AMERICAN PRESS, Applied Research in Coaching and Athletics Annual #34 (2019)

ARCAA Contents & Abstracts, Volume 34, 2019

ISBN 978-0-89641-586-7

Tell Me How You Really Feel: Softball Players’ Perceptions about the Media — Amanda L. Paule-Koba, Brittany Lastrapes-Thackery — Mediated sports are extremely popular in today’s society, and commercial sports even have more influence over the press than daily news. The relationship between sports and the media can be seen as a type of partnership (Stead, 2003). When it comes to sporting events, viewers become extremely invested in the games and the athletes that they are watching. Many athletes are forced to give interviews right before games or after heartbreaking loses whether they want to or not. This paper provided collegiate softball players an opportunity to share how they construct the role of the media in their sport. Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with each one of the participants. Each participant was a member of a Division I softball team at an institution in a “power five” conference. The interviews revealed the following themes: duty, full cooperation, effecting performance, and higher standards. Key Words: softball, media, NCAA Division I, intercollegiate athletes. (1-30)

Post-Concussion Management: The Relationship of Recovery Techniques and Return to Sports-Related Activity — Brooke Powers — In recent years, sport-related concussion related research has exponentially increased looking at the cause, treatment, and prevention. The research conducted has allowed medical personnel to adapt their methods of treatment from a sedentary approach to a more active approach involving multiple therapies. As more studies are completed, active treatment, including multiple therapies, (vestibular, ocular, or cervical rehabilitation) has proven to allow for a quicker recovery time while still ensuring a safe environment for the athlete (Schneider et al., 2014). Although these great benefits have been identified, further research should be conducted to continue to develop and establish better treatment plans for the safety of the athletes. A systematic review of literature on sport-related concussed athletes and their treatment protocol will inform health care providers what therapeutic interventions for sport-related concussion show the best benefit for the athlete. Keywords: sedentary rehabilitation, active rehabilitation, ocular rehabilitation, vestibular rehabilitation, post-concussion syndrome, sport-related concussion, pathophysiology, biomechanics, medicinal therapy. (31-58)

Preferred Qualifications of Junior College Athletic Directors — Lindsey Anderson, Heidi Cartisser, V. Clark Rasmussen, Caroline E. Faure — This study examined the professional qualifications junior college presidents seek when hiring athletic directors within the Scenic West Athletic Conference. Specifically, this study sought to answer questions about what qualities and/or characteristics presidents felt were most important when hiring athletic directors as well as how accessible candidates were who possessed those favorable qualities. A 24-question Qualtrics survey was developed by the research team and consisted of a series of forced response and rank order questions aimed at targeting the qualities and characteristics junior college presidents felt were most important in athletic directors. A 5-point Likert scale was used to assess the importance of various personal, leadership, and managerial attributes. Most presidents felt that athletic director candidates who possessed favorable qualities were accessible. Overall, the presidents’ viewed a strong sense of character/judgement, effective communication, and integrity as critical roles in an athletic director's success. (59-79)

Institutional Predictors of Men’s NCAA Soccer Team Performance — Britton W. Brewer, Hayden S. Van Brewer, Judy L. Van Raalte — Archival online data were used to identify institutional predictors of NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III men’s soccer team performance over the course of a season. For all divisions, greater institutional emphasis on intercollegiate sport was associated with better performance as measured by both points per game and end-of-season rankings. For Division I, higher average SAT scores, larger enrollment, greater racial diversity, and lower selectivity at the institutional level were also related to better team performance. For Division III, institutions with high average SAT scores and large enrollments outperformed those with low average SAT scores and small enrollments. The findings highlight the importance of considering the broader institutional context when examining the performance of intercollegiate sport teams. (80-100)

The Use of GPS to Evaluate the Effect of Protein and Carbohydrate Supplementation on Factors Related to Soccer Performance — Joshua Bradley, Matthew T. Buns — This study aimed to identify the effect of concurrent nutritional supplementation on factors related to soccer performance as players ingested either carbohydrate CHO (52 g of Cytocarb Maltodextrin) or a combined carbohydrate and protein PRO (Muscle Milk Pro Series 17g CHO + 50 g PRO liquid) supplement. Twelve male, junior college soccer players (age: 18 ± 6 years, wt. 73.3 ± 8.6 kg) completed three trials wearing global positioning systems (GPS) to measure total running distance and sprinting distance during soccer simulation games. There was a baseline trial (no supplementation) followed by two other trials in which the participants were randomly administered either the treatment or control condition during the second and third trial. There was a statistically significant increase in total distance run for the CHO supplementation group in comparison to the CHO + PRO group. The pattern of response for total sprinting distance was not influenced by supplementation. There was a decline in sprinting distance and total running distance from first half to second half, both for the control and supplementation group. Statistical significance was found in the positive correlation between sprinting distance and total distance. In conclusion, supplementation influenced the pattern of activity and demonstrated between-trial differences. Keywords: supplementation, match simulation, GPS. (101-123)

Impact of International Student-Athletes in Elite NCAA Men’s Soccer Teams (2012-2017) — Carlos Sendin Castelao, Jon K. Linderman, Peter J. Titlebaum — The popularity of soccer in the United States continues to grow. According to the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), over 24 million people play soccer at some level in the U.S., second only to China. The participation of international players in the U.S. at the collegiate level has also increased in recent years. In 2016, nearly 7,000 players from 170 different countries played on men’s collegiate teams, representing a 120% increase since 2000 (Kirk, 2018). The purpose of this investigation is to quantify international representation in elite NCAA Men’s Soccer Teams, with specific focus on the impact of international student-athlete participation on teams which qualified for the Division 1 NCAA Sweet 16 from 2012-2017. The findings of the present study indicate that the percentage of international student-athletes in the present sample increased slightly from 18.7% to 19.7%, corresponding to an increase of approximately 1 athlete per team (4.8 vs 5.8). The regions that contribute the most international student-athletes per team are Europe (2.4/team) and Central America (1.1/team). These findings support the conclusion that there is an increase of international student-athletes in NCAA Men’s Soccer Division 1 Teams which compete at a high-level, and that Europe and Central America are primary locations where coaches recruit to fill their team’s needs. Key Words: (FIFA) Federation Internationale de Football Association, NCAA Men’s Soccer, Recruiting. (124-145)

