ABSTRACT For the past five years, I have been a Division I Women’s Basketball player under the National Collegiate Athletic Association. I have played at two different schools, I have spoken to numerous investigators and lawyers, and I am now on my third set of college basketball coaches. Most athletes that enter college have one set of four-five coaches during their four-five-year period, I have had thirteen. College basketball has presented countless challenges for me mentally and psychically. For a while I thought that the adversity that I was facing as a young woman playing a high level of athletics was considered normal, but now that I have grown, reflected, and sought out opinions of professionals I know that my experience wasn’t a “normal” one. Throughout my time as an NCAA athlete I have been home to the harsh routine that so many young student-athletes struggle to get through. In this paper, I am reflecting upon my experience as a college athlete and college sports as I know it. The NCAA is one of the most corrupt corporations in our modern-day world. Despite its claims that ensure success of student-athletes, the NCAA treats athletes not developing human beings, but as objects that contribute to their dirty multi-million-dollar franchise. At the end of the day, they NCAA is a business that operates around making money around student-athlete’s identity and runs in a way that doesn’t benefit student-athletes. Throughout my paper I will be discussing the rules of the NCAA and how they play out in reality, as well as how they can be improved. I am also writing this paper to have a conversation about how hard it is to be a college athlete in general, many people have a false perception of the life we live, and I want to clear some things up. The NCAA doesn’t take the mental health of athletes seriously. There are plenty of opportunities to improve the way the NCAA treats its athletes, while still profiting from the goldmine they make off of amateurism. The NCAA doesn’t put student athletes in a position to take full advantage of their scholarship, let alone gives them a chance at being a healthy, functioning, young adult. I will be telling personal stories that relate to bigger topics and issues within the NCAA, as well as how I think they can be improved for the well-being of college athletes. This paper is my story, this paper is a personal account of the power of resilience.

Research shows that student-athletes, whether at the high school or collegiate ranks, experience higher rates of alcohol consumption than their non-athlete student counterparts. However, one population that has not been studied is the community college student-athlete. Traditional community college students have different risk categories and needs than traditional 4-year university students. In this study, community college student-athletes provided their views and perceptions on drugs and alcohol. To obtain data, a qualitative narrative analysis was completed by interviewing 13 community college student-athletes to identify their views and opinions on drugs and alcohol. Once the interviews were completed, transcription and coding were completed to identify the themes and nuances of the narratives. The major themes identified within the study included varying perspectives in how student-athletes view drugs and the perceived effects that drugs have on athletic performance. Researchers have found that collegiate student-athletes experience unique stressors, when compared with other college students, such as balancing athletics and academics. However, in this study, an additional stressor outside of previous research was discovered in that community college, student-athletes struggle with the transition to the community college environment. Additional research is needed on community college student-athletes, including the possible development of tailored interventions to meet those targeted needs.

Physically active females, or female athletes, are at risk for the condition knownas the female athlete triad (Triad). The Triad is made up of three components that are distinctly separate, but intertwined: consuming inadequate energy for how much they are exercising, poor bone health, and problems with their menstrual periods. When female athletes don’t consume enough energy for how much they exercise, there can be hormonal imbalances, causing the body to conserve energy from some important functions including menstruation, and increased bone turnover resulting in a higher risk of stress fractures and early osteoporosis. Female athletes at risk for the Triad have ahigher risk of being injured, and don’t have the energy that they need to perform physically. To combat the Triad, we performed assessments to see how many female athletes were at risk for the Triad in Division I female athletes, and were surprised at the high number that were at risk for the Triad. We provided nutrition information and interventions aimed to decrease female athlete’s risk for the Triad. We also developed anew, quick method for female athletes, or busy individuals, to track their diet using the video feature on their cell phones. The benefits of providing nutrition information to the female athletes included: increasing their knowledge about the Triad, and things that they could do to prevent the Triad. The interventions did cause behavior change in some female athletes to increase how much energy they were consuming, decreasing their risk for the Triad.

