abstract: The purpose of this study was to identify, describe, and analyze Navajo female participation in high school volleyball and its affects on success in higher education. The research was an opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the impact athletics, namely volleyball, has within the Diné culture; and how the impact of those role models who provided leadership through athletic instruction had on the lives of Navajo female student athletes in their postsecondary experiences. The qualitative research was an opportunity to recognize that the interviewing process is synonymous and conducive to oral traditions told by Indigenous people. The population consisted of 11 Navajo female student athletes who were alumna of Monument Valley High School in Kayenta, Arizona, located on the Navajo Nation and who had participated in four years of Mustang volleyball from 2000-2010, either currently attending or graduated from a postsecondary institution, and although not a set criterion, played collegiate volleyball. Results indicated that participation in high school volleyball provided the necessary support and overarching influence that increased self-esteem or self-efficacy that led toward college enrollment, maintaining retention, and long-term academic success. Diné teachings of Aszdáá Nádleehé (Changing Woman) through the age old practice of the Kinaaldá ceremony for young Navajo pubescent girls marking their transition into womanhood, the practice of K'é, and Sa'ah naagháí bi'keeh hózhóón were all prominent Diné principles that resonated with the Navajo female student athletes. The leadership skills that the Navajo female student athletes acquired occurred based on the modification and adaptation of two cultures of two given societies: mainstream non-Native, Euro-centric society, and Diné society. The lifestyle, cultural beliefs, and teachings define the identity of female student athletes and the essence of their being.   / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2012

While warm-up is one of the more generally accepted elements of the strength and conditioning portfolio, direct evidence as to its optimal application in enhancing sports performance is sparse. Today, there is a trend to look at warm-up as performance preparation (Jeffreys, 2007a, Verstegen, 2004), with the aim of maximising performance from the outset of, and throughout, competition and training. Given that the majority of team sports can involve high intensity exercise from the start, then a warm-up needs to be able to ensure that athletes are capable of maximal performance at the outset of a game, and do not have to use the first minutes of a game to progress to a point where they are capable of maximal performance. Performance has been shown to be optimised by theinclusion of high intensity activities in warm-up procedures (Faigenbaum, et al., 2005; Burkett, et al., 2005). However, while warm-up procedures are common, there is great variability in their application, and the inclusion of high intensity activities is not uniform (Jeffreys, 2007b). For this reason, many team sport warm-ups may not currently be optimal in terms of optimising speed and power performance. Indeed, the trend is currently for team sport warm-ups to become very skill based, and the inclusion of maximal intensity exercises may be on the decline rather than being increased. Jeffreys, (2007b) has previously asserted that all warm-ups should consist of a potentiation phase, over and above a general phase. This potentiation phase should consist of a progressive series of exercises, until maximum effort is achieved. Additionally, Tillin and Bishop, (2009) have suggested that post activation potentiation (PAP) may provide a mechanism by which a super-maximal performance can be achieved via the use of a carefully selected and applied pre-conditioning activity. While previous studies have indicated the potential of PAP to enhance factors affecting power performance, such as the rate offeree development, studies on the direct effects on performance are limited, and the conclusions mixed (Tillin and Bishop, 2009). This series of studies addressed this lack of research, and investigated the application of warm-up methods to the acute enhancement of performance. To maximise the benefits of these studies to coaching practice, specific measures of performance were selected as the dependent variable throughout, so that all conclusions drawn could be applied directly to performance. Similarly, competing athletes were selected as subjects for all studies, and all studies were carried out in the athlete's training environment to maximise ecological validity and to ensure transferability of the results directly into enhancing sports performance. The results of study one clearly support the use of a potentiation phase in warm-up. Investigating the effects of three warm-up protocols (general, sprint potentiated and jump potentiated) on 10 metre sprint performance, significantly superior (p<0.05) 10 metre sprint scores were found with a potentiated warm-up (both jump and sprint) than were achieved via general warm-up alone. It also supported the specific nature of PAP with sprint potentiation able to elicit significantly (p<0.05) superior sprint performance than a jump potentiated warm-up. Studies 2-6 looked at the potential of exploiting PAP based protocols, as an addition to a basic potentiation phase within a warm-up. A range of methods were used that worked on either a kinematic basis where biomechanically similar movement patters were loaded (loaded CMJ's, sprint resisted running and sprint assisted running) or a kinetic basis where high forces were elicited (squats, MVC's). The results of these studies showed no significant (p>0.05) benefit of any of these activities on either sprint or jump performance. These studies evaluated the acute effects of sprint resisted running, sprint assisted running, loaded jumps, maximal voluntary contractions and heavy squats superimposed onto the warm-up protocol of study 1 on speed and/or jump performance. No significant performance enhancements were found in any of the studies, indicating that none had the potential to acutely enhance performance. In conclusion, the results of these studies recommend that all warm-ups include apotentiation phase, where a series of specific exercises are increased in intensity until maximum intensity is achieved. The use of additional activities, aimed to induce an additional PAP based effect on subsequent enhanced performance cannot be recommended for warm-ups for youth athletes.

