1,721,002 research outputs found
Leaving competitive sport: Scottish female athletes’ experiences of sport career transitions
Get PDFOver the last three decades, the sports research community has demonstrated a growing interest in the process of sport retirement. The majority of the sport retirement research has focused on male professional athletes, traditionally those in the popular spectator sports. Yet, the process of leaving sport applies to thousands of individuals, both male and female, who engage in competitive sport. To date very little consideration has been given to the retirement experiences of female athletes. Three separate studies have been undertaken to address this identified gap in the literature.
Studies One and Two aimed to explore the experiences of sport retirement for elite female athletes in Scotland, using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In Study One questionnaire data was collected from 92 former Scottish elite female athletes. Questionnaire sections were designed to examine what were felt to be the major elements of the Taylor and Ogilvie (1994; 2001) conceptual model of adaptation to retirement from sport, in order to explore the applicability of this model to female athletes in Scotland. The results of the study provide support for the use of this model to assist in our understanding of the retirement transition.
The findings highlighted the importance of athletic identity, reason for retirement, and perceptions of control in predicting the level of difficulty and adjustment that an athlete may experience upon their retirement. The most significant finding was the effect that athletic identity had on the retirement process, with those identifying strongly with the athletic role reporting significantly higher levels of difficulty, emotional adjustment, and social adjustment. 29 of these athletes participated in an in-depth interview within Study Two, enabling a more in-depth analysis of their retirement experiences. In this study particular attention was paid to the effect of athletic identity on this transition. In support of the findings of Study One, athletes with a strong and exclusive athletic identity were found to be more likely to experience difficulties when they retire. In comparison, athletes with lower levels of athletic identity generally experience some mild negative emotions after initially retiring, followed by a relatively smooth transition into their life after sport.
The second part of this thesis examines formal programmes available to support female athletic retirement in Scotland. Study Three provides an evaluation of the Performance Lifestyle programme offered by the Scottish Institute of Sport, focusing in particular on the services related to preparation for life after sport. The perspectives of a number of different groups with an interest or involvement in the programme were examined and comparisons made with the delivery of Performance Lifestyle to other athlete groups in Great Britain. The results show that Performance Lifestyle is a very valuable source of support for athletes who are part of the Institute Network. The programme does deal with the issue of the end of the career, but it is definitely a weaker aspect, largely due to lack of resources. Performance Lifestyle in Scotland compares favourably with programmes offered by the Institute Network in England and by Welsh Rugby. However other professional sports are currently offering superior programmes due to higher levels of investment and resources
The Origins, Governance and Social Structure of Club Cross Country Running in Scotland, 1885 – 1914
Get PDFThe study examines a particular aspect of the development of athletics in Scotland.
The first organised clubs for the sole purpose of purely athletic competition in the
contemporary sense, were cross country clubs known as harrier clubs. Through
investigation of the origins, governance and the social structure of harriers clubs, the
study connects these three fundamental themes in understanding sport within broader
social historical study. In this study the origins of cross country running are set
within a theoretical framework which recognises the nature of the urban and rural
environments which defined the sport. The sport’s early growth and governance in
Scotland is set alongside the broader ideological position of the ‘amateur’.
Additionally, club organisation promoted the clubs as cultural institutions. Clubs
served as a focus for male sociability and elevated the status of membership of the
harriers. Membership meant more than just sporting engagement; it included social
and civic standing. The purpose and function therefore of early clubs extended
beyond participation. This study demonstrates how membership of cross country
clubs conferred upon its members a status, establishing harriers clubs as important
social institutions. This research shows how social networks within sport replicated
society more broadly. The significance of the contribution of cross country clubs to
the development of Scottish sporting culture is therefore implicit. Harriers clubs
were the epitome of the complexity of sporting engagement representing both
respectability and liminal behaviour
Sports Television Programming: Content Selection, Strategies and Decision Making. A comparative study of the UK and Greek markets.
Get PDFThis thesis looks at the subject of sports television programming in two European markets, the UK, one of the biggest and most developed in the continent, and the Greek, one of the smallest in Europe.
With the help of case studies over a period of eight years and qualitative interviews of television executives and professionals who are involved in sports television rights agreements, it analyses and compares the strategies and decision making of television organisations, the factors that affect their decisions and their success within the chosen markets.
