Mixed sport has been described as having the potential to de-gender sporting activities and bodily experiences, as well as combat gender inequalities (Laberge and Albert, 2000). Korfball was originally invented within the educational setting by a Dutch school teacher who designed rules to encourage boys and girls to participate on a level playing field (Summerfield and White, 1989). This thesis provides a historical overview of korfball in order to explain the contrasting trajectory of the sport in comparison to traditional sport, and explores the power structures and ideologies that may have influenced the creator of korfball. This research involved a yearlong ethnographic study with a junior korfball team (under 13s), and during this time interviews took place with five girls and four boys. The analysis of findings demonstrated how korfball players were experiencing this sport in a different way to other sports. Both the opinions of players, and observation of formal and informal practices, demonstrated how the 'whole package' (Wellard, 2013) of korfball was important to players. Some of Foucault's descriptions of power relations were used to explain the occurring phenomena, and the effect of wider society upon the experiences of korfball. The rules of the game and various influences meant that korfball spaces often facilitated and promoted sporting equality. Yet, in spite of sex equality often being visible within the junior korfball space, normalised gendered performances were still evident. Judith Butler's (1990, 1993) ideas were applied to these findings to aid explanations. Junior korfball players within this study usually maintained an understanding of gender that reflected wider social norms. Players were often reluctant to think critically about accepted gender norms, but the findings from this study were more positive regarding equality within korfball, than previous studies (Crum, 1988; Thompson and Finnigan, 1990; Summerfield and White, 1989).

There is little literature that explains the relationship between intellectual disability (ID) and physical and sensory disabilities. A review conducted in 1987 indicated increased prevalence of physical health problems amongst people with ID (McLaren & Bryson, 1987). The current classification system used by the International Federation for Para Athletes with Intellectual Disability (INAS) does not take into account any relationship between ID and physical or sensory disabilities . The present study aimed to provide evidence to enable INAS to address the potential inequalities in the classification system and to add to understanding of the relationship between ID and physical and sensory disability. Participants (N=111) were recruited from regional and international sporting events for people with ID. IQ measurements were gained either from records or by administration of an assessment. All participants, with a trusted adult, were administered a semi-structured health interview. Findings indicated a weak negative correlation between IQ and additional physical disability. The data also suggested that level of additional physical disability negatively predicts athletic performance and there is some limited support for the suggestion that IQ positively predicts performance. The findings have implications for INAS and health/social care services.

O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar as relações entre o esporte e o autoconceito, em projetos sociais esportivos. O estudo foi realizado no Projeto Esporte Talento (PET) e em duas escolas públicas localizadas na região centro oeste da cidade de São Paulo. A coleta de dados foi realizada a partir da aplicação do inventário de autoconceito, denominado Piers-Harris 2 (2002), traduzido e validado para o português. A amostra foi composta de 148 participantes, divididos em três grupos: participantes do PET (n=71), não participantes de projetos sociais (n=53) e participantes de outros projetos sociais (n=24). As técnicas estatísticas utilizadas foram: análise descritiva unidimensional e bidimensional, testes de hipóteses paramétricas, regressão clássica e análise de dados categorizados. Os resultados indicaram que existe uma relação entre o esporte e o aumento do escore do autoconceito global (p=0,005), da dimensão intelectual do autoconceito (p=0,02) e da dimensão da popularidade do autoconceito (p<0,01). A relação entre o esporte e o autoconceito parece estar relacionada com a proposta pedagógica do PET (desenvolvimento de competências - aprender a ser, aprender a fazer, aprender a conhecer e aprender a conviver), demonstrando o potencial socioeducacional do esporte no desenvolvimento de competências não apenas motoras, mas também em outras dimensões do ser humano. Embora os resultados indiquem que o esporte pode contribuir para a melhoria do autoconceito em projetos sociais é necessário ressaltar que cada projeto possui uma proposta pedagógica diferenciada, e não é possível, a priori, generalizar os resultados desta pesquisa / This project aims at investigating the relations between sport and self-concept in sports social programs. The study was made at a Brazilian sports social program called Projeto Esporte Talento (PET) and in two public schools located in the midwest of São Paulo. Data was collected by applying the self-concept inventory, called Piers-Harris 2 (2002), translated and validated into Portuguese. The sample was composed of 148 participants, divided in three groups: participants of PET (n=71), non-participants in social programs (n=53) and participants of other social programs (n=24). The statistics techniques used were: one-dimensional and bidimensional descriptive analysis, parametric hyposthesis testing, classic regression and categorized data analysis. The results indicated that there is a relation between sport and the increase in the score of global self-concept (p=0.005), self-concept intelectual dimension (p=0.02) and of self-concept popularity dimension (p<0.01). The relation between sport and self-concept seems to be related to the pedagogical proposal of PET (skills development learn to be, learn to do, learn to know and learn to socialize), demonstrating the educational potential of sport in the development of not only motor skills, but also other dimensions of the human being. Although results indicate that sport can contribute to the improvement of self-concept in social programs, it is necessary to highlight that each program has a different pedagogical proposal and it is not possible to generalize the results of this research

