Author: Andre Coleman

Part One
Introduction

There are many methods which one can rely on in order to undertake policy research. Often we will see policy makers undertaking primary research by way of observations and experimentation, resulting in a first-hand account of the effectiveness of a certain policy in a given context. However, such primary research is not always available or easily accessible, and often persons need to rely on secondary accounts of information to base their decision making processes on. It is this reliance upon secondary information that can lead to problems as to quality and reliability, which may contribute to the lack of effectiveness of a certain implemented policy.

The purpose of this essay is to explore the principle of concept models and their effectiveness in relation to the formulation of policy as regards sports development. In doing so, it will attempt to identify what concept models actually are, what sports development is defined as, how the two areas interrelate, and finally the advantages and limitations of relying on concept models as a form of research. It is important to note at the outset that relying on secondary research is arguably fraught with danger in any case, however this essay also recognises the fact that primary sources or material may not always be available, and will consider whether concept models make a valuable alternative form of research.

What are ‘Concept Models’?

Concept models are a logical form of data collection, which researchers and academics often use to gauge and measure certain aspects of a sample of a population, so as they can form general conclusions based on the results. Often a concept model is the result of laborious analysis and experimentation, which uses scientific data collection methods to formulate and test hypotheses, so as a person studying a particular area can gain knowledge and intuition in a logical manner. Clearly there is a significant difference between the application of a reasoned hypothesis to a particular set of circumstances, as opposed to the application of theoretical principles, and this is perhaps where the conflict arises between these two methods of research in particular areas of study.

It is important to understand the fact that there may be times where a concept model is perhaps the most appropriate method of research in a particular matter. However, other situations will require a more theory-based approach. This is the difficult issue that the study of society and culture presents to the academic and researcher: society and social values are often not accountable to rhyme or reason. They cannot be justified by the application of facts and figures, but rather one must attempt to understand the underlying rationale of a social context so as to have an idea as to what conclusions can be drawn about that particularly sample’s behaviour. The purpose of this essay is to highlight the tension which concept models bring to a social issue such as sports development.

What is ‘Sports Development’?

Sports development cannot be defined by one singular term. It can have a variety of meanings depending upon the context it is used. Perhaps the most succinct definition, but by no means definitive, is the following:

Sport development deals with the opportunities available for people to progress to their potential in sport, from taking part for fun and health to competition and also encompasses the provision of opportunities for addressing the social issues of the day through participation in sport.^[1]

Furthermore, it is important to note that:

As a profession sport development needs to justify the claims made for it by politicians and practitioners alike by providing an evidence base for the claims made for its value as a legitimate social service.^[2]

Therefore, sports development is regarded as having a role in society in general, and is not limited just solely to participation in sport itself. It can relate to health, in the sense that participation in sport and physical activity can lead to a reduction in obesity levels and cases of coronary heart disease and the like. It can link to crime, in the sense that sport can be used as a method of implementing structure and rigidity into a person’s life, with the theory being that a person is less likely to offend as a result. It can even delve as deep as other social issues such as gender equality, in relation to the access to top competition sporting events and activities being geared more towards men than women. All these different concepts are important, and all need to be understood in order to truly grasp the overall concept of sports development. But how does one teach this to others? How does one understand the relationship between these very different entities, in a user-friendly way?

How are Concept Models used in Sports Development?

Concept models can be a useful tool in sports development, and in fact have been in discussion and policy research since the 1970s. Since first being coined as a term in the 1960 Wolfenden report,^[3] sports development has undergone somewhat of a development in itself. New concepts have arisen, that need to be explained to scholars, researchers and laypeople alike. This is where concept maps may serve a valid purpose. They visually represent how various aspects of areas interrelate and flow on from one another. For example, the area of sports development has traditionally been associated with the ‘pyramid model’,^[4] whereby a person begins at the bottom of the pyramid with many others at the foundation level, and gradually moves up the pyramid to the excellence level, which is only reached by much fewer people. This brief pyramid concept basically tells the reader in a visual way the overall principle of sports development, and what its ultimate goal is. However, this does promote limitations. Firstly, it implies that the only way a participant in sport can move is up, and does not allow for the frequent occurrence of participants having to drop down one ‘level’ and attempt to climb up again. Secondly, it also imposes a quite rigid framework, and does not allow for the individual or unique nature of each and every participant. These issues will be discussed in further detail in due course.

Concept models are also useful in the sense that sports development is an area which has been identified as severely lacking in empirical and scientific data to justify any other major form of modelling.^[5] Riddoch also goes on to say that, as a result of this lack of ‘hard evidence’, we must rely more so on “theory, common sense, observation and expert opinion as on hard evidence”.^[6] This essentially proves the usefulness of concept models in the context of sports development; however it also signifies the need that we need to begin developing a ‘bank’ of hard evidence so as to support the faith the government shows in this area. Essentially then, concept models are useful as an introductory tool, however one should seek to qualify these concepts with rigid empirical data.

What are the Advantages of using Concept Models?

The overwhelming benefit that concept models play in relation to the design, planning and delivery of the sports development process is that fact that is essentially simplifies the concepts and the relationships between various aspects of sports development and the wider community. It can essentially explain otherwise complicated topics quite clearly and reasonably, while also guiding the policy development process as a whole, given that it can highlight specific target ideas and values that a policy may wish to address. An excellent example of a concept model for sports development can be found in the PAT 10 report entitled ‘Sport and Social Exclusion’ (1999) at page 10 thereof, which attempts to represent the relationship between sport (or physical activity generally) and the wider economic benefits to the community as a whole.^[7] On the basis of this concept model, one can trace the path of consequences that a specific activity or outcome can carry. For example, an increased time in sprints can lead to an increase in sports injuries, and then an increase in costs to the NHS. However, the same outcome could also result in an increased achievement in sporting activities, then an increase in one’s health, and accordingly a decrease in costs to the NHS. This diagram maps out this particular issue quite well, although it is still quite ambiguous, in the sense that it does not indicate which path is more likely than the other to occur, and implies an even chance of either (or even both) occurring.

What are the Disadvantages of using Concept Models?

The above discussion in relation to the advantages of concept models also perhaps highlighted what some of the disadvantages are. A person who seeks to rely on a concept model in developing sports policy may be making a decision based on misleading information. This is primarily due to the fact that concept models can imply ambiguity in the data they represent. As mentioned above, the example in relation to the PAT 10’s concept model does not give any indication as to what event is more likely to occur than the other, meaning that the policy makers cannot accurately measure their issues as against the consequences due to the lack of empirical data in support. Therefore, it is important for policy makers to make their own enquiries into the reliability of the information, and they also should seek to support it with some ‘hard’ evidence before drawing a conclusion and formulating policy to guide the sport development process. Also, a pre-existing concept model may not cater for the policy maker’s particular circumstances, and therefore it would be important to have further information available to tailor the concepts to fit the situation. Concept models may also only prescribe one manner of ‘moving’ through the various concepts, which does not cater for all eventualities, and therefore one must exercise caution when relying on them, and perhaps only rely on concept models which might allow a certain amount of flexibility in their guidance.

Conclusion

On the basis of the above discussion, it would be reasonable to conclude that concept models can be a valuable tool in guiding the design, planning and delivery of sports development policy, however they should be relied upon with caution, and the policy maker should make an effort to familiarise himself with other ‘hard’ evidence so as he can make policy in the best interests of achieving the objectives he has set for the policy. It is the unique objectives of the policy that should come first, and it is the role of the policy maker to design and implement policy which will achieve these goals otherwise it will be of no benefit. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the policy maker to make all reasonable enquiries so as to ensure that they are making their decision based upon reliable and sound evidence. While concept models are valuable resources, they are certainly not definitive, and should not be viewed as such by those who seek to rely on them.

Part Two

Childhood obesity is becoming an ever increasing problem in today’s modern society. So often do we see advertisements for fast food, junk food and other unhealthy habits and lifestyles, such as video games, on the television which are predominantly aimed at a younger audience. This places significant pressure on the sports industry as a whole, as children who become disillusioned with sport may suffer consequences not only to their own health, but the heath of the industry overall. After all, children are the future of our society, and it is in the interests of sport into the future to promote its values to the younger generation. The purpose of this case study is to highlight ways that sport is used at a younger level, such as school age and the like, in order to promote the positive message of health and fitness to children. This is often achieved through the implementation of social policy and activities which promote physical activity and are generally catered to the fitness and skill levels of younger children. It is difficult to rebut the proposition that obesity in general, let alone childhood obesity, it reaching epidemic proportions around the world, specifically in the United States. The purpose of this brief therefore is to identify the objects of school-based activity programs, and rationale which underpin these programs, the design and implementation of these programs as well as their implications for management. Specifically, given the writer’s residence in Australia, it will tend to focus more on Australian-based research based on the writer’s experience in after-school childhood sport programmes.

There is substantial evidence and policy in existence which supports the proposition that sport can promote a healthy lifestyle and decrease the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke at a later stage in life. In particular, the “PAT 10 report Arts and Sport (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 1999) includes health as an area in which sport can contribute to neighbourhood renewal. The Value of Sport (Sport England, 1999) suggests that sport can make a contribution to “the new policy agenda” by assisting in the improvement of fitness and health – the reduction of risk of coronary heart disease, obesity and osteoporosis; psychological benefits (eg reduction of depression) and a range of more specific health benefits.”^[8] Therefore, sports development serves a vast social purpose from a health perspective, in the sense that encourages its participants to increase their physical activity in order to improve their health and not face as many potential health problems down the track.

In the Australian context, where the writer is based, there is clear evidence of a policy shift towards enforcing compulsory school-level sport within the curriculum for all primary school age students. In the state of Western Australia, this was recently introduced and, according to Education Minister Mark McGowan, “what I don’t want to see is us reach the obesity levels of the United States” and acknowledged that governments “can’t take all the responsibility here. Two hours a week in a school curriculum in which we’re loading up literacy and numeracy as well is a good outcome. What we need is after school and on weekends, parents to play their bit as well.”^[9] A Western Australian school principal remarked about the policy “It is certainly very popular with the students. The teachers like the fact that we can now program it rather than it just being an add-on to the curriculum and it seems a very good way for us to resource the problem that we’re facing.”^[10] What this demonstrates is the fact that the government only has a limited role in the decrease of the epidemic of childhood obesity. Its hands are effectively tied, in the sense that much of the encouragement and enforcement needs to come from the parents of the children rather than the government. Essentially, the government only has ‘control’ of children for about six hours per day, whereas parents are responsible for their children after school and on weekends, so there is a need for this value of childhood health and fitness to spread as a social value, rather than simply becoming an imposition by government.

Perhaps most relevant to the after-school programs that the writer was involved in was the key points in relation to health which were made by Coulter in his research report entitled “Realising the Value of Cultural Services: the case for sport” (2001), and the following seven conclusions on this report can be drawn:

Much of the research evidence relates to the health benefits of physical activity, rather than sports per se…
There is a need to focus on behaviour change rather than formal activity, promoting facility use and uptake of classes and sessions.
Among sports participants, the frequency of activity is often less than that required to achieve and sustain health benefits.
Qualitative evidence suggests that the greatest gains from involvement in activity relate to psychological health and increased feelings of well-being.
It is important that such experiences are complemented by a recognition of the unique physiological benefits of exercise.
Factors underpinning the success of activity provision have included appropriate and convenient local facilities; recognising the importance of participants’ friendship groups in getting involved and staying involved; providing reassurance that ‘people just like us’ are able to participate; acknowledging, particularly to older people, that some physical activity will be better than none; and recognising that if the activity has some intrinsic value (good fun, enjoyable, a change of environment etc), it may be more appealing and ensure adherence.
There is a widespread absence of robust monitoring information on the health benefits of participation and little long-term monitoring of adherence to activity programmes. This reflects the short-term nature of many initiatives, the lack of funding for such monitoring and the lack of expertise to undertake such work.^[11]

The above points perhaps best capture the underlying rationale behind after-school sports programs. There is no need for a child to participate in sports per se, but rather in activities which result in an increase in physical activity. While the definition between sports and physical activity can appear clouded on occasions it is clear that, for the purposes of Coulter’s report, they are two entirely different concepts.

One of the key programs that the writer was involved in, in order to be able to comment upon this issue first-hand, is known as the ‘Active After-School Communities’ program, which is operated under funding provided by the Australian federal government. A documented case study has been undertaken in regards to the effectiveness of this program in encouraging younger children to participate in physical activity. Parents acknowledged the concerns in the current social environment in relation to obesity and later health problems, however sought to support the program where they were able to, having regard for barriers such as travel and distance, as well as time constraints in relation to parents being able to pick up and drop off children in line with their work commitments.^[12] However, in an attempt to promote maximum attendance and participation, it was important for the deliverer of the program at each venue to follow certain policies in relation to the activities that they organise. First and foremost, it needed to be an activity that the children would enjoy. This meant that it needed to cater to the wants of the children, rather than the deliverer simply imposing a certain program upon the group. The deliverer therefore needed to be flexible in terms of ideas and planning of activities, however needed to remain firm enough to impose a sense of order, control and structure to the activities, in order to ensure that the overall objectives of the program were still being met. Another key feature of the Active After School Communities program is the ‘non-exclusion’ policy behind all of its activities. In essence, this means that no child should be excluded from the activities, and activities which provide for a person being ‘out’ should provide another physical role for that child as part of the activity. For example, in a game of dodge ball, a person who is hit by a ball (in a safe manner) would ordinarily be out, however a good program deliverer could find an alternate role for these participants while they are waiting for a new game to start, such as throwing balls in from the sidelines as part of the game, which still keeps them involved and active. This often meant that the deliverer had to create unique games or activities within ‘their own rules’ in order to implement the policies laid down by the program. This required special training on the part of program deliverers, and thus all deliverers were required to complete accreditation in the delivery of the program before being able to conduct the program unsupervised.

Of course, the design and implementation of the program is not without its impact upon the management of the program. It is important for the Federal Government to have regard for the fact that many parents are somewhat unable to pay large amounts for this program, and hence the participants of the focus group expressed a desire for the program to be heavily, if not fully, subsidised by the government.^[13] This creates an issue, in the sense that the funding of the program is a significant concern given the associated expenses of program delivery. This is particularly due to the need to pay the deliverers for their services, but also that the program takes place outside of school hours. This means that supervision of the program often falls outside of the scope of a teacher’s ordinary duties, and thus often a casual employee (or a number of them) needs to be engaged in order to fill this role. Magnifying this issue is the need for a large number of sites to exist, especially in rural areas, in order to maximise participation by minimising the distance and travel factors. Additionally, the case study also highlights the lack of suitably qualified staff to fill these roles in any event.^[14] This means that the management need to outlay a substantial amount of funding to initially reach the required training and staffing standards that the policies of the program demand. Therefore, the management need to be mindful of the concerns raised by the parents of the children of the program, as they are reluctant to absorb any major costs associated with the program. As a result, the management need to ensure that the appropriate budgets and costings are obtained so as to meet the objectives of the program, and it is clear that these policies perhaps impose a great deal of pressure and responsibility upon the management.

In summary, it would appear that the Active After School Communities program which the writer was associated with serves a valid purpose. It recognises the need for children to become physically active, in a society which promotes generally unhealthy lifestyles and habits. The responsibility for this negative social shift would have to be shared between the government, parents and corporations; however the responsibility to fix the problem ironically sits with the same people. For example, the AASC program relies heavily upon funding from Nike, which provides clothing and equipment so the program can run efficiently. The government needs to put the framework in place, but ultimately it is the role of the parents to encourage their child to attend the program, and to ensure continued participation, so as the child can receive the full benefit of the program.

