>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The study aimed at identifying the current state of injury related care for Malawi super league football players. To achieve this the study determined the average time taken by soccer players in Malawi to return to active participation following an injury, identified the type of treatment received by football players, determined the management of football injuries by team doctors in Malawi, established the responsibilities of football coaches in the management of injuries in Malawi and established the financial and medical support received by football players after sustaining an injury

Fotbollsagenter har verkat inom fotboll under en längre tid. Deras avsikt är att representera spelare och klubbar i spelarövergångar och kontraktsförhandlingar. När fotbollen gick över från amatörism till professionellt utövande växte branschen och utvecklingen har över tid blivit allt större. Genom fotbollens expansion, står agenter kvar som en nyckelfaktor inom fotbollens marknad. I takt med att antalet agenter har ökat har fotbollsmarknaden sett en växande tillströmning av olicensierade agenter. Oetiska metoder har påverkat den allmänna uppfattningen om agenter negativt och därmed har trovärdigheten kring agenter ifrågasatts. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur agenter inom svensk fotboll skapar legitimitet samt hur de arbetar etiskt och moraliskt i relation till sina representanter. För att genomföra detta kommer studien även att undersöka agenternas grundfunktion inom svensk fotboll. Genom ett fenomenografiskt angreppssätt har perspektiv från fotbollsagenter, fotbollsspelare och Svenska Fotbollsförbundet undersökts. Detta har genomförts genom semistrukturerade intervjuer för att skapa en helhetsbild av branschen. Studiens resultat indikerar att ett starkt förtroende och en god kommunikation mellan spelaren och agenten är grundförutsättningar för ett legitimt arbete. Dessutom är transparens och ett noggrant utfört arbete viktiga aspekter som skapar legitimitet hos agenter. Genomgående i studien var även att formella regelverk har en väsentlig del i hur legitimt agentbranschen uppfattas. Slutligen har etiska perspektiv bidragit till värdefulla synvinklar om agenternas arbete. / Football agents have been present in football for a long time. Their goal is representing players and clubs with player transfers and contract negotiations. As football has shifted from amateurism to a professional practice, the industry has grown and the development has rapidly expanded over time. Through the expansion, agents remain a key factor in the football market. As the number of agents has increased, the football market has seen a growing influx of unlicensed agents. Unethical practices have negatively affected the general perception of agents and thus the credibility of agents has been called into question. The purpose of this study is to investigate how agents in Swedish football create legitimacy and how they work ethically and morally in relation to their clients. In order to do this, the study will also examine the agents' function in Swedish football. Through a phenomenographic approach, perspectives from football agents, football players and the Swedish Football Association have been studied. This collection of data has been gathered through semi-structured interviews to create an overall picture of the industry. The results of the study indicate that strong trust, good communication, transparent and diligent work between the player and the agent are vital aspects which create legitimacy for agents. It was also consistently found in the study that formal regulations play a significant role in how legitimate the agent industry is perceived. Lastly, the ethical perspectives used in the study to evaluate agents has brought valuable viewpoints about the agents' moral decision-making at work.

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Användningen av sociala medier både för klubbar och supportrar har sett en snabb ökning i fotbollssammanhang. Syftet och målen med användningen mellan dem skiljer sig däremot, där fotbollsklubbar är ute efter en potentiell källa som uppmuntrar ekonomiska möjligheter. Supportrars användning är kopplat till tillhörighet och engagemang, där exakta motiv och behov av en fotbollsklubbs sociala medier behöver identifieras. Denna studie syftar att undersöka supportrars behov av en mindre fotbollsklubbs sociala medier utifrån ett uses and gratifications perspektiv. Detta för att se om klubben tillfredsställer supportrarnas behov och uppmuntrar användning och engagemang för att se om en mindre klubb kan utnyttja de finansiella möjligheterna av sociala medier. Det undersöks även om Covid-19 pandemin har lett till ett ökat behov av sociala medier för supportrarna. Studien är baserad på Halmstads BK, som representerar en mindre fotbollsklubb, och dess supportrar. Tre kvalitativa intervjuer samt en enkätundersökning med 106 deltagare har genomförts utifrån studiens syfte. Resultatet visar att Halmstads BK:s supportrar använder sig primärt av klubbens sociala medier för att få information kring laget. Tillhörighet och interaktion är även ett identifierat behov hos supportrarna, däremot tillfredsställs inte behoven av klubben och kanalernas användning drabbas negativt. Pandemin tillförde inte heller ett utökat behov av klubbens medier utan återställde endast behovet till hur det var innan pandemin. I och med låg aktivitet på klubbens medier så är en finansiell modell runt sociala medier inte lämplig i nuläget. / Social media usage is rapidly increasing for football clubs and supporters. Their purpose with social media differs however, where a football club is looking for a potential source that encourages financial benefits. A supporter’s use of social media is linked to belonging and engagement, however their exact motives and needs must be identified. This study means to establish the needs of a club’s social media pages for supporters to a smaller club with a Uses and Gratifications perspective. By establishing the supporters' needs and gratifications sought and how well the club meets and encourages them, it can be determined how well a club is positioned to benefit from social media’s financial benefits. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on supporters needs of its club’s social media is also studied. This study is based on Halmstads BK, which represents a smaller football club, and its supporters. This study contains three qualitative interviews as well as a survey with 106 respondents. The result shows that Halmstads BK’s supporters primarily use the club’s social media to seek information about the team. Belonging and interaction is also an identified need that is currently not being met by the club which negatively impacts the channel's activity. The pandemic did not increase the supporters' need for the club’s social media but rather brought it back to how it was before the pandemic. Because of the low activity on the club’s channels a financial model around social media is not suitable at this moment.