<p>Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the process of overtraining syndrome as a part of development in sports and careers. It is based on theories about overtraining syndrome and athlete career transitions. The intention was to find patterns that illustrate critical factors in the athlete career for overtraining syndrome to occur, but also for preventing overtraining syndrome to emerge and for rehabilitation.</p><p>The Informant was a 19 years old man who had completed his studies at a Swedish sports-“gymnasium”. Two semi structured interviews were made, the second as a following up interview. The material was analysed by a qualitative content analysis including a constant comparing method. </p><p>The result showed that the Informant developed an overtraining syndrome during his first year as an elite junior athlete at the sports-“gymnasium”. It took one year from the occurrence of the first symptoms until initiating interventions and a second year of rehabilitation before the Informant was totally recovered. Imbalance in the stress-recovery process because physiological and psychological sports demands as well as lack of cognitive skills was possible factors for the beginning of the overtraining syndrome. Factors for preventing origination were the Informants motivation, cognitive skills along with social support.</p><p>In summary it is proposed to focus on interaction between models and theories about overtraining syndrome and athletic career transitions, in purpose to prevent overtraining syndrome to occur when young athletes transcend to high achievement junior sports, including its structure.</p><p>Sammanfattning: Syftet med studien var att studera processen för överträningssyndrom som en del i idrotts- och karriärutvecklingen utifrån teorier om överträningssyndrom och idrottskarriärövergångar. Avsikten var att finna mönster som belyste faktorer och kritiska skeden i idrottskarriären för att överträningssyndrom ska uppstå samt för att förhindra detta och underlätta rehabilitering.</p><p>Informant var en 19 årig man som avslutat tre års studier på idrottsgymnasium. </p><p>Två semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes, den senare intervjun som uppföljningsintervju. Materialet analyserades genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys med en konstant jämförande metod. Resultaten visade att under det första året som elitidrottande junior på idrottsgymnasium utvecklade Informanten ett överträningssyndrom. Det tog ett år från att första symtomen uppmärksammades till att intervention påbörjades och ytterligare ett års rehabilitering innan Informanten var helt återställd. Tänkbara orsaker till uppkomsten var obalans i stress-återhämtningsprocessen, framförallt beroende på idrottsliga fysiska och psykologiska krav och brist på kognitiva förmågor. Faktorer för att förhindra uppkomst och i rehabilitering antas vara Informantens motivation och kognitiva förmågor samt socialt stöd. </p><p>Sammantaget antas att interaktion mellan modeller och teorier om överträningssyndrom och idrottskarriärövergångar ska ses som en helhet i syfte att förhindra uppkomst av överträningssyndrom då unga idrottare övergår till högpresterande junioridrott och dess struktur.</p>

<p>Intensified training regimes and increasing competitive pressure make some athletes leave sports with shattered hopes and dreams. A number of these athletes drop out of sports due to burnout, which is characterized by an enduring experience of emotional and physical exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment and devaluation of sport participation as a consequence of prolonged chronic stress. Loss of engagement and diminished motivation also characterize burnout. But burnout is more than just a simple stress reaction, as not all athletes who experience stress burn out. Study I investigates the prevalence of burnout among competitive athletes. The number of athletes showing high levels of burnout was found to be between 1 and 9%. The number of athletes suffering from severe burnout was estimated at 1-2%. Contrary to what has been speculated, burnout was not more common in individual sports than in team sports. Study II investigated the burnout process using a case-study approach. It was found that burnout can evolve with different levels of severity, time perspectives and characteristics. There appears to be a relationship between overtraining syndrome and burnout, and the study gave support to the notion that burnout is the most severe outcome on the training fatigue