Bibliography
Books
Houlihan, B., and White, A., The Politics of Sports Development (2002), London: Routledge
Hylton, K., Bramham, P., Jackson, D., and Nesti, M., Sports Development: Policy, Process and Practice (2007, 2^nd ed), London: Routledge
Reports
Coulter, F., ‘Realising the Value of Cultural Services: the case for sport’ (2001) LGA, London
PAT 10, ‘Research Report: Sport and Social Exclusion’ (1999) Institute of Sport and Leisure Policy, Loughborough University
Riddoch, C., ‘Relationships between physical activity and physical health in young people’ in Young and Active? Young people and health enhancing physical activity – evidence and implications’ (1998)
Ruiz, J., ‘A Literature Review Of The Evidence Base For Culture, The Arts And Sport Policy’ (2004), Scottish Executive, Edinburgh
The General Council of Physical Recreation, ‘Sport and the Community’ (1960), CCPR, London.
Internet Sources
ABC News, ‘Compulsory sport to tackle childhood obesity’ (2007), at 2 August 2008
Colmar Brunton Social Research, ‘Evaluation of AASC Program: Community Case Study – Vasse Community’ (2008), Australian Sports Commission, at 2 August 2008
Sports Development, at 2 August 2008

An Experimental study of the Independent and Interactive Effects of ‘Coach Variables’ on the motivation and performance of Rugby ‘Forwards’

INTRODUCTION

Rugby is a hugely popular international sport (UKRFU^[1], 2006; USARFU^[2], 2006). Two teams of 13 players each, play the sport by kicking, passing, or carrying a ball. In order to win a team must score more ‘points’ than its opponent. Points can be achieved by a ‘try’ (5 points) or a ‘goal’ (3 points). The former entails touching the ball to the ground beyond a line in the opponents half (more points can be earned by performing a ‘place kick’ or drop kick’ conversion). A goal involves kicking the ball over the opponents cross bar (in the form of a penalty kick or drop kick).

It is essential that the players are motivated. Research has shown that player motivation is partly dependent on coach variables (Tammen, 1997; Allen & Howe, 1998; Cumming, 2002; Reinboth et al, 2004). In particular player aggressiveness, an important aspect of rugby, is influenced by coach input (Abd-Aziz, 1998; Guivernau-Rojas, 2001). Certain coaches are better able to ‘drive’ their players to victory than other coaches, for example by providing better feedback, frequent praise and encouragement, tactical advise, and corrective information.

How players perceive their coach is critical (Mavi, 2004). Social psychological on literature (Norman, 1976; Lui & Standing, 1989; Aronson, 1995; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; Pornpitakpan, 2004) suggests that characteristics such as credibility, likeability, and trustworthiness, may significantly determine a coaches’ motivational effectiveness. For example, a likeable coach may be more effective at encouraging his ‘forwards’ (‘tight-five’/’front five’ and ‘loose forwards’) to achieve successful try’s and goals. A review of the relevant literature (e.g. ‘PsychINFO’, ‘Academic Search Premier’), revealed a paucity of rugby research in this area.

AIMS/HYPOTHESES

The study proposed here aims to evaluate the effects of coach variables – credibility, likeability, and trustworthiness – on the performance of rugby players, particularly the ‘tight-five’/‘front-five’ and ‘loose forwards’. Consistent with previous research on communicator variables (e.g. Pornpitakpan, 2004), the following hypotheses are proposed with respect to player/team performance:

A credible will achieve more try’s/goals than a non-credible coach.
A trustworthy coach will achieve more try’s/goals than an untrustworthy coach.
A likeable coach will achieve more try’s/goals than a disliked coach.
Interactions (two-way and three-way) between these coach characteristics will influence the achievement of try’s/goals.
METHODOLOGY

Setting

The study will be set up as a field experiment. The setting will be the premises of several local rugby clubs.

Design

The study will be based on a between-groups experimental design. There will be three independent variables: coach expertise (high/low/placebo/no treatment control), likeability (high/low), and trustworthiness (high/low). This will translate into a 4 x 2 x 2 between groups factorial design, using multivariate analysis of covariance (Coolican, 1994). Thus, in effect, there will be 16 experimental conditions. The dependent variables will consist of players reported motivation (after a match) and the number of successful try’s and goals during a match. Attempts will be made to control for important background variables, including player experience, weight, height, and, baseline motivational levels, and score history.

Sample

The sample will comprise several different teams of rugby players, recruited from schools, universities, and clubs in the local area. The target (i.e. minimum) sample size is 160 players, with at least 10 players per factorial cell.

Stimulus Materials

Prior arrangements would have been made with team officials to substitute the original team coaches with a stooge coach. Players will be informed that a new coach will temporarily ‘substitute’ their regular coach, who is unable to attend due to a prior family engagement. Two or three stooge coaches will be used, one for each team. Manipulation of independent variables will occur as follows:

(Expertise): players will be informed by the researcher that their new coach is an ex-rugby player with either ?10 years coaching experience or a newly qualified coach with <1 year experience, who just completed a Coach Development Programme (CDC) (USARFU, 2006).

(Likeability): Each stooge coach will act in either a friendly fashion (e.g. smiling, encouraging players), or an unfriendly manner (frowning, denigrating players).

(Trustworthiness): Players will be informed either that the stooge coach is getting paid a substantial amount of cash for this one-off job, or is working for free (Aronson, 1995, pp.80-81).

(Placebo): Players will receive irrelevant information about the stooge coach (e.g. where they live and marital status), who will act in neutral fashion (i.e. neither friendly or unfriendly).

(Control): No information will be provided about the stooge coach, who will try to act in a neutral fashion.

A self-report questionnaire will be used to collect baseline data from players on the following: perceived expertise, trustworthiness, and likeability of the stooge coach, and background variables including prior rugby experience, weight, height and score history. This questionnaire will also be used to assess current (i.e. pre-treatment) motivational levels and perform manipulation checks for each coach variable (i.e. expertise, likeability, trustworthiness).

The study will be carried out during a series of rugby matches played in the local area. A ‘Game Day Check List’ (USARFU, 2006) will be used to work out the most appropriate time to brief players. Prior to each match each participating rugby team will be randomly assigned to one experimental condition. Particular attention will be paid to the ‘forwards’ or ‘pack’ (i.e. players 1-8). Players will be asked to complete the baseline questionnaire, as part of a general survey on the profile and interests of rugby players in the UK. They will also be informed about the use of a substitute coach, and given the appropriate background information regarding expertise and trustworthiness. After each match players will complete the baseline questionnaire, and then be debriefed.

Data will be analysed using a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), performed on SPSS (Field, 2002). Background variables will be treated as the covariates (i.e. control variables).

A local Ethics Committee will review this project. It will conform to ethical guidelines of the British Psychological Society (BPS, 1993). Thus, the study will not involve any unnecessary deception, invasion of privacy, pain, injury, or discomfort, or violation of any legal requirements. Furthermore, all information collected from subjects will be strictly confidential.

TIME SCALE

The study will be conducted over a 12 month period.

Month 1: Pilot study

Month 2 to 3: Administration of Stimulus Materials & Data Collection

Month 4 to 5: SPSS Data Entry, Editing, and Analysis (MANCOVA)

Month 6 to 8: Write Up

Month 9 + : Dissemination of Findings

DISSEMINATION OF FINDINGS

Findings will be disseminated through conference presentations and Journal publications. It is planned that a paper will be presented at the 12^th European Congress of Sports Psychology (4-7 September, 2007, Halkidiki, Greece). A paper will also be submitted to the Journal of Applied Sports Psychology or British Journal of Sports Medicine or International Journal of Sports Psychology, all of which are particular useful outlets for targeting academic audiences.

REFERENCES

Abd-Aziz, S.B. (1998) Aggressive tendencies in Malaysian youth soccer: an examination of individual and contextual factors. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section A:- Humanities and Social Sciences. 59 (5-B), 2480.

Allen, J. & Howe, B.L. (1998) Player ability, coach feedback, and female adolescent athletes’ perceived competence and satisfaction. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology 20, pp.280-299.

Aronson, E. (1995) The Social Animal. New York: Freeman.

BPS (1993) Code of Conduct, Ethical Principles and Guidelines. Leicester: British Psychological Society.

Coolican, H. (1994) Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Cumming, S.P. (2002) A bio-psychosocial investigation of self-determined motivation in recreational and travel youth soccer programs. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section A:- Humanities and Social Sciences. 63 (5-A), 1765.

Eagly, A.H. & Chaiken, S. (1993) The Psychology of Attitudes. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Field, A. (2002) Discovering Statistics using SPSS for Windows. London: Sage.

Guivernau-Rojas, M. (2001) The impact of motivational and moral variables on aggressive tendencies in sport. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section A:- Humanities and Social Sciences. 62 (6-B), 2990.

Lane, A.M., Rodger, J.S.E. & Karageorghis, C.L. (1997) Antecedents of state anxiety in rugby. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 84, pp.427-433.

Lui, L. & Standing, L.G. (1989) Communicator credibility: trustworthiness defeats expertness. Social Behaviour & Personality. 17, pp. 219-221.

Mavi, H.F. (2004) The relationship among dispositional, contextual variables, and intrinsic motivation in high school teams sports. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section A:- Humanities and Social Sciences. 65 (3-A), 876.

Norman, R. (1976) When what is said is important: a comparison of expert and attractive sources. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 12, pp.294-300.

Pornpitakpan, C. (2004) The persuasiveness of source credibility: a critical review of five decades’ evidence. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 34, pp.243-281.

UK Rugby Football Union (2006) Play [online] RFU Official Site, http://www.community-rugby.com/communityrugby/index.cfm/Fuseaction/Home.Home/StoryTypeId/98/SectionId/575.cfm [Accessed 31 July 2006]

USA Rugby Football Union (2006) USA Rugby [online] Rugby Channel, http://www.usarugby.org/collegiate/manage/gameDayChecklist.html [Accessed 1 August 2006].

Tammen, V.V. (1997) Coach and athlete goal orientations: congruence of orientations and affects on athlete satisfaction and commitment. Dissertation Abstracts

International: Section A:- Humanities and Social Sciences. 57 (11-A), 4687.

Introduction

The coach-athlete relationship is widely recognised as one of the most important interpersonal relationships in sport (Jowett and Cockerill, 2002; Lyle, 1999). In the past, coaching focused largely on improving the physical and technical skills of the athlete; however, more recently, the importance of developing the athlete’s psychosocial skills has also been acknowledged (Miller and Kerr, 2002). It is now accepted that the behaviours, thoughts and emotions of the coach and athlete are interconnected, with both individuals having a mutual appreciation and respect for each other (Jowett and Meek, 2000; Philippe and Seiler, 2006). The main goal of the coach-athlete dyad is to produce an outcome of improved, high performance from the athlete, and the quality of this relationship can impact significantly on whether successful outcomes are achieved. The aim of this paper is to review published evidence on the nature and dynamics of the coach-athlete relationship and the potential influence of significant others on this dyad.

Conceptual models to investigate the dynamics of the coach-athlete relationship

Traditionally, the dynamics between coach and athlete have been studied from the perspective of coaching leadership (Jowett, 2005). The earlier models which provided a conceptual framework for this research include the Mediational model (Smoll and Smith, 1989), the Multidimensional model (Chelladurai, 1993) and the Coaching model (Cote, Salmela, Trudel, Baria, Russell, 1995). These models focus on the behaviours of the coach, perceptions of these behaviours, and the impact of such behaviours on outcome variables such as performance and satisfaction. A number of newer conceptual models have been developed which also largely have a behavioural focus (Jowett and Cockerill, 2002; Mageau and Vallerand, 2003; Poczwardowski, Barott, Peregoy, 2002; Wylleman, 2000). Worthy of note is the Motivational model proposed by Mageau and Vallerand (2003), which may be of value in the study of inspirational motivation, a recent focus of leadership research. This considers whether an individual shows an exceptional ability to lead others to higher performance levels and/or provide inspiration through the use of clear principles and goals, and has been shown to be a strongly associated with athletes’ level of satisfaction with their coach (Gomes, Sousa, Cruz, 2006). It can be argued that a major limitation of all these models is that they fail to consider the non-behavioural aspects of the coach-athlete relationship (e.g. thoughts and emotions) which may also be importance influencers of the effectiveness and success of this relationship.

The 3Cs and Co-orientation models

The Closeness, Commitment and Complementarity (3Cs) conceptual model developed by Jowett and colleagues incorporates both behavioural and non-behavioural components of the coach-athlete dyad, and reflects the relational aspects of emotions, cognitions and behaviours, respectively (Jowett, 2002; Jowett, 2003; Jowett and Cockerill, 2002; Jowett and Meek, 2000). An additional interpersonal construct, co-orientation, has also been evaluated and is included in the Co-orientation model (Jowett, 2006; Jowett and Clark-Carter, 2006). This adds another dimension by considering coaches’ and athletes’ perceptions about each other from three different aspects: actual similarity, assumed similarity and empathic understanding (Jowett, 2005). Both the 3Cs and Co-orientation models have been pivotal in recent research investigating the nature of the coach-athlete dyad from the perspective of the athlete in individual sports including swimming (Philippe and Seiler, 2006; Poczwardowski, Barott, Jowett, 2006).

Analysing the nature of the coach-athlete relationship

In addition to their own perspective on the coach-athlete relationship, both members of the dyad will also form perceptions of how the other member views the relationship. Laing and colleagues (1966) first proposed the terms ‘direct perspective’ (i.e. the individual’s own perspective) and ‘meta-perspective’ (the individual’s perception of the other dyad member’s perspective). More recently, Kenny and Acitelli (2001) developed a method of measuring the accuracy of these perceptions (Kenny and Acitelli, 2001). A study using this methodology has investigated empathic accuracy and assumed similarity in perceptions of closeness, commitment and complementarity in the coach-athlete relationship (Jowett and Clark-Carter, 2006). Findings showed that empathic accuracy and assumed similarity were evident in both coach and athlete perceptions; however, athletes were more accurate in identifying their coaches feelings in terms of closeness, while in newer relationships, both members showed higher levels of empathic accuracy.

Communication is another important component of the coach-athlete dyad (Jowett, 2003; Phillipe and Seiler, 2006). Studies have demonstrated that effective communication promotes a shared understanding of the importance of key issues between both dyad members and may therefore reduce the likelihood of problems or conflict occurring within the relationship

The Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) is a self-report instrument developed to explore the nature of the coach-athlete relationship by examining closeness, commitment and complementarity from a meta-perspective (Jowett and Ntoumanis, 2004). The validity, internal consistency and reliability of this questionnaire were demonstrated in two independent samples of British coaches-athlete dyads. More recently, a Greek language version of the questionnaire (GrCART-Q) has been developed, together with a modified version incorporating co-orientation (Jowett, 2006). The validity and reliability of both versions of this questionnaire were confirmed in a sample of coach-athlete dyads from individual sports (Jowett, 2006).

Effective versus successful coach-athlete relationships

When considering the nature of the coach-athlete dyad, it is important to distinguish between effective and successful relationships. Effective relationships are underpinned by values such as empathy, support, acceptance, respect and responsiveness (Jowett and Cockerill, 2003; Jowett and Meek, 2000). While these undoubtedly provide positive psychosocial benefits for the athlete, they will not necessarily improve performance. In contrast, successful relationships are ones in which a measure of performance success has been achieved, although these may not always be effective in nature (Jowett, 2005).

