measures throughout the competitive season, although likely it makes it difficult to determine whether or not it was the TBI that improved performance or outside interference, questioning the validity of their results. For example, Brawley & Paskevich, (1997) suggested leadership change; a less competitive calendar or the loss of an unsettling member could have all influenced team cohesion independent of the TBI.

Some studies that employed a quasi – experimental design (Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Stevens & Bloom, 2003) reported their TBI to be ineffective at improving team cohesion. The design could be the reason for their lack of significant results. A quasi – experimental design rarely includes random assignment making it difficult to determine whether factors such as differences in coaching style and team atmosphere affected the results (Stevens & Bloom, 2003). Randomly assigning members to different teams, allows experimenters to observe which treatment of the TBI infers change (Brawley & Paskevich, 1997). One study employed an experimental design (Mclure & Foster, 1991). The results of their study suggested their intervention was effective at increasing cohesion among gymnasts. The positive results of their study could be attributed to the experimental design as this method includes random assignment. Therefore they were able to notice a difference in cohesion amongst randomly assigned athletes without interference from some of the problems mentioned above.

Furthermore, some studies did not utilise a control group, one was effective at improving cohesion (Voight & Callaghan 2001) another was ineffective (Bloom & Stevens 2002). The absence of a control group however, questions the validity of Voight & Callaghan’s (2001) results. As suggested by Brawley & Paskevich, (1997) it is difficult to establish whether their TBI was actually the cause for the improvement in performance as there were no control or placebo groups to compare the results to. In addition, as Stevens & Bloom (2002) did not include a control group, whether or not cohesion levels would have decreased over the season and therefore whether or not the intervention was helpful to the team is unclear.

Additionally, the duration of the TBI is another methodological concern identified by Brawley & Paskevich (1997). It has been suggested interventions are fairly slow processes (French & Bell, 1984) and at least 1 season of a TBI is needed to produce results of any significance (Brawley & Paskevich, 1997). Therefore the results of studies that lasted less than a season (Prapavessis et al, 1996; Mellalieu et al, 2006) may not portray the long-term effects of the intervention. Studies that have lasted at least a season (Senecal et al, 2008; Mclure & Foster 1991; Stevens & Bloom, 2002; Voight & Callaghan, 2001; Stevens & Bloom, 2003; Cogan & Petrie, 1996) are more likely to provide clearer results. In addition, although the vast majority some of these studies administered post intervention checks (Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Senecal et al, 2008; Mellalieu et al, 2006; Stevens & Bloom; Voight & Callaghan, 2001; Prapevessis et al, 1996; Stevens & Bloom, 2002) none of these studies administered any questionnaires 3 or 6 months after the intervention to examine the long term effects of their intervention.

Sampling size can be another methodological concern for researches conducting TBI’s. Two studies had a very small sample size (Mellalieu et al, 2006: 5 participants; McClure & Foster, 1991:15 participants. Some studies have only used a slightly larger sized sample consisting of no more than 45 participants (Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Voight & Callaghan, 2001; Stevens & Bloom, 2003; Stevens & Bloom, 2002). Only 2 studies have used relatively large sample sizes: Senecal et al, (2008); (n=86) & Prappevessis et al, (1996); (n=137). Nevertheless, all studies have reported sufficient details such as gender, age, sport and team ability (Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Voight & Callaghan, 2001; Stevens & Bloom, 2003; Stevens & Bloom, 2002; McClure & Foster, 1991; Mellalieu et al, 2006; Senecal et al, 2008; Prapavessis et al, 1996) However, some of the characteristics reported in the studies can be vague. Many studies have failed to state appropriate details, such as race (Voight &Callaghan, 2001; Prapevessis et al, 1996; Senecal et al, 2008; McClure & Foster, 1991; Stevens & Bloom, 2002; Mellalieu et al, 2006). Furthermore, the majority of studies also seem to be generalized to similar populations. For example, the majority of studies were conducted on females (Voight &Callaghan, 2001; Senecal et al, 2008; McClure & Foster, 1991; Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Steven & Bloom, 2003; Stevens & Bloom, 2002), on ages ranging between 18-24 (Voight &Callaghan, 2001; McClure & Foster, 1991; Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Steven & Bloom, 2003; Mellalieu et al, 2006) and on high school or university teams (Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Steven & Bloom, 2003; McClure & Foster, 1991; Senecal et al, 2008). In addition, the studies that indicated the race of the subjects were predominately on Caucasians (Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Steven & Bloom, 2003). As these studies are on similar populations the generalizability of these interventions is limited. Therefore, the results are difficult to apply to a wide range of sports teams, as member characteristics such as age, gender, race and ability can vary greatly per team.

Previous studies on sport teams have had the coach/manager as the main facilitator of the intervention, working with the intervention specialist. As a result, Some TBI’s have taken a more indirect approach (Prappevessis et al, 1996) or used a combination of indirect and direct models (Steven & Bloom, 2003; Cogan & Petrie, 1996; Mellalieu et al, 2006). However, Brawley & Paskevich (1997) identified indirect models to have weaknesses. The authors explain that coaches/managers may not be capable of undertaking a TBI as they do not have the knowledge, time and commitment to make it successful. On the other hand, direct models have the advantage of often allowing the intervention specialist to work directly with the participants. In addition, the team members become more involved in the decision making process during the intervention. Bloom, (1996), suggested the involvement of the athletes is a key factor in improving team performance. From the four studies reviewed that utilised a direct team building model, 3 were effective at improving cohesion (Senecal et al, 2008; Voight & Callaghan 2001; McClure & Foster, 1991) with only one unsuccessful (Stevens & Bloom, 2003).

References

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This essay analyses the relationship between sport and media and how they affect each other in the modern world. It uses some practical cases to demonstrate what sport brings to media when sport enters into the media field and what media brings to sport when media come into the sports sphere. In addition, there will be a comparison between sports and media in the West and in China.

Background of sport and media

Regarding the development of sport and media, Real (1998:14) stated that “the world of sports in the age of mass media has been transformed from nineteenth century amateur recreational participation to late twentieth and early twenty-first century spectator-centered technology and business”. In the past, sport was just defined as a competitive and organized physical activity. Moreover, most participants consisted of sports enthusiasts and their purpose was to gain more happiness from sport. However, after undergoing more than a century of reform and changes, the present concept of sport now refers to other industries, such as media, economics and culture. In these industries, sport and media have an obvious ‘marriage’ relationship in global sport.

