The problem of the study addressed knee injuries in college football. Imbalance of the musculature surrounding the knee would predispose the athlete to knee injury. Recognition of those who have muscular deficiencies would be a primary way of preventing knee injuries. The focus of the study was to determine if there was a significant difference in peak isokinetic torque of knee flexor and extensor muscles across speeds (60 degrees/second, 180 degrees/ second and 300 degrees/second) of a college football team subsequent to participation in a spring football season.

The purpose of this study was to identify the beliefs that classroom teachers have toward physical education. In recent years, the educational climate has prioritized academic achievement and standardized testing, thus diminishing the role of content areas such as physical education (Sallis, Mckenzie, Beets, Beighle, Erwin, & Lee, 2013). Classroom teachers are now more likely to assume the responsibility for providing physical education programming (Erwin, Beighle, Morgan, & Noland, 2011). Therefore, it is important to better understand the educational beliefs classroom teachers possess and investigate their personal experience within the physical education environment. To identify the beliefs of classroom teachers, this study used convenience, snowball, and purposive sampling techniques which were employed to secure voluntary participants. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. When all data was collected the researcher then transcribed, open-coded, analyzed, and synthesized the data. During the data analysis process the researcher looked to discover common themes between the participants’ teaching experiences and beliefs towards physical education by using an inductive analysis approach. The results emerged with themes related to mandating physical education, previous physical education knowledge, personal experience in physical education and acquiring appreciation for physical education. The resulting discussion provided support that physical education has many benefits, including the improvement of physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as improvement in academic achievement.

Self-belief about exercise strongly influences people's exercise behavior. This relationship may have significant impact on health-related physical fitness and help to address the exercise behavior deficit in the US. However, it is not known if self-belief about exercise significantly impacts physical fitness levels. The purpose of this study was to identify self-beliefs about exercise and determine if these beliefs influence behaviors and result in greater levels of physical fitness. Exercise self-schema theory is a social cognitive psychological theory that is uniquely capable at explaining and predicting chronic exercise behaviors. It posits that established self-images are based on cognitive generalizations about the "self" creates a very powerful and prevailing impetus to behave in ways that correspond with established self-images. Preliminary research has found self-images (also called self-schemas) concerning exercise to more reliably predict both exercise intention and reported exercise behavior better than beliefs concerning exercise alone. In the present study we sought to evaluate whether exercise self-schema theory could differentiate levels of health-related physical fitness in college students. We also included gender as an independent variable to investigate gender-specific behavioral predictability of the theory. The results of this study revealed a significant link between exercise self-schema classification and indices of health-related physical fitness. This link existed independent of gender. In this study exerciser schematics were found to be significantly more physically fit, leaner, and to exercise at significantly greater frequency than individuals not classified as exerciser schematics. These findings provide preliminary evidence that exerciser self-schema is positively associated with increased physical fitness. These results could inform strategies oriented toward modifying exercise behaviors to reduce hypokinetic risk factors for disease.

Homophobia was suggested to be one of the primary causes of oppression among women (Griffin 1987, Ireland 1993). Female -- athletes were historically coupled with lesbian identities due to their involvement in the traditionally male domain of sport. As increasing numbers of women attempt to transcend specific socially defined boundaries, it was suggested that the phenomenon of homophobia would function to help maintain conventional sex role socialization practices and to inhibit the advancement of the female athlete (Griffin 1987; 1988, Bennet 1988) . This study specifically addressed homophobia in women's intercollegiate athletics. The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which homophobia exists among, and towards, female intercollegiate coaches. In depth interviews addressing this issue were conducted with seven female coaches and administrators from one NCAA Division IA university athletic program. The interviews resulted in the formation of nine categories relative to the presence of homophobia in women's intercollegiate athletics. These categories were hiring, recruiting, personal image, public image, coach-athlete relationship, abuse of power, intimidation and control, gender equity and roots and reasons. The greatest effects of homophobia appeared in the categories of hiring and recruiting followed by public image and intimidation and control. NOTE: Both archival copies of the manuscript were missing pages 47 and 49.