continuum. Early success might lead to high expectations and an inner pressure to train, which in the three cases made the athletes ignore signs of maladaptation. Performance-based self-esteem appears to be a “driving force” in the burnout process. In Study III the burnout experience was investigated using qualitative interviews. Lack of recovery, “too much sports” and high external demands were described as causes of burnout. A stressful situation with multiple demands from sport, school and social relationships leads to a total overload, which has both physiological and psychological consequences. Critical factors were a unidimensional identity, performance-based self-esteem, an inflexible organization and feelings of entrapment. These restraining factors made the athletes remain in sports despite negative outcomes. Thus the three studies indicate that burnout is a serious problem in competitive and elite sports, that restraining factors offer an explanation for why athletes remain in sport despite negative outcomes, and that striving for self-esteem is crucial in the development of burnout.</p>

This study was based upon the Multidimensional Model of Leadership (Chelladurai, 1978, 1990), and the administration of the Leadership Scale for Sport (LSS) and the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) (Gill and Deeter, 1988). The purposes of the study were: 1) To determine the competitive achievement orientations (competitiveness, goal and win) and coaching behavior preferences (training and instruction, democratic, autocratic, social support, and positive feedback) among young male Thai athletes (n=403); and 2) to examine the relationships between competitive orientations and coaching behavior preferences among athletes for two different levels of competition, high and low; two different age groups, from ages 13-15 and 16-18; and two types of sports, team and individual. A preliminary MANOVA and ANOVAs indicated that significant age x type interactions contributed to the competitiveness achievement orientation and all coaching behavior preferences. Thai athletes showed the highest score for goal orientation, followed by competitiveness and win orientations. They preferred training and instruction, and social support coaching behaviors over democratic and positive feedback coaching behaviors. Autocratic coaching behavior was least preferred. Results of the ANOVAs indicated significant group differences in competitiveness orientation variables and all coaching behavior variables. Multivariate multiple regression demonstrated significant relationships between competitive achievement orientations and coaching behavior preferences. Canonical correlation analyses of the four age x type interaction groups were utilized, indicating bidirectional relationships between all of the competitive achievement orientations, and all of the coaching behavior preferences for older athletes who participated in either team sports or individual sports. The younger individual sport athletes presented a relationship between training and instruction, democratic and social support coaching behavior preferences and all competitive achievement orientations, whereas younger team sport athletes showed no relationship. This finding indicated a stronger influenced of coaching behavior preferences on younger individual sport athletes' competitive achievement orientations. / Graduation date: 1993

Essstörungen, wie Anorexia Nervosa oder Bulimia Nervorsa, gehen mit einer hohen psychischen Belastung einher und können gesundheitliche Schäden zur Folge haben. Bei Athleten mit einer Essstörung kann es darüber hinaus zu Einbußen in der Sportleistung kommen. Gerade für den Hochleistungssport ist es daher wichtig zu wissen, welches Risiko für Essstörungen besteht und wodurch das Risiko bedingt wird. Bisherige Studien zeigen deutliche Unterschiede zwischen den Sportarten. Eliteathleten aus ästhetischen Sportarten, wie rhythmische Sportgymnastik oder Eiskunstlauf, scheinen ein besonders hohes Essstörungsrisiko aufzuweisen. Deutlich geringere Prävalenzraten finden sich in Ballsportarten, wie Handball oder Basketball. Um zu verstehen, welche Aspekte der Sportart das Essstörungsrisiko beeinflussen, beschäftigt sich die vorliegende Arbeit mit der Rolle sportbezogener Variablen. In die Studien einbezogen wurden insgesamt 171 Athleten zwischen 11 und 18 Jahren (im Mittel 14.1 ± 1.8 Jahre) aus ästhetischen Sportarten und Ballsportarten, die einen Fragebogenpaket mit Instrumenten zu gestörtem Essverhalten, allgemeiner