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<p>Football is the most popular sport in the world, and it continues to have a progressive annual increase in the number of active players and the number of games played per season, which in turn, leads to an increase in the frequency of injuries. Football is extensively researched worldwide, however, some current studies confirm that the results on football injury factors are limited, as well as inconsistent and incomplete. The main aim of this study was to examine interrelating factors of football injuries through the various age groups at a designated football club. The study aimed to expose the injury risk factors and patterns present in the various age groups.</p>

The sociological study of women and sport, thus far, has focused primarily on females' involvement in football. This can be seen in a variety of sociological studies that have emphasised the persistence of unequal gender relations in the context of football. The purpose of this thesis aims to make a contribution to the literature by providing the first sociological analysis of females' involvement in cricket through a case study involving females' cricketers in a UK county. A figurational framework is adopted throughout the thesis to explore female cricketers' position as outsiders within the context of cricket, which has been predominantly a male preserve. It is suggested within the thesis that female cricketers are a heterogeneous outsider group with internal power relations that affect their outsiders' status. Gender relations as a type of unequal power relation are an integral, enduring part of female cricketers' experiences of the cricket figuration. Furthermore, the testimonies of contemporary female cricketers demonstrate that they remain 'outsiders' in the cricket figuration. That is to say, through a variety of processes, they remain on the margins of male cricket.

Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC) use as a tool for recovery after exercise has recently become widespread among athletes. While there is strong anecdotal support for IPC, little research has been done to show its effectiveness in recovery. Eight collegiate football athletes were recruited and subjected to IPC or control conditions in a randomized crossover manner during off-season training. Countermovement jump (CMJ) and 10m sprint were evaluated before training, at 3 and 24 hours following training. Self-reported soreness, blood markers of inflammation [interleukin-6, interleukin-10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1)] and muscle damage (myoglobin) were measured before training, post-training, post-recovery and at 3 and 24 hours post-training. Significant time effects were observed in MCP-1 and myoglobin (p < 0.05) indicating an inflammatory response and muscle damage. No group differences (p > 0.05) were observed between recovery interventions for all measures, suggesting that the IPC protocol used was not effective in this population. / February 2017

There are 32 teams in the National Football League all competing to be the best by creating the strongest roster possible. The problem of evaluating talent has created extreme competition between teams in the form of a rookie draft and a fiercely competitive veteran free agent market. The difficulty with player evaluation is due to the noise associated with measuring a particular player’s value. The intent of this paper is to create an algorithm for identifying the inefficiencies in pricing in these player markets. In particular, this paper focuses on the veteran free agent market for offensive linemen in the NFL. NFL offensive linemen are difficult to evaluate empirically because of the significant amount of noise present due to an inability to measure a lineman’s performance directly. The algorithm first uses a machine learning technique, k-means cluster analysis, to generate a comparative set of offensive lineman. Then using that set of comparable offensive linemen, the algorithm flags any lineman that vary significantly in earnings from their peers. It is in this fashion that the algorithm provides relative valuations for particular offensive lineman.

Through sports, cities can reach fans from all different walks of life to rally together and support a competitive cause. Each city’s fan base is distinct—with their individual personalities being reflective of the culture and environment of the home city. The intent of this paper is to study the effect of multiple on and off field factors as they relate to attendance across three major professional sports in city markets. This will determine which city markets have the strongest, or weakest, overall fan bases. Ultimately, this study will end with an educated recommendation for professional sports franchise relocation or a league expansion.

Abstract Background: Football is among the world’s most popular sports. It is played all over the world. The sport is an intermittent team sport with demands on technical, tactical, psychological and physical abilities. This study focused on the physical ability and more specifically sprinting and agility. Youth national teams are selected every year from the age of 15 and the Swedish Football Association are funding camps and friendly matches were this selected few youth players are being educated in technique, tactics, psychology and physical training. Due to the selections for the national teams taking place at the age of 15, youth players can be affected on how far they have come in the biological maturation. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare linear speed and non-reactive agility between youth football players selected or not selected for the national team. Method: The study was an observatory cross-sectional study. Twenty-three subjects from an elite club in Sweden were divided into two groups. Eleven subjects had been to a national team gathering (n=11) and twelve players from the same teams had not been invited and was one group (n=12). The subjects performed a linear sprint test and a non-reactive agility test to compare differences between the two groups. The linear sprint test consisted of a 20-meter sprint with split times at 5 and 10 meters. The non-reactive agility test was a zigzag-test over a total of 15 meter. Both tests used timing gates to record time. SPSS was used for the statistical analysis. Results: There was a statistically significantly difference (p&lt;0.050) between the groups in the linear sprint. The national team group ran 6.6% (p=0.003) faster in the 5-meter sprint test, 2.4% (p=0.020) faster in the 5-meter sprint test and 3.4% (p=0.007) faster in the 20-meter sprint test. There were no statistically significant differences (p&gt;0.050) in the non-reactive agility test. Conclusion: This study found a difference in sprinting ability and it could be due to the difference in the maturation phases. The biggest difference was in the shortest distance, indicating that shorter sprints are more important to develop over longer sprints. The non-reactive agility test showed no statistically significant differences. Future studies could investigate speed and agility separate with larger groups of participants and follow them over time to see if the difference in both speed and agility evens out over time, when all participants have gone trough the final stages of maturation.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the personality characteristics of high school male gymnasts and the personality characteristics of high school football athletes and non-athletes. An attempt was made to answer three specific questions: I. Do personality differences exist between the gymnastic group and the non-athletic group? II. Do personality differences exist between the gymnastic group and the football group? III. Do personality differences exist between the football group and the non-athletic group?

Title: AC Sparta Praha fotbal a.s. Objectives: The aim of this thesis is to evaluate public relations of AC Sparta Praha fotbal a.s. This thesis is manly focused on evaluating the work of department of communication a PR. The aim is to analyze and describe all the comunicaton channels of the club. Methods: This thesis uses an electronic questionnaire, which is filled by Sparta supporters. The other method is an interview with a employee of Sparta, who is a member of department of communication and PR. Results: The supporters are satisfied with the work of the department of communication and PR. Sparta uses three basic communication channels, which includes social networks, magazine Sparta do toho! and an official web page. Sparta should improve its video materials and should begin to do more informal interviews with the players. Keywords: AC Sparta Praha fotbal a.s., football, public relations Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)