The influence of significant others on the coach-athlete relationship

It has been suggested that the coach-athlete relationship should not be considered solely as two members of the dyad working together, but also should also take account of the influence of significant others. For example, some believe that coach leadership may be a shared function rather than a role taken on by the coach alone (Jowett, 2005; Jowett and Chaundy, 2004) while in the case of children, parents and other family members may play an important role in the development and success of the athlete (Cheng, Marsh, Dowson, Martin, n.d.).

To conclude, there is a considerable body of literature investigating the nature and dynamics of the coach-athlete dyad and those factors which may influence the development, effectiveness and success of this important relationship.

References

Chelladurai, P. (1993). Leadership. In R. N. Singer, M. Murphy, & L. K. Tennant (Eds.) Handbook on research on sport psychology. New York: MacMillan.

Cheng, J. H. S., Marsh, H. W., Dowson, M. & Martin, A. J. (n.d.) Exploring the effect of relationship dynamics of support on gymnasts’ and figure skaters’ self-concept, education and psychological resilience: a research proposal. Retrieved 5 July, 2008 from http://www.aare.edu.au/05pap/che05309.pdf

Cote, J., Salmela, J. H., Trudel, P., Baria, A. & Russell, S. (1995). The coaching model: A grounded assessment of expert gymnastic coaches knowledge. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17, 1–17.

Gomes, A. R., Sousa, S. A. & Cruz, J. F. (2006). Charismatic, trnasformational and visionary dimensions in sport leadership: towards new paths for the study of coach-athletes relationships. In N. S. Huber & M. Harvey (Eds.). Leadership at the crossroads. University of Maryland: The James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership.

Jowett, S. & Cockerill, I. M. (2002). Incompatibility in the coach-athlete relationship. In I. M. Cockerill (Ed.) Solutions in Sport Psychology. London: Thomson Learning.

Jowett, S. & Cockerill, I. M. (2003). Olympic medallists perspective of the athlete-coach relationship. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 4, 313–31.

Jowett, S. & Chaundy, V. (2004). An investigation into the impact of coach leadership and coach-athlete relationship on group adhesion. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research and Practice, 8, 302–11.

Jowett, S. & Clark-Carter, D. (2006). Perceptions of empathic accuracy and assumed similarity in the coach-athlete relationship’, British Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 617-37.

Jowett, S. & Ntoumanis, N. (2004). The Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q): development and initial validation. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 14, 245–57.

Jowett, S. (2002). The coach-athlete questionnaire and dyad maps (Research Monograph No. 1). Staffordshire: School of Health, Staffordshire University.

Jowett, S. (2003). When the ‘honeymoon’ is over: a case study of a coach–athlete dyad in crisis. The Sport Psychologist, 17, 444–60.

Jowett, S. (2005). The coach-athlete partnership. The Psychologist, 18, 412–5.

Jowett, S. (2006,). Interpersonal and structural features of Greek coach–athlete dyads performing in individual sports. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 18, 69–81.

Jowett, S. & Cockerill, I. M. (2002). Incompatibility in the coach-athlete relationship. In I. M. Cockerill (Ed.) Solutions in sport psychology. London: Thomson Learning.

Jowett, S. & Meek, G. A. (2000). The coach-athlete relationship: an exploratory content analysis. The Sport Psychologist, 14, 157–75.

Kenny, D. A. & Acitelli, L. K. (2001). Accuracy and bias in perceptions of the partner in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 439–48.

Laing, R. D., Phillipson, H. & Lee, A.R. (1966). Interpersonal Perception. Baltimore: Perennial Library.

Lyle, J. (1999). Coaching philosophy and coaching behaviour’. In N. Cross & J. Lyle (eds.) The coaching process: principles and practice for sport. Oxford: Butterworth-Heineman.

Mageau, G. A. & Vallerand, R. J. (2003). The coach-athlete relationship: a motivational model. Journal of Sports Sciences, 21, 883–904.

Miller, P. S. & Kerr, G. A. (2002). Conceptualising evidence: past, present and future. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14, 140–53.

Philippe, R. A. & Seiler, R. (2006). Closeness, co-orientation and complementarity in coach-athlete relationships: What male swimmers say about their male coaches. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7, 159–71.

Poczwardowski, A., Barott, J. E. & Peregoy, J. J. (2002). The athlete and coach: their relationships and its meaning – methodological concerns and research process. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 33, 98–115.

Poczwardowski, A., Barott, J. E. & Jowett, S. (2006). Diversifying approaches to research on athlete coach relationships. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7, 125–42.

Smoll, F. L. & Smith, R. E. (1989). Leadership behaviours in sport: a theoretical model and research paradigm. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 19, 1522–51.

Wylleman, P. (2000). Interpersonal relationships in sport: uncharted territory in sport psychology. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 31, 555–72.

INTRODUCTION

“Sports will either be a school of virtue or a school of vice, and that’s why the epidemic of cheating in professional sports is, and ought to be, a huge cultural concern.

Sports, at every level, is supposed to be a training ground for virtue, to mould the character of athletes, coaches and supporters so that they may learn lessons that may help them to achieve off-the-field as much as on. In few other venues are people able to learn as effectively the good habits of perseverance through difficulties, teamwork, striving to overcome obstacles, the importance of preparation and practice, and the courtesy and class we call good sportsmanship.

But the field, court, track, diamond, rink, pool and roadway can also cultivate vice, when results become more important than virtue, when winning becomes more important than winning fairly.

It has been hard to open a sports page recently without reading something to do with cheating and its consequences. Recently encountered readings include Bill Belichick and the clear contravention of the NFL’s videotaping policy; Patriots’ Safety Rodney Harrison and his suspension for taking an illegal substances; NBA referee Tim Donaghy and his expulsion for betting on games he was officiating; Barry Bonds and his tainted home run record, along with former heroes turned synthetic pseudo-supermen Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro; Floyd Landis’ suspect yellow jersey and the expulsion of what seemed to be half this year’s Tour de France participants for blood doping and other violations; WWE icon Chris Benoit and his steroid-induced murderous-suicidal rage; various college recruiting violations, Olympic scandals and much more. Professional boxing almost looks clean and honest by comparison.

WHY DO THEY CHEAT

Sports are a microcosm and stylization of life: goal-setting, preparation, effort, character, the integration of mind and body, competition, success and failure. It’s all there in sports, distilled and intensified into a few hours’ experience.

The usual answer is that cheaters have so strong a desire to win that they will strive to do so at all costs. Cheaters do have a desire to win, but by the time we are adults we know that a cheated victory is hollow. An adult cheater knows that he has not won through skill and effort, and he knows he will not experience the pride that comes from a genuine win. The only thing the cheater is left with is that he knows that other people will believe that he won and he will reap the value of their enhanced esteem.

So here’s a hypothesis about the psychology of cheaters: Cheating is not motivated by a desire to win, but by wanting to be thought of by others as having won. Cheating is a kind of social metaphysics-what others believe is true is more important than what is actually true.

Another possibility is that the cheater knows the above-that a cheated win is hollow-but in the short run his intense desire to win crowds out his knowledge. So cheating is a failure to hold the context of why one is playing sports: strong desire overwhelms the cheater’s knowledge, or through weakness of will the cheater ignores his knowledge to indulge the desire.

Cheating in a financial context: You cheat not because you want the win but because you want the money that comes with the win
Cheating in a social context: You cheat because you don’t want your teammates to lose or because you want your teammates to have the win they want
Con-man cheating: You cheat just for the pleasure of pulling off a scam
Cheating that is malevolent: You want to see your opponent suffer a loss, so you don’t care that the win is hollow-you enjoy knowing the other guy is hurting and/or that you deprived him of the experience of winning

WHAT ARE STEROIDS

Steroids are manufactured testosterone-like drugs that are usually taken to build muscle, enhance performance, and improve appearance. While some steroids are used medically to treat many conditions including asthma, chronic lung disease, skin conditions and allergic reactions such as poison ivy, non medical use of steroids can have serious side effects. Using steroids for cosmetic or athletic purposes is not sanctioned in the United States.

Method of Use

Swallowed in tablets or liquid or injected. Users take them in patterns called “cycling”, which means they take them over a specific period of time, stop, and then start taking them again instead of continuously using them. Many users also take different types of steroids in combination with other drugs. This is known as “stacking”.

Signs and Symptoms of Steroid Use

Steroid abusers often exhibit the following symptoms:

Rapid weight gain
Rapid muscle development
Acne flare up
Fluid retention
Yellow tint in the eyes and on skin (jaundice)
Mood swings, depression
Aggressive behaviour
Premature balding

Drug Test Detection

Oral steroids can be found in your system up to several weeks after use. Injected steroids can be found for several months after use.

Short-term Consequences

Use of steroids can increase muscle mass, strength, and endurance, but can also cause liver tumors, jaundice, water retention, and high blood pressure. Some users show bad judgment because the drugs make them feel invincible. Other users suffer from uncontrolled aggression and violent behavior called “Roid Rage”, severe mood swings, manic episodes and depression. They often suffer from paranoid jealousy, extreme irritability and can have delusions.

Long-Term Consequences

When the body experiences a build up of steroids in its system, conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol, kidney disease, stunted growth, and heart damage are likely to occur. Women can experience irreversible deepening of the voice, shrinking of the breasts, menstrual irregularities, baldness and hair growth on other parts of the body, and genital swelling. Men can experience baldness, breast enlargement, sterility, shrinking of testicles and impotence. Steroids such as prednisone and other synthetic steroids can cause a rise in blood sugar by blocking the effect of insulin. Over time, users can develop diabetes.

WHY TAKING STEROIDS CONSIDERED CHEATING

Steroids give some players an unfair competitive advantage over others. But this response stems from the faulty underlying assumption that players have some “innate” ability or talent which is not dependent upon their environment. In fact, the only way steroids are different from other performance enhancers like protein shakes or nutritional supplements is because their side effects are worse and their performance enhancing effects are large. This efficacy, and the “steroid body” that goes with it, triggers fans’ pharmacological Calvinism, the belief that taking a pill for any reason is bad, and leads to the media labelling the steroid culture and users as alien, which are the factors that truly keep steroids on the wrong side of public opinion and MLB policy.

The first and most basic reason people view steroids as cheating is because they feel it gives players abilities that they otherwise would not have had. This is the position of every poll or article researched for this essay in the national sports media over the last four years. Again, the signs displayed in Philadelphia are representative. One 60-foot long sign said “Babe Ruth did it on Hotdogs and Beer. Aaron did it with class. How did you do it?”This question rests on the assumption that Bonds’ steroid use differentiates him from Aaron and Ruth, who set career home run records without steroids.

But to simply say steroids enhancers players’ performance is easy. The deeper question behind that answer is “Why does that matter?” That question involves a number of different aspects of what it means to be a baseball fan. First among them, perhaps, is the notion of fairness. The US culture in general holds fairness as one of its central tenets, as part of the Puritan Work ethic and the capitalist ideal: everyone must deal fairly, so everyone has their shot to succeed if they work hard enough. That ideal is held to as strongly in baseball as any other sport. The problem with steroids, then, is not just that users have an unfair advantage over non-users. Widespread steroid use limits the free choice of non-users, because if they want to make a living they are almost forced to start taking injections, and having to deal with the side effects. This is called “free choice under pressure” by Thomas Murray (as reported by Peter Kramer).

There’s no question, then, that the more players use steroids, the harder it is for others to stay clean. What are the implications of that for players, and what are players’ responses? At the physical level, this spiral of steroids forces players to endure the side effects of steroids when they otherwise might not. At the level of consciousness, players have their free choice limited by steroid-fuelled competition, and free choice is also something this country values. Players respond to these concerns by claiming that steroid use supports American values. For example, a value much appreciated in sports is the desire to win above all else. Players that have that desire, like Michael Jordan in basketball, are often revered. So a baseball player might argue that he simply wants to win at all cost, even sacrificing his body to steroids to win. Just because another, non-user does not want to win enough to take steroids, that doesn’t mean the user should be punished for it.

There are other problems with the argument that using steroids is cheating because they give a competitive advantage. The biggest fault with it is that steroids are not the only thing in baseball that gives a competitive advantage when there was none before. Revenue and payroll differences and environmental factors like the skill of the training staff and the quality of the facilities can cause “unfair” competitive advantages between teams and players as well, but those discrepancies are considered part of the game. The responses to this argument are that taking a substance is fundamentally different from working out more or on better facilities because you do not have to work as hard to get the same results as someone not on steroids. But some players use a good diet to get into better shape, or take legal supplements to make their workouts more effective. This is exactly the way steroids work – they help to build muscle faster in conjunction with exercise and weightlifting, so those that work out the most are going to get the most out of steroids. Should the MLB disallow all possible supplements and mandate player diet and workout regimens to eliminate the possible advantage? Ultimately, you cannot justify getting rid of steroids because they give a competitive advantage, because baseball operates by identifying and using competitive advantages.

Despite the arguments above, most people would remain convinced that taking steroids was cheating. There are three primary reasons:

One is the notion of pharmacological Calvinism, two is the influence of the press on public perception of steroids, and three is the labelling of drugs in general and those who take them as alien. These are the real reasons that taking steroids in baseball is considered cheating today.

Pharmacological Calvinism is the belief that taking a pill or drug is morally wrong, because hard work, suffering and pain are essential parts of human existence. The concept figures prominently in Kramer’s discussion of Prozac as a way of explaining the public’s response to the drug, and the same can be said of fans and baseball players. This phenomenon can be seen in baseball lingo: someone who is clean is someone who is off steroids. This terminology might come from the MLB policies, but it probably comes from larger drug culture, and reflects the idea that even though it is tough to argue against steroids ideologically, there is still a taint to taking steroids, the sense that a player who takes them has lost some purity they might have off steroids. This also might be why players like Jose Canseco are ridiculed and reviled when they talk about steroids being the standard throughout the league: they are deliberately taking a stance against pharmacological Calvinism, and so automatically people hearing them want to reject the idea without listening to their analysis, which often is more logical than people care to admit.

Another effect of pharmacological Calvinism is that news reporters looking to cover steroids automatically assume a negative stance towards them, although that is also influenced by the dangerous side effects. Sports journalism is very pervasive. Every fan has to get their scores and results from somewhere, often on a daily basis. Sports fans also tend to spend a lot of time discussing sports, so ideas and opinions they read get discussed and argued about in their social circle.

The final reason steroids are considered cheating is because they work so well. And because they work so well, and so many ballplayers used them, the build of a user, his problems and habits, became commonly known and looked for. What is more, because of the negative press steroids got, fans were able to label them an other to dismiss steroids users as people holding alien values without really looking or considering how they might be motivated by the same things as regular fans. This can be shown by the massive amount of jokes about big heads, small balls, a common side effect of steroid use, and the vehemence of the national polls quoted earlier. For fans to say that anyone testing positive should be thrown out of the sport is quite harsh, considering that there are arrests of ballplayers all the time for a variety of other drug use charges and crime, and none of them are thrown out on the first offense. Something that might help explain this position is the legitimate use of steroids. Steroids are not like nutritional supplements of protein shakes that people might regularly take to get in shape, and they are not petty crimes or drug charges that baseball fans are familiar with or have committed themselves. They are treatments for sick people to help survive treatment, including treatment of diseases like AIDS, which already is somewhat marginalized in mainstream culture. And even in those diseases, steroids are something to avoid if you can. So that makes purposeful steroid users in sports all the more alien.