The purpose of this study was to identify the determinants of expertise and the contributory effect of domains to the Olympic style Taekwondo performance. Eighty-seven Taekwondo athletes with different levels of expertise, namely elite, sub-elite and practitioner were recruited. Subjects' performance in attributes within the physical domain was assessed by Queens College Step Test, running-based anaerobic sprint test, vertical jump test, side-stepping test, and sit-and-reach test. Subjects were also be surveyed with the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28) (Chinese version) to obtain a profile of their psychological and emotional attributes. Perceptual attributes of subjects was assessed by Stork balance test, Start Excursion Balance Test and Ruler Drop Reaction Time Test. Notational analysis of subjects' performance in the competition was conducted for determining their technical and tactical domain. Descriptive statistics were used to create a profile of attributes of Taekwondo athletes. Two-way ANOVA were used to identify the difference between female and male athletes, and athletes with different levels of expertise in different domains. Discriminant function analysis was used to determine the contributory effect of each domain to the expertise of Olympic style Taekwondo. Elite athletes obtained a significantly higher mean value than the sub-elite athletes and practitioners in the length of upper limbs (F=6.15, p=.00), the length of lower limbs (F=10.21, p=.00), and lateral agility (F=15.71, p=.00). Discriminant function analysis revealed that the contributory effect of physical domain was the highest among the five domains for determining the expertise in Olympic style Taekwondo with Wilk's Lambda as .70 (p<.05).

M.Com. (Sports Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. / The aim of the study was to explore motivational profiles and competitive anxiety in secondary school athletes who spend at least eight hours or more on sport during a week. The study included 267 adolescent athletes in secondary school ranging from grade 8 to grade 12, with a mean age of 15.52 (SD = 1.49). These athletes were asked to volunteer for the study in various schools in Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa. The sample comprised 189 boys and 78 girls who participated in a variety of sports. They were asked to complete a biographical questionnaire, The Task and Ego Sport Questionnaire (Nicholls, 1989) and the Sport Competitive Anxiety Test (Martens, 1982). The results indicated that the participants had a high task orientation as opposed to a moderate ego orientation in sport. Most of the participants had a moderate level of competitive sport anxiety. Two distinct motivational profiles emerged from the results: High Task/High Ego and High Task/Low Ego. No significant differences were found between gender and age groups with regards to motivational profiles and anxiety levels. A correlation was found between task orientation and ego orientation, but not between motivational profiles and anxiety.

