The problem of this study was to determine the best methods in relation to caring for materials that compose football equipment by studying the recommendations suggested by those who manufacture the materials; and also to report the results on information received as to how to care for and maintain the materials commonly found in football equipment. Further, the problem was to write a handbook of instructions for the care and maintenance of football equipment.

In this study, the aerodynamic effects on an American football are characterized, especially in a tumbling, or end-over-end, motion as seen in a typical kickoff or field goal attempt. The objective of this study is to establish aerodynamic coefficients for the dynamic motion of a tumbling American football. A subsonic wind tunnel was used to recreate a range of air velocities that, when coupled with rotation rates and differing laces orientations, would provide a test bed for aerodynamic drag, side, and lift coefficient analysis. Test results quantify effect of back-spin and top-spin on lift force. Results show that the presence of laces imposes a side force in the opposite direction of the laces orientation. A secondary system was installed to visualize air flow around the tumbling ball and record high-speed video of wake patterns, as a qualitative check of measured force directions.

With the recent discovery of traumatic brain injuries developing in retired professional football players, this study seeks to explore players’ perceptions of their careers in the sport, and how this may reflect notions of personal health over the long-term. Current and former football players, athletic staff, and other members of the football community were interviewed with the goal of learning about the full trajectory of a football career. Using grounded metaphorical analysis to examine the interview data, our study found the use of metaphor by participants to be integral in players’ descriptions of their careers. Participants likened aspects of their careers to enduring a war, having a religious experience, and being part of a family unit. Long-term, post-career health implications are discussed in relation to players’ conceiving of their experiences through these metaphors, along with limitations of the study and directions for future research. / text

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This thesis explores the hybridity and distinctiveness of British American football. Sports have socio-historical links to specific nation-states, thus encoding them with culturally specific values. Despite a movement towards cultural convergence, especially of popular culture, aspects of sport have remained resistant to dominant globalization trends. My thesis reveals that the globalization of American football to Britain has been a process which makes concessions to the local, while still retaining many of its global characteristics. Through an ethnographic study of one team, I spent an entire season becoming an „insider‟ and understanding the British American football culture from the perspective of the participants themselves. Analysis of data collected through participant observation and interviews revealed a number of themes which defined British American football as a hybrid and distinctive sport. First, that British American football was distinctive within the domestic British sports space because of its unique combination of American characteristics. Second, that „glocalization‟ influences the structuring of British American football under the amateur code, in order for the sport to better fit within the British sporting habitus. Finally, that the two branches of American football in Britain, the NFL and the British grassroots, were found to be involved in a disparate relationship which involved each branch concentrating on their own separate agendas for the sport. In conclusion, the American football played in Britain is British American football and this study importantly demonstrates that while a sport can retain its roots in terms of its physical appearance and playing structure, in order for it to infiltrate a foreign sports space, concessions must be made to the local sporting culture. The single most important thread that ran throughout this thesis was that American football could, and has, taken on multiple meanings, which were dependent upon the national context in which it was being played. It emphasizes the idea of globalization as glocalization; that the local is important in the global aspirations of the sport of American football. British American football has placed a uniquely British stamp on an otherwise purely American pastime.