This study explored the psychological and sociological motivations of adult female and male obstacle course racers. A qualitative case study approach was used to explore the views, experiences, and motivations of obstacle course racing (OCR) participants. Descriptive statistics and cross tabulation was used to interpret responses to the 297 online questionnaires. A content analysis approach was used to analyze the qualitative data gathered from three focus groups with a total of 20 obstacle course racers. Three theories formed the basis of the study: Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Achievement Goal Theory (AGT), and Social Leaning Theory (SLT). Overall, findings supported previous research regarding motivations to participate in adventure racing and extreme sports. Individuals were guided more by intrinsic motives than extrinsic motives. Important motivations for obstacle course racers included the camaraderie among participants, connecting and socializing with other like-minded people, having fun, and having a physical challenge that allowed them to progress and keep on track with their health goals. Obstacle course racing was perceived as positively impacting participants’ health, mental wellness and their confidence in their physical abilities as well as in other areas of their lives. Findings from this study may inform future interventions to increase participation in OCR or to increase overall physical activity among adults by building on camaraderie, social connection, enjoyment, and self-efficacy.

Significant amounts of researchers have found college students' physical activity participation decreases as they transition from high school to college. Numerous methods to overcome this reduction in physical activity have been explored. The purpose of this research is to determine the effects of a student focused print brochure on the physical activity habits of freshmen college students. To determine if the brochure was effective, incoming freshmen college students were grouped into three intervention conditions and asked to participate in a pre and post intervention survey that assessed their physical activity participation eight months prior to arriving at university and again six weeks into college. The researcher hypothesized that students' who received the student focused brochure would exhibit greater amounts of physical activity than those in the other two groups during the intervention period. Consistent with previous studies, the mean physical activity levels of each condition dropped. However, the results indicated that statistically the student focused brochure had the greatest impact in minimizing students' drop in physical activity. Recreation and public health practitioners should create market specific promotional materials that take advantage of current trends in technology. Suggestions for future research include exploring the effectiveness of physical activity promotional material created for specific market segments and using social media and cell phone applications to promote physical activity participation.

Incidence of childhood obesity has increased dramatically within the last 30 years. Childhood obesity is of concern because of the associated health problems, and because childhood obesity often tracks into adulthood. There is a clear association between activity-level and obesity. Therefore, it is important to consider physical activity patterns in the treatment and prevention of childhood obesity. Childhood is a key time period to intervene in the formation of habits and patterns associated with physical activity that may reduce obesity. To date, few studies have focused on the level of examining obese children individually. This case study focused on the physical activity patterns of 4 obese 6-10 year olds (two boys, two girls). All of the participants were above the 99th percentile for weight and had a body fat percentage exceeding 45%. Lipid profiles of the participants revealed that three of the four had high total cholesterol, indicating an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. All of the participants were close to or exceeded the waist to hip ratio value that indicates very high risk for cardiovascular and related diseases (>0.82 for boys, >0.94 for girls). Use of the Caltrac accelerometer, KIHD 24-Hour Total Physical Activity Record and System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time revealed that the obese 6-10 year old participants averaged 1.85 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per lunch recess time. When extrapolated, the data revealed that the participants spend less than 20 minutes a day in MVP A. This is less than MVP A norms of children in the same age group. The obese participants were not meeting the current recommendations for 60 minutes or more a day for MVPA. Furthermore, the activity patterns of the participants differ from those of normal weight children. Although children in general and the participant's tend to choose low level activity over MVP A, the participants spent more than 16.5 hours per day in sedentary physical activity, which is more than their normal weight counterparts (10.4 +/- 0.8).