O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar as relações entre o esporte e o autoconceito, em projetos sociais esportivos. O estudo foi realizado no Projeto Esporte Talento (PET) e em duas escolas públicas localizadas na região centro oeste da cidade de São Paulo. A coleta de dados foi realizada a partir da aplicação do inventário de autoconceito, denominado Piers-Harris 2 (2002), traduzido e validado para o português. A amostra foi composta de 148 participantes, divididos em três grupos: participantes do PET (n=71), não participantes de projetos sociais (n=53) e participantes de outros projetos sociais (n=24). As técnicas estatísticas utilizadas foram: análise descritiva unidimensional e bidimensional, testes de hipóteses paramétricas, regressão clássica e análise de dados categorizados. Os resultados indicaram que existe uma relação entre o esporte e o aumento do escore do autoconceito global (p=0,005), da dimensão intelectual do autoconceito (p=0,02) e da dimensão da popularidade do autoconceito (p<0,01). A relação entre o esporte e o autoconceito parece estar relacionada com a proposta pedagógica do PET (desenvolvimento de competências - aprender a ser, aprender a fazer, aprender a conhecer e aprender a conviver), demonstrando o potencial socioeducacional do esporte no desenvolvimento de competências não apenas motoras, mas também em outras dimensões do ser humano. Embora os resultados indiquem que o esporte pode contribuir para a melhoria do autoconceito em projetos sociais é necessário ressaltar que cada projeto possui uma proposta pedagógica diferenciada, e não é possível, a priori, generalizar os resultados desta pesquisa / This project aims at investigating the relations between sport and self-concept in sports social programs. The study was made at a Brazilian sports social program called Projeto Esporte Talento (PET) and in two public schools located in the midwest of São Paulo. Data was collected by applying the self-concept inventory, called Piers-Harris 2 (2002), translated and validated into Portuguese. The sample was composed of 148 participants, divided in three groups: participants of PET (n=71), non-participants in social programs (n=53) and participants of other social programs (n=24). The statistics techniques used were: one-dimensional and bidimensional descriptive analysis, parametric hyposthesis testing, classic regression and categorized data analysis. The results indicated that there is a relation between sport and the increase in the score of global self-concept (p=0.005), self-concept intelectual dimension (p=0.02) and of self-concept popularity dimension (p<0.01). The relation between sport and self-concept seems to be related to the pedagogical proposal of PET (skills development learn to be, learn to do, learn to know and learn to socialize), demonstrating the educational potential of sport in the development of not only motor skills, but also other dimensions of the human being. Although results indicate that sport can contribute to the improvement of self-concept in social programs, it is necessary to highlight that each program has a different pedagogical proposal and it is not possible to generalize the results of this research