In terms of the media, it can be considered as a collective noun of diverse types of media (What is media, 2005). It contains many communicative paths in different fields, such as television, radio, newspaper and internet. Nevertheless, with the high speed of sport development and popularity, more and more people are beginning to focus on sport events and relevant sport industries. Due to the increasing number of spectators, media has become an indispensable pathway for the sports industry service whilst it is a good combination between media and sport. Actually, Schirato (2007:82) stated that “the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games presaged a development which is by now very familiar to us about the integration of sport into the field of the media”. Through the advocate of media, it promotes sports events throughout the world and possesses more kinds of new demographics.

Modern sport and media developed into the global

With more and more professional sport events and international level mega sport events held, the developing tendency of sport and media turns to globalization. One typical example is the modern Olympic Games; it attracts the attention of sports spectators worldwide because of the establishment of the Main Press Centre (MPC) and International Broadcasting Centre (IBC). Certainly, the game also can promote many modes of media transmission development, for instance newspaper sales, development of communication technology, increased radio, television ratings and advertising revenue (Schirato, 2007). Sports’ broadcasting is a necessary and essential element to stimulate the sport and media to come into a global period. Purchasing the TV rights is one of the best ways to expand global media coverage. It will give confidence and escalate the interest of sports events and sports clubs, meanwhile enhancing the price of sports events, sport merchandise sales, the benefits from advertisers and sport sponsor supporting. The final goal is to gain most money from these aspects. Ashutosh Srivastava (2007) as a CEO of Singapore-based MindShare Asia Pacific said that “there is no greater dramatic product like sports, it can have emotions running high and have people glued to the sporting action either on the field or on television sets”.

Under the global economics environment, sport and media are also entering into the time of commoditization and commercialism. Some sports clubs have begun to operate a business management model; they consider their professional sportsmen as commodities which can be traded with other sports clubs thereby obtaining the profit from the transfer fee. David Beckham is one of the biggest deals, his transfer fee touched ?24.5 million when he was sold from Manchester United to the Spanish giants Real Madrid (Beckham joins Real Madrid, 2003). Since the appearance of sports stars, some commercial businesses have developed, such as merchandising with reference to sports stars, souvenirs from the sports star’s club and some business activities using sports stars as an ambassador. All of these are so significant that sports clubs can better hunt for and extend their fans bases worldwide meanwhile in order to maximize their revenue.

The relationship of sport and media

Currently, sport and media can be called a perfect combination in today’s society. They have gone beyond simple reporting relationship between sport and media, and have formed a mutual promotion and common development of the situation. Sports and media now belong to a sunrise industry now. In the context of industrial cooperation this is inevitable and the outlook will be very good.

The relationship between sports and the media can be said to be long. When the ancient Greeks Feilibisi experienced a long run from the town of Marathon to Athens and declared a message of peace, it means sports and information dissemination had been linked inextricably. Furthermore, reporting entered the media stage, sports news was one of the main contents of the media. As early as 100 years ago, the United States sports journalist Pulitzer took the media to attract audience contact as one of the three magic weapons; the other two were scandal and sin (Wang, 2003). At the present day, his insight is even more confirmed. Not to mention the constant bombardment of sports coverage. Light from the endless landscape of sports newspapers and unlimited professional sports channels can be seen. Sport as one of the most common activities for entertainment, certainly can attract much attention, so the increasing popularity of the sports media is also a matter of course. However, the media which focuses greatly on sport, not only depends on this basic reason, but is also relevant with its own characteristics of sports reporting.

The first feature is sports reporting, sports news with fun, emotion and entertainment, as well as sports which are inseparable from its characteristics. On “Sports”, the dictionary has this explanation: An entertainment activity which requires physical strength, wisdom and skill of the game or sports, it requires physical strength more or less, according to the traditional form or set of rules, and sometimes as a career in outdoor or indoor. Sport, in itself (especially competitive sports), is a colorful process. Often, it makes the results unpredictable and fun. Therefore, spectators can watch sports away from the pressure of life experiencing physical and mental pleasure. Thus sport has become an indispensable part of people’s life. This reason is the most fundamental reason that people are fond of sports news, while also it is a fundamental characteristic of sports news.

Second, the coverage of the sports audience is extensive, which is unmatched by other news reports. Once addicted to sport, regardless of ethnicity, national boundaries, gender or age, this hobby can accompany people throughout their whole life.

Again, the content and style of sports coverage are free. One side is recreational sports coverage, it making far away from sensitive areas such as political ideology, so it has full coverage of space and the path of reporting. On the other side, sport is a common language around the world, just because of this commonality, so that people’s concern is not only limited to their domestic sports, but also throughout the world. For example, the soccer’s English Premier League, the NBA basketball and so on. This phenomenon which has now appeared in China is evident now, especially, sports reports. Concerning foreign competition, which outnumber domestic reports.

Finally, the modern media technology creates more sports reports, it includes a very strong sense of involvement, an sense of audience and provide a better reason for sports people to choose sport reports. Sports appreciation, audience participation and experience are the most common states of mind. With the increasingly sophisticated number of communication in the modern media, such as newspapers, magazines, text and pictures, television and radio live broadcast, these pathways enable the viewer experience without leaving home to enjoy the same scene of the warm atmosphere and the real picture or sound. Moreover, television has slow motion function; allowing viewers to appreciate details of the real world. Spectators can even be involved in the games directly through technological methods are participated in the quiz.

Generally speaking, all these reasons mean that regardless of the audience of sports report, the sport content, or the sport environment and other news reports, sport reports have their unique advantages in comparison with other reports, hence the prosperity of sports reports can be said to be inevitable. The relationship between sports media and sports is also logical and close. However, in recent years, we can easily find the relationship between sports and media is changing, not just reporting and being reported this simple rule. Media began to hold sport events, Bailey and Johnson, the world-renowned flying trapeze war is a typical example, actually it was held by television station; Another instance, in China the New People’s Daily sponsored an event named Tianyuan cup go game in a recent decade and has a great influence; In the western countries, the media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV control the broadcast of English Premier League. The European Super League Group raised by the partners, media, and many famous football clubs in Europe are behind the network as a support, such as AC Milan support by Fininvest networks and Berlusconi’s media company, the Paris Saint Germain Club support by French cable television network and GANAN. To the extent of infiltration, media and Sport has been linked inextricably with each other.

