The purpose of this investigation was to examine faculty attitudes towards the role of college athletics and the academic competency of student-athletes at a NCAA Division-I Institution. By analyzing faculty attitudes, this study contributes to a better understanding of factors associated with how educators view athletics in higher education and how they develop their attitudes towards student-athletes from an academic perspective. Though prior research indicates quantitatively that faculty possess distinct views of these concepts, there was a gap between measured attitudes and known factors that contribute to these attitudes. By analyzing both quantitative and qualitative results, this investigation advanced the knowledge base of what factors, themes and trends exist in relation to faculty attitudes towards college athletics and the academic competency of student-athletes. Furthermore, by identifying relevant factors, this study may serve future practitioners by helping them hone techniques for successful and perceived change of the college experience for student-athletes in higher education.

Purpose: To compare the pulmonary function of older runners with non-runners and also the population norms. Method: 40 males ages 45 to 65 were compared for respiratory muscle strength, spirometry and maximum voluntary ventilation. Univariate and multivariate analysis (p < 0.05) were used to determine differences Results: No significant differences in age, height, or respiratory muscle strength were found. A significant difference was found for weight and BMI with the non-runners having greater values. The dependent variables of FVC, FEV1, FEF25-75%, PEF, and MVV resulted in a significant difference with the runners having greater values. A significant difference was also found for pulmonary function between runners and the general population. Conclusion: Continued and habitual aerobic exercise in the form of running in 45 to 65 year old men resulted in pulmonary function values that were significantly greater than those of the non-runners and also greater than population norms.

The study explored the perceptions of thirteen, female student-athletes who chose to participate in intercollegiate athletics, specifically basketball. Each of the participants was enrolled at a Division I institution in the same athletic conference. Both institutions are nationally ranked institutions in their primary (revenue generating) sport (NCAA, 2004). All of the participants were offered full athletic scholarships to other institutions, yet they made their college choice decision based on multiple factors. The data revealed that although student-athletes undergo a similar process as non-athletes, their experience in many ways was different due to the additional factors they have to consider. As indicated by the findings of this study, the process to choose a college was a challenge for student-athletes as they considered the opinions of others, the prestige of the coach and the collegiate athletic program and their commitment to academic performance. Overall, participants were satisfied with their college choice process and felt they identified the institution that fit their personal and academic goals.

Tears to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) represent a serious sport injury that can be physically and psychologically debilitating for athletes. Recovery from ACL surgery is a six to nine month process, though the first four months of rehabilitation represents the key time of recovery. Thus, psychological interventions should occur during these first four months, but then examine athletes' psychological and physical functioning over the longer term. Past research has supported the efficacy of goal setting and imagery in helping athletes during their ACL recovery, and MSC has been shown to help athletes regulate emotions and improve their sport performance. MSC-based interventions, however, have not been examined in relation to injured athletes' psychological functioning and physical recovery. Thus, I examined the relative effects of three psychological interventions (i.e., GS, IM, and MSC) on athletes' post-ACL responses. Overall, I found no significant differences in the effects of GS, IM, or MSC on athletes' athletic identity, confidence in returning to sport, reinjury anxiety, stress related to sport injury, perceptions of ability to cope with injury, and subjective knee functioning. Although non-significant, athletes in the GS group showed slightly larger rates of change in their reinjury anxiety and cognitive appraisal compared to athletes in the IM and MSC groups, while athletes in the IM group showed slightly greater rates of change in subjective knee functioning compared to athletes in the GS and MSC groups. However, these results did not support the original hypotheses that athletes in the MSC group would demonstrate significantly greater outcomes compared to the GS and IM groups.

Faculty of Health Sciences Master of Science in Medicine 0204267n / Creatine is one of the most frequently or generally used ergogenic substances. It is used by professional and amateur athletes and the “man on the street”. Creatine is involved in energy production and protein synthesis in muscle. Although studies have been carried out on the effect of creatine on adults, no study has yet determined whether creatine would have an influence on the developing rat foetus if taken by a female during pregnancy. The aim of this study was thus to determine whether creatine had an effect on the developing foetus. Dams were divided into two groups, which we re injected between days 7-13 and on days 9 and 11 only of intra-uterine development respectively. Each group was subdivided into a control and two experimental groups. Experimental group one received a low dose of creatine (53.5mg/250g body weight); the other experimental group received a high dose of creatine (107mg/250g body weight). The control group received an equal volume (1ml) of the vehicle (saline) in which the creatine was constituted. Dams were sacrificed on day 20 of development. The foetuses were removed and their weight and length taken. Foetuses were examined for abnormalities. Two foetuses from each litter underwent skeletal staining. Tissue was excised from the remaining foetuses and processed for histology for histological investigation. Creatine positively affected the growth of the foetuses of dams injected between days 7-13, while foetuses of dams injected only on days 9 and 11 in the B-group showed reduced growth. Creatine also had a slightly negative effect on the histological structure of the liver, but enhanced skeletal muscle growth, endocrine cell formation (pancreas) and skeletal formation. From the results obtained it is hypothesized that creatine and insulin together may play a positive role from implantation to birth, while creatine given at certain stages of organogenesis delayed development of the foetus.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2001 / Long distance running is characterised by a high injury rate (van Mechelen, 1995; Lysholm and Wiklander, 1987). It is an ever-growing sport, being tried by increasing numbers of people with varying degrees of athletic ability. Injuries are detrimental to training, increase the risk of sustaining another injury, and are expensive to treat placing demands on our already strained health care system. Runners are healthy people who would require less health care than most people if they could avoid injuries. Iliotibial band friction syndrome (ITBFS), is one of the most common running injuries experienced. Buttock and/or posterior thigh pain (BAOPTP) is another common condition, which is also resistant to treatment. It tends to become chronic and to result in ongoing morbidity. / IT2018

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The goals of this study were to centralize the voices of Black Canadian male student-athletes by investigating their experiences as students, athletes, Black males and children of immigrant parents, and examining how these experiences might contextualize their transition out of university sport. Qualitative interviews with 20 former and current Black Canadian student-athletes were conducted using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a methodological framework. Several of the participants described the racial, athletic and academic stereotypes that shaped their experiences, illustrating, in some cases, the influence of the Black American culture on Black Canadians. The analysis focused on how the interview participants interpreted their experiences and how stereotypes were used to make sense of their university and transition experiences. Some participants rejected the stereotypes evoked, some challenged them in an attempt to prove them wrong, while others used them to “act more Black”. Furthermore, the degree to which these stereotypes interacted with their transition experiences centered around autonomy, the emulation of role models and of developing career opportunities highlighted the initiative displayed by most of these student-athletes. The intersection of these factors, combined with their immigrant parents’ inexperience navigating the Canadian university system, forced most of these young men to transition out of university and varsity athletics on their own.

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-52).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1982. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-128). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.