Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-83).

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 118 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D.P.E.)--Springfield College, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 265-287).

Sport sociologists have longed defined sport as a heterosexist institution where gay and lesbian athletes are stigmatized. However, the number of active gay and lesbian athletes who have disclosed their sexual identities in sport is increasing, and therefore deserving of attention and investigation. The present study examines why intercollegiate lesbian athletes disclose their sexual identities, how they disclose their sexual identities, and the perceived consequences of sexual identity disclosure in sport. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 self-identified lesbian athletes who disclosed their sexual identities while participating in intercollegiate sport. Unlike most past literature on disclosure, the present study approaches disclosure as an interactional process that involves a discloser, an audience, and a context. Motivational factors leading to disclosure included wanting to be perceived as an honest and "normal" person, further self-acceptance, the desire for closer friendships with teammates, an unwillingness to hide their intimate or sexual relationships with teammates, and tolerant sporting environments. Athletes' perceived consequences of disclosure included a personal sense of relief, more self-confidence, positive responses from teammates, closer friendships with their teammates, and the creation of more supportive environments. Respondents most commonly utilized implicit and reactive methods of disclosure; however, in some cases the lesbian athletes relied on teammates to tell others about their sexual identities. Unlike past literature, the disclosure experiences, and the overall sporting experiences of the lesbian athletes in the present study, were positive. Explanations concerning their positive experiences included a self-fulfilling prophesy, the liberal mentality of the universities they attended, the large number of lesbians on their teams, the implicit nature of disclosure, and greater tolerance for gays and lesbians in sport. Overall, approaching disclosure as an interactional process provided a more inclusive and sociological understanding of the disclosure experiences of lesbian athletes in sport. Future research should consider utilizing such a framework to investigate the disclosure experiences of gay and lesbian athletes in high school and professional sports.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify, describe, and analyze Navajo female participation in high school volleyball and its affects on success in higher education. The research was an opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the impact athletics, namely volleyball, has within the Diné culture; and how the impact of those role models who provided leadership through athletic instruction had on the lives of Navajo female student athletes in their postsecondary experiences. The qualitative research was an opportunity to recognize that the interviewing process is synonymous and conducive to oral traditions told by Indigenous people. The population consisted of 11 Navajo female student athletes who were alumna of Monument Valley High School in Kayenta, Arizona, located on the Navajo Nation and who had participated in four years of Mustang volleyball from 2000-2010, either currently attending or graduated from a postsecondary institution, and although not a set criterion, played collegiate volleyball. Results indicated that participation in high school volleyball provided the necessary support and overarching influence that increased self-esteem or self-efficacy that led toward college enrollment, maintaining retention, and long-term academic success. Diné teachings of Aszdáá Nádleehé (Changing Woman) through the age old practice of the Kinaaldá ceremony for young Navajo pubescent girls marking their transition into womanhood, the practice of K'é, and Sa'ah naagháí bi'keeh hózhóón were all prominent Diné principles that resonated with the Navajo female student athletes. The leadership skills that the Navajo female student athletes acquired occurred based on the modification and adaptation of two cultures of two given societies: mainstream non-Native, Euro-centric society, and Diné society. The lifestyle, cultural beliefs, and teachings define the identity of female student athletes and the essence of their being.   / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2012

While warm-up is one of the more generally accepted elements of the strength and conditioning portfolio, direct evidence as to its optimal application in enhancing sports performance is sparse. Today, there is a trend to look at warm-up as performance preparation (Jeffreys, 2007a, Verstegen, 2004), with the aim of maximising performance from the outset of, and throughout, competition and training. Given that the majority of team sports can involve high intensity exercise from the start, then a warm-up needs to be able to ensure that athletes are capable of maximal performance at the outset of a game, and do not have to use the first minutes of a game to progress to a point where they are capable of maximal performance. Performance has been shown to be optimised by theinclusion of high intensity activities in warm-up procedures (Faigenbaum, et al., 2005; Burkett, et al., 2005). However, while warm-up procedures are common, there is great variability in their application, and the inclusion of high intensity activities is not uniform (Jeffreys, 2007b). For this reason, many team sport warm-ups may not currently be optimal in terms of optimising speed and power performance. Indeed, the trend is currently for team sport warm-ups to become very skill based, and the inclusion of maximal intensity exercises may be on the decline rather than being increased. Jeffreys, (2007b) has previously asserted that all warm-ups should consist of a potentiation phase, over and above a general phase. This potentiation phase should consist of a progressive series of exercises, until maximum effort is achieved. Additionally, Tillin and Bishop, (2009) have suggested that post activation potentiation (PAP) may provide a mechanism by which a super-maximal performance can be achieved via the use of a carefully selected and applied pre-conditioning activity. While previous studies have indicated the potential of PAP to enhance factors affecting power performance, such as the rate offeree development, studies on the direct effects on performance are limited, and the conclusions mixed (Tillin and Bishop, 2009). This series of studies addressed this lack of research, and investigated the application of warm-up methods to the acute enhancement of performance. To maximise the benefits of these studies to coaching practice, specific measures of performance were selected as the dependent variable throughout, so that all conclusions drawn could be applied directly to performance. Similarly, competing athletes were selected as subjects for all studies, and all studies were carried out in the athlete's training environment to maximise ecological validity and to ensure transferability of the results directly into enhancing sports performance. The results of study one clearly support the use of a potentiation phase in warm-up. Investigating the effects of three warm-up protocols (general, sprint potentiated and jump potentiated) on 10 metre sprint performance, significantly superior (p<0.05) 10 metre sprint scores were found with a potentiated warm-up (both jump and sprint) than were achieved via general warm-up alone. It also supported the specific nature of PAP with sprint potentiation able to elicit significantly (p<0.05) superior sprint performance than a jump potentiated warm-up. Studies 2-6 looked at the potential of exploiting PAP based protocols, as an addition to a basic potentiation phase within a warm-up. A range of methods were used that worked on either a kinematic basis where biomechanically similar movement patters were loaded (loaded CMJ's, sprint resisted running and sprint assisted running) or a kinetic basis where high forces were elicited (squats, MVC's). The results of these studies showed no significant (p>0.05) benefit of any of these activities on either sprint or jump performance. These studies evaluated the acute effects of sprint resisted running, sprint assisted running, loaded jumps, maximal voluntary contractions and heavy squats superimposed onto the warm-up protocol of study 1 on speed and/or jump performance. No significant performance enhancements were found in any of the studies, indicating that none had the potential to acutely enhance performance. In conclusion, the results of these studies recommend that all warm-ups include apotentiation phase, where a series of specific exercises are increased in intensity until maximum intensity is achieved. The use of additional activities, aimed to induce an additional PAP based effect on subsequent enhanced performance cannot be recommended for warm-ups for youth athletes.