Win-win situation in the sport and media industry

In Western countries, the sports industry originated in very early time when it experienced several years development. The sports industry has become huge. The management of sport market is increasingly mature and the sports industry in many countries has become a pillar industry for their national economy. In U.S, the sports industry is one of the most developed industries. In 1999, the sports industry output value over the petrochemical, automotive and aerospace, primary metal and wood processing industry and other important industrial sectors current output in the same year. It ranks 11th in the national economy compared with other various sectors (Cheng, 2000); In Italy, “football industry” is the main body in the sports industry. It has belonged to the list of 10 national pillar industries in the late 80s; in the twentieth century, the United Kingdom Sports industry output value reached 70 billion pounds, also exceeded their output value of automotive industry and the tobacco industry. The government obtained revenue more than 2.4 billion pounds from the sports industry, it equivalent to the government appropriation funds five times. In 2001, the global sports industry output value has reached an amazing number was 400 billion U.S. dollars.

In sports as an industry, there is no doubt that profit is the first thing. To get more economic benefits, sports have to attract more viewers. Similarly, for the purpose of cost-effectiveness of the media, the news reports can be considered as an intermediate of their business products. As a matter of fact, this media product management will assemble the audience and their own pages or hours to sell them to advertisers, thereby, obtain more benefits from the revenue. In here, this sale is called the audience’s attention resources. The industrialization of sports and media, they has been put together by “attention” economy, to coexist and prosper simultaneously. Sport is deemed as the most important source for the media, also it can be said that media create the public market and the market returns are very essential support for the sport. On the other hand, sport requires accumulating popularity in itself, requiring to bonding degree, whilst it needs to own one professional skills and capabilities of specialized industry. In addition, it permits to have impact on the media industry. Consequently, the cooperation between the media industry and the sports industry is a natural, logical, win-win cooperation perfect combination. This kind of “attention economy” discards the previous simple relationship between reporting and being reported, close cooperation and common development in sport and the media (Yu, 2002).

In recent years, it can be said that western countries sports industry development nearly from the outset has branded a deep mark on the media. If develop one sport as an industry to, the first problem is the available development money. While, the media for the sports industry development contribution was stemmed from the Switzerland World Cup in 1954. The 1954World Cup in Switzerland created the first time television broadcasting for the World Cup football game. In view of the value of football, the game attracts some multinational companies’ participation, such as Coca-Cola and Kodak. It stimulated this sport—football and the football in the media development towards turn to prosperity. After this sport and media cooperation, The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has gained the current 200 counties members from the original six member countries, meanwhile FIFA also is the largest international federation.

In the early 1980s, the organization of America National Basketball Association (NBA) still was a heavily indebted organization and nearly closed down. But when Stern took office, he convened a group of experts in the field of law and television; meanwhile he set up the television and media communications department. This step made NBA enter a successful and new era. In the end of 1980s, the NBA TV sales have been accounted for more than 55% of total revenue. In addition, with each new contract signed with NBA, their revenue could increase more than 50%. On March 11th 2004, American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), ESPN Sports Television Network, America Online and Time Warner announced that they have jointly bought the television rights of America Basketball League (NBA) in next four years. This total contract value reached 2.64 billion U.S. dollars and it created a new record of NBA television broadcast fees.

The Montreal Olympic Games in 1976 and the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980 all lost every cent invested; therefore it was announced that the model of government funding to host the Olympic Games would stop. Up to 1984, Los Angeles was the only bid city to host the Olympic Games. The American businessman Ueberroth did not apply money from the government. He just relied on 700 million U.S. dollars from raise financing. For this reason, the Los Angeles Olympic Games could be considered as single-handedly organized. More importantly, this game made 215 million U.S. dollars net profit in the end (Kotler, 1993). This kind of mode from individual person to sponsors of the Olympic Game was called “Uederroth mode”in the further years. In this mode, the Olympic television broadcast rights had the most opportunities to gain profit from it. According to China Daily, one popular foreign newspaper in China, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) spent 22 billion U.S. dollars to win the TV rights for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and 2012 Summer Olympic Game in the United States on June 6th in 2003. In 1995, the NBC spent 15 billion U.S. dollars to bid the television broadcast rights for 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games in Italy and 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. The Moscow Olympics hold in 1980, the TV revenue was 87.9841 million U.S. dollars. The TV rights sales, TV advertising auction, and the income of commercial sponsorship all of these were take up more than 90 percent of the Olympic Game (Kotler, 1993).

The common development space of sport and the media

With the progress of social civilization, sport has become an essential part of modern life. The relationships of media and sport have been reached an unprecedented level. Especially in the field of television, due to commercial packaging, it enhances the sports games entertainment and extends the range of sports audience that attracts more people who rarely or never participate in sports. Under this background, the sport governing bodies have to upgrade the issue of TV broadcasting to a high degree of strategic development of sports.

Accordingly, the sports media are developing continuously. In U.S, there are more than 1500 TV stations, nearly 12,000 local radio sports programs by broadcast, and the sports programming audience who watching 179 hours in average in a year. Focus on print media, according to the data of SRDS market research firm, in 1996 the United States more than 1,500 daily and 7,500 weekly newspapers, majority of its have their sports pages. In addition, there have 19% of the total number of news journalists for sports report. Particularly, the three major U.S. television networks: American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and National Broadcasting Company (NBC) for the competition, including the Olympic Games broadcast rights and other attention-grabbing battle, at the same time some rising stars such as the Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX), United Paramount Network (UPN), Warner Brothers network (WB) and ESPN sports channel involved. In 1995, only three European broadcast sports television network now has more than 20 sports channels, they kept broadcast the live of sports programmed and sports video to 150 million cable channels and satellite households (Samuelson, 1992).

Conclusion

Regardless of the media industry or sports industry, its development are still just beginning, its potential of development and profit margins are enormous. Because of these, it attracts more eyes from investors to invest the sport and the media industry in the future.

In China, the most obvious example is the Chinese Football League. In 2003, China Football League title sponsorship fee was touched 140 million yuan (Jinghua Newspaper, 2003). Moreover, more and more domestic enterprises have invested in football and the amount of annual money increasingly. Shide is one famous Group in China, its investment in football more than 100 million in each year. Meanwhile, China’s basketball, volleyball, table tennis, chess and other sport events are also have been launched the operation of commercial club system, this point attracting more investments. Therefore, both domestic and foreign researchers have described these two industries perfect combination is a sunrise industry, and they confirmed that this industry will have a prospect development in the future.