Ultimately, the reason why taking steroids is considered cheating goes back to the chemical properties of steroids themselves: they work too well at helping athletes build muscle, and combined with the country’s pharmacological Calvinism, make for bad press and public perception. This leads fans to consider steroids cheating and justify it by saying steroids give an unfair competitive advantage, when the entire sport of baseball is built on just such advantages. If steroids were less useful, like nutritional supplements today, they would probably be legal, widely used, and just another part of the game, like spitting sunflower seeds. Unfortunately, because of the pressure on athletes who will do anything to succeed, steroids are only going to get more powerful and hard to detect, rather than more benign and legal. But that doesn’t mean the steroid scandal won’t go away. Already, journalists are trumpeting this baseball season as the post-steroid era. If history is any indication, people will think steroids solved, stop caring, only to be shocked again when the next great and popular surge of offense turns out to be the result of their beloved players using the next generation of performance enhancers.

CONCLUSION

The recent epidemic of cheating in sports reveals ethical and anthropological dimensions that must be considered if we wish as a culture to eliminate it.

The ethical dimensions go far beyond the violation of a particular rule governing a sports league. It goes to one of the bedrock principles of ethics, whether in sports players, coaches and fans believe that a good end never justifies immoral means. In the cases of cheating above, we see that the cheaters think that the end of winning – or doing better in competition – validates the dishonest means one takes to get there. There are now such enormous financial rewards or losses hinging on sports outcomes that those of lesser character find far greater incentive.

The anthropological dimension refers mainly to the means one takes in violation of the ethical principle. Sports cheating today very often involve technological manipulation not just of the rules of the game – like with the Patriots’ spy gate – but also of oneself through performance-enhancing drugs. In former days the path to improvement came through practice, coaching, exercise and experience. Now for many it comes through injections, pills and creams. Rather than improving one’s skills, one seeks to make himself “better, stronger and faster” through technology – like a modern six million dollar man, or, if you consider the financial incentives for many pro-athletes, a hundred million dollar man. This comes at a huge cost. The death of pro-football player Lyle Alzado and 11 recent professional wrestlers through steroid use is enough of a warning. But we also have to be conscious of the huge temptation it places on all those who, at whatever age, wish to be successful college or professional athletes who cannot compete on their own with artificially-enhanced peers”.

References:

Sports and Cheating by Fr. Roger J. Landry

Why in Baseball using steroids considered cheating? Brian Chase

American council for drug education – www.acde.org

Amateur sports are sports where participants are entirely engaged without any form of remuneration. This kind of sport was seriously guarded in the 19th century by the rich people though in the 20th century it was faced-out as a result of continued growth in professional sport. Currently amateur sports are held by a few organizations that govern sports. Professional sports developed in the 19th century, this was spear headed by the US and the United Kingdom. By then sporting culture was strong in the institutions of learning for example colleges and universities[1]. As a result, middle class and upper class men who were students at these institutions played as amateurs. People who were working were limited in participating in the games due to there busy schedule though one’s in a while they could be given an afternoon-off in order for them to take part in the sport that was then available.

When professional teams started to emerge some clubs could willingly pay players in order for them to take some time off there profession and take part in sports. This served as an incentive to increase the number of attendances and also it made players to fully concentrate on their sport. This provided a good opportunity for the people who were against amateur sport to flourish and expand. The influence of money and its effect on sport brought the change in sports from amateurs to professional since it was in the main interest of professional to give the highest possible amount per unit of performance (Gallagher et al 1997, 71).

The upper class and middle class men who dominated this sport had a theoretical preference as well as a self interest in preventing the sport from being professionalized[2]. As a result this threatened the participation of the working class in the sport who did not understand why they should not be paid for taking part in the sport. This led to competing interests between the two involved parties since we had a group that wanted sports to be open for all while the amateurs feared that professionalism would destroy the Corinth spirit. The conflict between the two parties lasted for about a century during which sports like golf took it relatively easy and tolerated the competition between the two while others were traumatized by the happenings and they therefore helped the preceding generations to come in terms with professionalism (Wilson 1994, 379).

The Olympics of the 19th century

In the early 19th century and 20th century Olympics restricted participation to only amateur players since the amateur code had been strictly enforced. For instance track and field medals were stripped off from Jim Thorpe for taking expense money from baseball that he played in the year 1912. Afterwards Olympians from western countries who were successful began to accept endorsement contracts from organizations and people who were willing to sponsor them. Complex rules were also put in place to ensure that funds received were channeled to trust funds rather than being given to the athletes. At the same time nations that belonged to Communist bloc joined the Olympians team that mainly comprised soldiers and students who were being paid by the government to train full time.

The retirement of the International Olympic committee (IOC) president in the year 1972 led to the relaxation of the amateur rules in many areas. In the US the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 prohibited national governing bodies from imposing strict rules on standards of amateur than required by the International governing bodies dealing with respective sports. In the year 1990 there was an abandonment of the Olympic regulations which regarded amateur with an exception in sports like boxing were participation rules required amateur status for participant’s safety (Dunning 1999, 118).

Professional sports are sports where athletes receive payment for there participation and performance. This kind of sport has been promoted by several developments i.e. mass media and increased leisure by people which has lead to large audiences thus commanding large incomes. As a result people involved in sports have made it there primary career hence devoting there time on training in order to sharpen there skills, experience and physical condition. The proficiency led popularization of sports[3].

Benefits of a successful team to the city and sponsors.

Successful team popularizes the city in which they are located in other words we can say it sells the city to the world. And as a result investors are attracted to that place making the place to rapidly develop. For example Rochester city in the United States is the 3rd most popular city and it has become a centre for a large metropolitan area. Sponsors drive the goals of a team which include promotion of safety and services to communities dominated by there employees. As a result the morale of sponsor’s employees is boosted due to direct connection to positive changes occurring in the community at large.

Sponsors are able to enjoy visibility through the daily services offered by the teams they sponsor[4]. Some of the benefits of team sponsor partnership include; players wearing sponsor’s logo on there t-shirts and this reveals sponsor’s commitment to the community. There is also promotion of corporate commitment to the community and when the team is being recognized the links of the sponsor company will be included and as a result the company is popularized.

Influence of politics on sports decisions.

There is also increased corporate recognition since there will be opportunities for the media to highlight the corporate community investment. These increase the sponsor’s company visibility by the politicians and the community leaders at large. Net work opportunities with the corporate world, community and public officials are provided. Sometime the team may visit the sponsor’s office in need of training and this in turn gives his employees an opportunity to plan and facilitate sessions meant for building the corporate members.

Media plays a very important role in government development since people get access to the politics and other forms of entertainment. For a very long time the media still remains the leading source of political communication. All functions performed by the media are influenced by political insinuations. For example entertainment, news reporting, socializing new generations, airing of political forum as well as profit making. Its influence is very rampant during political campaigns since coverage of a single event may turn out to be most significant in putting an opponent down.

And since people have there own formed ideas when viewing television and other media sources there is selective attention which is created and as a result viewers tend to pay much attention to information that agree with there own opinions. And since the media is very effective on politicians who do not have a stable political opinion on all issues its very easy for the decisions of sports to be influenced by the happenings in politics.

In politics and sports power, prestige and profits motivate the people involved[5]. The media reports the preceding in both politics and sports for political purposes. Sports are regulated by political establishment in order to ensure equal opportunities, justice, legal authority and personal attention. As a result the relationship existing between sports and politics reflects the changing pattern of values and cultural practices. In the Olympics the formal rules that governed the competitors were formulated by politicians who were very eager to offer an entertainment that would be popular (Allison 1986, 63).

Economic and cultural aspect of sports

Sport has been used and its still being used to raise income, this can be referred to as sport commoditization. Commercialization of sport is not considered as cultural but rather out of the necessity due to economic circumstances. In the colonial time sports were unstructured, spontaneous activities which were coordinated and organized by the participants. This is not the case at the moment since sports are being well organized in order to attract many people from all spheres of the world with different financial status in order to raise a lot of money. At the moment professional sport has grown rapidly and it has become a booming business. Athletes, support personnel and sport team owners have benefited handsomely from sport fans who pay to watch there games and also purchase commodities endorsed by them (Staudohar et al 1991, 264).

Influence of Italian government on sports.

The kind of sport being played in a place is determined by the people’s practice or rather culture. The culture of the people influences the kind of sport they engage in. for example the ancient Olympic Games were religious festivals that commenced with procession along the sacred highway. Therefore culture has a great part in the development of a sport. The Italian government influenced the transition process by sponsoring players to train in order to gain the needed skills and this helped the sport to move from amateur to professional. Govern sponsorship, and partnership with organizing bodies facilitated the growth of sports from amateur to professional sports.

Work Cited.

Paul D. Staudohar, J. A. Mangan. The Business of Professional Sports. USA: University of Illinois Press, 1991.

Rosemarie Gallagher, Sally Fountain & Linda Gee. Physical Education through Diagrams. USA: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Eric Dunning. Sport Matters: Sociological Studies of Sport, Violence, and Civilization.

11 New Fetter Lane, London: Taylor & Francis, 1999.

Lincoln Allison. The Politics of Sport.Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press ND, 1986.

John Wilson. Playing by the Rules. Michigan, USA: Wayne State University Press, 1994.

[1] The students in the various institutions had developed a culture of taking part in sport within there colleges.

[2] The rich and men who were relatively or averagely rich dominated the original amateur sport.

[3] The effectiveness and excellence of the players was as a result of there commitment for training and there full attention during the sport.

[4] The visibility of the sponsors came about as a result of the playing and participation of the teams they supported in community development.

[5] The parties involved in politics and sports are players and politicians who had the same ambitions and also shared same benefits.

Cardiovascular Control in Exercise, the contribution of Central Command and Muscle Afferents

The human body has the ability to easily adapt when exercise begins with many of these adaptations occurring in the cardiovascular system. It is well documented that at the onset of exercise heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and muscle sympathetic nerve activity progressively increase to higher levels (Lind et al, 1964). These cardiovascular adaptations are controlled by either central (Central Command) or peripheral (exercise pressor reflex) mechanisms (McCloskey & Mitchell, 1972).

Central Command (CC) is thought to be a feed-forward process controlling both HR and respiration, both of which are known to increase in the anticipation of exercise (Secher, 2007). CC originates from higher areas of the brain (motor cortex and subcortical areas) and works in parallel with both the locomotor and cardiorespiratory systems during exercise (Green et al, 2007). The feed-forward efferent input converges on the cardiovascular centres of the brainstem along with feedback returning from afferents located in the active skeletal muscle providing the changes seen at the onset of exercise (Fisher et al, 2005).

The changes within the cardiovascular system during exercise are helped via peripheral mechanisms as well as CC. CC inhibits the parasympathetic nervous system by decreasing vagal tone allowing HR to rise, the sympathetic nervous system eventually takes over to allow further increases. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system is produced via feedback from muscle afferents, mainly mechanoreceptors (Murata and Matsukawa, 2001), and forms the sensory arm of the exercise pressor reflex.

Muscle afferents are split into two separate classes, group III and group IV. Group III afferents, classified as mechanoreceptors, are stimulated via muscle stretch, contraction or pressure (Kaufman et al, 1983) whereas group IV afferents, classified as metaboreceptors, are chemically sensitive (Gladwell and Coote, 2002). Afferents are also said to be polymodal and can respond to both mechanical and chemical stimuli (Mense and Meyer, 1985). The exercise pressor reflex is evoked when afferents become sensitised allowing feedback to the cardiovascular centres within the brain. This then allows adequate perfusion of the muscles by increasing cardiac output and constricting the vascular beds (O’Leary, 1993).

A number of studies aim to distinguish between the role of CC and muscle afferent feedback in humans during exercise. When the blood supply to an exercising muscle is occluded CC is not present, this process known as post exercise circulatory occlusion (PECO) activates metaboreceptors (Gandevia and Hobbs, 1990). Electrically evoked exercise also bypasses CC so when this method is used CC is redundant (Kaufman and Rybicki, 1987). These two methods allow the elimination of CC showing muscle afferents provide all feedback which could evoke a cardiovascular response.

CC is activated in proportion to the intensity of the exercise; results from a study by Williamson et al (2002) have shown this through hypnosis. Originally an individual’s perceived exertion during exercise was thought to be independent of any force being produced, allowing the magnitude of CC to be seen (Gandevia et al, 1993). Williamson et al (2002) obtained results related to this idea; they found that the level of CC activated was related to an individual’s sense of effort independently of any force being produced. Increases in HR were found during hypnosis despite no exercise being performed and increases were therefore independent of feedback from afferents within the active limb.

Passively stretching muscles allows cardiovascular responses to be evoked within humans; two studies by Gladwell and Coote (2002) and Fisher et al (2005) have proposed opposing ideas. Gladwell and Coote (2002) activated mechanoreceptors in the triceps surea to measure the effects on HR and BP. Voluntary isometric contraction of the plantar flexor followed by a sustained stretch of the triceps surea by dorsiflexion were performed. Fisher et al (2005) used a similar protocol but blood supply was occluded throughout and different percentages of maximal voluntary contraction were used. They aimed to see whether cardiovascular response to sustained muscle stretch was altered by varying metabolites within the muscle.

Gladwell and Coote (2002) found HR increased soon after the onset of muscle contraction with part of the HR response being mediated via mechanoreceptors since stimulation of receptors via stretch decreased parasympathetic activity. Fisher et al (2005) found that HR and BP were unaffected by levels of metabolite accumulation, therefore stretch was seen to activate mechanically sensitive afferents which are unaffected by the metabolic condition. This study’s use of occlusion shows that the response to stretch is purely from muscle afferents as it is known that CC is not present in these conditions. Gladwell and Coote (2002) did not use occlusion and though cardiac vagal tone activity was measured throughout stretch there is no way to ascertain whether CC was present. The conclusion drawn by Fisher et al (2005) is more reliable as the cardiovascular response seen is entirely down to mechanoreceptors, it must be certain that CC has been eliminated in Gladwell and Coote’s (2002) study before the results can be taken into consideration.

The use of stimulated and voluntary exercises is an easy way to directly compare the effects of CC and muscle afferent feedback on the cardiovascular system. An early study by Krogh and Lindhard (1917) showed through electrical stimulation that an increase in pulse rate was reflexly induced (by muscle afferent) whereas increases in voluntary exercise originated from cerebral impulses (CC). Alam and Smirk (1937) took this further and looked into the changes in BP during muscular work when circulatory occlusion was applied. A cuff placed around the thigh occluded flow whilst knee raises were performed at repeated intervals using only the calf muscle. BP rose as a result of the exercise and dropped when the exercise stopped, however it remained at an elevated level compared to rest. BP did not return to resting level until PECO was ceased. Mental efforts which are associated with muscular work are not the main reason for the rise in BP; when no cuff was placed around the leg increases in BP were less or abolished. Therefore the small fall in BP whilst PECO is still in place is due to the cessation of mental activity concerned with muscular exercise and muscle afferents must be causing the cardiovascular response thereafter.