Körperunzufriedenheit, sozialem Druck im Sport, sportbezogener Körperunzufriedenheit, Schlankheitsstreben zur Leistungssteigerung und negativen Gefühle bei Trainingsausfall ausfüllten. Nach einem Jahr wieder befragt wurden 65 Athleten aus ästhetischen Sportarten. Nach Kontrolle von Alter, Geschlecht, BMI und allgemeiner Körperunzufriedenheit trugen sportbezogene Variablen signifikant zur weiteren Varianzaufklärung gestörten Essverhaltens bei. Die Längsschnittanalysen bestätigten einen Risikofaktorstatus für Schlankheitsstreben zur Leistungssteigerung. Zusammenhänge zwischen sportbezogenen Aspekten und gestörtem Essverhalten zeigten sich sowohl in Hochrisikosportarten für gestörtes Essverhalten (ästhetischen Sportarten), als auch in Niedrigrisikosportarten für gestörtes Essverhalten (Ballsportarten). Mit Ausnahme von negativen Gefühlen nach Trainingsausfall traten die sportbezogenen Variabeln häufiger in den ästhetischen Sportarten auf als in den Ballsportarten. Die eigenen Befunde verdeutlichen somit, dass der Einbezug potentieller sportbezogener Risikofaktoren − zusätzlich zu den allgemeinen Risikofaktoren − zum besseren Verständnis der Essstörungssymptomatik von Athleten beiträgt. Vor allem die Bedeutung von Gewicht für die Leistung beeinflusst das Essstörungsrisiko bei Athleten und ist stärker ausgeprägt in Hochrisikosportarten für Essstörungssymptomatik. / Eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are serious, difficult-to-treat psychiatric disorders. For elite athletes, in addition to impairment in health and everyday life, an eating disorder can lead to a decline in sports performance. Knowledge of the risk for eating disorders in sports is therefore important. Prevalence rates for disordered eating vary depending on the type of sport. A particularly high risk was found in elite athletes from aesthetic sports such as figure skating or dance. Prevalence rates are lower in ballgame sports, such as handball or basketball. The purpose of this study was to focus on sport-specific variables in different sport types and to examine their relation to disordered eating. One hundred and seventy-one aesthetic and ballgame sports athletes participated in this study (mean age 14.1 ± 1.8 years). At a follow-up survey one year later, 65 athletes from aesthetic sports participated again. The questionnaire package included disordered eating, general body dissatisfaction, social pressure to be lean from sports environment, sports-related body dissatisfaction, desire to be leaner to improve sports performance and emotional distress resulting from missed exercise sessions. In predicting eating disorder symptoms in athletes from aesthetic sports, we observed that after controlling for sex, age, BMI, and body dissatisfaction, sports-related variables were able to account for an additional variance in disordered eating. The longitudinal analyses indicated that a desire to be leaner to improve sports performance is predictive of disordered eating in aesthetic sports. Sports-related variables were associated with disordered eating also in ballgame sports, but some risk factors, such as the desire to be leaner to improve sports performance, were less prevalent. In conclusion of these results, sports-related parameters are relevant for understanding eating disorder symptomatology in sports. Athletes seem to be more at risk if they perceive the possibility to enhance sports performance through weight-regulation, which is more prevalent in aesthetic sports.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the process of overtraining syndrome as a part of development in sports and careers. It is based on theories about overtraining syndrome and athlete career transitions. The intention was to find patterns that illustrate critical factors in the athlete career for overtraining syndrome to occur, but also for preventing overtraining syndrome to emerge and for rehabilitation. The Informant was a 19 years old man who had completed his studies at a Swedish sports-“gymnasium”. Two semi structured interviews were made, the second as a following up interview. The material was analysed by a qualitative content analysis including a constant comparing method. The result showed that the Informant developed an overtraining syndrome during his first year as an elite junior athlete at the sports-“gymnasium”. It took one year from the occurrence of the first symptoms until initiating interventions and a second year of rehabilitation before the Informant was totally recovered. Imbalance in the