This essay examines if there is any difference how the two biggest tabloids in Sweden, Aftonbladet and Expressen is portraying the Swedish national football team for both woman and men. The purpose is to compare and see if there is any difference regarding what gender you have. We have also examined what gender the authors for the articles have. We have used a quantitative content analysis to get our results. In conclusion, there is a big difference in medial space regarding what gender you have. But there is no significant difference how the reporters are using their language depending what national team they’re writing about. There is also a big majority of male reporters that writes about the national teams.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for a Masters Degree in Technology, in the Department of Chiropractic at the Durban University of Technology, 2008 / Introduction: One of the most important responsibilities of a rugby coach towards players is that of injury prevention and advice. Often these responsibilities fall solely on the coach, but sometimes he has the benefit of sports medical personnel at his service. Therefore in order for the coach to best service this sport and industry, his/her knowledge and perception of Chiropractic and other sports medical personnel is critical. Objective: To establish an understanding of Durban rugby coaches’ perceptions and knowledge of Chiropractic to formulate initiatives aimed at bridging gaps and building co-operation between coaches and various medical personnel that they have at their disposal. Methods: A survey was distributed to 149 rugby coaches within 23 high schools and 67 rugby coaches within 24 rugby clubs, resulting in a total of 219 rugby coaches in the greater Durban area received a questionnaire for completion and return. Results: Of the 85 coaches that participated (38.8% response rate), the majority were White (95%), male (99%), with a mean age of 37.36 years and coached at the amateur level (65.1%). School coaches dominated the participants with 67.1% with 61 (71.8%) having obtained a rugby coaching qualification and 26 (30.6%) having another professional sport, fitness or medical qualification besides that of rugby coaching. Most (94.9%) participants referred players to a health professional for examination and / or treatment. This included Physiotherapists, 80% of the time, GPs 70.6% of the time and Chiropractors, 60% of the time. Twenty-nine (34.1%) had a Chiropractor on their medical management team and 28 (96.6%) said it was a positive experience. Of those who did not have a Chiropractor on the team, 82.4% said they would consider it in the future. Over half (65.5%) had personally been treated by a Chiropractor. The 3 most frequent conditions associated with Chiropractic included: Disc herniation (42.6%), low back pain (36.1%) and whiplash (32.8%). Notwithstanding this outcome, the level of knowledge was low with the mean knowledge score (an aggregate knowledge score derived statistically from all questions relating to the knowledge of Chiropractic) of the group was 55.8% (SD 21.9%), even though the range varied from 0 to 96%. Although the coaches’ knowledge of Chiropractic was low, most participants (76.2%) had a favourable view of the Chiropractic profession. Furthermore the coaches perception of Chiropractic related significantly to their knowledge (p = 0.037). In addition the higher their knowledge scores the more positive their view. Conclusion: This study established what knowledge base is available that could promote rugby coaches greater understanding of the Chiropractic profession and related medical personnel. There was a positive association between increased knowledge and a better perception of Chiropractic, suggesting that if knowledge were improved, then perception and attitude towards Chiropractic and related medical personnel would further improve. This increased awareness may improve knowledge, understanding, communication and utilization with the Chiropractic profession and related medical personnel and ultimately these professions within rugby may gain a greater level of acceptance.

submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Background Rugby union is one of South Africa’s most popular sports; it requires high levels of skill and fitness and is played at a high intensity and speed which allows for a greater risk of injury. The high risk of injury is said to be due to the nature of the physicality of rugby. It is because of this high risk of injury that several adaptations of rugby have since developed which rely more on speed and agility than physicality. These adaptations include tens or ten-a-side rugby, sevens or seven-a-side rugby and finally touch rugby, which is played with six players a-side. Each adaptation has its own set of rules and is played differently to the traditional rugby union or fifteen-a-side rugby. Hence, in these adaptations the physicality is said to decrease with a resultant increase in demand for speed and agility. The reduction of physicality and increase in the need for speed and agility would imply that the nature of injuries sustained will be different to those sustained in traditional rugby union. Objectives To develop a profile of injuries that describe the type, anatomical location and mechanism of injuries sustained in tens, sevens and touch rugby; to compare the injuries sustained between the three groups; and, to analyse management strategies utilised by chiropractic students at the 2014 Durban ‘Rugby Rush Tournament’. Additionally this study aimed to provide recommendations to the injury reporting form utilised. Method This study was a retrospective, quantitative, descriptive study based on the Chiropractic Student Sports Association’s report form in order to produce a retrospective cohort analysis of injury and treatment profiles. Participants who made use of the chiropractic treatment facility were required to complete the informed consent section of the injury reporting form. The chiropractic intern was required to complete the remainder of the form pertaining to the participant, complaint and treatment information. This study was limited to event participants to allow for subgroup analysis. The forms were then captured and analysed. Results The data collected consisted of a total of 345 individual patient forms which indicated 626 visits for a total of 733 complaints. The average participant age was 24 ± 5.58. The study found muscle strains (41.5%), SI Syndrome (17.6%) and Joint sprains (15.0%) to be the most frequent diagnoses. A history or previous injury or trauma was reported in 18.7% and 7.40% respectively. Acute injuries accounted for 64.3% and 35.7% were recorded as chronic in nature. The most frequent mechanism of injury was that of overuse (81.9%) and trauma accounted for 17.2% of injuries. The lumbar region (26.1%), thigh (20.7%) and shin/calf (15.6%) were the most commonly reported regions of complaint. Manipulation (58.8%), massage (32.0%) and stretch PNF (27.9%) were the most frequently used treatment protocols. Strapping was utilised in 21.1% of injuries of which 5.20% was applied to the muscle and 13.6% was applied to the joint. No comparison was made using the sevens subgroup as there were insufficient records, thus only tens and touch players were compared. A borderline non-significant difference (p = 0.057) was noted between the type of player and the history of previous trauma. Tens players were more likely to have a history of trauma compared to touch players. A significant difference (p = 0.001) was found between the type of athlete and mechanism of injury. Overuse was more common in touch players whereas trauma was more common in tens players. Due to statistical inconsistencies no significance tests were applicable to compare the type of player and region of complaint. Recommendations were proposed in order to avoid this in future research. Conclusion This study provides a base of knowledge regarding the injuries that were presented to the chiropractic treatment facility at the 2014 Durban ‘Rugby Rush Tournament’ and the management strategies utilised by the chiropractic interns at the event. This research provides insight into injury profiling of tens, sevens and touch rugby players. There were several recommendations proposed for future researchers in order to expand on this field of knowledge.

