In 2015, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released a list of Calls to Action aimed at redressing the harms of the residential school system through improving and reconciling relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Canada. Within these Calls to Action, there are five Calls that directly address sport. Lacrosse, as a sport currently dominated by white men, is an Indigenous physical practice that has been, and continues to be, widely appropriated by settlers. This ongoing legacy of settler colonialism positions lacrosse as a pressing site through which to investigate reconciliatory efforts. Further, the current landscape of lacrosse as a white male dominated sport, coupled with the ongoing cultural appropriation of lacrosse from Indigenous communities, creates an important opportunity to investigate interlocking systems of settler colonization and heteropatriarchy within sport. These areas are considered through the publishable papers of my thesis. The questions that have guided my Master’s of Arts by publishable paper are two-fold: how are national and provincial lacrosse organizations in Canada taking up the TRC’s sportrelated Calls to Action, and in what ways are these efforts gendered? Chapter 2, the first of my publishable papers, I argue that these Calls to Action need to be extended to lacrosse organizations within Canada. In this chapter, I investigate how representatives from seven lacrosse organizations within Canada conceptualized their organizations as attending (or not) to the Calls to Action. In Chapter 3, in which I present the second of my publishable papers, I focus on the gendered elements of the participants’ responses to how lacrosse organizations have taken up the Calls to Action and have addressed Indigenous women’s involvement in lacrosse.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-127).

Over the past two decades, the geography of sport has become a rapidly expanding body of literature. Although a potentially dynamic field of research, there are at present several theoretical weaknesses. First, enquiry has focused on diffusion patterns to the exclusion of the processes that create these patterns. Second, sports scholars in the discipline tend to participate in an isolated discourse with few connections to the broader scope of geography or with the expansive non-geographical sports literature. One key focus of debate outside the discipline centres on the role of the city in the modernisation of sporting activities. 'Modernisation' theory is valuable for establishing the intricate links between sport, as a process, and the social fabric. Despite this advantage, critics have argued that these links are analytically weak and the relationship between cities and sport should be more broadly theorised. In an attempt to provide a broader theoretical basis for analyzing sport as a cultural process, as well as a means of overcoming the failings of modernisation theory, Raymond Williams' 'cultural materialism' is examined. Williams Identifies three cultural elements in society, which constantly interact through the process of hegemonic control: the dominant, residual and emergent cultures. The case-study of lacrosse, examined through the lens of 'cultural materialism', illustrates the interaction between these three elements of culture. Among the residual North American Native cultures, lacrosse was one of the most widespread of outdoor games. Shrouded in religious symbolism and ritual, lacrosse was closely tied to economic provision and group protection. Escalating contact with European culture and the Imposition of foreign values and ideas resulted in the modification and eventual transformation of lacrosse. Increasingly, the ritual assumed a purely recreational function. During the early nineteenth century, Europeans began organising lacrosse as a 'modern' sport. The early clubs remained socially- exclusive and membership was strictly reserved for the social elite. Submerged in a legacy of British values, this dominant cultural element also left an Impression on the sport. As the dominant British cultural Influence waned, an emerging Canadian culture became a decisive factor in the history of lacrosse. Further modifications to the game were made as spectators and gate-receipts became increasingly important. Changing values and attitudes led lacrosse on a path towards professionalism. Despite the widespread acceptance of 'play for gain', the dominant amateur ideal prevailed. Lacrosse remained nationally amateur and suffered a serious decline after the first few decades of the twentieth century. The Interplay between the dominant British, the residual Native and emerging Canadian cultures, presents a view of the struggle for hegemony over control of a cultural process. This study's primary conclusion is that Williams' theory of 'cultural materialism' is a powerful interpretive framework for the geography of sport. It overcomes the theoretical weaknesses of geographical sports research as well as addressing the problems of the modernisation theory. In addition, 'cultural materialism' provides an invaluable interpretation of the concept of hegemony. Williams' theory places sport firmly in the context of particular social, economic and cultural heritages. It leads geographers away from a narrow concern with pattern to a fuller exploration of process. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

