Youth Matters
Youth Experiences of a Rural South African Sport Development Programme View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Leepile Motlhaolwa
The purpose of this research is to explore the youth experiences of a rural South African sports development programme to understand how and why the youth in rural South Africa experienced the sports development programme the way they did. This study follows a qualitative, descriptive research design. This study is grounded in a theoretical framework based on youth developmental experiences through sport (YDETS). Purposive sampling and arts-informed methods including drawings and photovoice combined with semi-structured interviews were applied for data construction. Qualitative data analysis computer software, ATLAS.ti (v.8.4.15), was used, and semiotic visual data analysis, photovoice data analysis, thematic data analysis and member reflection were employed as methods for the data analysis. The findings in this study revealed the potential of the Dreamfields sports development programme to enhance and develop the personal and social development skills of the youth. However, the sports development programme did not automatically produce positive results; instead, positive experiences associated with the programme were related to a combination of factors and contextual assets, such as the school environment, parental involvement and supportive teachers and coaches. Furthermore, the findings highlighted several adverse experiences and negative outcomes associated with the sports programme. These outcomes included physical injuries, social exclusion and negative interactions with peers, teachers and coaches. Despite structural inequity and socio-economic challenges experienced by the youth in rural communities, the findings in this study suggest that rural youth are a heterogeneous group of individuals with the aspirations, resilience and determination to overcome their challenges and succeed.
The Role Residential Summer Camps Play in Promoting Physical Activity and Sport: Using Theory of Planned Behaviour Variables to Understand General Counsellor’s Perceptions View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Oscar Rhodes
Every summer more than 14 million children attend day or resident (sleep-over) camps in the USA, camps have the second highest contact with children in the USA, 2nd to public schools. The limited research in summer camps suggest their ability to help with youth development in a nurturing environment. This study explores camp professionals’ opinions on an 8-week residential camp at increasing exercise intention in children post-camp to meet USA physical activity guidelines. An online survey was completed by 132 participants (M age = 20) from 11 different countries working at camps in 31 states across the USA. The survey was based on Azjen’s Theory of planned behaviour. Participants answered questions on children’s attitudes (affective and instrumental), subjective norms, group identity, descriptive norms, perceived behavioural control, locus of control, self-efficacy and intention. Results identify that group identity; descriptive norms and perceived behavioural control were highly influential in children’s intention to be physically active post camp according to camp professionals. To conclude, a discussion of the theoretical ambiguity of Azjen’s theory and literature surrounding exercise intention in children was critiqued and strategies in place for future summer camp research are proposed.
Who's Winning?: An Examination of the Characteristics of Student-Athletes with High Name, Image, and Likeness Valuation View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anna Scheyett, Leon Banks
In 2021 the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) overturned its rule requiring unpaid status of student-athletes, instead determining that student-athletes could profit from their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). Prominent student-athletes are receiving NIL deals that can amount to thousands or even millions of dollars. But which student-athletes are specifically benefitting the most from NIL? Our study gathered data from On3NIL (www.on3.com), which uses an algorithm considering student-athlete performance, influence, and exposure, to create a projected annual valuation from NIL revenues. We examined their list of the top 100 NIL-valued student-athletes. Athletes’ NIL valuation ranged from $497,000 to $6.1 million, with mean value of $937,580 and median of $734,000 (STD=758,720). The majority of athletes played football (76%) or basketball (22%) and were male (94%). Athletes were most frequently Black (68%), or White (22%) and most commonly played in the Southeastern (30%) or Pacific-12 (23%) Conferences. Number of social media followers ranged from 3431 to 13,524,000, with mean value of 1,055,885 and median 150,050 (STD=2,462,106). Both NIL valuation and social media followers were heavily positively skewed. NIL was presented as an answer to the injustice of unpaid student-athletes. However, our data show that the majority of money is concentrated in a few student-athletes in a few sports, and that many student-athletes are still not being rewarded for their athletic efforts at university; this is particularly true for women. Additional research is needed to identify ways that all student-athletes can benefit from their sport.
Effects of Small Sided Games in Academy Football : Exploring Psychological effects with Particular Emphasis on Coping Strategies
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mathew Coley, Will Roberts
It will be useful to consider different literature over the last 10 years since the EPPP (Elite Player Performance Plan) has been introduced which reflects the work being done by the Premier League developing young players in academy environments. The need to focus on psychological skills in academy environments, particularly in the areas of confidence and decision-making to cope under pressure across different small-sided game formats will be emphasised. Research suggests that more could be done by academies to support the young players’ psychological welfare. This review acts as a platform to focus more heavily on the psychological side, as it has been indicated that lots of research has been done around SSG’s across technical, tactical, and physical outcomes but not the psychological. SSG’s are games that are adapted versions of the full-sided football game, which can be (1v1s, 2v2s 3v3s, 4v4s etc...) upto 9v9, which links to larger sided games. The importance of this research is to highlight the differences between the smaller game formats as there are key differences in confidence levels and decision-making across the academy age groups (9-11) Foundations Phase which can affect players’ ability to cope under pressure. It’s important to note that academies across the country in England differentiate game formats for under 12’s, as this is a key age group that begins to link 9v9 into 11v11 (full-sided games). This could impact training load, dependent on the format of the SSG, which in turn could impact confidence and decision-making differently.
