Soccer consists of many different types of sports specific movement. The present level of understanding of non-linear motion is negligible yet required if improvements are to be made in technique and performance of such actions. This thesis aimed to establish mechanisms for non-linear motion relevant to soccer performance. Preliminary analysis of curvilinear motion involved electromyographical analysis in selected muscles of the lower extremity at different grades of curvature. Results revealed adaptation of temporal muscle activity at the tightest grade of curvature. Adaptation occurred in both legs, but predominantly the outside leg, with increased duration of activity after footstrike (Smith et al., 1997). Stride kinematics were also altered, as increasing curve severity gave reduced stride length and increased stride frequency. Foot contact time was not changed as a function of curvilinear motion (P > 0.05), giving an increased proportion of the stride cycle in the stance phase. Rear foot contact time increased as a function of curve severity (P $ 0.05). To describe and quantify adaptation of lower limb movement in curvilinear motion, three-dimensional kinematics were used. Subjects (n = 8) wore soccer footwear on natural turf. Ranges of motion at the lower extremity were increased at the faster of the two velocities tested (4.4 and 5.4 ms·] ± 5%), yet tended to reduce with curve severity. The inside leg displayed more differences in angular displacement with curve severity, and the ankle joint showed to be a key adaptive site. Ground reaction forces of two consecutive footfalls were performed on natural turf to assess relative contributions of the two limbs during straight and curvilinear motion at a 5m radius. Total force over two footfalls was greater during straight motion. A mechanism of lowered centre of gravity during curvilinear motion was proposed. During curvilinear motion the outside leg was associated with greater force values in all three planes, displaying a greater contribution to curvilinear motion. Force measurements on natural turf were used to assess different sole configuration during three soccer specific moves. A modern moulded sole was found to be associated with greater maximum friction, also lower vertical ground reaction forces during a Cruyff turn and lower overall forces during the shot. This thesis established biomechanical adaptations and suggested mechanisms during non-linear motion in the soccer player. The research represented the first experimental investigations in this area and therefore recommendations for future study are considered.

A series of experiments was carried out to examine the effect of moderate and maximal exercise on decision-making performance in team games. Subjects' speed and accuracy of decision making were examined using tachistoscopically presented tests of decision making in sports specific tests. The complexity of the decision making tests was manipulated as was the instructional set given to the subjects. Subjects were tested at rest and while exercising at 70% and 100% of their maximal power output (MPO). Multiple analysis techniques showed unequivocally that, regardless of complexity or instructional set, performance at rest was significantly poorer than that during maximal exercise. Observation of the data showed that this difference was mainly due to increases in speed of decision with accuracy making no significant contribution to the results. The results concerning the effect of moderate intensity exercise were equivocal. In some studies performance during exercise at 70% MPO was significantly better than that at rest, while in other studies no significant effect was demonstrated. Similar results were found when comparing performance during 70% and 100% MPO. In all experiments, however, a linear trend was observed. This was due to the contribution of changes in speed of decision, with accuracy making no significant contribution to the results. It was concluded that maximal exercise results in increases in speed of decision making in team games. This can probably be best explained by exercise inducing changes in arousal, which in tum leads to an increase in the available central nervous system levels of allocatable resources. It was further argued that maximal exercise does not stress fit subjects enough to cause the individual to allocate resources to anything other than task specific information. The use of theories of emotionally induced arousal to explain the effect of exercise on decision-making performance was questioned.