Summary Lacrosse is a developing sport in Sweden and the Netherlands at the moment. Both countries have their initiatives and are playing the game for approximately 12 to 15 years. They are competing at World- and European tournaments and trying their best to professionalize their leagues. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go for both countries before they can measure themselves with the top Lacrosse countries Canada and the USA. In these countries Lacrosse is played for many years, the level of professionalization and trainings methods are more developed and thereby maybe helpful to develop the level in Europe as well.   Aim During this research a comparison is made between the (different) approaches in the sport of Lacrosse, by the four ‘investigated countries’. Where does opportunities occur for developing Lacrosse in Sweden and the Netherlands? Main aim of this research is to find out where the possibilities are for the development of Lacrosse. Both Sweden and the Netherlands want to compete on a higher level of Lacrosse, but at the moment the knowledge about the sport is not sufficient enough.   Method During this research several sources are consulted for getting information. Seven semi-structured interviews were being held among Swedish and Dutch Lacrosse trainers. Besides these interviews the Canadian Lacrosse Federation was contacted by mail, and the Strategic Plan 2008 – 2012 was examined. Third source of collection information was by searching online databases for evidence-based researches.   Results The outcomes showed that there are many opportunities to start with the development of Lacrosse. Position specific Lacrosse training could provide more structured training design and thereby increasing the level of Lacrosse players. Coaches should be trained, and the federations should start professionalizing as well. Besides these results trainers spoke about the importance of starting a youth Lacrosse initiative.   Conclusion If the approach in Sweden and the Netherlands is compared to the level of Lacrosse in Canada both countries need to start putting actions into efforts. Both federations have good intentions but they both are unsure about how to start the development of Lacrosse.

Lacrosse, Canada’s national summer sport, is a sport anchored in first nations’ tradition. Its growing popularity in North America has not been reflected by a similar interest in the scientific literature more specifically on the biomechanics of the lumbar spine with its throwing motion. The aim of this study was to describe the motions, forces and muscle actions of the lumbar spine with the hybrid, overhand and sidearm throw. Twelve subjects were asked to throw at maximal speed while captured by a 3D motion analysis system. Flexion, extension and axial rotation angular velocities as well as positive and negative powers in the two planes were calculated. The first research question pertained to consistency in angular velocities and powers between trials of a given throwing technique. Subjects showed a fairly high variation on all variables but mostly with the angular velocities in extension and the peak positive power in flexion/extension which had high coefficient of variations (CVs). The contralateral rotation velocity and the positive rotation power had the lowest CVs. Overall the CVs for powers exceeded the angular velocities’. The second research question addressed if a difference in variables was present between the three throwing methods. A significant difference was observed in the peak negative power in flexion/extension and the peak positive power in rotation. The contralateral rotation angular velocity also showed a significant difference but the sphericity assumption failed. No other variable showed a significant difference but the observed power for those variables was also quite small. Due to the lack of power and the further need for controlling some unforeseen sources of error, this study can be used as a pilot study to further define and improve future studies in the field of lacrosse biomechanics.

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Lacrosse, Canada’s national summer sport, is a sport anchored in first nations’ tradition. Its growing popularity in North America has not been reflected by a similar interest in the scientific literature more specifically on the biomechanics of the lumbar spine with its throwing motion. The aim of this study was to describe the motions, forces and muscle actions of the lumbar spine with the hybrid, overhand and sidearm throw. Twelve subjects were asked to throw at maximal speed while captured by a 3D motion analysis system. Flexion, extension and axial rotation angular velocities as well as positive and negative powers in the two planes were calculated. The first research question pertained to consistency in angular velocities and powers between trials of a given throwing technique. Subjects showed a fairly high variation on all variables but mostly with the angular velocities in extension and the peak positive power in flexion/extension which had high coefficient of variations (CVs). The contralateral rotation velocity and the positive rotation power had the lowest CVs. Overall the CVs for powers exceeded the angular velocities’. The second research question addressed if a difference in variables was present between the three throwing methods. A significant difference was observed in the peak negative power in flexion/extension and the peak positive power in rotation. The contralateral rotation angular velocity also showed a significant difference but the sphericity assumption failed. No other variable showed a significant difference but the observed power for those variables was also quite small. Due to the lack of power and the further need for controlling some unforeseen sources of error, this study can be used as a pilot study to further define and improve future studies in the field of lacrosse biomechanics.

No description available.

On March 13, 2006 in Durham, North Carolina, some of the Duke lacrosse players decided to throw a party. For this particular party, a group of Duke players decided to hire some strippers. Although the night started out harmless enough, the end result was two angry African American women leaving the house of 610 Buchanan Street to alleged sounds of insults and racial epithets. The police arrived a short time later to investigate the scene. Allegations of rape filled the air as one of the strippers indicated to Durham police that she had been raped. From there, implications of race, class, gender, and the university culture became prevalent and important topics for the media to cover. They covered the scandal extensively and made it a prevalent subject story matter from April 2006 to April 2007. Utilizing a content analysis, this study coded for generic, macro and issue-specific frames used by six different newspapers that covered the Duke Lacrosse rape scandal finding some significant results. Additionally, this study employed frame and story valence, as well as frame substance, to further analyze the frames present in the newspapers provided. Furthermore, there appeared to be a significant similarity between the overall story valence and the news story type. Although the majority of frames used were found to be neutral, results found that there was still a great deal of negative media attention in the Duke Lacrosse rape scandal. / Master of Arts