stress-recovery process because physiological and psychological sports demands as well as lack of cognitive skills was possible factors for the beginning of the overtraining syndrome. Factors for preventing origination were the Informants motivation, cognitive skills along with social support. In summary it is proposed to focus on interaction between models and theories about overtraining syndrome and athletic career transitions, in purpose to prevent overtraining syndrome to occur when young athletes transcend to high achievement junior sports, including its structure. Sammanfattning: Syftet med studien var att studera processen för överträningssyndrom som en del i idrotts- och karriärutvecklingen utifrån teorier om överträningssyndrom och idrottskarriärövergångar. Avsikten var att finna mönster som belyste faktorer och kritiska skeden i idrottskarriären för att överträningssyndrom ska uppstå samt för att förhindra detta och underlätta rehabilitering. Informant var en 19 årig man som avslutat tre års studier på idrottsgymnasium. Två semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes, den senare intervjun som uppföljningsintervju. Materialet analyserades genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys med en konstant jämförande metod. Resultaten visade att under det första året som elitidrottande junior på idrottsgymnasium utvecklade Informanten ett överträningssyndrom. Det tog ett år från att första symtomen uppmärksammades till att intervention påbörjades och ytterligare ett års rehabilitering innan Informanten var helt återställd. Tänkbara orsaker till uppkomsten var obalans i stress-återhämtningsprocessen, framförallt beroende på idrottsliga fysiska och psykologiska krav och brist på kognitiva förmågor. Faktorer för att förhindra uppkomst och i rehabilitering antas vara Informantens motivation och kognitiva förmågor samt socialt stöd. Sammantaget antas att interaktion mellan modeller och teorier om överträningssyndrom och idrottskarriärövergångar ska ses som en helhet i syfte att förhindra uppkomst av överträningssyndrom då unga idrottare övergår till högpresterande junioridrott och dess struktur.

Användandet av kändisar i reklam är ingen ny marknadsföringsstrategi. I denna grupp av celebriteter ingår kända idrottspersonligheter. Att använda atleter i reklam har visat sig vara en effektiv strategi. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka sambandet mellan olika idrottspersonlighet och de produkter/varumärken de representerar. Den försöker även svara på ifall idrottspersonligheten framställs på ett speciellt vis samt om reklamen riktade sig till en speciell grupp i samhället. Detta har undersökts med hjälp av en reklambildsanalys av tretton bilder med såväl manliga som kvinnliga idrottare. Reklambildsanalysen är av kvalitativ karaktär och har som syfte att hitta den underliggande betydelsen i var och en av reklambilderna.Reklambildsanalysen visade att ett globalt företag i de flesta fall använder sig av en globalt känd idrottspersonlighet, medans ett nationellt känt varumärke istället väljer att använda sig av en nationellt känd idrottare. Undersökningen visade även att män och kvinnor i stort sätt framställdes på samma vis. Det lades dock extra stort fokus på att kvinnor skulle framställas som starka och självsäkra. Min studie visar att den befintliga forskningen och teorin till viss del inte stämmer överens med de resultat som min undersökning har givit. En stor del av resultatet i undersökningen bekräftar dock befintlig forskning.

The Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model is an innovation created in response to the Canadian Sport Policy (Canadian Heritage, 2007). The LTAD is an “athlete centered, coach driven, and administration, sport science, and sponsor supported” (Canadian Sport Centres, 2006, p. 33) athlete-development model. Since little research has been completed focusing on this model (viz., Black & Holt, 2009) this thesis had the purpose to better understand the adoption of the LTAD by cross-country ski (XCS) coaches. Two articles present a case study of three XCS club’s coaches, and a descriptive qualitative analysis of XCS coaches (N=13). Both analyses used Rogers’ (2003) Diffusion of Innovations theoretical framework to structure the narrative-interview guide, coding structure, and thematic analysis. Two key results of the thesis were an understanding of the link between a club’s characteristics and a coach’s perceived attributes of the LTAD, and secondly a proposed classification system for XCS coaches.