A survey instrument, Coaches' Survey, was constructed for the purpose of collecting data for this study. Subjects were selected from the 1989-1990 National Directory of College Athletics. The survey instrument was mailed to 411 coaches; 273 usable instruments were returned. The coaches were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with 36 statements in both the Real situation and the Ideal situation. Major findings of the study led to the conclusions that (a) better communication between athletic directors and coaches resulted in better understanding and acceptance of limitations which may be beyond the athletic directors' control, (b) coaching stress was a real concern for the coaches surveyed, (c) the coaches believed that athletic directors should be strong leaders, (d) men have better access to community leaders than do women, (e) coaches generally believe that athletic directors perform adequately even though there are some weaknesses, and (f) the area of concern for most coaches is financial support for their programs. Even when seen as a fact, it was viewed as restricting the strength and growth of programs.

The intercollegiate athletic program for women at the University of Arizona evolved from a rich heritage of activities of dedicated sportswomen. The first provision for physical pursuits on the University of Arizona campus was made in 1895 when President Howard Billman hired Gertrude Hughes to teach physical culture. From that foundation in 1895, a fully developed intercollegiate athletic program for women has developed. This study focuses on the people and events which have shaped that program. Chapter Two provides a survey of the development of women's athletics programs in both institutions of higher education and the society at large with some attention to the history of women in America in order to form a context and comparative format for the Arizona program. Chapters Three and Four center on the administrative leadership of physical education and athletics for women at the University of Arizona. The influences of Ina Gittings, Marguerite Chesney, Mary Pilgrim, and Donna Miller are presented. Chapter Five focuses on the transition period from women's club sports to an intercollegiate athletic program for women, the impact ot Title IX on the development of that program, the merging of women's athletics with men's, and the role that Mary Roby has played in the development of the University of Arizona's women's intercollegiate athletic program. From its fledgling beginning, due to the contribution of people and events, the program has developed into one of the nation's finest from which highly successful individuals and teams have emerged. The present program offers to current highly skilled female athletes at the University of Arizona the opportunity for a qualitative athletic experience in which they can maximize their capabilities both as students and athletes.

The purpose of this study is to identify which characteristics of student-athletes are most helpful in making administrative decisions about intercollegiate athletic programs, and then to develop a descriptive profile of a group of student-athletes at a particular university. Additional purposes include comparing these descriptive data with other group data and with perceptions of the same group of student-athletes by faculty administrators at the same university. Data were collected in four phases. First, a jury of three experts developed a list of student-athlete characteristics they believed to be helpful in making administrative decisions regarding those athletes. Next, information was gathered to develop a descriptive profile of a selected group of eighteen student-athletes based on the identified characteristics. Next, statistical comparisons were made with available data from other groups of students and from the eight Athletic Council members' perceptions of the study group. Major findings include the identification of useful characteristics, inconsistencies between student-athlete high school ranks in class and SAT scores, high scores in hostility, and accurate perceptions of student-athletes by Athletic Council members.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Steven Smethers / The college sports industry is seeing a change in its marketing strategies with the rise of the popularity of social media. Facebook and Twitter are the two most common social networking sites used by intercollegiate athletic departments. Not only are these outlets used to foster two-way communication with fans, but they are also used as advertising and public relations tools. The purpose of this study is to compare the Kansas State University of Intercollegiate Athletics’ social media objectives and content with the level of satisfaction among representatives of the K-State fan base. Is the athletic department producing the social media content that their fans want to see? In order to gain a better understanding of the nature of the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with various staff members in the K-State Department of Intercollegiate Athletics to determine the social media objectives and to gather their opinions on the content. From there, two focus groups were conducted to ascertain the level of satisfaction among K-State fans with the current content. One group consisted of students while the other group contained K-State alumni. Findings showed that fans were pleased with certain aspects (i.e. score updates on @kstategameday, conciseness of Twitter, videos, etc.) but wanted to see more of other items such as K-State trivia, behind the scenes footage and more on student-athletes. The information gathered was then used to provide suggestions for future social media strategies within the K-State Athletics Department. The recommendations will help to enhance communication with fans and satisfy their social media needs as they relate to K-State Sports.

Thesis (M.Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2001 / Refer to document

This study was designed to determine the degree of homophobia, expressed lesbian sexual preference behavior, and attitudes toward lesbianism among the female team sport college athlete and the female team sport recreational player. It was hypothesized that the female team sport college athlete would be less homophobic, would express greater lesbian sexual preference behavior, and would possess more positive attitudes toward lesbianism than the female team sport recreational player. There were 32 female team sport college athletes representing four Utah university/college campuses and one Oregon university/college campus; 37 female team sport recreational players representing four Utah recreational team and two Oregon recreational teams. Data were collected during the months of March through June, 1983. All subjects participating were volunteers. The subjects' ages ranged from 18-35, the mean age being 23.5 years. The instruments used in this study were: 1) Index of Attitudes Toward Lesbians (Guthrie, 1982), 2) Demographic/Social Variable Data (Guthrie, 1982). The research administered the instruments individually to each volunteer, therefore there was a 100% return. Chi-Square Analyses were used and the major results indicated that there were no significant differences in the degree of homophobia, lesbian sexual preference behavior, and positive attitudes toward lesbianism between the two groups. Post hoc analyses of data were performed to determine whether age was a factor in degree of homophobia, the expression of lesbian sexual preference behavior, and the expression of positive attitudes toward lesbianism. These analyses revealed a large percentage of those individuals in the age group 20-24 years expressed non-homophobia, lesbian sexual preference behavior, and positive attitudes towards lesbianism. Since this age group (20-24 years) encompasses a great proportion of the college age women who participate in athletics, it is hypothesized that exposure, involvement, and attitudes concerning lesbianism are noticeably prevalent in the college athletic environment.

As social beings, people naturally form identifications with various social groups within their environment. Individuals gain benefits by forming identifications with groups, such as increased self-esteem and psychological support. Past research has examined the identification people form with various social groups, but no research has examined with which of these social groups people form the strongest identification. This study examines the strength of identification with various social groups within one’s life. It is predicted that individuals will indicate a stronger identification with a sport team than with any other social group. Secondly, it is predicted that identification with a sport team will provide better psychological benefits than identification with another social group. The analysis of 226 participants’ responses indicated that individuals form a stronger identification with a sport team than with a religious group, a school activity, or with a form of community involvement. A similar level of identification was found between identification with a sport team and a social activity as well as one’s occupation. The study’s results also indicated that identification with a sport team contributed slightly more to one’s social psychological health than identification with another form of social group.

Thesis (M.S. in Leadership and Human Resource Development)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Janice Laurence, Armando Estrada. Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-34). Also available online.

No description available.

The purposes of this study were to determine the adjustment of freshman athletes to intercollegiate athletics and to determine the validity of the Perceptions of Adjustment to Sports Questionnaire (PASQ), which was created for this research. The results of a pilot study that included 62 freshman intercollegiate athletes indicated that Rule 48 status, time of season, residence, interscholastic athletic experience, team cohesion, and revenue do not influence the adjustment of freshman athletes to intercollegiate sports (p < .05). Twelve panelists also rated the construct validity of the PASQ in a three-round Delphi study. The final version of the PASQ resulted in a 69-item, 8 sub scale instrument that measures freshman adjustment to intercollegiate athletics; however, additional research needs to be conducted to confirm its validity. Possible uses of the PASQ are to provide a foundation for counseling freshman intercollegiate athletes and to recognize freshman athletes at risk for psychiatric and physical health problems. / School of Physical Education