A distinction will be made between public service, commercial and pay-TV and the reasons why different sports may suit different channels and at different points in their development. The findings should help to appreciate that there is not one strategy that works universally better than another. Its outcome depends on the value of the content, the particular characteristics of the organisation and the external environment where it operates. Most importantly, the thesis highlights the importance and limitations of the TV sports content, its crucial role in the decision making process and the necessity of more academic research into the area of sports television by people in content-driven disciplines, i.e. journalism and the media
A Geographical Study of Scottish Sport
Get PDFThe thesis identifies a lack of research in the general subject area of sports geography
and in particular Scottish sports geography. A new conceptual framework for the
analysis of the geography of sport is developed from an extensive review of the
literature. This framework is then used to illustrate three case studies of the sports
landscape in Scotland at three geographical scales. Case study one considers a
national sport and traces curling, from its origin to the international Olympic sport it
is today, through time and the geographical concepts of space, place, and
environment. The sport of curling is shown to be a distinctively Scottish despite
influences of modernisation and internationalisation. At the regional scale, case
study two identifies two key sporting attributes. Recent survey data are used to
highlight regional variations in sports club membership and volunteering in sport.
For example the highest rate of sports volunteering in the population is found in the
north of Scotland, while the biggest contribution to the sport volunteer workforce
comes from large urban towns nearer the central belt. Finally case study three
examines a local sportscape. Factors relating to the local population and to the
individuals within the sportscape are combined to propose a model for the analysis of
sports places.
Each case study has added to the knowledge of sports geography in Scotland,
however the real benefit of the thesis is to the overall understanding of sports
geographical analysis. A new conceptual framework has been developed for the
geographical analysis of sport and this has been applied to three case studies to
illustrate its efficacy. This is a first Geography of Sport in Scotland
Sports Mega Events and the BRICS Economies: A Brief Historical Overview
No full textThis paper provides an historical overview of the involvement of BRICS nations in hosting sports mega-events since 1990. It draws upon published studies to `generalise about how the hosting experience affected the BRICS economies. A survey of bidding for some mega-events shows that BRICS nations were keen to hold them, especially when there was a change in hosting policy which encouraged developing nations to apply. Indeed it can be suggested that regular bidding built the events into BRICS nations development strategies in which hosting a sporting mega-event both demonstrated that the nations had developed sufficiently to spare the resources for such prestigious entertainments but also was a way of boosting further development through infrastructure improvements and the encouragement of tourism. Certainly many city politicians and influencers saw hosting a mega-event as a key to urban regeneration and modernisation. In most cases the events were sporting successes, but the economic story was one of exaggerated pre-event claims of potential benefits and seriously underestimated costs. A major issue was the lower level of the infrastructural base from which BRICS countries started compared to more developed economies. The funding of sporting mega events meant that resources had to be diverted from possible alternative uses such as health, education and housing
The Devil Makes Work: Leisure in Capitalist Britain. By John Clarke and Chas Critcher. Champaign: University of Illinois Press. 1985. Pp. xiv, 245. $29.95.
No full textScottish football before 1914: an economic analysis of a gate-money sport
No full textOn the basis of data collected at club level, it can be suggested that most Scottish elite football teams were not profit-maximizers. The lack of price competition, the existence of free entry for some spectators, the playing of uneconomic friendly and minor cup fixtures, the relative under-utilization of ground facilities, and the employment policies and wage structures of clubs point to utility taking precedence over profits. Even if the clubs had been profit-maximizers, this would have required collusion at the Scottish Football League (SFL) level in order to produce uncertainty of results at both match and championship level, but the members of the SFL seem to have been willing to tolerate a high degree of inequality in playing success
Empiricist versus sociological history: some comments on the ‘civilizing process’
Get PDFThis paper makes a further contribution to the debate in this journal between Tony Collins and disciples of the theory of the ‘civilizing process’, but this time with reference solely to cricket, a sport ignored by Graham Curry, Eric Dunning and Kenneth Sheard in their reply to Collins.[2] Moreover, whereas Collins focuses his criticisms on the historical method and the associated problems of hindsight, progress and perspective, this paper will concentrate on the use of historical evidence
Still crazy after all those years: continuity in a changing labour market for professional jockeys
No full textUsing the career of a leading modern rider as a focal point, this article examines the changes and continuities in the labour market for professional jockeys over the past century and a half. It looks at the rigours of the job via travel load, risk of injury and, above all, weight watching; at the rewards both monetary and psychic; at human capital formation; at drug and alcohol issues; and at power relations and disciplinary procedures
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