The sports and media are all built on the attention economy and are called sunrise industry. Not only they have common platform for cooperation, but also they own the same market for future development. As a result, whatever in terms of capital investment or consider its own development, it can described as a “marriage made in heaven.” Especially China’s successful bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games; it is a great opportunity to accelerate the development of the whole Chinese sports media and sports industry.

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The FIFA World Cup, which is known as football world cup or mainly just world cup, is a worldwide football competition. Only the men’s national teams take place in this world cup which is held every four years since it started at the year 1930 except in 1942 and 1946 because of the World War II.

32 teams participate in the current format of the world cup tournament in a certain nation which is chosen by votes. The tournament lasts for about a months and this stage is called the world cup finals. Teams begin to compete to book a place in the tournament for like three years before it starts. This stage is called qualification stage. The World Cup is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 final.

Only seven nations won the World Cup title of the last 18 tournaments. Brazil who won the title five times are the only team to have participated in all the tournaments held so far. Italy won the World Cup title four times and are the current holder of the title. Germany won this title three times, Argentina twice and one title for each of Uruguay France and England.

The last World Cup tournament was held in Germany in 2006. The next World Cup will be held in South Africa, between 11 June and 11 July 2010, and the 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil.

1990 FIFA World Cup Italy

West Germany won FIFA World Cup title for the third time in 1990 as they defeated Argentina in the final 1-0 in Rome. This win made them revenge their defeat by Argentina in the final 4 years later. This victory was really important for Franz Beckenbauer as he won this title as a player and later on he won it as a coach. He was the second person to do this.

The 1990 tournament finals set a first of its type record with only 2.21 goals per match, but definitely there was so much color and drama. The first match of the tournament witnessed a huge unexpected surprise which was a dramatic one, with Cameroon beating Argentina at a magnificently revamped San Siro. Roger Milla the Cameroonian player enjoyed his finest moments. This made people believe that Cameroon might actually do something memorable in this tournament.

This was the second time for Italy to host the FIFA World Cup. 56 years after their 1934 triumph on its lands, they hosted a successful tournament on its own soil. 10 stadiums around the peninsula were repaired to host the finals while two vast new arenas were built in Turin and Bari.

1994 FIFA World Cup USA

The USA hosted the FIFA World Cup 1994 which was one of the very successful tournaments ever which ended with Brazil celebrating their first title after 24 years since they last won it in the year 1970. The final was disappointing for many fans as it was a draw with no goals and it was settled with penalties as Brazil defeated Italy, but that didn’t affect the previous entertainment in the previous matches.

141 goals were scored in this tournament which was the highest number since 1982. The first surprise was Bulgaria surprising the whole world by beating Germany on the way to the semi-finals. Diego Maradona tested positive for drugs and was expelled from the tournament, his team, Argentina, following suit soon after by losing a five-goal thriller to Gheorghe Hagi’s Romania.

There was some drama also in this tournament. Colombia defender Andres Escobar scored an own goal against the US that eliminated Colombia from the tournament was then murdered for what he did. That match guaranteed for the Americans a place in the second round where they lost to Brazil 1-0.

1998 FIFA World Cup France

France where Jules Rimet who is the father of FIFA World Cup was born finally won the title for itself on its own lands in the summer of 1998. It was a memorable summer for the champions of the world as they won the title after suffering semi-final defeats ten years ago. Not only that, but this tournament was the biggest ever.

The 16th FIFA World Cup expanded the number of teams from 24 to 32. Expansion of the number of teams meant that more teams from Africa, Asia and Northern America will take places in the tournaments. South Africa, Jamaica and Japan qualified for the first time ever this year. The 32 teams were divided into 8 groups each containing 4 teams and the 8 groups were spread all over but the starting match and the final were played in le Stade de France. In this stadium Brazil the holders of the 1994 World Cup played the opening match against Scotland where they won 2-1.

France won the title in a dramatic final against Brazil where they won with three goals where two of them were scored by the legendary Zein El-Din Zidane and the match ended 3-0 for France.

2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan

The 2002 FIFA World Cup which was hosted by a new continent was played in Korea/Japan. This tournament was full of surprise from the beginning till the end where strong teams unexpectedly lost to weaker teams. But the final match was of no surprises as it included two of the strongest teams, Brazil and Germany. Brazil conceded their 5th title and won 2-0 against Germany.

Ronaldo who didn’t participate in the final of 1998 against France was the hero for Brazilians as he scored the two goals that earned Brazil their title in Yokohama against Germany. He scored eight goals in this tournament which was the highest number of scored goals in one tournament after Gerd Muller’s ten goals in Mexico 1970.

After thirty days of drama where Strong teams lost to weaker ones and un-predicted victories and losses, the final was somehow familiar as the Yellow-shirted South Americans lifted the World Cup high in the sky for the fifth time. It was the first time for Asia to host a World Cup final and by Brazil achieving their fifth title they set a record of capturing a title from every continent that hosted the finals.

2006 FIFA World Cup Germany

Italy won the FIFA World Cup title in 2006 after their amazing teamwork. With the final witnessing some drama as the magnificent Zidane was shown a red card after hitting Marco Materazzi with his head, Italy was rewarded the title after a 1-1 draw in the full time and extra time, then beating France in the penalty shoot-outs.

The thirty days of amazing football in Germany was not only witnessed by 3,359,439 spectators who attended the matches in 12 amazing stadiums but also approximately 30 billion viewers from all over the world. They all witnessed an amazing 64-match, 147-goal marathon.

Zidane’s return to his amazing form with France helped his team to beat Spain and Brazil on the way to Berlin where the final was hosted. At the age of 33 he earned the Adidas Golden ball as the best player in this tournament and scored in the final against Italy after 8 years of scoring twice in the final against Brazil. But there was no happy ending for him as he was dismissed in the final for the famous fight with Materazzi.

Germany 2006 had the lowest goals average since 1990.

The FIFA World Cup is the most important sports tournament after the Olympics. It is viewed by all sexes and all ages where children, men and women watch it with pleasure. Some feel happy and amazed at the end as some feel depressed but it’s of no second thinking that all the viewers all over the world enjoy it and are amazed by the magnificent football played in the World Cup by the best players of the world. Either it is teamwork or self-skills, it is wonderful.