The Sport Commitment model (SCM) is a well-known theoretical framework to illustrate how the psychological state of commitment to sport has been influenced and studied in able-bodied persons. Considering the characteristics and lived experiences of people with disabilities, additional antecedents of sport commitment were added in the structure of the SCM. In order to extend the application of this revised SCM to persons with disabilities, the concept of three levels (personal, social, and environmental) of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model was employed to differentiate the impacts of nine antecedents to sport commitment. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the revised SCM in terms of the magnitude of contribution of nine antecedents (enjoyment, personal investment, involvement opportunities, social constraints, involvement alternatives, self-efficacy, negative consequence of sport participation, social support, and accessibility of sport facilities and settings) on sport commitment to athletes with disabilities. The second purpose of this study was to investigate the superiority between original and alternative sport commitment models (mediation and direct/indirect model). A total of 157 adult athletes (Mean age= 34.87, SD = 11.78) with physical disabilities from team and individual sports across the United States, Europe, and Asia completed an online survey of 60 items across the nine antecedents hypothesized to influence sport commitment in athlete with disabilities. Results indicated involvement opportunities, followed by personal investment, were the strongest predictors of sport commitment (R2 = 65). In contrast, enjoyment, social constraints, involvement alternatives, self-efficacy, negative consequence of sport participation, social support, and accessibility of sport facilities and settings had no significant prediction on sport commitment. Chi-square difference test showed the direct/indirect model (χ2 (211) = 318.41; RMSEA = .05; CFI = .97; SRMR = .06) had better goodness-of-fit indices than the mediation model (χ2 (215) = 390.55; RMSEA = .06; CFI = .95; SRMR = .11). Based on the principle of parsimony, the original model (χ2 (215) = 384.95; RMSEA = .07; CFI = .95; SRMR = .06) was deemed a better model to understand the mechanism of sport commitment than the direct/indirect model. The SCM was an effective theoretical framework for adult athletes with disabilities. However, it still requires more studies to understand its effectiveness to other developmental ages and stages of athletes with disabilities.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Athletes are at risk for HIV infection due to their celebrity status which enables them to associate with multiple concurrent sexual partnerships. Athletes with an HIV sero-positive status should be encouraged to disclose their HIV positive status to enable them access appropriate treatment, care and support. The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of athletes living with HIV following disclosure of their sero-status. The study was conducted in Ndirande Township in the city of Blantyre, Malawi. Twelve purposively sampled athletes living with HIV, four males and eight females between the ages of 18 and 30 years, participated in this study. Data was collected using qualitative methods conducting semi-structured, face to face individual interviews and the data were analysed using thematic analysis. The consequence of disclosure model was used to explain the themes that emerged from the data. The results of the study indicated that all athletes disclosed their HIV seropositive status. The majority of the athletes disclosed their HIV positive status to spouses, family members, friends and health care providers in order to access support and treatment. However, athletes did not disclose to their clubs and sports institutions because there was no conducive environment. After disclosure of their status, most athletes had positive experiences that included increased psychosocial support and care from their social networks. Some athletes had negative experiences such as stigma and discrimination from teammates and distant relatives. While athletes living with HIV had support from families and community support groups, there was a lack of appropriate support systems in the sport institutions. In addition, athletes living with HIV had limited access to health care services. For athletes living with HIV to remain productive, there is need for further research and the establishment of appropriate support systems in different levels of the sport institutions.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Pursuing a career as a professional athlete has become a viable option for talented athletes to pursue. However, in their pursuit of athletic excellence many athletes neglect their academic, work and post sport career planning. To help athletes with participation, educational, development and lifestyle issues many countries have developed athlete assistance programs. To achieve the objective of a Winning Nation and help talented South African athletes develop and perform at a higher level the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) plans to establish a national academy system. The role of the academy system is to assist in addressing the demographics of the national teams by accelerating the development of talented athletes particularly those from the disadvantaged groups. To ensure that a holistic approach is taken towards athlete development one of the services that will be provided is life skills training. To develop a successful life skills program, it is essential to identify the important life skills to include. Aim The aim of the study was to explore and identify the life skills necessary for inclusion in Life Skills programs in South African elite sport focusing on the development of adolescent athletes to enable them to grow up competent, healthy and reach their full potential. Design A pure qualitative research design was employed using thematic analysis. Data was analysed through the lens of Positive Youth Development (PYD) theory. Moreover, a semi-structured interview guide, consisting of open ended questions, was developed utilizing the 5 C’s of PYD as themes to facilitate the interview process. Nine current adolescent elite South African athletes, on the MacSteel Maestro’s program, participated in the study. A purposive sampling procedure informed the sampling process and a thematic coding framework was developed to analyse the interview data. Results Findings of the research provided a contribution to the literature in two ways. First, it provided a South African perspective of the life skills needed by elite adolescent athletes. Secondly, it identified the life skills elite adolescent South African athletes deemed important for their holistic development to include in life skills programs in South African elite sport. Time management and self - esteem / self – confidence skills were identified as the crucial life skills to be developed. Conclusion In general it can be concluded that the participants have benefitted from being on the MMP, and that the participants exhibited characteristics of competence, confidence, character, connection and caring / compassion both in and out of sport. / CATHSSETA

