Representations of black female sporting bodies, when taken as what Susan Bordo (1997) refers to as “texts of culture,” operate as sites for an interrogation of the production and maintenance of ideologies of race, gender, sexuality and deviance in the context of Western society. The purpose of this thesis was to interrogate these ideologies within the context of sport by focusing specifically on media representations of three black track and field athletes—Florence Griffith Joyner, Marion Jones, and Caster Semenya. Using an ethnographic approach to content analysis this thesis shows the ways in which the bodies of black female athletes function as commodities, as well as they ways in which they become representations of deviance in sport. / text

Objective: In this dissertation the differences between NCAA athletes and other college students who participate in sports at various levels (i.e., club sports and intramural) were examined. The effects of different types of academic socialization received and the primary source of these messages on grade point average and professional sport expectations were also studied. The weekly hours spent on school and sports during the season and offseason were tested as potential mediators of the relationship between professional sport expectations and grade point average. Method: The sample consisted of 448 college students (NCAA = 122, Club = 104, Intramural = 119, No Sport = 103) ranging from age 18-25. Participants self-reported GPA, professional sport expectations, athletic identity, weekly time spent on school/sports during the season/offseason, academic attainment aspirations/expectations, academic involvement, educational encouragement, the value of education, and most influential socializer of academic messages. Results: NCAA athletes reported greater academic involvement by others, but had lower GPAs than the other students. They also reported academic counselors/mentors and parents/family as their two primary socializers, while students from the other groups indicated parents/family as their only primary source of socialization, as they relied on themselves second most. Also, weekly time spent on sports during the offseason was found to significantly mediate the negative relationship between professional sport expectations and grade point average. Conclusions: The academic experience of NCAA athletes is different from all other students on campus. Collaborating with others on campus to help athletes explore other avenues for future success can lead to less emphasis on playing a professional sport and more academic success. This would be beneficial considering so few NCAA athletes end up having successful pro sport careers. / text

Background: Previous research suggests associations between energy balance, eating frequency, macronutrient content, and macronutrient distribution with body composition. In particular, energy balance and protein intake have been conventionally evaluated in 24-hr time blocks, consistent with dietary recommendations and general public understanding. However, there is a potential benefit to investigating energy balance and protein intake in smaller increments of time to account for dynamic changes that occur within-day.Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate protein intake/distribution relative to energy balance fluctuations during the day and body composition in collegiate female basketball players.Methods: Subjects provided information on dietary intake and expenditure. Body composition was assessed by multi-current bioelectrical impedance. Energy balance (EB) and related protein distribution variables were determined with a Computerized Time-Line Energy Analysis procedure. Data were analyzed for associations between energy balance, protein intake and distribution, and body composition. Data are displayed as either traditional 24-hr EB and total protein intake or dynamic protein variables in relation to real-time EB (ingestion within ± 400 kcal EB or > 0 kcal EB).Results: There was no relationship between net 24-hr energy balance and percentage body fat. A statistically significant positive relationship was observed between total protein intake and body fat mass (R = .597; p = .031). No relationship was observed between protein distribution variables (g in ± 400 kcal EB, g in > 0 kcal EB) and percentage body fat. Protein eating occurrences (>10g, ± 400 kcal EB) was inversely correlated with BMI (R = -.650; p = .016). Subjects with the greatest energy deficits presented with lower lean body mass (R= -.736; p = .004).Conclusion: These data suggest that within-day protein distribution relative to energy balance are associated with BMI, but not with percentage body fat. Those with the highest protein intake had the highest body fat mass, with no correlation between protein intake and total energy intake detected. In this group, no association between 24hr intake net values or within-day intake values were found to be related to body fat percentage. However, the greatest energy balance deficit during the day was strongly inversely associated with lean body mass, indicative of potentially deleterious effects of energy restriction.