It is the kind of sport and tournaments that gathers all the people under one aim which is enjoying football.

Introduction

Athletes are consistently looking to find an edge over competitors and improve their personal performance. A study by the IAAF found that 82% of 400 metres athletes questioned were using additional dietary supplements, so accurate research is very important (Maughan et al., 2007). Athletic performance can be affected by muscular fatigue as the required power output of a muscle is no longer being achieved (Fitts 1994; Spangenburg et al., 1998). One of the mechanisms put forward for fatigue occurring in muscle is due to acidosis (Jones et al., 1977; Verbitsky et al., 1997) although the majority of this research was conducted before the affects of inorganic phosphate where known or considered (Phillips et al. 1993). Inorganic phosphates increases during exercise, this increase prevents the required cross bridges being available for higher intensity exercise, thus reducing force production (Westerblad et al. 2002).

Linderman, (1991) explains how during anaerobic exercise, lactic acid is produced faster than it can be removed by muscle tissue. Because of this, a decrease in pH levels occurs called acidosis , increasing H+ concentration, and thus affecting energy systems . Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) ingestion prior to performance has been shown to affect the onset of fatigue, which has been put down to enhancements in endogenous H+ buffering capacity (Horswill, 1988). NaHCO3 ingestion acts as an alkalising substance, increasing pH levels before exercise, potentially delaying acidosis (McNaughton, 1992). A more recent study by Robergs et al. (2004), explains how this acidosis theory might not be relevant due to lactate being unable to release protons. Exercise duration of 60 to 240 seconds, seems to be affected by NaHCO3 performance (McNaughton, 1992, McNaughton et al., 1999; McNaughton and Thompson, 2001), but much of this research has been completed in a laboratory on a cycle ergonometre. The 400 metres, is an event that induces high levels of acidosis, recently a relationship between increased acidosis and an decrease in athletes running velocity, particularly over the last 100 metres has been seen (Hanon et al., 2010).

The correlation noted by Hanon et al. (2010) and the enhancements in accessible technology, has lead to the development of this research study, with its purpose to test the hypothesis that NaHCO3 supplementation can affect athlete performance times in the 400 metre event, and delay the fatiguing effects of acidosis over the final fatigue affected 100 metres.

Methodology

A group of 8 male and 1 female healthy junior elite athletes, from 1500 metre, 500 metre and cross country athletic disciplines took part in the study. The participants characteristics were, (Mean ± SD) age 19.3 ± 1.3 years, mass 63.2 ± 6.1 kg. The study was ethically approved by the university’s ethics committee and all participants completed and signed informed consents forms after being explained the full study.

Familiarisation commenced 48 hours before testing and involved running the 400 metre flat out with a 2 metre rolling start, an overall 400 metre time and 100 metre split times were measured for baseline analysis.

The study used a blind cross over design, with each participant testing twice, once with NaHCO3 supplementation and once with a placebo. As similar studies has used, (Hunter et al., 2009) 300g per kg of bodyweight of NaHCO3 for each participant was used, mixed with 750ml of water and an unfamiliar tasting cordial , a placebo of 750ml of water and cordial was used and a further 250ml of water was available for athletes. A warm up of 800 metres jogging and stretching was implemented. Each participant was required to run a 400 metres sprint as quickly as possible, with a 2 metre rolling start. An overall time and 100 metre split times were recorded using light gates positioned at each 100 metres and the start/finish line on a UK athletic certified track. A washout period of 48 hours was used between tests.

Statistical analyses

The statistics software, SPSS for Windows (Chicargo, IL) was used to compare the overall performance times in each of the 3 trails, a repeated measure ANOVA test was used, this was followed up by a Pairwise Comparison (Bonferroni) test, to check for type 1 errors. Paired t-tests were then used to assess difference between conditions over the last two 100 metre split time. A significant statistical value of P ? 0.05 was set.

Results

The ANOVA, found no significant difference (P = 0.135) between, baseline testing, placebo conditions and NaHCO3 supplementations affect on 400 metre performance. Post hoc Bonferroni) tests revealed although no significant differences between sodium bicarbonate vs. placebo (P = 0.100) and sodium bicarbonate vs. baseline testing (P =0.299), supporting the ANOVA findings. A significant difference in 400 metre time was seen in the baseline vs. placebo test (P = 0.027).

The paired samples t-test comparing time from first split to the finish between Sodium Bicarbonate and placebo trials, found no significant difference, reporting a P value of 0.499. A non significant P value of 0.319 was found when the t- test tested increases in time from 200 metres to 300 metres between the sodium bicarbonate trails and the placebo trial. Comparing the difference in slow down over the 300 metre to 400 metre split, the paired sample t test showed a significant difference, with the P value being 0.042 when the sodium bicarbonate trail and placebo trials were analysed. Showing during the sodium trial, athletes slowed less when compared with the placebo trail.

Discussion

The main purpose of this study was to determine whether NaHCO3 ingestion prior to anaerobic exercise, delayed acidosis and enhanced performance over 400 metres. The results of the ANOVA revealed there were no significant differences (P = 0.135) between the baseline, placebo and NaHCO3 conditions. After completion of the Pairwise Comparison, a significant difference (P= 0.027) was seen, when the baseline and placebo tests where compared. This result could be down to the placebo affect discussed by Beedie and Foad (2009), it is a psychological phenomenon, dependant on participant expectations.

NaHCO3 ingestion did not significantly improve performance times over 400 metres, a P value of 0.100 from the pairwise comparison, confirms this when the placebo and NaHCO3 supplementation conditions are compared. Concurrently, Tiryaki and Atterborn (1995), found NaHCO3 did induce alkalosis but it had no significant effect on performance. This may add weight to the argument by Westerblad et al. (2002) who explain inorganic phosphates affecting fatigue rather than lactic acid. These findings are not concurrent with many other research studies who found NaHCO3 ingestion prior to intense exercise, enhanced performance (Hunter et al., 2009; Hanon et al., 2010), Figure 1. Below shows how although not significant, some difference was seen between the mean values, leading to the requirement of further data analysis of the 100 metre split times.