The studies indicated previously provided the basis for the concept that CC and muscle afferents affect cardiovascular response in separate ways. More recent studies by Coote et al (1971) and Bull et al (1989) have looked further into the effects of voluntary and stimulated exercise. Bull et al (1989) compared the pressor reflex during and following voluntary and involuntary contraction of the triceps surea whilst under occlusion. When voluntary contraction ended but PECO was maintained BP rapidly fell to a lower though still elevated level compared with rest. It was thought that the initial drop was attributed to the removal of CC, matching the results of Alam and Smirk (1937). The immediate drop in HR back to resting level seen post exercise whilst still under PECO suggests that it cannot be the metabolites which cause the increase in HR, if this were the case HR would stay elevated in PECO. The study concludes that the elevated BP following both types of contractions (electrical and voluntary) were due to circulatory arrest caused by trapped metabolites within the muscle. This suggests that the cardiovascular responses of HR and BP must be controlled by two separate mechanisms, CC and peripheral feedback respectively.

Coote et al (1971) looked at the pressor reflex response to muscular exercise in cats. The cats were anaesthetised and contraction of the hindlimb was elicited by electrical stimulation of the ventral root, CC was not activated as electrical stimulation bypasses the brain. An increase in BP was still seen without CC being present therefore the conclusion was drawn that cardiovascular response arises from within the contracting muscles themselves, either mechanically or chemically, rather than from CC. Evidence for a chemical stimulus within humans has come from Alam and Smirk (1937) which can provide the link that results drawn from cats can be similar to those that occur in humans. It was also found that the pressor reflex was proportional to the tension developed by the contraction and so the stronger the contractions the large the pressor reflex is likely to be.

Distinguishing between CC and muscle afferent feedback can also be undertaken through neuromuscular blockade (NMB) and anaesthesia. Two studies employing this technique are by Gandevia and Hobbs (1990) and Iwamoto et al (1987) both looked at cardiovascular response in man, McCloskey and Mitchell (1972) also employed this technique but investigated cats. The latter study sought to provide evidence that NMB would abolish the cardiovascular response in exercise. Cat’s triceps surea were electrically stimulated via the ventral root with two nerve blocking techniques being used: anodal blockage was used to eliminate large myelinated nerve fibres and anaesthesia was used to eliminate small and unmyelinated nerve fibres. Anodal block did not change the pressor reflex from the control condition; this is due to only the large fibres being blocked which are predominantly muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs. However under anaesthetic the cardiovascular responses were abolished. This is due to small and unmylinated fibres being blocked which are predominantly mechano- and metaboreceptors. The fact that only anaesthesia affects the cardiovascular response shows that the response is entirely due to the pressor reflex as no CC could be present.

Iwamoto et al (1987) did a similar study but experimented on both cats and humans. The cat procedure was the same as McCloskey and Mitchell (1972) whilst humans performed voluntary and evoked knee extensions before and after NMB (tubocurarine). In cats blockade eliminated all cardiovascular responses compared with the control condition. In human voluntary contraction HR increased and strength was large, NMB reduced strength but allowed further increases in HR. Stimulated contraction reduced strength but HR was as large as in voluntary exercise though increased from the second R-R interval, NMB reduced strength further but HR still increased from second heart beat. BP increased in both types of exercise but to a lesser extent in stimulated exercise, NMB further reduced BP. As HR was unaffected by NMB it is suggested that it is governed by processes outside the muscle (CC) this is in line with Secher’s (1985) findings. However BP was affected suggesting that muscle afferent feedback plays a role in the control of BP within the cardiovascular response, this matches the McCloskey and Mitchell’s (1972) conclusion drawn from cats.

Gandevia and Hobbs (1990) looked at changes in HR and BP to graded contraction in man with the use of anaesthesia. Handgrip contractions were performed with a period of 3min PECO, arm muscles were then acutely paralysed via anaesthesia and the exercise performed again. HR and BP increased in line with the preceding contraction with PECO showing the degree to which the metaboreflex was activated. BP increased in direct relation to the preceding contraction but HR did not. In paralysis graded increases in HR were seen but not in BP, suggesting CC controls HR response. These results are consistent with in Iwamoto (1987) who found NMB to reduce BP response but which had little effect on HR response to voluntary contraction. Both studies show that cardiovascular response must be due to a combination of CC and chemoreflex. Gandevia and Hobbs (1990) showed that during anaesthesia HR was controlled by CC as muscle afferent would have been blocked, as BP did not increase with anaesthesia it could be concluded that muscle afferents control the modulation of BP.

Conclusions can be drawn from all the relevant literature that CC and muscle afferent feedback have overlapping tendencies and that the different aspects of the cardiovascular response, though controlled via both mechanisms, lean towards one aspect more than the other. Therefore HR could be controlled to a greater extent by CC (Gandevia and Hobbs, 1990; Iwamoto et al, 1987 and Bull et al, 1989) whereas muscle afferent feedback could control BP response (Alam and Smirk, 1937 and Coote et al, 1971).

The decision of the ECJ in the Bosman case[1] had an extremely significant impact on professional sports within the European Union. As has been pointed out by a number of commentators the decision in Bosman led to an overhaul of the existing transfer rules of club football within Europe. It also had a wider impact on professional sports as a whole as the post-Bosman period witnessed a significant influx of migration of professional athletes within the EU.[2] Within the EU, sport has assumed a special status and forms an integral part of European identity and its culture. The European parliament has coined the term “specifity of sports” to address the interaction of Community law in the sporting arena and the extent of such an interaction.[3] This interface between sports and community law was first addressed in Welgrave and Koch v Union Cycliste Internationale[4] followed closely by another decision in the case of Dond v Motero.[5] Almost twenty years down the line came the decision in Bosman which clearly elucidated the role of Community law within the sporting arena and in the process reaffirmed and elaborated upon some of the principles discussed in the two above mentioned decisions.

The controversy around the Bosman decision stems from the fact that it put an end to the existing transfer process in European football by abolishing player transfer fee system and creating free agency for European footballers. It also brought an end to the existing UEFA “Non-National” rules. Both the above regulations followed by European clubs were tested against the Community provisions aimed at protection of labour rights and were found wanting. The transfer rules as well as the nationality rule was found to be violative of Article 48 of the Community treaty safeguarding against free movement of labour as well as anti-discriminatory treatment of workers. The significance of the Bosman judgment lies in the fact that it managed to make a significant contribution to the corpus of labour law by emphatically reinstating that sportspersons rights were protected within Community law and also laid down the framework for subsequent judgments which further established the labour rights of professional sportspersons.

The paper will first explain in brief the background in which the Bosman judgment arose. Then paper will delve into the intricacies of the judgment along with some of the most persuasive arguments raised by the parties to the dispute. Then judgment of the court along with the reasoning behind the judgment will be explored. At the outset it has to be mentioned that the paper will only address the issues of transfer rules and nationalily rules which were evaluated on the anvil of Article 48. The ancillary issue of related to Article 85 and Article 86 of the Community treaty would not be addressed. In the next section the paper will explore the extent to which the judgment in Bosman’s case contributed in settling the law related to free movement and non discrimination of sportspersons within the EU. In this section of the paper subsequent judgments would also be briefly looked into to describe the establishment and development of the principle of applicability of non discriminatory principle within the arena of sports in the EU. Finally the paper will briefly look back at the arguments raised in the Bosman case related to the need for keeping sports outside the ambit of the provisons of Community treaty. In this section existing regulations in England as well as the United States will be looked into to evaluate whether the guidelines laid down in Bosman is in sharp contrast to the sporting regulations existing in those states.

Literature Review
A Closer Look at the Judgment of Bosman
Background and Facts

Within the European Union football is played either as an amateur or a professional sport. The structure of professional football comprises of clubs which belong to national associations or federations. The national associations including Belgium’s ASBL Union Royale Belge des Societes de Football Association (URBSFA) are members of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). FIFA is again divided into confederations, UEFA being the confederation which governs football in Europe.

As per the rules framed by the URBSFA prior to Bosman case, every player whose contract is expiring must be offered a new Contract by April 26, failing which he is given amateur. The player has the option of accepting or rejecting the contract offer. If the player rejects the contract, he is placed on the compulsory transfer list for a month from 1st may onwards. In this period any club can buy the player from his existing club even without the permission of the existing club by paying certain compensation fee for training which is called transfer fees. On 1st June the period of free transfers begins and in this period a player can be transferred by the mutual agreement of both clubs after the payment of the requisite transfer fees. If the transfer does not take place the clubs are required by URBSFA to offer a contract to the player which is not less than the initial contract of April 26. If this contract is rejected by the player, he is classified as an amateur and has two wait two years to obtain a transfer without the club’s consent.

Jean Marc Bosman, player for Belgian club RC Liege, was offered a contract before the expiry of his existing contract which entailed a substantial reduction in his wages, of almost 75%. As a result Bosman refused this new offer and as a consequence was put on the transfer list. During the period of free transfer the French second division club US Dunkerque became interested in employing Bosman. However as per rules for international transfers, the Belgian football association had to pass a transfer certificate to the French football association within a specific time. However in spite of RC Liege and US Dunkerque agreeing upon the amount of transfer fee for a seasons, RC Leige refused to give permission to the Belgian league to pass on the certificate to the French association as they were unsure about the financial solvency of Dunkurque. Thus Bosman was preveted from joining RC liege leading to the initition of a suit in the Court of First Instance in Leige which finally culminated in the landmark decision of ECJ in 1995.

Transfer Rules and Article 48

The Courts assuming jurisdiction under Article 177, restated the principle of applicability of Article 48 of the EU Charter to sporting activity as long as there is an “the existence of, or the intention to create, an employment relationship.

ECJ decided in favour of Bosman and against the respondents namely RC Liege, URBSFA and UEFA. The court ruled on two main issues. Firstly the Court overhauled the existing transfer system by holding that transfer fees for out-of-contract players were illegal and in violation of Article 48 of the EU treaty when the players were moving from one E.U. nation to another. Secondly the court also found nationality clause to be inconsistent with Article 48 and as a result struck it down.

Firstly in spite of the arguments raised by the respondents the ECJ found that the right to movement of workers as enshrined under Article 48, which is one of the four fundamental rights guaranteed by the EU charter, was being violated by the existing transfer rules of URBSFA.The Court rejected the contention that transfer rules governs relationship between culbs and does not affect the players. The Court pointed out that transfer fees is a burden which the clubs has to bear and the failure to pay such fees ultimately affects the employment rights of the players.The Court then pointed out that in spite of being contrary to Article 48 the transfer rules could be saved if they could be justified on the grounds of pressing public interest and the principle of proportionality between the means exercised for the objectives sought. However in Court went on to reject the different justifications forwarded by the respondents.

The Court found merits in UEFA’s goal of maintaining financial and competitive balance but rejected the claim that the transfer rules furthered this object because the existing rules had failed to preserve the level of financial and competitive balance as the rules failed to prevent the richest clubs from securing the best players. The merit of the second justification advanced by respondents regarding UEFA’s goall of encouraging the recruitment and training of young talent was also accepted by the Court. However the Court failed to establish the nexus between the transfer system and the achievement of that goal. The Court found no relationship to exist because the amount of a transfer fee is unrelated to the actual cost of training and recruitment, and because receipt of such fees for any particular player is speculative. Finally the argument that transfer fees are acceptable on the grounds that such transfer fees are necessary for clubs to buy players was rejected because the Court observed that obstacles to freedom of movement cannot be justified simply on the grounds tat such obstacle was in existence in the past.

Finally the Court reaffirmed the opinion of the Advocate general that as alternatives which does not tantamount to an obstacle to freedom of work can be used to achieve the ends sought by the transfer rules and hence the transfer rules has to be struck down.

Nationality Principle

The ECJ also rules that the 3+2 rule which restricts the employment of footballers of a different EU state is in direct violation of Article 48(2) of the EU treaty which expressly seeks to abolish any discrimination based on nationality between workers of the member states of the EU in relation to employment, remuneration and conditions of work and employment.[6] In this regard the Court further refers to Regulation 1612/68 of the Council which seeks to enforce the provion under Article 48. Finally the court extends this principle of non discrimination to the existing transfer rules by referring to the principle propounded in the Dona case where regulations of sporting bodies were held to fall under this principle of non discrimination. In light of the conflict between the nationality provision of the ransfer rules and Article 48 the Court examines a few possible justifications which can save the nationality rule followed by UEFA.

It was argued by the respondents that the nationality rule can be justified on non-economic grounds including maintaining a natural link between the club and the country, the maintenance of a pool of national players and to maintain the competitive equilibrium between the clubs.

However the Court referring to the Dona case observed that though non economic objectives may justify the exclusions of certain players in certain fixtures but that principle is not relevant in this case because the 3+2 rule of UEFA applies to all clubs and all matches. Similarly the Court also observed that the nationality rule is not adequate enough to prevent rich clubs from acquiring the richest players. Further the argument regarding the nexus between club and country was also rejected along with the point regarding the maintenance of a pool of national players.

Another important point which was argued and rejected by the Court was that the 3+2 rule was developed in cooperation with the Commission and hence should not be struck down. In this case the Court observed that “Finally, as regards the argument based on the Commission’s participation in the drafting of the ‘3+2’ rule, it must be pointed out that, except where such powers are expressly conferred upon it, the Commission may not give guarantees concerning the compatibility of specific practices with the Treaty” Hence if the rule in violation of Article 48 then the fact tht it was made in cooperation with the European Commission will not validate it.

Community Law and Principle of Non Discrimination of Foreign Nationals

In order to understand the interface between nationality restrictions and its conflict with the EU treaty it is imperative to briefly look into the framework of the EC treaty. Sports per se has not found a place in the present EC treaty, but as has been discussed before, it falls within the competence of EC law when it concerns an economic activity.[7] Article 12 of the EC treaty prohibits discrimination on the grounds of nationality. More specifically discrimination on the basis of nationality of workers is dealt with in Articles 39[8] to 42 of the EC Treaty. However it has to be remembered in this context that the compatibility of a sporting rule with a particular article of the Treaty does not release the rule from the requirement to comply with other Articles of the Treaty.[9] However, the general protection against nationality discrimination can only be invoked in the absence of any specific provision within the treaty. This principle was elucidated in the case of Lehtonen and Castors Canada Dry Namur-Braine v. Federation Royale Belge des Societes de Basketball (FRBSB),[10] where it was observed that Article 39 of the treaty dealing with nationality discrimination of workers will be applicable in the instant case. The Court further observed that Article 12 will only be applicable independently in case of the absence of any specific provision.[11]

In light of the above framework of Community law the Lehtonen judgment can be briefly evaluated to determine whether it has also followed the Bosman line and determined whether a sporting rule can be discriminatory within the EC treaty in the absence of objective justification. In Lehtonen different periods of transfers were applicable in the Belgian basketball league of players from Belgian clubs and European clubs. This vires of the transfer rule was challenged to be in violation of the non discriminatory rule enshrined under Article 48. The ECJ observed that

“…Article 48 precludes the application of rules laid down in a Member State by sporting associations which prohibit a basketball club from fielding players from other Member States in matches in the national championship, where they have been transferred after a specified date, if that date is earlier than the date which applies to transfers of players from certain non-member countries, unless objective reasons concerning only sport as such or relating to differences between the position of players from a federation in the European zone and that of players from a federation not in that zone justify such different treatment.”[12]

In other words the Court followed the line of Bosman and held that Article 48 can act as a threshold which specific sporting regulations have to abide by. However a divergence from the non-discriminatory principle is allowed if they can fulfill the test of objective satisfaction.