This thesis focuses on the skateboarding industry in China as both a youth subculture and a cultural industry. I am investigating the transition between the two and examining how the emerging skateboarding industry operates through detailed analysis of the feelings, motivations and meanings attributed to it by its participants and the emerging strata of cultural workers. In order to achieve this research objective, this thesis has positioned the analysis in a triangle of forces between the development of Chinese skateboarding culture, the emerging skateboarding cultural industry and government interventions. This ethnographic study takes into account distinctive characters in the development of Chinese skateboarding communities that signify continuities inside contemporary Chinese youth cultures. I argue that such continuity is still embedded in the organisation of the Chinese skateboarding industry as a cultural industry, in both subcultural and corporate entrepreneurial practices. Moreover, this thesis contributes to ongoing discussions in the field of not only cultural studies but also of the political economic analysis of cultural/creative industries by examining the dynamic incorporations at play between the commercial and governmental forces at the centre of current debate around the inclusion of skateboarding in the Olympic Games, and the consequences of the sportisation of skateboarding in mainstream economic structures. Last but not least, this research captures the working conditions of the cultural labourers who are at the forefront of shaping and reshaping the Chinese skateboarding industry.

Syfte och frågeställningar Studien skall ge en inblick i den vardag som professionella tränare verkar i, vilket kan skapa en vidare utveckling på hur man i denna yrkesroll kan förbereda sig själv och anhöriga för den framtid som väntar. Frågeställningarna är: Hur ser den professionella tränaren på sin arbetsmiljö?  Hur ser den professionella tränaren på sin yrkesroll?  Metod För att på bästa sätt få fram värdefull data till denna uppsats så valdes den kvalitativa intervjun. Däri valdes den semistrukturerade intervjumetoden, där grundbasen utgörs av fasta frågor men där följdfrågor kan skapas efterhand beroende på vad intervjupersonen kommer med för svar. Fyra manliga fotbollstränare med erfarenhet från den professionella elitnivån i Sverige valdes ut till intervjuer. Intervjuerna gjordes på överenskommen plats och pågick mellan 30 - 90 min. Intervjuerna spelades in på en digital diktafon.   Resultat Utsattheten hos tränarna har ökat. Risken för utbrändhet, våld och hot likaså. Den ekonomiska förtjänsten har stigit och kan idag likställas med en riksdagsman. Arbetsotryggheten är större då kravet på framgång ökar från media, sponsorer och supportrar. Tränarna anser att ta sig tid för anhöriga är viktigare än att ständigt se på fotboll. Passionen till idrotten är det som håller dessa tränare kvar i yrket. Samtliga anser att de har ett samhällsnyttigt värde där det agerar både tränare, lärare och ledandeförebilder för en personal av idrottsmän i skiftande åldrar 16-40. Slutsats Fotbollen har gått från en idrottsligt styrande verksamhet till en samhällsindustri där utomstående krafter har en mer betydande roll för fotbollen än tidigare. Tränarrollen har sedan 1990-talet gått från en ledande roll i idrottsklubben till en professionell position med en bredare betydelse än att bara ta hand om sina spelare. Den idrottskultur som länge stöttats av demokratiska värderingar ur folkhemmet har med den globala ekonomin skapat en tuffare arbetsmiljö. Långsiktiga satsningar blir svårare att genomföra då spelare inte längre är klubbarna trogna utan ses idag som ett säsongsprojekt. Detta gör att dagens elittränare tvingas att använda sig av pragmatiskt ledarskap.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The Ideology of Stadium Construction seeks to define the application of community power in the process of building sports stadiums. Using data culled from a literature review, this project examines the recent construction of sports venues and the political, economic, and social ideas driving their proliferation. A three dimensional approach to applied power provides a theoretical tool to illustrate and analyze the blueprint of stadium construction. Taking a more broad view of the culture of business in the United States suggests the public funding of stadium construction arching towards Antonio Gramsci’s sense of hegemony. Beyond attempting to merely define the political process driving stadium construction as a significant social problem, this project introduces potential alternatives to the organizational method currently in place.