Transgender athletes face scrutiny because they do not fit within the traditional and constructed bounds of male and female. The objective of this study was to discover how to provide advocacy to this marginalized population amidst discriminating policies and transphobic environments. The research included a survey of high school coaches from thirty schools throughout Tennessee along with interviews with five transgender athletes from across the United States. All five athletes reported that leaders were the most impactful allies in their lives and can be the main sources of advocacy for transgender athletes. Survey findings showed that not every coach throughout Tennessee will accept transgender athletes but in each region of Tennessee some coaches claimed to support and would resist discriminatory policies. Leaders have the opportunity to pave the way for transgender athletes by providing advocacy and amplifying the voices of transgender athletes.

Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes held by physical education teachers towards the implementation of Title IX with particular emphasis on coeducational physical education. In addition to the original issue, the following sub-problems were established: (1) To determine if a significant difference in attitudes towards the implementation of coeducational physical education existed between junior high (or middle school) and senior high school physical education teachers.; (2) To determine if a significant difference in attitudes towards the implementation of coeducational physical education existed between male and female physical education teachers.; (3) To determine if a significant difference in attitudes towards the implementation of coeducational physical education can be attributed to teachers with varying years of experience.

In the physical education work of the public schools the accomplishment of character and moral development through this subject is accepted but unproven. Through three years of teaching and extensive reading in the theory and practice of this field the writer is very much aware of this condition. The accomplishment of the health betterment through physical education activities is universally accepted, but the achievement of character betterment, although universally mentioned by educators, is not generally proven as an actual occurrence. Since the former is achieved through careful planning the latter likewise necessitates definite method. The method may be based upon the generalization of the character traits called upon in the specific physical education situation. Upon that basis this thesis has indicated the methods to be used so that these traits may also be placed in action in general lite situations.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a modified judo training program on psychosocial health in both typically developing (TD) and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using a mixed-methods approach. METHODS: The sample consisted of 5 children with ASD and 5 TD children (age=8-11yrs) who participated in 10 sessions of a modified judo program during their typical physical education time for school. Psychosocial factors (enjoyment, perceived competence, benefits of PA) were assessed at baseline and post intervention, with completion of all measures dependent upon the level of comfort expressed by the participant. At the end of the program, children took part in focus group discussions centered around their experience with the program, while key school staff participated in semi-structured interviews based on their observations of the program. All focus group discussions and interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. RESULTS: Quantitative results for pre and post psychosocial measures showed no significant differences existed between PA self-efficacy (p=.99), PA enjoyment (p=.6), and barriers to PA (p=.27). Qualitative results revealed that the majority of the participants found the program to be enjoyable, with partner centered activities being particularly fun. Suggestions for improvement included increasing the duration and frequency of the judo classes. All children reported a desire to continue participating in the judo classes. Findings from staff interviews indicated that school staff observed improvements in psychosocial health and behavior both immediately following a judo class, and throughout the intervention period. Increased self-confidence was mentioned by all participating school staff members. CONCLUSION: Despite the lack of significant quantitative findings, psychosocial benefits were observed in both TD children and children with ASD, with all participants reporting their desire to continue with the program. Future studies should examine the psychosocial benefits in a judo-training program in larger sample of children over longer durations.

Film has always been an integral part of the culture of surfing. In the early 1960's, a film by the name of The Endless Summer ushered in the wide acceptance of the medium of film by the culture. As the years progressed and the sport radically adopted new styles, attitudes and lifestyles, surfing films changed along with it. This thesis will show how the aesthetics of surfing films both are shaped by the culture from which they are found and how, in turn, they continually reshape the culture. By looking at the aesthetic theories of Hans-Georg Gadamer, Leo Tolstoy and Walter Benjamin, this thesis will academically survey the aesthetics of the films The Endless Summer, Momentum, and the works of filmmaker Jack Johnson and his studio The Moonshine Conspiracy. This study will provide insight into the significant aspect of , film in a culture so strongly defined by aesthetics, both from within and without.