One more interesting aspect of the non-nationality principle, which has come to the limelight in subsequent cases, is the status of individuals belonging to non-member states who have entered into Cooperative agreements with the EU containing non discriminatory terms in relation to nationality of the members of those states as well as the members of third party states.

In the Malaja[13] ruling a Polish basketball player Malaja, challenged the restriction of the French Basketball Federation on the number of foreign players in a club. She based her claim on the basis of an agreement entered by Poland with the EU which ensured non discrimination of Polish workers within the EU. The Council the Etat held that the non-discriminatory principle enshrined in the EU treaty will also be applicable to eastern European states along with Poland who had entered into cooperation treaties with the EU.

Another landmark decision in this respect is Kolpak case. Kolpak who was a Slovak national, signed consecutive fixed-term contracts in 1997 and 2000 as a goalkeeper for a second division handball team. However the German Handball Associations imposed a cap on the number of non-EU players who could play in one team. This precluded Kolpak from performing his duties under the employment contract. Kolpak held a valid residence permit in Germany. He took the dispute to the German courts arguing that the agreement between Slovakia and the EU would prevent the Handball association from treating him differentially from other non-EU or German players. The dispute was referred to the ECJ. The Court observed that the agreement with Slovakia did not contain any specific provision safeguarding against anti-discrimination. However the Court compared the agreement with Article 48 of Treaty of Rome and came to the conclusion that the agreement embodied the same principles which have been enshrined under Article 48. Hence even in the absence of any specific provision preventing discrimination, the Court held that the principles of non-discrimination established in Bosman can be extended to the present case. However the Court restricted the scope of the non-discriminatory principle by holding that the non-discriminatory principle construed from the agreement will be limited to Slovakian workers already employed in the member states of the EU.

The final judgment that has to be mentioned in this regard is the Simutenkov case in which the Courts closely analyzed the Bosman and the Kolpak decisions. The decision of the Court in the Simutenkov mirrored the judgment in Kolpak and extended the principle of non-discrimination to Russian workers employed within the EU. The decision followed Kolpak to the extent that the scope of the non-discrimination principle was restricted to existing workers. In other words it did not bestow a general right on all EU members to circulate freely within the EU.

A Closer Look at the “Sporting” Exception

In Bosman, UEFA had argued that sports was always respected within the European Union and owing to the difficulty in extrapolating the economic aspect from football Article 48 should be interpreted in a flexible manner. German Government further emphasized on sports being an expression of European culture and hence should be protected under Article 128 of the Treaty of Rome which seeks to safeguard the national regional diversity of culture.

However as has been discussed previously the Court relied on previous ECJ decisions in Walgrave and Dona to determine the extent to which Article 48 of the treaty of Rome can regulate sporting activities. Again as recently as 2006, The ECJ in its decision in Meca-Medina v. Commission[14], reaffirmed the principle of Bosman when they observed that “having regard to the objectives of the Community, sport is subject to Community law in so far as it constitutes an economic activity within the meaning of Article 2”

However the approach of the Court in this respect has been severely criticized in certain quarters. Commentators have alleged that the Court has in their zeal to extend economic regulations have failed to recognize the specific nature of sports.[15] However a brief look at sporting regulations and the legal restrictions imposed on such sporting rules in US and UK points to the shortcomings of bestowing unfettered power in respect of sporting activities.

The transfer system in British football can be traced as far back as the last decade of the 19th century when football clubs started to purchase and sale football players. The concept of transfer fees was in existence even in that period. Even though these rules flagrantly violated the contractual and labour rights of the players, these rules remained in existence throughout the majority of the twentieth century and were justified on the grounds of regulating player mobility and competitive equilibrium.

The landmark case of Eastham[16] the “retention and transfer” system[17] was challenged by George Eastham who wanted to move from Newcastle to Arsenal. However Newcastle simply retained him despite his repeated request for transfers. As a result a writ was filed in the High Court against Newcastle for restraint of trade. Five issues was considered by Judge Wilberforce out of which the one of relevance where whether there was actual restraint of trade and whether such restrain was necessary for the maintenance of the nature of the league or its members. The Court found that Newcastle had indulged in activities which tantamount to restraint of trade. More importantly the Court found that the transfer and retention system was also an unreasonable restraint on trade on the ground that it acted as a barrier to the movement of players even when their contracts have expired unless a transfer fee was paid.[18]

As a consequence of the Eastham rulin the retention and transfer system was overhauled and a new system was introduced where a player was free to move from his existing club unless the club offered a contract which atleast equaled the terms of the previous contract between the club and the player. In 1978 further changes were brough about which gave players the right to reject contracts and move to a different club. Further it was provided that in case of a dispute between the new and the former club regarding transfer fee a four member panel will be constituted to determine the amount of transfer fees.

Finally the regulations existing in the baseball league in US [MLB] and its interface with different fields of law can be briefly explored. The major contentious issue in American Baseball league was surrounding the “reserve list” and “reserve clause: which raised significant questions regarding players right to movement and free agency. However in the early years of the twentieth century the US legal system was averse to the idea of collective bargaining rights and hence there was a lacuna in the law related to labour rights. Further the Sherman Act, which sought to prevent restraint of trade also provided an exception to the MLB and as a result the employment rights of the players suffered. However the gradual development of collective bargaining culminated into the creation of baseball players association[MLBA] which entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the club owners. The significance of this collective bargaining agreement was that it contained an arbitrational clause for addressing player’s grievances. On the basis of this collective bargaining agreement, arbitration proceedings were initiated inNational & American League Professional Baseball Clubs v. MLBPA[19] where baseball’s reserve system was challenged. The arbitrator found in favour of the players. However the true significance of the judgment lies in the fact that the arbitrator held that though it was possible to negotiate a reserve system which contained the option of continuous renewal, however the option clause was not implied into the contract and had to be bargained for. In other words the arbitrator laid down that the though the reserve system cannot be overhauled, however the incorporation of such a clause in player contract cannot be implied. The presence or absence of such a provision will be decided on the basis of collective bargaining between the parties. This was also affirmed by the

BUILT TO RUN: BIOMECHANICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE MARATHON RUNNERS

Acknowledgements

Special thanks are accorded to the following people whose work contributed significantly in developing this essay:

Dennis Bramble and Daniel Lieberman whose recent findings established running as an essential factor in the evolution of humans, findings that added an extra measure of interest to, and a context for, the essay;
Jolie Holschen for doing such an excellent job of pulling together so much valuable information on the anatomical differences between male and female athletes; and
Stephen Seiler for his exploration of gender differences in endurance performance and training.

In addition, there were numerous other sources used and for which appreciation is due. Attributions are made to all sources in the References section at the end of the essay.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

1

Anatomical Differences between Men and Women with Specific Reference to Running

2

Definition of the Term Marathon with Comparison to Other Types of Running

7

Definitions of the Term Biomechanics

8

Application of Biomechanics to Running with Reference to Marathon Runners

10

OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE

12

REVIEW OF EXISTING RESEARCH ON METHODS AND FINDINGS

12

DISCUSSION

19

CONCLUSIONS

22

FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH

22

REFERENCES

24

BUILT TO RUN: BIOMECHANICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE MARATHON RUNNERS

“More than by brain size or tool-making ability,

the human species was set apart from its ancestors

by the ability to jog mile after lung-stabbing mile

with greater endurance than any other primate.”

INTRODUCTION

The introductory quotation (Hotz, 2004) simply, yet vividly, expresses the results of a recent study completed by two American scientists, Dennis Bramble and Daniel Lieberman, and released in the journal Nature (2004). Bramble and Lieberman contend that “the ability to run long distances was the driving force shaping the modern human anatomy.” Hotz’s characterization of early humans as “marathon men and women from the tips of their distinctively short toes and long Achilles tendons to the tops of their biomechanically balanced heads” (emphasis added) sets the backdrop for this essay—an exploration of the biomechanical differences between male and female marathon runners.

After a few additional historical comments, this essay opens with a presentation of anatomical differences between men and women with specific reference to running then continues with definitions and descriptions of the term marathon, as a form of organized running sport, and definitions for the term biomechanics in preparation for a discussion of how the field of biomechanics is applied to running. With this information as a foundation, the objective and scope will be articulated followed by presentation of previous methods and findings revealed from a search of the literature on the topic of biomechanical differences between male and female marathon runners and closely-related topics. These findings will be discussed and conclusions drawn. Finally, recommendations for further research will be presented.

To return briefly to the research findings of Bramble, a paleontologist and biomechanics expert, and Lieberman, a physical anthropologist, to continue setting the backdrop for the essay, Bramble states: “Running made us human, at least in an anatomical sense. We think running is one of the most transforming events in human history” (Chui, 2004). Endurance running is an activity that is reserved for humans in the primate world and not common in other mammals with the exception of dogs, horses and a few others. Bramble and Lieberman contend that running permitted humans to scavenge and hunt for food over significant distances and that the high protein food they secured was instrumental in developing larger brains (Wilford, 2004).

To facilitate running, humans developed several traits including large buttocks with strong muscles which connect the femur to the trunk of the body preventing the body from “over-balancing with each step.” In addition, “humans have a lengthy arm-swinging stride” and “[l]ong ligaments and tendons—including the Achilles tendon—[which] serve as springs that store and release mechanical energy during running.” (Hotz, 2004).

Bramble’s reference to today’s running in the evolutionary context he and Lieberman established provides an appropriate introduction to the exploration of the biomechanical differences between male and female marathon runners (Wilford, 2004): “Today, endurance running is primarily a form of exercise and recreation, but its roots may be as ancient as the origin of the human genus.”

Anatomical Differences between Men and Women with Specific Reference to Running

The description of anatomical differences between men and women, which is focused on anatomical features that are involved in running, begins with a gender-neutral discussion to establish a foundation for the more gender-specific information.

Rossi (2003) emphasizes the complexity of walking, a precursor to running. He writes that half of the 650 muscles and tendons in the human body are involved in what most people consider to be the simple act of walking. He suggests that, in the evolution of the human body, there were “hundreds of adaptations” that had to take place, adaptations that required “repositioning of everything in the body” over several million years. Rossi writes:

“The arms, no longer needed for branch swinging, became shorter, the legs longer, the pelvis wider, the shoulders narrower, the neck longer and more slender, the spine changed from C-shape to S-shape. Major changes were required in the hip, knee and ankle joints. Hundreds of muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints gradually shifted in position, size and function. And of course, the new posture and gait required important changes in the size and position of all the organs of the chest and abdomen.”

Rossi suggests that some of these changes were extremely significant from a biomechanical perspective. For instance, he calls attention to the blood pumping requirement of the upright human form: Daily in each individual, approximately 74,000 quarts of blood must travel through 100,000 miles of blood vessels from the brain to the feet and legs in a circular pattern. Rossi emphasizes the human “engineering” challenge that was required to design a system that would counteract the effects of gravity in moving blood vertically in this manner. Rossi’s comments are particularly important in the context of the current discourse because they provide some insight into the current state of relevant anatomical features of today’s runners and how those features were derived.

The anatomy of humans, unlike that of other living creatures, provides for speed and endurance. The unique characteristics related to running include (Science in Africa, 2005, citing University of Utah Public Relations, 2004):

Skull features. These features, which include sweating from the scalp and face, cool the blood.
A balanced head. This shape of head with a relatively flat face, small teeth, and short snout moves the center of the mass backward which helps to counter the effects of moving upward and downward during running.
A ligament running from the rear of the skill and neck downward to the thoracic vertebrae. This feature serves as a shock absorber that aids the arms and shoulders in counterbalancing the head during running activity.
Shoulders “decoupled” from the head and neck. This feature allows rotation of the body while the head faces forward during running.
A tall body. This feature, which includes a narrow trunk, waist and pelvis, provides for increased skin surface allowing for enhanced body cooling and permits the upper and lower body segments to move independently.
Short forearms. This feature permits the upper body to act as a counterbalance to the lower body during running activity while reducing the muscle power required for maintaining flexed arms.
Large vertebrae and disks. This feature permits the human back to accepted heavier loads when runners impact the ground.
Large, strong connection between the pelvis and the spine. This feature supports more stability and shock absorbing capacity during running activity.
Large buttocks. This feature, and the muscles that form it, stabilize the body during running activity. The connection of these muscles to the femur prevents the body from pitching forward.
Long legs. This feature allows humans to take large strides during running activity. The tendons and ligaments permit the legs to be lighter and less muscular thereby requiring a smaller amount of energy to propel them while running.
Large hip, knee, and ankle joint surface areas. These features provide enhanced shock absorption by reducing the impact in any one specific area.
Arrangement of bones in the foot. This feature provides for a more rigid foot by creating a stable arch, allowing runners to push off in a more efficient manner and to use ligaments located on the bottom of the feet as springs.
Large heel bone, short toes, and a big toe. These features provide for enhanced shock absorption and increased capacity to push off during running activity.

With the running-related anatomical features applicable to all humans as a foundation, the focus now turns to the differences in anatomical features between men and women, specifically those features that are involved in running activity. Holschen (2004) writes that, until puberty, males and females are equal in terms of strength, aerobic power, heart size, and weight; they also have similar amounts of body fat.

Starting at puberty, according to Holschen (2004), male and female sex hormones begin affecting bone and lean body mass, circulation, and metabolism in different ways. A female typically has a wider pelvis, femoral anteversion (inward twisting of the femur), genu valgum (knees touch but ankles are separated), and external tibial torsion (feet do not line up in a straight manner because of out-toeing from outward rotation of the large calf bone). Center of gravity differences between men and women are minimal, correlating more by body type and height than with gender. (Atwater, 1985, cited in Holschen, 2004). When compared with males, females typically have smaller bones accompanied by smaller articular surfaces. They also have proportionately shorter legs with resulting decreased potential force in certain maneuvers. (Holschen, 2004).

At puberty, girls gain both fat and lean muscle mass due to the influence of female hormones; boys lose body fat and add muscle mass due to the influence of male hormones (Holschen, 2004). Women in adulthood have about ten percent more body fat than do their male counterparts (Greydanus, D. and Patel, D., 2002, cited in Holschen, 2004). The basal metabolic rate is approximately ten percent lower in women than in men. The presence of female hormones mandates that women rely more on fat metabolism at any given exercise level when compared to men. In addition, glycogen uptake, storage, and use are increased. (Holschen, 2004, citing Bonekat, H. W. et al., 1987; Dombovy, M. L. et al., 1987; Frankovich, R. J. and Lebrun, C. M., 2000; Nicklas, B. J. et al., 1989; Tarnopolsky, L. J., 1990) Cureton and associates (1988, cited in Holschen, 2004) attribute the differences in muscle strength between men and woman to skeletal and cardiac muscular hypertrophy and muscle mass percentage; they contend that muscle mass in men is forty percent compared to twenty-three percent in women.

Changes in body composition and circulatory capacity beginning at puberty result in approximately twenty percent higher cardio-respiratory capacity in men. Men also have comparatively higher oxygen-carrying capacity, larger heart and lung mass, a higher stroke volume, and higher maximal cardiac output which result in greater effectiveness in aerobic and anaerobic activities, although training can overcome the inherent differences (Williford, H. N. et al., 1993, cited in Holschen, 2004).

The results of the current research point to fundamental anatomical differences between men and woman, differences that largely begin to appear during puberty and which have some bearing on running capability.