This thesis examines the issue of child protection policy in voluntary sector organisations. More particularly it examines policies concerned with protecting children from child sexual abuse, within the Church of England and British voluntary sector sport over a period in the mid-1990s. Using a poststructuralist theory, specifically Actor Network Theory (ANT) this thesis explores child protection policy and discussion through case studies in the contexts of one Church of England diocese and seven voluntary sector sport organisations, utilising semistructured interviews and documentary analysis. It is suggested that the Church of England and British voluntary sector sport have common discursive 'frames', through the historical incorporation of Christian discourses into the beginnings of modem sport in the 19th Century English Public Schools, that support sexual violence against women and children and which provide legitimate identities for abusers. This cultural support for abuse, combined with similar incoherence in the organisational structures in both the Church of England and British voluntary sector sport organisations, is identified as preventing the effective dissemination of child protection policy, where such existed. The major difference between the two areas is identified as the focus within sport organisations on an 'organisational body project' by which organisational aims are achieved. This focus on the body in sport, it is argued, provides increased access and opportunities for abuse by those, like coaches, who most immediately manage the 'organisational body project'.

Injury surveillance research has established that over 20 % of cricket injuries are related to the upper limb (Leary & White, 2000; Ranson & Gregory, 2008; Stretch, 2003), with bowlers associated altered rotational joint range of motion (Aginsky et al., 2004, BellJenje & Gray, 2005 and Stuelcken et al., 2008). As the applicability of such observations is limited, the aim of this thesis was to provide researchers with a greater understanding of the pathomechanics of shoulder injuries afflicting cricket bowlers though quantifying associated musculoskeletal adaptations and subsequently through the development and validation of a bowling specific kinematic model, establish the influence these may impart on bowling technique. The use of diagnostic ultrasound within the first experimental study in a cohort of bowlers without a history of shoulder injury, established a high prevalence of supraspinatus (45 %) and subscapularis (50 %) tendon pathology, providing insight into common musculotendinous pathology and adaptations that are indicative of the future potential of injury. Data presented within the second study aimed to first quantify the kinematics of the shoulder during the bowling delivery in relation to humerothoracic motion and, second, the influence of rotation sequence to described humerothoracic motion was investigated. Findings established that whilst the bowling delivery was associated with large variability, future research must acknowledge the contribution of the scapula to shoulder motion. As such, due to the complexity of quantifying shoulder motion during cricket bowling, the following three experimental studies evaluated and developed the CSBT shoulder model through modifying current methods. The mCAST method in conjunction with an acromion cluster, was established to not only reduce resultant RMSE associated with scapula landmarks by up to 0.016 m, but also increase the repeatability and robustness of reconstructing GHJ location using the SCoRE method. The emphasis of the final experimental study was to apply the CSBT shoulder model to establish the contribution of individual rotator cuff muscles to shoulder joint stability and, to identify phases of the bowling delivery which increases the risk of injury. This case study established that during the bowling delivery the shoulder experiences large multi-planar forces placing demand on musculature, in particular supraspinatus and Subscapularis to stabilise the joint. These findings in conjunction with those of the first experimental study, not only identify structures at risk of injury but also establish that for the effective formulation of injury prevention strategies the bowling delivery must be investigated in its entirety.

Kendo is one of the Japanese martial arts (Budo). Kendo within the Physical Education( PE) curriculum at upper secondary schools is taught with the aim of learning the traditional etiquette of Budo, to learn skills and to lay the foundation for lifelong sports participation. The Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Culture expects school Kendo teachers to achieve these aims within a child-centred approach, not in a traditional drill-type approach to teaching. This thesis aims to explore school Kendo teachers'views of Kendo within the PE curriculum as sport and / or as Budo, and the teaching of tactics and strategies in their Kendo lessons. It also attempts to develop and present a new approach to the teaching of Kendo making use of tactical and strategic ideas. The thesis IS multi-layered in methodological terms. The research was conducted by the use of two rounds of semi-structured interviews with seventeen and then fifty-three upper secondary school Kendo teachers respectively. The final phase of the research was a practical action research project carried out in a Japanese Secondary School. A range of methods was employed, comprising: participative observation, documentary analyses, a written test and a skill-related test. The data from the interviews revealed that school Kendo teachers wish to have their lessons aimed at character building such as learning the traditional etiquette by following the traditional approach to Kendo as Budo. The results of the interviews also revealed that most teachers were reluctant to teach sport tactics as it was counter to the dominant ideology of Budo as "real Kendo". These teachers believe that teaching tactics was inconsistent with the traditional etiquette of fighting fairly, and that would only help pupils to understand "Kendo as a competitive sport" as opposed to "real Kendo" as Budo. The results of the action research at an upper secondary school in Fukuoka Prefecture show that pupils developed their skills and understanding of competitive, cultural and attitudinal domains of Kendo as Budo through a tactical approach. They also expressed pleasure in this planning and execution of their own learning goals. I conclude, then, that the tactical approach to the teaching of Kendo can be incorporated into the PE curriculum without compromising the essential philosophy of Kendo as Budo.

