From the “landmark” Alston v. NCAA antitrust decision, we examine whether the legally hypothesized fan wage-repugnance effect implies procompetitive benefits in NCAA sports output markets via ...increased output demand from student-athlete wage restriction. In Alston v. NCAA, the Courts took this benefit as given but failed to recognize the empirically-verified relationship between league talent and fan demand. We assume a legally-hypothesized wage-repugnance line exists and present a theoretical output-demand model functionally dependent upon allocations in a wage-constrained labor-input market. Even given fan repugnance, wage restrictions do not necessarily generate procompetitive benefits. For families of model parameterizations, wage restrictions impose anticompetitive harm.
Talent identification (TID) programs are an integral part of the selection process for elite-level athletes. While many sport organizations utilize TID programs, there does not seem to be a clear set ...of variables that consistently predict future success.
This review aims to synthesize longitudinal and retrospective studies examining differences between performance variables in highly skilled and less-skilled athletes in elite-level sport.
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to identify relevant studies (N = 20).
There was a clear overrepresentation of studies that (1) examined physical profiles of athletes (60%); (2) focused on male samples (65%); (3) examined athletes between the ages of 10 and 20 years (60%); and (4) were published between the years 2010 and 2015 (65%). On closer examination, there was a high degree of variability in the factors that were found to discriminate between skilled and less-skilled individuals.
Findings from this review highlight how little is known about TID in elite sport and emphasize the need for greater diversity in TID research.
Data regarding the epidemiology of emergency-transport incidents (ETIs) of patients with sport-related injuries are lacking. Understanding the use of emergency services by athletic trainers can help ...improve emergency preparedness and prehospital care for injured student-athletes.
To determine the frequencies and types of ETIs resulting from athletic participation.
Descriptive epidemiology study.
Participating colleges and high schools during 2009-2010 to 2014-2015 and 2011-2012 to 2013-2014, respectively.
Student-athletes in 23 high school and 25 intercollegiate sports.
Data on injuries requiring emergency transport were collected by each team's athletic trainer via their respective online injury-tracking software. Athletic trainers also collected data on athlete-exposures (AEs). Emergency-transport incident frequencies and injury rates per 10 000 AEs with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. For each ETI, the sport, body part, injury mechanism, and final diagnosis were recorded.
A total of 339 and 146 ETIs were reported in collegiate and high school players, respectively. Collegiate women's ice hockey had the highest ETI rate (1.28/10 000 AEs; 95% CI = 0.71, 1.86). In high school, football had the highest rate at 0.80 per 10 000 AEs (95% CI = 0.64, 0.97). Athletes with head or face injuries required the most transports in college (n = 71, 20.9%) and high school (n = 33, 22.6%) across all sports. Strains (n = 50, 14.7%) and fractures (n = 35, 24.0%) were the leading diagnoses for patients undergoing transport in college and high school, respectively.
Athletic trainers should maintain a high level of emergency preparedness when working with sports that have high rates and numbers of ETIs. Athletes with injuries to the head/face required the most frequent transport across competition levels. Athletic trainers should have the appropriate equipment and protocols in place to handle these patients. Future researchers should examine the differences between field and hospital diagnoses to help improve prehospital care and decrease the likelihood of unnecessary emergency transports.
The requirements of performance sport are becoming more and more time-consuming for athletes. Based on the work of Rosa, the article looks into the ability of athletes to reconcile their training ...project and the increasing requirements of practice at a high level. To address this issue, we interviewed 63 high-level French athletes who train at the French Institute of Sport. The results show that although the training project appears to be time-consuming, it is nonetheless a source of social balance and a reassuring choice for their future professional retraining. In order to preserve this educational project in the time-consuming context of high-performance sports, athletes on the one hand implement strategies of arrangement in order to produce an acceptable timetable, and on the other hand use this temporality as an adjustment variable allowing them to better manage temporal emergencies. By giving athletes a voice, this work deconstructs the idea of the incompatibility of educational and sports projects and offers recommendations to sports institutions.
This paper examines volunteers in English golf clubs and considers how they interpret their roles. Hitherto, typologies of sports club volunteering have coalesced around organisational context or the ...time commitment of volunteers. However, these typologies are limited in capturing intra-organisational complexity, recognising the diverse activities that volunteers perform and reflecting changes in the operating and public policy environments. A grounded theory study was therefore undertaken to explore how sports club volunteers interpret their roles. Golf club volunteering was chosen as the substantive case since golf is a globally significant sport that is facing participation and sustainability challenges. Data was collected and analysed from documents and twenty-one semi-structured interviews. The study found that golf club volunteers tend to interpret their roles in two main ways: with a business management approach that is orientated towards business-like management, customer satisfaction and competing in the contemporary marketplace; and, with a sporting perspective that is orientated towards organising play. Some volunteers combined both aspects, although such hybridity presented significant challenges. The study concludes with a discussion of how the influence of sport policy may be limited by volunteers' subjective interpretations of their role and club context.
Background
Nicotine is a psychostimulant drug with purported use in sports environments, though the use of nicotine among athletes has not been studied extensively.
Objective
The aim of this study ...was to assess the nicotine positivity rate in 60,802 anti-doping urine samples from 2012 to 2020.
Methods
Urine samples obtained in-competition at different national and international sports events held in Italy during the period 2012–2020 were analysed. All samples were from anonymous athletes that were collected and analysed at the WADA-accredited antidoping laboratory in Rome, Italy. Samples were analysed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, with a cut-off concentration for nicotine of > 50 ng/mL. Results were stratified by year, sport and sex.
Results
An overall mean of 22.7% of the samples (
n
= 13,804; males:
n
= 11,099; females:
n
= 2705) showed nicotine intake, with male samples also displaying higher positivity rates than female (24.1% vs 18.5%). Sample positivity was higher during 2012–2014 (25–33%) than 2015–2020 (15–20%). Samples from team sports displayed a higher positivity rate than those from individual sports (31.4 vs 14.1%).
Conclusions
The current data demonstrates that one in five samples from a range of 90 sports test positive for nicotine in-competition. There is a lower positivity rate in endurance versus power/strength athletes and higher positivity rate in team versus individual sports, probably accounted for by differences in physiological and psychological demands and the desire for socialisation. WADA, international and national sports federations should consider these findings with concern, proactively investigate this phenomenon and act in order to protect the health and welfare of its athletes.
To evaluate best practices for neuromuscular training (NMT) injury prevention warm-up programme dissemination and implementation (D&I) in youth team sports, including characteristics, contextual ...predictors and D&I strategy effectiveness.
Systematic review.
Seven databases were searched.
The literature search followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.
participation in a team sport, ≥70% youth participants (<19 years), D&I outcomes with/without NMT-related D&I strategies. The risk of bias was assessed using the Downs & Black checklist.
Of 8334 identified papers, 68 were included. Sport participants included boys, girls and coaches. Top sports were soccer, basketball and rugby. Study designs included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) (29.4%), cross-sectional (23.5%) and quasi-experimental studies (13.2%). The median Downs & Black score was 14/33. Injury prevention effectiveness (vs efficacy) was rarely (8.3%) prioritised across the RCTs evaluating NMT programmes. Two RCTs (2.9%) used Type 2/3 hybrid approaches to investigate D&I strategies. 19 studies (31.6%) used D&I frameworks/models. Top barriers were time restrictions, lack of buy-in/support and limited benefit awareness. Top facilitators were comprehensive workshops and resource accessibility. Common D&I strategies included Workshops with supplementary Resources (WR; n=24) and Workshops with Resources plus in-season Personnel support (WRP; n=14). WR (70%) and WRP (64%) were similar in potential D&I effect. WR and WRP had similar injury reduction (36-72%) with higher adherence showing greater effectiveness.
Workshops including supplementary resources supported the success of NMT programme implementation, however, few studies examined effectiveness. High-quality D&I studies are needed to optimise the translation of NMT programmes into routine practice in youth sport.
Background:
Factors and details regarding return to play in elite, collegiate female soccer athletes after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and reconstruction have not been well studied.
...Purpose:
To evaluate return to play among collegiate female soccer players, specifically examining the effect of surgical and individual athlete characteristics on the return-to-play rate.
Study Design:
Descriptive epidemiology study.
Methods:
Sports medicine and athletic training staff at institutions from the National Collegiate Athletic Association Southeastern Conference (SEC) were contacted to request participation in the study. All institutions were sent a standardized spreadsheet with response choices and instructions regarding athlete inclusion criteria. Athlete, injury, surgical technique, and return-to-play data were requested for ACL reconstructions performed on female soccer athletes at the participating institutions over the previous 8 years. χ2 analyses were used to compare the return-to-play rate by year in school, scholarship status, position, depth chart status, procedure, graft type, graft fixation, concomitant procedures, and previous ACL injuries.
Results:
All 14 of the SEC institutions chose to participate and provided data. A total of 80 ACL injuries were reported, with 79 surgical reconstructions and return-to-play data for 78 collegiate soccer athletes. The overall return-to-play rate was 85%. There was a statistical significance in return-to-play rates favoring athletes in earlier years of eligibility versus later years (P < .001). Athletes in eligibility years 4 and 5 combined had a return-to-play rate of only 40%. Scholarship status likewise showed significance (P < .001), demonstrating a higher return-to-play rate for scholarship athletes (91%) versus nonscholarship athletes (46%). No significant differences in return-to-play rates were observed based on surgical factors, including concomitant knee procedures, graft type, and graft fixation method.
Conclusion:
Collegiate female soccer athletes have a high initial return-to-play rate. Undergoing ACL reconstruction earlier in the college career as well as the presence of a scholarship had a positive effect on return to play. Surgical factors including graft type, fixation method, tunnel placement technique, concomitant knee surgeries, and revision status demonstrated no significant effect on the return-to-play rate.
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