Definition of the Term Marathon with Comparison to Other Types of Running

The term running can be defined as “[moving] swiftly on foot so that both feet leave the ground during each stride” (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000). The research by Bramble and Lieberman (2004, cited in Nature, 2004), which was presented earlier, seems to indicate that running has been part of human existence since its beginnings and, in fact, contributed significantly to development of human life today. Humans no longer require running for survival, at least in their normal affairs; that is, typically, humans do not have to run from danger or run in pursuit of animals to kill for food. In modern times, running has taken on a new form—competition foot racing. This competition racing can be against oneself to achieve one’s own “personal best” or with others. Racing against others can take many forms ranging from informal competitions between two young friends racing against one another on a playground to very formal competitions such as those in the quadrennial Olympics. The more formal running competitions are typically classified by the length of the run: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 5000, and 10000 meters as well as marathons (Dollman, 2003).

There are many terms that refer to specific forms of foot racing: run, dash, sprint, relay, meet, competitive trial of speed, footrace, and marathon (Webster’s New World Thesaurus, 1997). Of these, the terms dash and sprint are typically used interchangeably to describe “a short, fast run or race” (Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1988) or “a short, swift movement” (Webster’s New World Thesaurus, 1997). Organized dashes and sprints are commonly of 50 meters, 100 meters, 200 meters, 50 yards, 100 yards, and 200 yards in length (Webster’s New World Thesaurus, 1997). Marathons are a form of long-distance running, which are on- and off-the-track competitions of more than 3000 meters (Hlus, 1997). Specifically, a marathon is “a footrace of 42 kilometers, 195 meters (26 miles, 385 yards) run over an open course,” or “any long-distance or endurance contest” People who compete in marathons are called marathoners (Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1998). Physiologically, there is a fundamental difference between a sprint or dash and a marathon. According to Pritchard (1994), “A sprinter can exert maximum force throughout the run, but this is not possible for longer runs, where propulsive force must be reduced to match energy availability.”

Historically, marathons are not new events. According to legend, the name marathon is derived from the Greek city, Marathon, to commemorate Pheidippides’s run from that city to Athens to announce Greek victory over the Persians. The marathon was introduced to the Olympics in 1896 and today’s official distance was established in 1908. (Hlus, 1997; The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2005) Today, in addition to marathon races in the Olympics, many cities throughout the world serve as sites for annual or other periodic marathons (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2005).

A new form of marathon race has recently taken form—the ultramarathon, which is “any organized footrace extending beyond the standard marathon running distance of 42 kilometers, 195 meters…[they] typically begin at 50 kilometers and extend to enormous distances” (Blaikie, n. d.). Standard distances for ultramarathons are 50 and 100 kilometers and 50 and 100 miles (Meyers, 2002) with the longest certified race being the Sri Chinmoy, a 2092 kilometer race held annually in New York (Blaikie, n. d.).

Definition of the Term Biomechanics

The research produced numerous and varied definitions for the term biomechanics. The following are representative of the findings:

“The study of the mechanics of a living body, especially of the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on the skeletal structure.” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000).
[The] application of mechanical engineering principles and techniques in the field of medicine and surgery, studying natural structures to improve those produced by humans” (The Hutchinson Encyclopedia, 2003).
“[A] science examining the forces acting upon and within a biological structure, and the effects produced by those forces” (The University of Calgary, n. d.).
“[T]he science that deals with forces and their effects, applied to biological systems” (Freivalds, 2004).
“[T]he application of the principles and techniques of mechanics to the human body in motion” (Snowden, 2001).
“Biomechanics is a specific field which evaluates the motion of a living organism…and the actions of forces on that organism…a combination of several different areas of study [including] anatomy and physiology, kinematics (the study of motion without regard to its causes), kinesiology (the study of human movement) and kinetics (the study of forces acting on a system)” (National Endurance & Sports Trainers Association, 2005).

In furnishing a definition for biomechanics, the Quintic Consultancy Ltd. (2005) provides some additional insight into the origin and details of the term, stating that the name “is derived from the Greek bios meaning life and mekhaniki meaning mechanics,” adding that these individual terms are combined to mean “the mechanics of life forms.” The biomechanics discipline includes research into various life forms including plants, insects, reptiles, birds, fish, humans, and others. Within the human specialty, topics include mechanics “of bone, tooth, muscle, tendon, ligament, cartilage, skin, prostheses, blood flow, air flow, eye movement, joint movement [and] whole body movement” (The Quintic Consultancy Ltd., 2005).

Historically, according to Knudson (2003), the study of human biomechanics has alternated between emphasizing each of its two components—the biological and the mechanical. Atwater (1980, cited in Knudson, 2003) claims that, during the first half of the twentieth century, scholars emphasized medicine and anatomy under the term kinesiology. The distinct field of biomechanics was born from the work of biomechanists in the 1960s and 1970s. From that point the field began to emphasize mechanics over biology. Today, the competing forces to move the discipline either toward a biological emphasis or toward a mechanical emphasis continue (Knudson, 2003).

Application of Biomechanics to Running with Reference to Marathon Runners

The field of biomechanics, already narrowed in a previous section from consideration of all life forms to only humans for the purpose of this essay, can be focused even further to a sub-field called sports biomechanics (The Quintic Consultancy Ltd., 2005):

“Sports biomechanics uses the scientific methods of mechanics to study the effects of various forces on the sports performer. It is concerned, in particular, with the forces that act on the human neuromusculoskeletal system, velocities, accelerations, torque, momentum, and inertia. It also considers aspects of the behavior of sports implements, footwear and surfaces where these affect athletic performance or injury prevention. Sports biomechanics can be divided up into two sections: performance improvement [and] injury prevention.”

The Australian Sports Commission (n. d.) furnishes additional descriptive information on the application of biomechanics to sports, using a term the Commission calls applied sports biomechanics which “incorporates techniques from physics, human anatomy, mathematics, computing and engineering to analyse technique to prevent injury and improve performance.” The Commission’s division of sports biomechanics into two categories—performance improvement and injury prevention—echoes the classifications offered by The Quintic Consultancy Ltd.

Williams (2003) describes how biomechanics can help runner performance, specifically that of the marathoner. Leading into his recommendations, he describes how marathon runners use a simple biomechanical strategy known as “drafting off another runner” when running into the wind to reduce the adverse effects of air resistance and reduce oxygen consumption for the latter part of the race. He writes:

“The goal of the sport biomechanist is to improve movement efficiency, mainly by maximizing propulsive forces and minimizing resistive forces, and thus provide the athlete with a mechanical edge. Using high-speed cinematography, the biomechanist can analyze a runner’s form and detect problems in running form that may be inefficient, such as overstriding, and that may waste energy. Although most elite and experienced marathoners have developed efficient running styles, even a small improvement in running efficiency may make a significant difference over the duration of a marathon.”

In addition to the strategy of “drafting off another runner,” Williams offers several other “biomechanical strategies” including selecting the proper sportswear (i.e. uniform and shoes) and optimizing body weight and composition.

Thus far the topics of anatomical differences between men and women with specific reference to running; definitions and descriptions of the terms marathon (as an organized, competitive form of running) and biomechanics; and the application of biomechanics to running have been presented and discussed. With this as a foundation, the focus of the discourse now turns to the topic of biomechanical differences between male and female marathon runners and closely-related topics.

OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE

The objective of this portion of the essay will be to explore the biomechanical differences between male and female marathon runners through a review and analysis of selected literature on the topic and related issues.

The scope of the literature review will include marathon running with specific reference to available information on the differences between males and females. Although running of shorter distances (e.g. sprints and dashes) and longer distances (e.g. ultramarathons) as well as other sports activities are excluded from the specific scope of this essay, references will be made to these activities when they related to marathon running. Performance improvement and injury prevention were mentioned as the two primary areas addressed by applied sports biomechanics. Gender-specific issues in each of these areas will be explored briefly as well.

REVIEW OF EXISTING RESEARCH ON METHODS AND FINDINGS

One researcher who has studied gender differences in endurance performance, including marathon running, is Stephen Seiler (1996) of The Institute for Sport, Agder College in Kristianstad, Norway. He writes: “Some years ago it was proposed by some that women would actually perform better [than men] at ultra-endurance type activities. This theory has been disproved in the laboratory and in practice.” “As long as women are women, I don’t think they will surpass men,” states Norway’s perennial marathon winner Grete Waitz (quoted in Holden, 2004). The anatomical differences between females and their male counterparts, specifically those that affect running, were presented in the introduction. Now an attempt will be made to show that the general anatomical differences between men and women extend to biomechanical differences that affect marathon running performance and injury.

Holschen (2004) writes that “[T]he female athlete remains less well understood and less well studied compared with male athletes, especially in the areas of performance factors, repetitive stress, and acute injuries.” She continues: “Logical reasons for this include: (a) a limited two-generation span of the high-profile elite female; (b) fewer females involved in coaching, research, and sports medicine; and (c) limited areas of female youth sports historically (gymnastics, swimming, dance).” The reality of Holschen’s findings proved to be true in the current research activity. There were remarkably few available sources on the biomechanics involved in women’s marathon running. Most of the research either applied to males or did not identify the gender. Results from a review of selected research literature will be presented in this section beginning with gender-differentiated research results on running performance. Following this, results of research into the two applied sports biomechanics specialties will be presented with a focus on studies concerning footwear and injuries.

Holden (2004) writes about performance in running with special attention to female runners. She quotes physiologist Henrik Larsen of the Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre in explaining women’s marathon performance vis-a-vis men: “Women had not developed long distance; that’s why the improvement is much greater on the marathon.” Larsen, who seems to attribute the performance improvements of female marathoners to focused training instead of anatomic factors, claims that “[w]e don’t see any higher oxidative capacity in women.” Holden also offers comments by exercise physiologist Timothy Noakes of the University of Cape Town, South Africa who agrees with Larsen’s assessment: “A smaller body frame gives women an edge on endurance…but men can run 10% faster even when the difference in body size is controlled for.”

Stephen Seiler (1996), who was quoted at the start of this section stating that the proposal that women could perform better in ultra-endurance activities has been disproved, confirms that “there are some physiological differences between the sexes that impact performance in females independent of age.” He notes that there is a ten percent difference in marathon times between men and women, adding that this difference is the same “across the distance running performance spectrum.” He attributes this difference, not to a difference in training, but to physiological differences. He studied maximal oxygen consumption, the lactate threshold, and efficiency to analyze the differences between men and women as these factors might affect long-distance running performance:

Maximal Oxygen Consumption. There is a 43 percent difference between men and women with men possessing a VO2 max (oxygen-delivering capacity measure) of 3.5 liters per minute and women with a capacity of 2.0 liters per minute. Seiler attributes this in part to male size; men are larger. But, even when size is factored in, male oxygen consumption capacity is still fifteen to twenty percent higher. Males have a greater capacity to deliver oxygen to their muscles and organs.
The Lactate Threshold. This is the point at which lactic acid begins to accumulate at higher than normal levels in the blood stream indicating an exercise intensity boundary at which the level of intensity can be maintained over a long period and that which will result in quick fatigue. Seiler does not believe that lactate thresholds are different for men and women as a percentage of their VO2 max.
Efficiency. After finding conflicting information comparing the efficiency of males and females—revealing that females are less efficient, more efficient, or the same as males in terms of efficiency—Seiler believes that differences in efficiency do not account for the differences in endurance performance.

Seiler concludes with his determination that the ten percent performance difference between men and women in endurance running can be attributed to the first of the three physiological factors he studied—maximal oxygen consumption.

Another researcher who explored gender differences in athletics, and especially in endurance events, is Dollman (2003). Citing Shepard (2000), Dollman writes that there is consistent evidence, based on observations, that males possess “larger measures” of the following (quoted):

Heart volume, even when corrected for stature.
Haematocrit, which gives males a 13 percent greater oxygen-carrying capacity than females.
Plasma volume.
Total muscle mass, which means that females perform the same absolute task at a higher percentage of maximum voluntary contraction, with concomitant vascular impedance limiting cardiac ejection and peak cardiac output.

In addition, male skeletal muscles may have a higher succinate dehydrogenase (an integral membrane protein) concentration (Dollman, 2003, citing Costill, et al., 1987). Males may produce better mechanical efficiency during running (Dollman, 2003, citing Miura, 1997) although this is arguable as it may be rooted in cultural origins (Dollman, 2003, citing Shepard, 2000).

Now attention will turn briefly to a review of selected research into the two primary application areas addressed by applied sports biomechanics: running performance and injuries. Regarding performance, footwear will be discussed followed by a presentation of selected findings on research into injuries. Gender issues will be introduced.

Lipsky (2001, citing Hennig, 2001) presented research findings on gender-specific requirements for athletic footwear designed for running. The research experiment involved fifteen women and seventeen men of the same body weights, heights, and ages. Each subject wore the same shoe size and each tested five types of shoes which included three styles of men’s shoes and two styles for women. Using “Kistler” force platforms at a set velocity, ground force reactions, tibial acceleration, angular foot motion, and plantar pressures at eight strategic locations on the foot were measured. Accordin

Water Aerobics

Introduction:

Water aerobics is the execution of aerobic exercise in genuinely shallow water, for example, in a swimming pool. Done basically vertically and without swimming normally in waist profound or more profound water, it is a sort of resistance training. It is a type of aerobic exercise that obliges water immersed members. It is frequently viewed as a low power workout system suitable just for pregnant women or the elderly. On the other hand, it really offers numerous advantages for any wellness level. Water aerobics classes arrive in a variety of arrangements, including step, kickboxing, jujitsu, zumba and yoga.

Low Impact:

Practicing in water makes you feel around 90 percent lighter, reports the American Council on Exercise. When you hop or keep running in the water, your body does not encounter the same effect that these moves bring about on land. This makes water aerobics a perfect action for those with joint pain, back issues, foot or leg wounds, and knee conditions. Pregnant ladies and the hefty likewise profit by the diminished effect.

More Discrete:

On the off chance that you discover other gathering exercise classes scaring due to complex choreography or windowed studios, the pool offers some watchfulness. Most moves are performed submerged so just you know whether you missed a stage.

Calorie Burn:

Expect to burn somewhere around 400 and 500 calories every hour in a water aerobics exercise class, as per the Aquatic Exercise Association. The real sum you smolder will rely on upon your size, the force of your developments, and also water temperature and profundity. All in all, speedier developments fusing the upper and lower body in profound water inspire the best calorie smolder.

Strength:

At the point when exercising in water, you conflict with 12 times the resistance of air, as indicated by an article distributed in American Fitness in 1996. Just kicking and measuring the water helps add to muscle improvement, which deciphers into a higher digestion system and healthier body. Numerous water high impact exercise classes fuse equipment like water oars, noodles, single or twofold floats, and kickboards to further incite quality increases. Push-ups or triceps plunges performed on the pool deck additionally help construct quality.

Swimming:

This type of water exercise can increment joint health, cardiovascular health and lower and upper body quality. A cardio workout in swimming is an incredible approach into working out, particularly on the off chance that you are searching for the low affect high impact movement. Swimming assists with general emotional and pulse wellbeing and unwinding.

Vertical Exercise:

Not at all like swimming, has vertical exercise tried to boost resistance, which brings about a center test. Therefore, it is simpler to keep those frightful midlife inches from amassing in the region where they add to breakdown metabolic and all the related infections. Water can even enhance and keep up equalization as it empties spine. This exercise type can assuage the tear and wear of joints and support you stay fit.