The recent intellectual movement away from universalism towards particularism can be witnessed in most divisions of social philosophical thought. Such a paradigmatic shift has radically transformed a number of theories including feminist ethics. In contrast, however, philosophical analyses of fairness in sport have retained allegiance to universalist accounts in that conceptions of fair play remain enshrined in formalist accounts of the nature of rules and laws that govern sporting games. In this thesis, it is argued that universalist accounts of fair play in sport are incomplete in so far as they fail to consider that what constitutes fairness in sport is more than just the interpretation of formal rule structures. The richer analysis of fair play in sport offered here highlights the importance of individual experiences and the structures that shape those experiences. The ethical investigation is compatible with certain feminist ethical commitments. In order to evaluate whether a given sporting ethos is ethical, the thesis is committed methodologically to a mixed model approach. The aim is to find out the beliefs, values and ideologies of the people involved. Hence, a context-respectful methodology collecting and utilising thick descriptions is employed. It is argued that an ethical ethos has no room for intentional rule violation. For a given ethos to be ethical its game must be practised in a certain way with a certain attitude. The evaluation in this thesis concludes that the ethos of English elite women's cricket is unethical. It is hoped that a potential outcome of the thesis will be a different understanding of fair play that may shape new forms of ethical enquiry and challenge existing methodologies. Argument: (1) In sport philosophical literature fair play has been characteristically understood in one way: the formalist account of the nature of rules and laws. (2) While it is true that one can not talk about fair play without reference to the rules and laws of an activity, this account is incomplete since it fails to consider ethos. (3) Part of what an ethos means derives from the beliefs, values and ideologies of players themselves who have constructed agreements as to how the game ought to be enacted. (4) To understand fair play in elite women's cricket, therefore, one must understand the rules and laws but also, crucially, its ethos.

Traditionally Physical Education (PE) and sports in secondary schools in the United Kingdom have aimed towards moral goals. Not all of these goals have been well thought through. Where these goals have been systematically developed, they have followed a narrow and prescriptive conception of moral education that mainly focuses on adherence to predetermined rules and principles. From Aristotle we have a less reductive view of moral education - virtue ethics - which revolves around the development of good character as constituted by the "morally" good person. Drawing on group interviews with exceptional teachers and the writings of virtue ethicists, I develop a sketch of a character education programme that is based on talk and reflection (Pincoffs, 1986), and that cultivates the joyful disposition through direct engagement in sporting activities. Outlining what such a character education in PE and sports might look like, I start by exan-ýining what already exists in terms of "moral practices" within sports themselves (MacIntyre, 1985). Sports traditions aim at developing certain sorts of persons. By talking about and reflecting upon what might constitute a good sportsperson with colleagues, teachers can begin to identify for themselves the sorts of persons they want to see playing sports. Part of playing and teaching sports well is learning to discern between the value of different activities and the company of different sorts of persons. By nurturing and developing certain sorts of dispositions over others, teachers can help pupils shape their own involvement and ethical outlook in PE and sports. Through the cultivation of a joyful disposition teachers can help pupils to develop good character and live flourishing lives. This emphasis on joyfulness also brings into sharper focus what has been previously missing in PE and sports policy documents, namely the significance of an emotional engagement in PE and sports when it comes to educating for good character.