A Fan’s Choice: An Application of the Theory of Consumer Choice to Major League Baseball — Mark A. Davis, John Miller — The consumer choice theory is based on the fundamental premise that the choices made by the consumer best assists them to achieve their objectives. Fans, as consumers, are likely to maximize their utility when choosing their forms of entertainment. Baseball fans may be more likely to react positively to a single opportunity to consume a hedonic good than to a single opportunity to consume a utilitarian good. This study analyzed how various MLB team performances relate with a team’s percentage of attendance to stadium capacity during the 2013 to 2016 seasons. A Pearson’s r test was performed on the different factors by using SPSS. This analysis offers evidence of the hedonic aspects of winning performance (overall) and the areas that often relate to winning teams. Key terms: baseball, theory of consumer choice, attendance, hedonic consumption. (146-175)

Wives Tales of the Actual or Possible Concussion Experience of their NFL Husbands — Caroline E. Faure, Madeline P. Cassanova — When Gisele Bündchen, wife of New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady, alleged her husband was concussed during the 2016 NFL season, she set off a firestorm of controversy because Brady’s injury was never reported, and he was never evaluated or removed from play. Given the nature of concussion, the public emphasis on concussion reporting and appropriate concussion management, and the perceived culture that surrounds the sport of football, one that often includes a player’s willingness to conceal concussion symptoms, the purpose of this study was to descriptively examine the observations and experiences of a group of NFL wives in relation to the actual or possible concussive experiences of their NFL husbands. Wives of current and former NFL players were recruited from a social media group. A 30-question survey was designed to gauge the observations of the wives relative to published concussion guidelines. The survey was open for a two-week window prior to the 2017 football season. More than 98% of the 59 wives that participated were aware of instances in which their husbands failed to report symptoms associated with concussion and 86% were aware of instances in which their husbands continued to play despite feeling concussed. Wives reported their husbands felt both extrinsic and intrinsic pressure to continue to play despite concussion and 71% of wives stated their husband now suffers from one or more lingering side effects commonly associated with concussive history.(176-206)

Developing Mental Toughness within High School Athletes from Team Sports — Leilani Madrigal, Tiffanye M. Vargas — Mental toughness is a necessary component for sport in both negative (e.g., injuries, mistakes) and positive situations (e.g., previous season champions; Gucciardi et al., 2008).) Coaches perceive themselves to hold a critical role in developing mentally tough athletes (Weinberg et al., 2011). The purpose of this study was to determine how high school coaches develop mental toughness at the high school level and advice they would give to new coaches on establishing mental toughness within their team. Fifteen head high school coaches from Southern California participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Coaches indicated four main strategies to developing mental toughness: (a) coaching environment, (b) communication, (c) instruction and drilling, and (d) mental components. Additional strategies and advice coaches indicated for new coaches to develop mental toughness revolved around the coach-athlete relationship, coaching philosophy, and self-improvement. This information can assist in developing coaching education programs to better prepare coaches at this level Keywords: mental toughness; athletes; high school. (207-232)

Core Strength, Fatigue and Running Performance — Dean R. Gorman, Cathy D. Lirgg — Runners engage in core training in the belief that a stronger core results in enhanced performance. This study examined if running experience, distance run per week, age, and gender had any effect on core strength, fatigue, and lower back pain. Eighty-three distance runners were evaluated on their abdominal flexion and fatigue over a two-year period. Year One males had higher spinal flexion strength (SFS) scores than females. Both advanced male and advanced female runners had greater SFS and less spinal flexion fatigue then beginning runners. Strong correlations were found between relative abdominal strength, miles run per week and race times. Year Two female advanced runners had greater SFS than beginning female runners. No differences in SFS were found between the male groups. The findings suggest that running by itself may lead to a stronger core or possibly that advanced runners incorporate core strength training as part of their workout. (233-241)

COACHES' CORNER

Lincoln on Leadership: What Can Abraham Lincoln Teach an Athletic Coach about Leadership — C. Dwayne Massey, Michelle M. Jeanfreau, Jordan Bickett, Richard E. Lopez, Mark W. Maneval — This article examines the leadership strategies of Abraham Lincoln and strives to apply them to the field of athletic coaching. Lincoln is considered one of our greatest Presidents, and is one of our most revered cultural icons. His presidency, during one of our nation's greatest historical crises, exemplified his leadership acumen unlike few individuals in a leadership position before or since. Those leadership principles as determined by the authors to have the highest utility for athletic coaches are identified. These include: understanding human nature; acting with honesty and integrity; being decisive; surrounding yourself with good people; setting goals and focusing on results; and preaching and continually reaffirming a vision. (242-268)

Benefits of Kinesio Tape — Katy C. Alvarez, Doug Boatwright, Dan Chilek, Julio Morales — The purpose of this literature review was to examine the uses and benefits of Kinesio Tape. Typically white non-elastic tape is used to prevent the joint from any accessory movements that might cause pain or further injury. Kinesio Tape (KT) contains a high amount of elasticity allowing more movement over the area on which it is applied. The theory behind the elasticity is to provide support for the muscle or connective tissue while also allowing the joint to have full range of motion. (269-277)

A Call for Papers and Subscriptions (278-282)

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