The last 100 metres of the 400 metres sprint, is the point at which fatigue is most likely going to affect performance due to acidosis (Hanon et al. 2010). The significant difference in performance times seen when NaHCO3 ingestion and placebo were compared (Figure 2.), supports past findings by Goldfitch et al. in 1988, who found 400 metre racing times enhanced when NaHCO3 was ingested prior to performance. This could be because, induced alkalosis which increases the muscle fibre conduction velocity, which consequently through the rate of force decline being reduced enhances the working muscle fatigue resistance.

The significant P = 0.042 value, was unanticipated as overall times were not significantly reduced after NaHCO3 ingestion. This result could be evidence to show NaHCO3 supplementation might be better suited to longer distance sporting disciplines. A study by McNaughton and Cedaro (1991), supports the idea of NaHCO3 ingestion induce alkalosis, finding more metres rowed during 360 seconds of work, there are concurrent finding from McNaughton and Thompson (2001) found more work completed in the alkalinizing agent data was compared with a placebo data. This finding goes someway to supporting use of NaHCO3 prior to anaerobic exercise.

In summary, NaHCO3 supplementation may have some affect of performance. The affect may be more prevalent and advantageous in longer durations of exercise, as it may be that the body’s natural H+ buffer mechanisms can deal with exercise induced acidosis during short durations. Future studies in this area should consider using larger participation groups as a limitation of the study was limited participation numbers, which did not give an accurate representation of population. Research should concentrate on finding the point where buffering systems can no longer naturally handle the accumulation of H+, and fatigue begin to occur due to this. NaHCO3 affect at this point and beyond can then be further researched. Future studies can then determine what types and length of exercise the alkalinising agents might affect, so supplementation could be used in a practical setting.

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Goldfinch, J., McNaughton, L., and Davies P. (1988). Induced metabolic alkalosis and its effects on 400-m racing time. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 57, 45-48.

Hanon, C., Lepretre, P.M., Bishop, D., Thomas, C. (2010). Oxygen uptake and blood metabolic responses to a 400-m run. European Journal of Applied Physiology.

Horswill, C.A., Costill, D.L., Fink, W.J., Flynn, M.G., Kirwan, J.P., Mitchell, J.B., and Houmard, J.A. (1988). Influence of sodium bicarbonate on sprint performance: relationship to dosage. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, 2,566-569.

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1. Introduction:

I would to start by introducing one of the most famous sports around the world; furthermore, it is currently one of the most played sports around the world. This sport is called Basketball, and it is team sportin which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or “shooting” aballthrough the top of a basketball hoop while following a set ofrules.

While competitive basketball is carefully managed, basketballhad been developed for casual play. Competitive basketball is primarily an indoor sport played on carefully marked and maintainedbasketball courts, but less regulated variations are often played outdoors in both inner city and rural areas

TheNational Basketball Association(NBA) is an exciting men’s professionalbasketballleague inNorth Americawhich consists of thirty different teams, where twenty-nine are located in theUnited Statesand only one inCanada. The NBA is one of the fourmajor North American professional sports leagues, which includeMajor League Baseball(MLB), theNational Football League(NFL), and theNational Hockey League(NHL).

The league was created inNew York Cityo n June 6 ,1946 as theBasketball Association of America(BAA).The league adopted the name National Basketball Association in 1949 after merging with the rivalNational Basketball League(NBL). The league’s several managements are directed out of its head offices located in theOlympic Towerat 645Fifth Avenuein New York City.

Section 2: NBA Regular seasons

After the summer Holiday, teams organize training camps in late September. Training camps are opportunities for players to practice , locate the team’s strengths and weaknesses, prepare the players for the challenging regular seasons, and determine the 12-man active roster (and a 3-man inactive list) with which they will begin the regular season. After training camp, a series of preseason games are held. The NBA regular season starts on the last week of October. During the regular season, each team plays 82 games, 41 home and 41 away. A team faces opponents in its own division four times a year (16 games), teams from the other two divisions in its conference either three or four times (36 games), and teams in the other conference twice (30 games).

The NBA is also the only league that regularly schedules games onChristmasDay.The league has been playing games regularly on the holiday since 1947,though the first Christmas Day games were not aired on television until1983.Games played on this day have featured some of the best teams and players.

In February, the regular season comes to a short stop to celebrate the annualNBA All-Star Game. Fans vote throughout the United States, Canada, and even on theInternet, and the players with the top votes at each position in each conference are given a starting spot on their conference’s All-Star team. Coaches vote to choose the remaining 14 All-Stars. Afterwards, Eastern conference players face the Western conference players in the All-Star game. The player with the best performance during the game is rewarded with aMVP (Most valuable player) award. Other events during theA All-Star stop include the Rookie Challenge, where the top rookies and second-year players in the NBA play against each other in a 5-on-5 basketball game; furthermore theSkills Challenge, where players compete to finish an obstacle course including shooting, passing and dribbling in the fastest time. There is also the Three Point Contest, where players compete to score the most amounts of three-point field goals in a given time, and theNBA Slam Dunk Contest, where players compete to dunk the ball in the most entertaining and exciting way according to the judges.

Around the middle of April, the regular season ends. As soon as the season ends, votes for individual and team awardswell begin. TheSixth Man of the Year Awardis given to the best player that was not in the startup line but was later substituted in the game. TheRookie of the Year Awardis awarded to the best first-year player. TheMost Improved Player Awardis awarded to the player who had shown the most improvement from the previous season. TheDefensive Player of the Year Awardis awarded to the league’s best defender. TheCoach of the Year Awardis awarded to the coach that has made the most positive influence into a team. TheMost Valuable Player Awardis given to player who had proved the most valuable for (his team) that season.

Section 3: NBA Playoffs

NBA Playoffs begin in late April, with eight teams in each conference going for the Championship. The three division winners, along with the team with the next best record from the conference are given the top four Positions. The next lower four teams in terms of record in the season are given the lower four position.

This is how they organize it: There are 30 teams divided into two conferences, the east and west. Each conference has a division of 5 teams each. The top team from each division and the next 5 teams from each conference regardless of division make the top 8 teams from each conference. Then they get positionedA much like most other sports, the top team gets the worst qualifying team (1st versus 8th) and the second best gets the second worst, and so on. They play a round of best-of-seven, meaning technically they will play seven games against each other and whoever ends up with the most wins advances to the next round. Of course, after one team wins 4 games, there’s no use to play out the entire 7-game series so it is the first team to win 4 games that get to move to the next round. Furthermore, the team with the best regular season record in the league is guaranteed home court advantage in every game it plays in the playoffs.