Based in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the overall objective of this thesis was to explore how the coaching context, coach psychological needs, and coach motivation influenced coaches’ interpersonal behaviours when they interacted with their athletes, and how these interpersonal behaviours impacted athletes’ psychological needs and motivation in sport. This objective was achieved through a series of 10 studies, looking at different samples of coaches and athletes, divided into four manuscripts. First, there was a need to create a measure that captured both perceptions of others’, as well as self-reports of the six interpersonal behaviours according to SDT (autonomy-support, competence-support, relatedness-support, autonomy-thwarting, competence-thwarting, and relatedness-thwarting). As such, in Manuscript #1, the Interpersonal Behaviours Questionnaire (IBQ) was created and validated as a general measure of perceptions of other people’s interpersonal behaviours (Study 1 N = 534 students; Study 2 N = 351 students) and as a self-report of interpersonal behaviours used in general (Study 3 N = 607 students). In Manuscript #2, the validity of the measure was extended to include the sport context by testing the scale with coaches and athletes. Specifically, Study 1 (N = 239 athletes) validated the measure with a sample of athletes reporting on their coaches’ behaviours, and Study 2 (N = 240 coaches) looked at coaches’ reports of their own behaviours in their interactions with their athletes. Overall, the results of these five studies provided support for the factor structure and validity of the IBQ as a measure of perceived and self-reported interpersonal behaviours in both the general context, as well as sport. Next, Manuscript #3 explored the antecedents of coaches’ reported interpersonal behaviours. Specifically, Study 1 (N = 56 coaches) looked at the coaching context in order to identify the factors that had the largest impact on coaches’ experiences. In Study 2 (N = 310 coaches), the relationship between coaches’ psychological needs, motivation for coaching, and interpersonal behaviours was explored to confirm the sequence occurred as would be expected according to SDT. Finally, in Study 3 (N = 225 coaches), the influence of the contextual factors on coaches’ psychological needs, motivation, and interpersonal behaviours was examined. Overall, the results supported that coaches in a supportive context experienced increased need satisfaction, higher autonomous motivation for coaching, and were more likely to engage in supportive interpersonal behaviours with their athletes; while coaches in a thwarting context experienced increased need frustration, higher controlled motivation, and were more likely to engage in thwarting interpersonal behaviours. Finally, Manuscript #4 explored the outcomes of coaches’ interpersonal behaviours. First, Study 1 (N = 180 athletes) looked at athletes’ perceptions of their coaches’ behaviours and how their perceptions impacted psychological needs and motivation in sport. Lastly, Study 2 (N = 278 athletes; N = 53 coaches) explored whether coaches’ self-reports of their interpersonal behaviours were in line with their athletes’ same perceptions of these behaviours, and explored the factors that were related to whether coaches and athletes were in agreement. These last two studies found that supportive interpersonal behaviours promoted need satisfaction and autonomous motivation for athletes; while thwarting interpersonal behaviours promoted need frustration and controlled motivation for athletes. Overall, this thesis helped extend the existing research in motivational psychology and helped address some important limitations.

This study attempted to discover and describe the cultural knowledge and understandings that Margaret (Bell) Gibson derived from her performance as a highly successful athlete in Canadian women's sport during the 1920s - 1930s. A case study approach was used that employed qualitative research strategies. This approach was considered appropriate as prominent issues in women's lives are subtle and context-bound. A series of five informal interviews was conducted with Bell, using an ethnographic approach developed by Spradley (1979). Each interview was recorded and transcribed into text. The text was then validated by Bell, prior to analysis by the researcher. An inductive-reflexive analysis of the text was employed, as much of the information emerged as Bell recalled her experiences in sport. This involved the use of an evolving methodology, which identified classifications of knowledge and structures of thought as they were revealed. Bell's narrative was contextually-grounded in a review of Canadian history from 1920 to 1938, as this seemed to connect Bell's experience as a sportswoman to the broader socio-historical milieu. Findings were substantiated through a process of triangulated inquiry wherein verification was sought from newspaper clippings, official records, and historical documents. The analysis of Bell's narrative revealed a complex system of knowledge based on categories of information related to the structure of sport, social network, jumping, cultural activities, concepts of space and timing, and role definition. Documentation of the major sporting events Bell experienced, as an athlete, was also recorded. Implications for future research were discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate