<p> The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between Facebook usage and self-efficacy in collegiate athletes. The data for this study was provided by St. Thomas University athletes in the United States. The variables used to represent Facebook usage, Facebook frequency of use, Facebook number of friends and Facebook frequency status updates were measured using Facebook Intensity Scale (Ellison et al., 2007). The dependent variable used in this study is self-efficacy which is measured using the General Self-efficacy (GSE) developed (Jerusalem &amp; Schwarzer, 1979). Data analyses indicated a statistically significant relationship between Facebook number of friends and self-efficacy. The data also indicated significant inverse relationship between Facebook frequency status updates and self-efficacy. The results of the correlation analysis indicated inverse relationships between frequency status updates and frequency of use, and frequency status updates and Facebook number of friends. These findings suggest that once the coaches, administrators, and professors attend to the issue of Facebook usage for collegiate athletes, it may enhance self-efficacy and psychological benefits.</p>

The broad objective of strategic management is to enable an organisation to assess its strategic position, so it is able to provide its customers with a product or service they will value. This study attempts to use this broad objective to examine the Sports Administration Department at the University of Natal, Durban to identify issues that will assist it to reach a wider number of students. The Sports Administration has, over the last ten years, seen a reduction in sports participation. This occurred at a time when the number of students at the University had grown substantially. This resulted in a need to examine the complex dynamics taking place in the Sports Administration's operating environment, for it to be in a position to address the needs of the students it is established to serve. This study indicates that strategic management principles, which apply to a business organisation, can be applied to the setting of the Sports Administration to identify the needs and wants of its customers, to address the concerns of management and to make recommendations that will assist the Department to provide an improved service to students. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

We live in an era where internationalization and globalization are two extremely attractive concepts. People aim to create a society where limits and restrictions are erased and a thriving society is a reality. Numerous transformations have occurred in order to realize this and one of the most vital ones is the globalization of the economy. The globalization was made possible through the discovery on the capital market. This market enables people to trade with each other, no matter place or time. Thus, a more efficient solution is offered for rapid and significant transfers such as loans and investment. According to various researchers, the capital market determines, in a way, which company will grow and which will stagnate in development. However, the capital market needs to be efficient in order to offer the services intended. The aim of this dissertation is to explain how efficient the capital market is when incorporating information regarding football player transfers. By examining the empirical findings, it will also be able to establish if assets of the same market value cause different share price fluctuations depending on if they are acquired or sold.

<p> The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the personal perceived stress levels of athletic coaches (n=731) in a large urban public school district in Florida in relation to win/loss records of the most recent athletic season; the study was performed utilizing the PSS-14 (Cohen, 1983). The responses to the survey queries were answered based on a 5-point Likert scale. Out of the 731 coaches who were approached with the survey, 97 participants completed the survey; however, there were four unusable surveys, leaving 93 useable surveys. The 93 surveys constituted a 13.3% portion of the population. The correlational analysis (p&lt; .05) of the responses for High stress scores indicated that these items for the entire group (n=93) of participants were significantly correlated with the win/loss records. Females (n=29) reported more High stress scores on Questions 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, and 14. Males (n=64) reported High Stress for Questions 1, 3, and 12. Questions 1, 3, and 12 were common to both Males and Females. The findings of the research study indicated that there is a relationship between the specific subsets of PSS-14 for two of the statements and the win/loss records for the district. This correlation showed that coaches recognize and attempt to cope with the stressors that they encounter in their day to day activities with regard to their win/loss records and attempt to minimize the effects of stress and worry about anticipated events, (e.g., possible future games, playoffs, tournaments, and other associated events in the high school athletic world). Success in managing these two components of coaching would augment the other components of the PSS-14 since emotional, physical, mental and psychological factors in coaching and playing a sport are closely tied together. Continued research into the infinite possibilities of education and coaching should provide a means to improve each district's performance in the education of youth. Athletics and fitness have existed as a concomitant of education since the earliest forms of education came into existence. The two faces of education and athletics should continue to be examined to profit the individual and the community. </p>

There are many choices of specialists to be utilized in a sport medicine support staff. The effectiveness of any athletic training program depends on the organization and utilization of these specialists. The purpose of this investigation was to review current practices of accessibility, utilization, and compensation of sports medicine support staff at NCAA Division I, II, and III institutions. A random sample of 225 NCAA institutions equally stratified by level (Division I, II, 111) was obtained from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) directory. A questionnaire was sent to 75 head athletic trainers in each of three NCAA divisions levels. Of the 225 questionnaires mailed, 178 were returned representing a 79% response rate.The accessibility and utilization of support staff was equally distributed with respect to gender and sports at all division levels. When examining the support staff, Division I had consistently higher accessibility and utilization rates than Division II and Ill. This study may assist athletic trainers to evaluate or update their program by reviewing current practices of accessibility utilization, and compensation of support staff. / School of Physical Education

This study examined gender differences in the leadership styles of Division I athletic directors. Perceptions of coaches and the athletic directors, themselves, regarding these styles were assessed. Ten Division I athletic directors (five male, five female) and six coaches (three male, three female) from each of the 10 schools completed a demographic questionnaire and a revised form of the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire - Form XII.Six separate independent groups t-test indicated no significant differences between the self-perceptions of male and female athletic directors on any of the six factors of leadership. A 2 x'2 x 3 (AD Gender x Coach Gender x Coach) ANOVA with repeated measures on the final two factors showed no significant difference in the perceptions of all coaches of male athletic directors versus all coaches of female athletic directors. The results did demonstrated that the perceptions of male coaches were significantly different from female coaches on the leadership factors of structure, production emphasis, and integration, regardless of the gender of the athletic director. / School of Physical Education

NBA general managers are responsible for all aspects of roster management and seek to acquire players with complementary skills. Ayer (2012) examines elements of roster composition, including player types and the impact of the composition of a team’s top two and three players on winning games. I expand the literature on roster composition by redefining player types and examining the impact of star and role player combinations on playoff success. Contrary to popular belief, I find that general managers should avoid superstar point guards, as teams featuring this player type tend to underperform in the playoffs. The results of this study suggest that teams should seek to acquire, among other player types, two elite wings, one defensive-specialist, and one three-point specialist, all found on a total of five championship teams from 1994 to 2013.

This paper uses data acquired from five Baseball statistics websites from the 2006-2010 Major League Baseball seasons to test the effect of increasing information in the Trade Market. Specifically, to test how increasing information affects teams’ preferences in the Trade Market. Player age and service time were used as predictors of team preferences, and an interaction variable between team winning percentage and week of season was used as a predictor of increasing team information. This paper finds that—with significance—the effect of a team’s winning percentage in relation to week in the season a given trade takes place has a negative effect on an acquired player’s tenure and a positive effect on an acquired player’s age. This relationship is likely due to the fact that more successful clubs are looking for established veteran players who can provide immediate help to their Major League team. Conversely, poorly performing clubs are likely looking for younger players who will contribute to their Major League team in future seasons.

The attainment of sustainable development has emerged as one of the main challenges facing society and the economy in the twenty-first century. In tourism, the English Tourism Council (2001 a, p. 11) recognise that sustainable tourism can no longer be regarded as an optional extra, but is fundamental to safeguarding the long-term competitiveness of the industry. To establish sustainable development as a primary strategic objective within the tourism industry represents a substantial challenge. Such a goal is problematic not least because the sector is so diverse and is based around a large number of small businesses which are not always accessible or responsive to change and innovation. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the response of tourism-related businesses to environmental sustainability issues in South East Cornwall. The research represents a three-year joint project funded by the University of Plymouth and Caradon District Council, with support from South West Tourism and the European Regional Development Fund through Caradon Area LEADER II (1999-2001). The aims of the project were to obtain a more detailed understanding of the issues and barriers that tourism businesses face in the implementation of sustainable business practices. The results had practical outcomes in the formulation of a district-wide strategy for sustainable tourism. Through a mixed-method research programme, almost half of tourism businesses in the district contributed to the study. The results revealed a diversity of behaviour, attitudes and motives that are currently not recognised within policy interventions or conceptual models of business behavior. Additionally, the research demonstrated that business responses are modified by a range of complex barriers, which operate at different geographical scales and require a broad policy focus. Within policy initiatives for sustainable tourism, small tourism businesses cannot be treated as scaled-down versions of large businesses. More sophisticated policy interventions will have to be developed if sustainable development is to become a reality within the sector.

The professional sport market and its established teams offer consumers a service and experience that is typically high in social identification, emotional involvement (Underwood, Bond & Baer, 2001) and a sense of community or social belonging (Heere & James, in press). The strong social attachment to a sports organisation and its brand is proposed here to closely resemble the concept of a brand community (Muñiz Jr & O'Guinn, 2001). For newly-established teams without a considerable history, along with having to compete with their established competitors, there is generally a lack of consumer identification or emotional investment in the team.This study aimed to investigate newly-established teams within the New Zealand sports market with two specific research questions: 1) What issues affect the development of a new sports team brand, and 2) Do managers of new sports teams use antecedents of brand community or social identification in their branding strategies, and if so, how?A qualitative, case study approach was used; featuring both interviews with managers of three newly-established New Zealand sports teams and direct observations of their stadiums. Findings suggested that the managers believed that existing image and awareness, audience nature, win-loss record, quality of the team or competition, and a lack of history were the main issues affecting the development of their brands. Respondents largely considered the antecedents of a brand community as important, with the exception of history. Promotion of these antecedents was largely absent from each of the team's branding strategies. Along with providing a detailed review of brand community literature, this thesis provides recommendations for managers of new teams on how to develop and position branding strategy toward the long-term goal of creating a community around their team brand.