The purpose of this research was to explore the phenomenon of parenting in English elite youth football and provide a rich, detailed description and nuanced interpretation of parenting in this highly challenging and competitive culture. The research positioned parenting in youth sport as a dynamic, culturally-situated process, constituted through interaction with significant others. This allowed for an in-depth understanding of how parenting was experienced in elite youth football that included children s accounts of their interaction with parents. Using a phenomenological methodology, research was undertaken in three English professional football clubs to explore how parenting in elite youth football was experienced as lived. Parents of players registered to an elite youth football academy, players aged between 8 and 17 years and academy coaches participated in interviews. Participant observation was used to complement interview data. Embracing multi-perspectivalism (Kellner, 1995), multiple qualitative analytical techniques were used to explore data from different epistemological perspectives, providing sensitivity to the variation and subtlety of participants experiences. The findings from four empirical, qualitative research studies are presented. Firstly, an exploration of the experience of being a parent of an elite youth footballer described how parents were socialised into the academy culture, and experienced a change in identity and a heightened sense of responsibility to facilitate their child s football development. Secondly, an examination of elite youth footballers experience of interaction with their parents demonstrated how players experienced their body as an object to be scrutinised and assessed when watched by parents, experienced conflict with parents from within a power relation, and ascribed meaning to their interaction with parents in relation to their goal of becoming a successful academy footballer. Thirdly, an idiographic analysis of parents and players individual and dyadic experiences of parent-player interactions highlighted how relationships were constituted by; relations with other family members; an embodied sense of closeness; the temporal significance of football transitions; and gender and power relations. Finally, an analysis of coaches accounts of the parent-coach relationship in elite youth football demonstrated how parent-coach interactions occurred within an imbalanced power relation, which centred on establishing the rights to be responsible for player development. Together, these findings present a complex picture of parenting in elite youth football, as an embodied, temporal and culturally-situated experience, constituted through interaction and power relations between parents, players, coaches and academies. This research highlights the importance of conceptualising parenting in youth sport as a social, culturally-embedded process and supports the need to include children in research about issues that affect them. Extending this further, adopting a theoretical perspective that allows for the contextual power relations to be examined can further enhance understanding of parenting in youth sport. Finally, this research recommends that listening to and valuing the experiences of participants in the elite youth football culture, alongside open discussion and critical reflection upon academy practices, may have the greatest potential for enhancing the experiences of parents, players and coaches.

Bakgrund: Mer eller mindre idrott i skolan är en stor debatt som delar Sverige. Studier visar på att daglig fysisk aktivitet under skoltid förbättrar betygen hos eleverna samt att trivseln ökar. Vad händer om det blir för mycket idrott? Bra? Dåligt?   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka elevers upplevda hälsa, motivation och utveckling under tiden på ett NIU-gymnasium. Hur påverkar mängden träning skolan, idrotten och fritiden?   Metod: Metoden som har valts i denna studie är en kvalitativ ansats där fem semistrukturerade fokusgruppintervjuer utfördes, samt en semistrukturerad intervju. Elva flickor och elva pojkar deltog i studien från årkurs ett och årskurs på tre olika NIU-fotbollsgymnasier.    Resultat: Resultatet visade att mängden träning som blev i början av tiden på NIU-fotboll var ovan för många. De blev ofta sjuka/skadade i början av gymnasietiden. Eleverna prioriterade i de flesta fall fotbollen före skolan. Eleverna var överrens om att alla hade utvecklats och ett större fotbollsmässigt register, många hade även fått en annan bild av fotbollen.   Diskussion: Under elevers första tid på NIU borde lärarna/tränarna prioritera föreläsningar om kost och återhämtning istället för tre träningspass i veckan på skoltid. Öka träningsmängden successivt och låt eleverna komma in i gymnasieskolans värld. Borde allt detta flyttas upp på akademisk nivå istället (universitet/högskola)? / More or less sport in schools is a big debate that divides Sweden. Studies show that daily physical activity during school hours improves the grades of the students and also increase satisfaction of the students’. What happens if there is too much sport? Good? Bad?    The purpose of the study is to examine students' perceived health, motivation and development over time of the NIU football. How the amount of training does affects school, sport and leisure time?    The method that was chosen in this study is a qualitative approach where five semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted, and one semi-structured interview. Eleven girls and eleven boys participated in the study from grade one and grade three on three different nationally approved sports programs in upper secondary school (NIU).   The results showed that the amount of training that became in the beginning of the time of the NIU-football was above many. They often became sick / injured early in upper secondary school. Students’ priority in most cases football before school. Students were agreed that all had been developed and a major in terms of football records, many had also received another image of football.   During the students' first time at NIU teachers / coaches should prioritize lectures on nutrition and recovery instead of three sessions a week during school hours. Increase the amount of exercise gradually and let the students enter secondary school world. Should all this be moved up to the academic level instead (university / college)?

In this study we have examined how Swedish tabloid newspapers portray supporters in regard to the deadly assault at the Allsvenskan premiere in Helsingborg between Helsingborgs IF and Djurgårdens IF in 2014. We have analyzed published articles in the two biggest tabloid newspapers in Sweden – Aftonbladet and Expressen. Our main findings show that journalists tend to generalize and stigmatize all supporters when writing about hooligans. There is also confusion regarding different groups within the supporter community.