The purpose of this study was to examine if Division I Collegiate Athletic Trainers' (ATs') perceived.quality of their relationship, with a head coach, is associated with total job satisfaction. The study was driven by three questions: 1) Does a correlation exist between ATs' perceptions of the quality of the coach-AT relationship and total job satisfaction? 2) Will either the direct or the meta-perspective held by the AT be significant predictors of overall job satisfaction? and 3) Will ATs' assumed similarity be a significant predictor of overall job satisfaction? In order to examine this issue, ATs assigned to NCAA division I institution's baseball or softball team were given a compendium survey. The survey was composed of the Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1994), a modified Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) (Jowett & Ntoumanis, 2004), and a modified meta Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (meta CART-Q). The surveys measured ATs' total job satisfaction.and satisfaction with various job sub factors, and their direct and meta-perspectives of their relationship with their coach, respectively. Correlational and regression analyses were used to determine the influence and predictability of aspects of a quality relationship to total job satisfaction. The findings demonstrate that ATs' perception of the quality of certain aspects of their relationship with a head coach is related to overall job satisfaction. This indicates that greater efforts need to be taken to improve overall coach-AT relationship dynamics. Improving the dynamics is needed to improve conditions that can cause unacceptably low levels of job satisfaction, which lead to burnout and attrition. The quality of the coach-AT relationship and its impact on Job satisfaction needs to be recognized as a contributing factor to AT job satisfaction. Understanding the coach-AT relationship can help direct measures to address decreased job satisfaction levels and stave off attrition in athletic training.

In sports discourse, the relationship between athletics and technology is often paradoxical. On the one hand, modern sports rely on technology at every level, from training and tracking of players to the equipment and apparel used by athletes to the game strategies and playing fields themselves. Nearly all of these technologies are intended to increase athletic performance on some level. And yet, certain performance enhancement technologies can be criticized for being antithetical to the spirit of sports, which is framed as being a strictly natural and pure human endeavor. Using a rhetorical-cultural methodological approach, popular sports discourse is analyzed to investigate how arguments in contested spaces between sports and technologies get (re)negotiated and (re)articulated to fit within a sports social language that emphasizes "pure" and "natural" ideals of sport. This often results in a dichotomy where the sport/technology relationship is either black boxed, thus being subsumed in the sport social language and becoming transparent and the relationships unarticulated, or the technology is regulated out of the sport through rules and bans. The reason for this articulation is attributed in large part to the deep humanism embedded in the sport social language. How a shift to a posthuman perspective would effect sports discourse is explored. These conclusions about underlying values in sports discourse lead to the formation of a new theoretical framework called disciplinary mythologies. Building off of Foucault's disciplinary power, Scott's disciplinary rhetorics, and Barthe's mythologies, disciplinary mythologies are discrete units of persuasion that both construct and constitute claims by drawing upon layered narratives and shifting associations that lose their context when entering the realm of myth. Two specific disciplinary mythologies are discussed—the level-playing-field topos and the nostalgia enthymeme—and it is shown how sports discourse often draws upon them to shape arguments and actions.

The care of the athlete has come into much discussion and has been the object of much research, but all this has come about in recent years. The athlete's health is paramount to a successful team and a conscientious coach; more so is his health important in contact sports with intercollegiate football in the foreground. The interest in football injuries has increased with the increased emphasis of the sport, for the coach is finding it more and more important to have all his players in the best possible condition to withstand the physical and mental strain under which they must compete. The coach, therefore, relies heavily on the team trainer. Are there enough trained and qualified athletic trainers in our colleges and universities to meet this challenge? Are these same institutions properly equipped to care for the athlete? What methods, materials, and equipment are being used? What improvements can be made in the field of training? These questions came to the authors attention only after experience as trainer for four different organizations. In truth, the field of athletic training seemed no more than an embryo with a great need for an accumulation of fata which would bring out various methods, uses of equipment and of materials, and comparison of the existing training departments of more schools than just the one where the young athlete and future coach gets his training. Thus, the inspiration for this investigation was born. The problem undertaken was to report the existing training departments of a selected group of colleges and universities, and to present an ideal training department for both the large university and the smaller college. The State of California has twenty-two four year colleges and universities within its boundaries. They range from the largest university in the world to a college with a male enrollment of 475. Of these twenty-two institutions all sponsoring intercollegiate football, nineteen have training departments, and reports from sixteen of these schools form the basis of this thesis. The data was gathered over a two year period from visits and questionnaires from the schools involved. The information is by no means conclusive, but it does help to show the position training occupies at the present time in California universities and colleges. Unless otherwise stated, all statements represent the consensus of opinion by the trainers involved.