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Communities and their specific consumptions is a fundamental subject to understand our world which is, most of the time, different from what we already know. In a period of globalization and of profound changes in human relations, it is important to understand other cultures, other spiritualities and other conceptions of life. Marc Aurelius said “We are the other of the other”, which means that our conception of the world is not the right answer, but one of the possible answers. This research studies the relation between the consumption and community. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the key elements that influence the consumption of an individual within a community, the impact of the community members on the community consumption behaviour, and how industries and professionals could answer to the community needs in terms of products and services. In addition, we have made a focus on the influence of a specific member of a community: the leader. To be more precise, the research fulfils different objectives which are: first, to review and identify key principles of communities, from existing literature; second, to adopt a 360° study method which allows us to have an overview of our problem by collecting data from different actors of the subject (Opinion leaders, professionals and customers); The literature review and this qualitative data collection helped us to identify the key elements which lead and determine the relation between consumption and communities. With this purpose in mind, we were motivated to collect qualitative primary data through an interpretivism paradigm. We conducted semi-structured interviews with open questions with selected participants who have a key role in the community. The main objective of the interviews was to gain a comprehensive and reliable perception of the situation from different key points of view. Our main goal is to identify what are the key elements in the relation between communities and consumption. On this road, we also wanted to know why a community is tightening on its practices and if their consumption may attract non-members of the community.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg 2015 / Historically, rugby was regarded as a white sport, but things changed post 1994. This study explores how black male university rugby players negotiate their masculine and racial identities in playing a sport that is historically white. Seven rugby players were recruited within the university rugby team for individual interviews which lasted for an hour and more. The individual interviews, with the permission of the interviewees, were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The interviews were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as a way of discovering and making meaning from the key themes that emerged in the data. The themes that emerged included: The pain associated with playing rugby; access to privilege in playing a sport historically associated with white people; navigating the identity of being black and man; references to soccer; aggression and expression of emotion associated with rugby; and transformation (racial integration). Social identity theory was employed in interpreting the themes that emerged in the study. In conclusion, it appears that rugby has had an influence on both the racial and masculine aspects of these black players’ sense of identity. It could be concluded that rugby does subscribe to the social gender roles of men, as the participants seemed to characterize some of the significant characteristics of masculinity. Based on the use of social identity theory, the participants had a desire to show the in-group (rugby players) in a positive light; this could be interpreted as their being protective of the group they belong to.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Medicine in the field of Sports Science 15 May 2014 / Introduction: This study sought to determine the relationships between eccentric strength and power of the lower extremity with dynamic balance in male football players. Footballers with superior balance, kick more accurately, have a possible reduced risk of injury and faster agility times. However, the relationship between eccentric strength and power with dynamic balance remains unresolved. Methods: Fifty male footballers (university; n = 27 and professional; n = 23) volunteered to participate in the study and performed the Y-balance Test, eccentric isokinetic knee extensor and flexor testing and the countermovement jump. Results: The university group demonstrated significant positive correlations between mean eccentric peak torque to body weight of the knee extensors and composite score in the Ybalance test (r = 0.42, p = 0.03) and between eccentric peak torque to body weight of the knee extensors of the non-dominant leg with normalised reach distance in the Y-balance test on the non-dominant limb (r = 0.50, p = 0.008). In the professional group, countermovement jump height was significantly correlated with composite score in the Y-balance test (r = 0.52, p = 0.02). Furthermore, countermovement height was positively correlated to normalised reach distance in the Y-balance test on the non-dominant limb in the university (r = 0.4, p = 0.05) and professional (r = 0.56, p = 0.006) groups, respectively. Conclusion: Moderate positive relationships exist between eccentric strength of the knee extensors and dynamic balance in the university group and between power and dynamic balance in the professional group. These findings may be due to different coordination strategies between the groups to maximize reach distance. Both groups demonstrated a significant relationship between countermovement jump height and reach performance on the non-dominant leg. In footballers, different neural control strategies may develop between the limbs due to their constant use of their non-dominant leg to stabilise whilst executing a kicking action. Due to these significant relationships, a longitudinal study measuring the effects of strength and power training on dynamic balance in footballers is required to ascertain cause and effect.

Thesis (M.Sc.(Emergency Medicine))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Health Sciences, 2014. / Aim. The aim of the study was to analyse the prevalence and type of injuries over two years of a Johannesburg High School rugby festival by assessing the injuries (number, anatomical sites, types and severity), to compare the injuries between the two years and to compare the injuries between the three days of the festival. Methods. The study design was a retrospective, descriptive and observational study. The study population was the participating rugby players at the two rugby festivals in 2010 and 2011. Medical records of rugby related injuries in schoolboy participants were used for capturing injury data. Results. A total of 626 players participated (322 and 304 in 2010 and 2011 respectively) of which there were a total of 100 injury data sets analysed. The injury rate per player in year one was 16.8%, and 15.2% in year two. There was no statistical difference (P = 0.6526) in the injury numbers between the two years. The injury profiles between the respective days between the two years were not statistically different. Most injuries were to the head/face, with the majority being concussion related. The next commonest injuries were to the neck area. Most injured players had not had previous similar injuries. Tackles were the commonest mechanism of injuries. Twenty four percent of injuries were deemed severe enough to stop the players from continuing play. Few required referral for investigations or specialist physician care and most were managed with simple first aid at the primary care level. Conclusion. The nature and mechanisms were in keeping with numerous local and international studies of schoolboy rugby players, but with a lower injury frequency. Providing medical services at rugby events such as these festivals is a requirement and adequate standardised record keeping is recommended to increase knowledge and monitor trends as the dynamic nature of the game of schoolboy rugby continues to develop and change.