Bear Lodge/Devils Tower National Monument, a spectacular rock formation in northeastern Wyoming, has a multiplicity of meanings, not all of which were fully acknowledged until the 1990s. It is widely known as a geologic wonder, the first national monument, a marker of local and pioneer heritage, and a premier rock climbing area. In the 1980s and ‘90s, however, the National Park Service began to acknowledge that the Tower also holds cultural and historical meaning for the Northern Plains tribes, dating back long before the colonization of the American West. Some of the tribes expressed to the Park Service that they were offended by rock climbers desecrating the Tower, a sacred site, leading the Park Service to seek to compromise between these competing uses of this public land. The controversy over climbing at Bear Lodge/Devils Tower was, and remains, a debate over history, and this thesis examines the historical foundations for the discourses of climbers, local white residents, tribal members, and the Park Service, as these various groups asserted their claims to this public space. This thesis contends that the language used by climbers and local white residents in arguing against the Park Service’s accommodation of tribal cultures and beliefs appropriated the languages of spirituality and tradition used by the tribes, and sought to delegitimize the tribal claims to the Tower. The Park Service is complicit in controlling the discourses surrounding the Tower and erasing the traditions and complex history of the Northern Plains tribal ties to this sacred place.

Jill Jackson was one of the first female sports journalists and a pioneer voice for women in athletics. Although heretofore overlooked in the history of American sports journalism, the story of her career is an addition not only to the historiography of female sports journalists but also to the broader study of women in the mid-twentieth century. Jackson was admired, a hard worker, from a prominent New Orleans family, and well educated, yet she still was treated unequally in her primary workspace—the press box. Jackson left well-documented story to the Nadine Vorhoff Library and Special Collections at Newcomb College Institute in New Orleans. The collection, comprised of scrapbooks, photographs, letters, and newspaper articles, reveal the struggles and rewards of her impressive career.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the dynamic processes of collective identity by examining the relationship between New Orleans and its professional football team, the Saints, after Hurricane Katrina. Much of the discourse written on American professional sports focuses on economic transactions between player and franchise or franchise and city. This study explores sports from a cultural perspective to understand the perceived social values provided to the host community. This case study spans the years from 2006 to 2013 and discusses several major events, including the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the reopening of the Superdome, the Saints winning a league championship and subsequent cheating scandal, and the city’s hosting of Super Bowl XLVII. Using a mixed-method approach of content analysis, in-person interviews, and participant observation, this research demonstrates how post-Hurricane Katrina events altered the collective identity in New Orleans. Additionally, it explores how the interaction of sports, identity, and ritual served to create a civic religion in New Orleans. Finally, the research examines the impact of this religious devotion on New Orleans’ tourist economy.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recently passed new legislation highlighting the critical role coaches play in student-athlete success called the Head Coach’s Academic Progress Rate (APR). The APR measure does not calculate the actions of the head coach and is therefore an inadequate measure of coaches’ influence. There are numerous verbal accounts of the influence of the coach on student-athlete success, but there is little quantitative data to support this claim. As a result, this correlational study explored the relationship between head coaches’ influence and student engagement among a sample of 135 women basketball players at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (DI) institutions. The Student-Athlete Perception of Coaches’ Influence, Student Engagement and Student Athlete Success Survey (SAPCISESASS), an instrument developed by the researcher, was used to measure coaches’ influence and engagement. Results revealed that overall student-athletes perceived an overall positive relationship with their head coach, were satisfied with their relationship, and would choose to return to attend the same institution if the same coach were employed with the institution. Student-athletes reported being heavily engaged in community service and engaged in 16 or more hours per week in athletic-related activities. Student-athletes perceived the overall campus climate to be supportive and relationships with various campus constituencies were positive. Student-athletes reported a strong belief in their head coaches’ influence on their personal and social development. A strong relationship was found between coaches’ influence and personal and social development (adjusted R2 = .62, p

This study was made in attempt to identify the characteristics of a troop program in which tenth grade girls had been involved and to determine why they did or did not continue in Scouting. A survey instrument was devised and pretested to validate and improve upon the questionnaire. The questionnaires were distributed through the mail to 190 girls who had been registered in the Kentuckiana Council Scouting program in 1981. All girls, despite their present status in Scouting were asked to complete and return the survey. The questions pertained to such areas as years involved in Scouting, frequency of meetings, most and least enjoyable activities, family involvement, reasons for remaining in Scouting and reasons for dropping out of the program. The responses of 131 girls who returned the questionnaire to the researcher were tabulated. The data were accumulated and analyzed. The survey indicated that the Kentuckiana Girl Scout Council had a high Cadette/Senior retention rate for this period of time. A profile of the Scouting program of a girl who had remained in the program was made with recommendations, based on the analysis of the study, to encourage the retention of older girls. It was suggested, according to the findings of the study, that in order for girls to continue into the upper levels of Scouting, they needed to be recruited at a young age, involved in program planning, and feel as though Girl Scouting is fun. Leader retention and uniforms were not found to be significant factors in retention or dropping out of Scouting. Additional research was recommended by simultaneously comparing two or more Councils.