The thesis uses performance to elucidate the politics of sports commentary. In contrast to Williams' assertion that TV sports maintain a strong sense of their independence despite control and commodification by government or commerce (1989) and Kennedy's suggestion that the significance of sport is not tied to ideology (2001), the thesis argues that sports commentary, however implicitly, asserts neoliberal authority within sporting broadcasts. This written thesis and the Practice as Research articulates and critically contextualises the performance of sports commentary resulting in the production of a postdramatic theatre performance referred to as PhD Practice (2016), DVD documentation of the live event, a script and critical writing. Focusing on the commentary of the charity fun-runner in the Big City Marathon (BCM) the thesis uses Fischer-Lichte's notion of performance as event (2008) as a framework to examine how sports commentary changes the way an event is received and subsequently perceived. Through the creation of a performance event that renders the strategies of the sports commentator (Whannel, 1992) as an event of text (Turner, 2009), the research articulates a gap between the event and how that event is framed, reframed and enframed (Žižek, 2014) by the commentary. The thesis subsequently argues that the position taken by the commentator complicates Fischer-Lichte's autopoietic feedback loop (2008), enacting a degree of sovereignty (Agamben, 1995) over the event, contradicting the way in which the feedback loop purports to neutralise the sovereign position of the performer in postdramatic theatre (Lehmann, 2006). This partially sovereign position maintained by the commentator manipulates the audience into a pattern of consent that mirrors the enactment of neoliberal authority (Harvey, 2005). The commentator is thus able to reframe mass participation in the BCM, so that fun-runners and spectators are made to perform as neoliberal subjects, contextualised by capitalist charity (Livingstone, 2013), complicit with neoliberal ideology. This approach represents significant developments in two distinct areas. Firstly, considering sports commentary as an event of text (Turner, 2009) represents a distinctive contribution to the study of event based performance and provides a position from which to articulate a practical and political critique of the autopoietic feedback loop (Fischer-Lichte, 2008). Secondly, the use of performance to examine sports commentary, as an example of commentary as a broad cultural phenomenon, contributes to discourse around the performance of ideology.

Background: Low participation in sport and physical activity pose a continuing public health challenge. In response, partnership approaches have commonly been employed in community public health interventions. However, evidence concerning sport and physical activity partnerships remains underdeveloped. Aim and methods: The aim of the research was to investigate the attitudes, perceptions, and experiences of community stakeholders participating in Community Sports Networks (CSNs) in England. A mixed methods research design was adopted. The quantitative component consisted of a sample of 171 CSN members from across England. The qualitative component consisted of a sample of 23 key informants from a single county in the South West of England. A synthesised grounded theory approach was used to integrate data. This involved: 1. Analysis of survey responses. 2. Analysis of interview transcripts. 3. Analysis of additional data including notes from CSN meetings and secondary documents. In addition, inferential statistical analyses were conducted on the quantitative data to assess the contributions from sets of predictor variables on the value of binary outcome variables. The results showed: 1. Participation in CSNs could be explained by a conceptual model which located 'searching for value' as the core category. Four sub-categories of notionally endorsing, speculating, scrutinising, and embedding helped to explain the participation process. 2. Perceived costs (OR = 0.89, 95% Cl 0.82 to 0.94, P < 0.05) were more important than perceived benefits (OR = 1.05, 95% Cl 0.98 to 1.14, P > 0.05) for predicting sense of satisfaction. Perceived costs (OR= 0.83, 95% Cl 0.74 to 0.94, P < 0.05) and communication (OR= 0.83, 95% Cl 0.67 to 0.81, P < 0.05) were strong predictors of sense of ownership. 3. Perceived benefits may have to be at least twice the level of perceived costs for a favourable cost-benefit ratio. Conclusions: Factors facilitating the creation of value promote stakeholder participation in CSN activities. However, the participation process is subject to a range of challenges which require constant attention.