Water Aerobics Is not Just For Elderly and the Sick:

Water aerobics stimulating exercise is for everybody, particularly athletes who are preparing for a apprehension or marathon getting harmed while preparing. Lubrano prescribes for marathon runners to incorporate some running water sessions in your workout. Water based exercises can build an adaptability in man’s and support anticipate wounds.

Water Aerobics Help to Live Longer and Stay Fit:

The reports of United States Census Bureau is amid in 2009, there were 301 million visits of swimming every year by the Americans who were beyond the six years old. Swimming positioned as the fourth most prominent games based movement in the country can lessen the occurrence of interminable ailments with more than about two hours a week, says the Unites States. Division of Health and Human Services. Water aerobics exercise is simple on joints and even can build muscle quality and continuance because of the water’s inherent resistance. This type of exercise is favored by numerous rather than the more conventional form of wellness, such as exercise center, on the grounds that weight does not pull the people down same way a general workout would. Subsequently, a man can exercise longer on water than ashore without exertion additional or joint and muscle torment that regularly goes with a consistent exercise routine due to its low effect.

Anti-Aging:

It may not assist with wrinkles or snicker lines, but rather swimming has been indicated to cut the danger of death by about 50 percent. As per a study done by Dr. Steven Blair, Swimmers have the most minimal passing rate. The study was throughout the span of 32 years. The examination group took after 40,000 men, running from 20 to 90 years of age and found that the individuals who swam had a 50 percent lower passing rate than walkers, runners or men who got no exercise.

Flexibility:

Water is the best mediums in which to expand adaptability. A few rheumatologists prescribe swimming to build a man’s scope of movement as well as help to increment physical action without bringing about weight on the body’s joints.

Asthma Symptoms:

Swimming, in the same way as other high aerobic exercises, builds your lung limit; it compels your body to work extra minutes. Since water is denser than the air, lungs need to work that much harder to the supply enough oxygen to the blood, giving lungs a decent workout and subsequently diminishing asthma indications. As per a study done at The Nutrition Center and Children’s Exercise at McMaster University, “Swimming as a preparation methodology has clear advantages for the patient with asthma. These incorporate an increment in oxygen consuming wellness and a decline in asthma dreariness.

Lowers Diabetes Risk:

By practicing routinely, you’re diminishing your blood glucose levels. Aerobic exercise and resistance preparing, alone or in blend, enhances glucose control in patients with sort 2 diabetes.”

It Improves Mental Health:

As indicated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, water based exercise enhances psychological wellbeing. Swimming can enhance the disposition in the both men and ladies. For people with fibromyalgia, it can be diminish uneasiness, and exercise treatment in warm water can diminish melancholy and enhance temperament. Water based exercise can enhance strength of the moms and their unborn youngsters. Individuals with sort 2 diabetes likewise have an expanded danger for coronary illness. In this way, keeping up their heart wellbeing and weight is a vital component for diabetes upkeep. In a study done by Leiden University Medical Center, a six month exercise arrangement with patients who have sort 2 diabetes was indicated to reduction cardiovascular danger components.

Lose Weight:

Swimming for 60 minutes can blaze upwards of 500 calories. It lives up to expectations each body part and muscle without creating strain on the body. Water additionally has more prominent resistance than air, which means strolling in water requires more exertion and at last smolders a greater number of calories than strolling ashore. Members lost a higher muscle to fat ratio utilizing submerged treadmill contrasted with area based treadmill. Security of the water: on the off chance that you despise the thought of bouncing around a room loaded with individuals in tight workout clothes, practicing submerged is an awesome option. 90% of member’s favored oceanic exercise contrasted with conventional area based exercise.

Good for Pregnant Women:

Practicing while pregnant is useful for the hopeful mother, as well as useful for the unborn child. Water exercises include no effect, overheating is impossible, and swimming face down elevates ideal blood stream to the uterus.

BUOYANCY:

The upward push applied by water on a body, which acts the other way of the power of gravity. Water’s buoyancy essentially wipes out the impacts of gravity supporting 90 percent of the body’s weight for lessened effect and more noteworthy adaptability. For instance, a 140 lbs (63kg) man weighs just 14 lbs (6 kg) in the water. Water goes about as a pad for the body’s weight bearing joints, lessening weight on muscles, tendons and ligaments. Thus, aquatic workouts are low effect and can significantly diminish the damage and strain normal to most land based exercises.

RESISTANCE:

Because of viscosity, drag powers and frontal resistance, water gives a resistance which is relative to the exertion applied against it. Resistance in water ranges somewhere around 4 and 42 times more noteworthy than in air relying upon the rate of development. This makes water a characteristic and immediately flexible weight preparing machine. Not at all like most land based exercise, water gives imperviousness to the development in all bearings, which permits these headings be utilized as a part of the reinforcing procedure. Water’s resistance can be expanded with pace and/or surface region, and the resistance is relative to the exertion needed to move against it. With the expansion of water wellness hardware, for example, lightness belt, webbed gloves, buoys and foot-product, resistance is expanded to reinforce and tone muscles

H2O HEART RATE:

The interesting properties of water empower your heart to work all the more proficiently. The hydrostatic weight of water pushes just as on all body surfaces and helps the heart course blood by helping venous return. This help to the heart represents lower pulse and heart rates, amid profound water exercise versus comparable efforts ashore. Hence, your heart rate is an expected 10 to 15 pulsates lower every moment amid suspended water exercise than for the same exertion connected on land.

TREADMILL:

Having the capacity to speedily come back to exercise taking after harm or an operation is significant and valuable to a speedier recuperation. Water empowers the arrival to exercise snappier than ashore. A mix of treadmill buoyancy movement permits people to walk or keep running at an adjusted and agreeable level taking strain & stretch off burden bearing joints whilst profiting from the aerobic action. Hydrostatic weight, resistance and water temperature all add to building up muscle and quality in a sheltered domain. The treadmill rate extent is up to 15kph and can be controlled from inside or out of the pool. The treadmill might likewise be worked dry.

Rehabilitation Water Exercises:

Water rehabilitation exercise permits you to exercise and restore yourself without the shocking and infrequently agonizing background of practicing on dry area. The buoyancy of water permits you to perform exercise without a huge effect on your body, as indicated by The Stretching Institute. Water restoration exercises permit you to keep up you wellness levels and recuperate from your damage. In any case, dependably counsel your specialist before starting water restoration exercise.

WALKING:

Walking in water that is midsection high will help you to keep up your wellness levels and also mend harm. Water walking can be utilized for spine and lower limit wounds and joint inflammation. Walking forward and in reverse can help enhance your condition without focusing on your joints. For an included test, swing your arms or utilization water weights while you walk. Walk in the water for 20 to 30 minutes on end.

SHOULDER FLEXION AND ABDUCTION:

Performing arm achieves while in water can help with the scope of movement in your shoulders. Sit on the base stride to a pool or stand so water is simply over your level of shoulder. For flexion, raise straight up arms out of pool as high as you conceivably can. Gradually bring down your arms over into the water and rehash. Complete one arrangement of 10 redundancies. For kidnapping – moving your arms far from midpoint of the body position arms at the sides. Gradually raise your arms with your palms down far from your body. Raise your arms to your shoulder level. Gradually bring down your arms and rehash. Complete one arrangement of 10 reiterations.

LEG RAISES:

This exercise can help to fortify the muscles in your legs, lower back and hips. Perform this exercise while clutching the side of a pool. For your right leg, stand with the left side confronting the pool divider. Utilize your left hand to clutch the side of the pool. Your knees ought to be somewhat twisted. Gradually swing right leg out to side. Hold it for a few moments. Bring down your leg and rehash. Complete one arrangement of 10 reiterations. Unwind and rehash with your left leg.

SUPERMAN:

The exercise extends your shoulder and back muscles. Advance toward water that is give or take midsection profound. Clutch the side of pool with the both hands. Your feet ought to be planted immovably on the base of the pool. Gradually push your feet far from the base of the pool. Your whole body will now be skimming on the highest point of the water. Develop your arms so that the elbows are straight. Legs ought to be stretched out also. Right now, you ought to look like superman. Hold this stance for 10 to 20 seconds. Gradually lower yourself back to the beginning position. Rehash one arrangement of five reiterations of this exercise.

The Olympic Games are one of the most important international sporting events for most of the world. The 2008 Beijing Olympics was especially one of particular focus and attention. China has long wished to show the world its greatness and, in June 2001, it finally got that chance. The Opening Ceremony as an event was the primary opportunity for China, besides the sporting events themselves, to demonstrate its power, wealth, and prosperity to the world; through visual and artistic spectacle. It would also allow the world to observe and witness how far China has progressed, as a country, to becoming more open and willing to being a bigger part in the global community. Aspects of the Opening Ceremony may be divided into three main categories; the Political, the Historical and Cultural, and the Ideals and overall Message.

The concept of ‘Unity’ is one of the main historical political ideas, presented throughout the Ceremony; which may be first interpreted in the mass-scale performances. Syncopation was essential during the highly choreographed displays of drummers, martial artists, and actors and dancers; in large formations. The theme of Unity has always been significant throughout Chinese history, since the unification of China under the first Emperor in 221 BCE. With rise and fall of subsequent dynasties, the prosperity of the land depended on that unity. The idea of ‘Unity’ in the new era may be more clearly displayed by the 56 children carrying the national flag, dressed in costume, representing the 56 ethnic groups of modern China; promoting China as a unified multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, nation. China’s economic strength is implied by the ability to fund and organize the large-scale use of fireworks, lighting, and man power; in order to put on such a spectacular mega-event. The Opening Ceremony may also be considered to be a promotion of Chinese pride and nationalism. It not only promotes Beijing itself as a city, or as the Capital, but as the center of the great country of China; as a while. This event is not only for China to impress all the foreign visitors, but may also prove to their own citizens, and to Chinese communities worldwide, how far they’ve come. They have the chance to make the best impression possible on the world; and to impress all with the speed and scope of China’s development.

The Historical and Cultural aspects played a major part in the Opening Ceremony through the presentation and celebration of ancient Chinese culture. Chinese director Zhang Yimou was the creative mind behind the Ceremony. He is perhaps known to Westerners for his films Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Curse of the Golden Flower. There is a strong focus on spectacle and aesthetic beauty, and artistic tradition and history of China, with the central theme of the four great Chinese inventions; the first being ‘fireworks’. A brief film was shown during the ceremony, displaying the second of the four great inventions of ‘paper making’. The showing of the traditional ink brush making was shown to segue way into the next performance, as a giant L.E.D. paper scroll was rolled out in the middle of the stadium. At the centre lay a canvas upon which dancers in black, with a sleeve dipped in ink, left trail marking as they moved on the paper; creating a landscape of mountains, a river, and the sun. The look of it was in the style of traditional ink painting. Their dance was accompanied by the music of a Guqin, the ancient Chinese seven-stringed zither. It was a blending of brush painting, dance, and music, and the connection of all the fine arts as part of the same philosophical artistic process. In celebration of the Chinese language, of movable blocks were used in a large formation to present three variations of the character for “harmony”; another political ideal. The performance pays tribute to the third great invention of the ‘movable type press.’ Meanwhile, hundreds of costumed Han Dynasty feather-capped scholars, holding bamboo scrolls, sang out key excerpts from Analects of Confucius. Confucius was one of the most significant ancient philosophers that helped shape Chinese society, who still retains importance and influence in East Asia today. Other presentations artistic traditions of Beijing Opera and Puppetry were performed. A grounded map of the Ancient Silk Road was accompanied by Tang Dynasty dancers. The last of the great Chinese inventions, the compass, was held by the central actor in a performance presenting the voyages of Zheng He; the Ming Dynasty eunuch who led seven great naval expeditions to explore the world from 1405 to 1433. All these represent China’s glorious past. The following segment represented present day China, with a performance by pianist Lang Lang surrounded by luminescent performers; who arranged themselves into the Dove of Peace. The Dove’s wings took flight as the performers moved. A young girl, suspended by wire, ran in mid-air while flying a kite. 2,008 of male performers, in white, took formation to display a mass performance of Tai Chi in fluid unison; a martial art based on the principles of the Yin and Yang, and harmony with nature. The ink painted landscape returned for a group of schoolchildren to add their marks by colouring over it, while chanting poetry; suggesting an environmental and Green Olympics. The in the landscape was filled in with a smiley face. The accompanying light presentation showed bright coloured birds, flying into the sky; possibly to further the thoughts of peace, or environmentalism. An astronaut, and a giant glowing ball representing Earth, came forth to represent modern, and possibly future, space exploration. The ball changed colour and glowed like a Chinese lantern, while acrobats tumbled rolled along its surface. Chinese and British singers, Li Huan and Sarah Brightman, stood on top of the ball which reverted back to showing the Earth, and sang the 2008 Olympic theme song “You and Me”; in both Mandarin and English. It was a song of friendship and peace. The 2,008 performers returned, with bearing parasols with images of the smiling children; and fireworks in the shape of smiley faces were ignited.

The Opening Ceremony was the event for Beijing to welcome the world. They were able to introduce, or share more of, Chinese culture and heritage to the world. It also showed a new sense of China, more built on unity, peace, harmony, and openness with the global community. These ideals were made clear throughout the Ceremony as part of the themes for the 2008 Olympics; the slogan being “One World, One Dream.” China opening itself to the world is perceived in the Beijing Olympic Logo; a stylized representation of the character of Jing, meaning ‘capital.’ The character resembles a dancing figure with arms wide open, and China’s invitation and welcome to the world. The Red in the emblem is the Chinese colour of good luck and fortune. The Mascots for the 2008 Games, called Fuwa, have five members; Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. Their designs were inspired by a fish, a giant panda, a flame, a Tibetan antelope, and a swallow; each also representing one of the five Olympic rings. Put together, their names for a pun on the phrase Beijing huanying ni, meaning, “Beijing welcomes you.” The Olympic Committee also chose three specific themes to promote for 2008. The first was “technological Olympics”, as high-tech media broadcasting and promotion was important to a successful Olympics; the 2008 Beijing Olympics being the first in history to be broadcasted in high-definition. The second theme was “humanistic,” and the original ideal that the Olympics is a cultural event; for all people. It not only refers back to the contributions by Ancient Greece, but is also gives the Chinese people the opportunity to share their own 5000 years of traditional and modern culture. Harmony of humanity also includes harmony with nature, which leads to the final theme of a “green Olympics.” China worked hard to tackle this issue in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, to accommodate the arrival of so many foreign spectators and athletes; to be able to attend and perform in an agreeable environment. While pollution as one of the main criticisms China faces today, it remains a problem in many other countries; and was a question raised for many previous Olympic cities. The 2008 Games were used to continue to increase global awareness and the promotion of green consumption.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics was the means for China to demonstrate its wealth and power to the world. It was through art and creativity, demonstrated by the Opening Ceremony, that China was able to celebrate and share its culture with the rest of the world; while also supporting current day ideals of peace, harmony, progress, and environmentalism. It was a promotion of a new image of China as willing and ready to open itself to all, and to be accepted as among the world’s top respectable countries.

Bibliography:
http://en.beijing2008.cn/
Gold, John R. And Margaret M. Gold, Olympic Cities: City Agendas, Planning and the World’s Games, 1896-2012. London: Routledge, 2007
Fan, Hong, Duncan Mackay, and Karen Christensen. China Gold: China’s Quest for Global Power and Olympic Glory. Great Barrington: Berkshire Publishing Group, 2008.