Despite the documented history of women's athletics and minority students' participation in Canadian postsecondary institutions, little is known about Black female student athletes and their experiences within Canadian higher education. This dearth of information is paradoxical considering the academic and athletic legacy of this subgroup, as well as the noted importance of the student experience and athletic participation within Canadian universities. The aim of the study was to gather data on the experiences of Black female undergraduate students involved in varsity athletics. The goal was to gain an understanding of their experiences as students, as athletes, and as Black women. Additionally, the study intended to help fill a gap in the existing literature on race, sport, and the student experience in the Canadian context. The study employed an intersectional framework to examine how race, gender, athleticism and the student role intersect to shape the student experience. The investigation utilized a mixed method approach consisting of an online survey and in-depth interviews. This national study included participants from each of the four Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) regions. Twenty-eight Black female student athletes completed the online survey, while an additional thirty-two Black female student athletes were interviewed. The findings were divided into seven major themes: University Expectations versus Reality, Pressure and Positivity, Complex Relationships, Unique Experiences, Negotiating and Navigating, Hiding and Highlighting and Levels of Blackness. In a number of ways, the Black Canadian female student athlete's experience is similar to that of other student athletes. However, it also was found that Black female student athletes have a unique experience due to the intersection of their race, gender and athleticism. Thus, Black female student athletes have a distinct experience as they deal with racial, gender, and athletic stereotypes; the underrepresentation of Black females and Black female athletes in higher education; the intricacies of Black dating and intimate relationships; and the complex interactions within the Black communities on campus.

Despite the documented history of women's athletics and minority students' participation in Canadian postsecondary institutions, little is known about Black female student athletes and their experiences within Canadian higher education. This dearth of information is paradoxical considering the academic and athletic legacy of this subgroup, as well as the noted importance of the student experience and athletic participation within Canadian universities. The aim of the study was to gather data on the experiences of Black female undergraduate students involved in varsity athletics. The goal was to gain an understanding of their experiences as students, as athletes, and as Black women. Additionally, the study intended to help fill a gap in the existing literature on race, sport, and the student experience in the Canadian context. The study employed an intersectional framework to examine how race, gender, athleticism and the student role intersect to shape the student experience. The investigation utilized a mixed method approach consisting of an online survey and in-depth interviews. This national study included participants from each of the four Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) regions. Twenty-eight Black female student athletes completed the online survey, while an additional thirty-two Black female student athletes were interviewed. The findings were divided into seven major themes: University Expectations versus Reality, Pressure and Positivity, Complex Relationships, Unique Experiences, Negotiating and Navigating, Hiding and Highlighting and Levels of Blackness. In a number of ways, the Black Canadian female student athlete's experience is similar to that of other student athletes. However, it also was found that Black female student athletes have a unique experience due to the intersection of their race, gender and athleticism. Thus, Black female student athletes have a distinct experience as they deal with racial, gender, and athletic stereotypes; the underrepresentation of Black females and Black female athletes in higher education; the intricacies of Black dating and intimate relationships; and the complex interactions within the Black communities on campus.

The last decade has seen an increase in empirical research pertaining to coaching science and education. A great deal of research has focused on coaches of elite able-bodied athletes, while coaches of athletes with a disability have generally been overlooked. In a recent analysis of disability sport, only 5% of empirical publications pertained to coaching. Thus, the current study addressed the gap in the literature by examining the knowledge of disability sport coaches. Six elite level Canadian coaches of swimmers with a physical disability were interviewed using an unstructured, open-ended interview format. Four categories emerged from the analysis: coach background and characteristics, training, competition, and contextual factors. Results revealed who the coaches were, what they did, and similarities with elite able-bodied coaches, as well as differences that were specific to coaching swimmers with a physical disability. Specifically, it was essential for coaches to become knowledgeable of their athletes' disabilities, deal with issues of equality between able-bodied and swimmers with a physical disability, and accommodate a large array of individual needs. These findings augment knowledge in coaching psychology by including elite level coaches of athletes with physical disabilities.

Athlete-centred coaching is proposed to enhance performance (Lyle, 2002), develop life skills (Kidman & Lombardo, 2010), and prevent athlete maltreatment (Kerr & Stirling, 2008). Despite the consistent recommendation, very little is known empirically about athlete-centred coaching, the extent to which it is implemented, or athletes’ experiences with this style of coaching. The purpose of this study therefore was to examine recently retired elite athletes’ perspectives on their most athlete-centred coach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight male and female recently retired Olympians. The findings of this study provided mixed evidence for coaching behaviours characterized as athlete-centred coaching as defined within the literature. Specifically, at least half of the coaches did not use stimulating questions, one of the most central athlete-centred tenets. Explanations for the mixed findings are discussed and a continuum of athlete-centred coaching is proposed. Lastly, suggestions for future research and practical implications are presented.

There is literature based on masters athletes and their involvement in sports at the later stages of life. Masters athletes are exercise-trained individuals who compete in athletic events at a high level well beyond a typical retirement age (Tanaka & Seals, 2008). These athletes vary widely in age but are typically older than 35 years, with many more over the ages of 50 and well into old age. The research questions guiding this study included; (a) what are the media representation of masters athletes, and how are they used to generate meanings around aging, sports and the aging body and (b) what are the implications of these meanings on how the aging body is represented to the audience. A qualitative (i.e., case study) approach was used to explore what meanings were generated around aging and sports through media narratives in relation to aging successfully. Media data in the form of sports magazines (i.e., Runner’s World and Lexis-Nexis data base) were compiled for the data analysis. This research focused specifically on two cases, 81year old Ed Whitlock, a Canadian long distance marathon runner, and 77 year-old Jeanne Daprano, an American masters track and field athlete. The data included (n=41 Ed Whitlock, n= 17 Jeanne Daprano). The data were analyzed via an inductive thematic analysis (see Braun & Clarke, 2006). The following central themes emerged a) life-long involvement in sports (higher order themes: earlier sporting experience, triumphant return, uninterrupted engagement), (b) performance narratives (serious contenders, reasoning for performance, systematic training, an individualized approach), and (c) decline narratives (resistance to declines in old age, sports related injuries, maintenance of performance). This study highlights how both athletes were depicted in the media narratives, demonstrating that their involvement in sports in later life provided an alternate way to view the aging process. The findings from this study seek to extend the understanding of masters athletes, by contextualization how they challenge some of the decline narratives associated with old age.

Athlete-centred coaching is proposed to enhance performance (Lyle, 2002), develop life skills (Kidman & Lombardo, 2010), and prevent athlete maltreatment (Kerr & Stirling, 2008). Despite the consistent recommendation, very little is known empirically about athlete-centred coaching, the extent to which it is implemented, or athletes’ experiences with this style of coaching. The purpose of this study therefore was to examine recently retired elite athletes’ perspectives on their most athlete-centred coach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight male and female recently retired Olympians. The findings of this study provided mixed evidence for coaching behaviours characterized as athlete-centred coaching as defined within the literature. Specifically, at least half of the coaches did not use stimulating questions, one of the most central athlete-centred tenets. Explanations for the mixed findings are discussed and a continuum of athlete-centred coaching is proposed. Lastly, suggestions for future research and practical implications are presented.

The intent of this study was to compare the rate of gastric emptying of three commercially available athletic drinks (GA, BT, and BP) against water, and in doing so to assess the exchange of water, carbohydrate and electrolytes 15 minutes after ingestion. Nine men and three women reported to the laboratory after having fasted for 12 hours.' A No. 20 French Levine Tube was inserted through the nasal passage and into the stomach. The subjects drank down 400 ml of the test solution containing 25 mg of phenol red which was used as a volume indicator. Fifteen minutes after ingestion, the gastric contents were aspirated via the tube by means of a 50 ml syringe. The 4 conditions were tested in one morning, with the order of feedings rotated between subjects. The recovered gastric contents were measured for total volume, volume of original drink, carbohydrate content and gastric electrolyte exchange. Student t values were used to test the difference between means set at the P < .05 level of confidence. BT and BP were found to empty statistically the same volume of fluid in 15 minutes as did water, while GA emptied 39% less volume than did water. BT, BP, and GA contributed 1.9, 4.5 and 6.8 gm of carbohydrate respectively in 15 minutes. These data are in agreement with previous findings that high glucose concentrations (GA - 4.5 gam) cause a slowing of gastric emptying.