The final playoff round, a best-of-seven series between the victors of both conferences, is known as the NBA Finals, and is held every year in June. The victor in the NBA Finals wins the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

Each player and major contributor to the NBA season, including coaches and the general manager on the winning team, receive a championship ring. In addition, the league awards aBill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Awardto the best performing player of the Season.

Section 4: conclusion

As a conclusion, Basketball is an outstanding game where people all around the world can enjoy regardless of whether they are poor or rich, young or old, or even with different skin color. It is a wonderful game that knows no boundaries towards evolution in which any person could come up with new styles and skills that could be played in the friendly games and tournaments. The NBA’s style of playing the game has changed dramatically through the years and it was all thanks to the people who have passion for the game.A A

Many critics and fans around the world call theNBAgreatest show on earth. No other league around the world brings what the NBA’s game has brought every season. The greatest plays, games, dunks, players and passion for the basketball are the reasons why the fans keep watching the games. The NBA is the basketball league which helped in the evolution of the sport. It had created many chances and opportunities for skilled and determined players around the globe to prove themselves in front of crowd and the whole world. It also gave them the dream that they would pursue in order to achieve greatness. For me it is the best sport I ever played.

The Changing Role of SportIntroduction

The purpose of this report is to look at the history in sport. This report will research the changing role of sport between 19th – 21st centuries and look at the participation levels from an historic and modern view. This report will also look into sociological theories including the Figurational and Conflict theory and apply these to the history in sport.

Changing role of sport

Throughout human history games and sports activities have always been integrally related to the social, political and economic relationships between people in any given society (Coakley 1994).As the relationships changed and power has shifted there have been changes in the organisation and meanings of games and sporting activities.In prehistoric times physical activities were directly tied to the challenge of survival and the expression of religious beliefs (Guttman, 1978).People hunted for food and sometimes used their physical abilities to defend themselves or establish status and power among others (Coakley 1994).Social inequalities have always had a significant impact on how sport activities are organized and play in any situation.

Games in ancient Greece were held in the interest of young males from wealthier segments of society. As the popularity of the games started to grow, contestants from different cities started to compete (Baker, 1982). The outcomes of organised games took on political implications beyond the events themselves athletes were recruited from the lower classes and paid for their participation (Miller, 1991). Where these games were held and the date they were held on were also linked to religious beliefs. According to Crowther (1996) this showed games as brutal and dehumanizing events such as people with limited physical skills and dull minds took part. This lead Crowther (1996) to believe that the dumb athlete emerged long before college scholarships. Activities engaged by Greek women children and elderly were included in festivals but were never incorporated in the Olympic Games. However when woman did participate in the Olympic Games, their sexuality was questioned by many (Kidd 1984). Even though women from wealthy families did start to take part in these games, the events were limited and women’s achievement were not promoted and publicized.

Roman sports emphasised mass entertainment. Participants in these events were usually slaves, condemned criminals or gladiators. Slaves were coerced into jeopardising their life to battle with one another or wild animals (Plass, 1995). Condemned criminals were dressed in sheepskin and thrown into the stadium with partially starved animals and Gladiators were trained for preparation (Plass, 1995). These organised events were sometimes connected with religious rituals. To show power within the society the emperor would pass fruit, bread or raffle tickets around the stadium to keep spectators from getting hostile and starting riots (Coakley, 1994). According to Baker (1982) these events achieved two purposes (1) entertainment and while at the same time (2) disposing of the socially undesirable (thieves, murderers and Christians). Romans were criticised for these events as tactless activities, devoid of any cultural value. This criticism was based on the idea that no good could come out of these events during which people from different social classes were mixed (Plass, 1995). Women were forbidden to participate in event but unlike the Greeks women were aloud in the stadium to watch events (Coakley, 1994).

Sporting activities in Europe during the middle ages clearly reflected gender and status differences in medieval societies (Reeves, 1995). The peasants played highly localised versions of folk games in the connection with seasonal events in village life (Ziegler, 1993). The knights engaged in tournaments and jousts while other members of the upper class including the clergy used their resources to develop sporting activities to occupy their leisure time (Coakley 1994). This pattern continues through the renaissance and parts of Europe. However the Protestants reformation tended to generate negative attitudes about any activities interfering with work and religious worship. The impact of these attitudes was felt most sharply by peasants who seldom had the resources to avoid the restrictive controls imposed by government.

During the early days of the industrial resolution the influence of the puritans faded in both Europe and North America but the demands of work and the absence of spaces for play generally limited sport involvement to the wealthy and people in rural areas (Coakley 1994). This pattern began to change in the United States during the middle to the late nineteenth century, when the combined influence of labour unions, progressive legislation and economic expansion lead to the creation of new ideas about the consequences of sport participation. However, opportunities for involvement were primarily shaped by the needs of an economy emphasizing mass production and mass consumption. It was this context that people shaped what now is referred to as organised and competitive sport (Coakley 1994). To this present day it is part of a young child’s day to do one hour of physical activity and the government expect this to be high quality physical activity that produces young people with the skills, understanding, desire and commitment to continue to improve and achieve in a range of health-enhancing activities (BUPA, 2007). ACSM recommend that adults should do moderately intense cardio for 30 minutes a day, 5 times per week; alongside 8 to 10 strength training exercises with at least 12 repetitions of each exercise, twice a week (ACSM, 2007). Men and women in this current society are recommended to do the same amount of exercise or to take part in all sports they desire to.

The Difference in Sport

There are many changes that has made in sport through the decades. The first change is that sport is not directly link to religious beliefs or rituals. Religious beliefs are important to people’s lives however sport is now seen as an entertainment rather than worship and participants take part for personal gains rather than appeasement of god. The next difference to be found is that anybody can participate in an event or sport if they want to. Regardless, who they are and where they came from, their sex and race. Every contestant should face the same set of competitive condition. This is still a current issue in modern society however the issue is being controlled. In modern sports there are games such as boxing and martial arts however they are no games where participants fight to death or fight for survival like the prehistoric, Greek and Roman times, events that these are not part of society anymore. Elias and Dunning (1971) investigated into early Greek and Roman sports. The purpose was to find just how different the sport-like activities are between the people of the early stages in civilizing process and nation-state formation process. They found that Greek combat sports were all direct training for warfare involved in much higher levels of violence and open emotionality than sport today. Elias suggested that internalized inhibitions against physical violence were also lower and associated feelings of guilt and shame correspondingly much weaker.

Guttman (1978) found that within his comparison of sport from the past showed that organised, competitive sports to this present day have unique characteristics. He found that there are seven interrelated characteristics Secularism, Equality, Specialisation, Rationalisation, Bureaucratisation, Quantification and Records. From this study Guttman (1978) found that most of the Greek, Roman, Medieval and Renaissance did in some way adhere to these characteristics however not all of them did. One or more of these traits have characterised the sport forms of previous historical periods, but until the 19th century never have all appeared together in a single sport form. This does not mean that modern organised competitive sports are superior to the games and activities of the past. It means that they are different in the way that they are organised. These seven characteristics are not found in all modern sports however sport are social constructions and many people seek alternatives to the organized competitive sport in which these seven characteristics exist.

Sporting activities have never been so pervasive and influential in the lives of people as they are in many societies; never before have people had so much leisure time and never before have physical activities in any form been so closely linked to profit making, character building, patriotism and personal health (Coakley 1994). Organised sports have become a combination of business, entertainment, education, moral training, masculinity rituals, technology transfer and declaration of political allegiance. Although sports are contests in which people seek physical challenges and exciting expressive experiences seldom available in the rest of their lives (Coakley 1994). Overall all these things have made organised, competitive sports important social phenomena in the past and present. Most individuals do not do much of their favourite activities as often or as intensely as they would like, but there are some groups who are multiply constrained and they are also afflicted with below average health, diet, housing, education and job prospects (Collins 2003). Whereas leisure facilities, public and voluntary services, are over used by those with above average incomes (Collins 2003). The problem with the 21st century is that there is an increase in social breakdown, stress, depression, drug abuse, suicide, decay of communities, rural decline and loss of social cohesion (Trainer 2003). The rich, who do the top managerial and legal work for the corporations and the professionals are rapidly increasing their wealth, have no interest in change (Trainer 2003). Damage is being done to social cohesion, public spirit, trust, good will and concern for public interest (Trainer 2003). Society is made up of competitive, self interested individuals all trying to get rich. There is no concern for the welfare of all; there must be a considerable collective social control, regulation and service provision to maintain public institutions and standards and to reinforce the sense of social solidarity whereby all are willing to contribute to the good of all (Trainer 2003).

In historic times only the rich had a lot of leisure time therefore had plenty of time to participate in an activity whereas the lower class had to work most of their time as they did not get paid much so they did not have time to exercise. The only time that the lower class could exercise would be at festivals and holy days as they were used as village activities or if they were paid to compete in the games. Most sports in historic times were sports that not all generations could take part in for example, fox hunting and hunting for food. In present times factors that affect people participation are peer pressure from people involved in their lives. This is especially in children, if they take part in a sport that their friends don’t, the child may not want to go to the sport because they are missing time to be with their friends. The child may become uninterested in the sport as they grow older or parents pushing a child to do something may make the child rebel and not do the activities that the parents want them to. Factors that affect adults could be that they are at the peak stage and cannot go further, they may not have the time to commit due to family reasons, and they may feel singled out if they join a new exercise class. The biggest factor that will stop a person from participating in sport is any medical problem they may have. The medication they take to help with their condition may have side effects that can stop a person from participating in an activity.

Theoretical approach

There are two sociological theories that can be used to look at the history of sport, Conflict and Figurational theory. Coakley (1994) stated that the conflict theory focuses on how sport are used by powerful people to promote attitudes and relationships enabling them to maintain their power and privileges. An example of this power would be in the roman events, the emperor would pass fruit and bread around the stadium stop spectators becoming hostile. This power controlled the way the spectators acted at these sporting events. In roman times, sport was an emphasis of mass entertainment; this was to ignore the problems within society such as social, economic and political. The goal of most conflict theorists in sociology is to bring about the development of a humane and creative society so that sports can become sources of expression, creative energy and physical well being (Coakley 1994). The conflict theory contributes little to the understanding of the dynamics of gender and intergroup relations apart from their connection with class relations (Coakley 1994). Even though sports are sometimes used as instruments of economic control and expansion in society, it must also be recognised that sports can personally empower activities and sites for resisting and even transforming the way social life is organized (Coakley 1994). However Figurational theory looks how society has become civilised. This focuses on the relationship between power, behavior, emotion, and knowledge over time. Elias (1987) stated that the main objective for Figurational sociologist was to encourage sociologists to think processually by studying social relations as emerging and contingent processes. Figurations should be studied as interdependent relations which are continually in flux that shifts and transforms in patterns of social bonding that can be identified in all patterns of development. Moreover Elias believed that it is possible to discern such shifts because interdependence is neither arbitrary nor random. The individuals and groups that make up specific figuration are interconnected by a multiplicity of dynamic bonds (). Marxists however tend to stress the importance of economic relations in social bonding. Figurationalists suggest that the importance of economic relations is likely to vary from one situation to another and that in some situations political and emotional bonds may be equally or more significant (). The concept of the social bond is intended to reinforce to two edged character if figurations which may be both enabling and constraining (Rojek, 1985). A central dimension of figurations or dynamic interdependency ties is power, conceptualized not as a substance or property possessed by particular individuals and groups but as characteristics of all human relationships (Elias, 1987). Power is always a question of relative balances, never and absolute possession or absolute deprivation, for no one is ever absolutely powerful or absolutely powerless. Neither is the balance of power between groups in a society permanent for power balances are dynamic and continuously in flux (Coakley and Dunning, 2000). To use a theory for history in sport the Figurational theory would be more appropriate as it looks at the civilization of society and focuses on balancing history and structural analysis. It also looks at how sports have become more developed, for example, rules and regulations have become strict to provide an equal opportunity for participants to win. Figurational theory also shows how sports reflect the civilization process, whereas the conflict theory leads people to see sports simply as reflections of the economic forces operating in society. The conflict theory is all about deviance in sport and how people rebel against the rules. An example of this is the drug abuse in sports, the athlete chose to do it but they know that there are consequences if they are caught.

Conclusion

Overall this report has found that there have been many changes to sport through the centuries, rules and regulations, type of sport played and why sport is played have all changed. It has also been show that participation in historic time was events that the hole village or town attended, whereas in modern games and events people participate for personal gains. For a theoretical application the more appropriate theory has been show to be the Figurational theory as it shows how sports have become more developed via rules and regulation.