Quality of life improvements after sports injury

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in available data describing the incidence of sports injuries. However, the outcomes of such injuries remain relatively undocumented. Psychological aspects of sports injury rehabilitation have been documented in elite athletes but not in cohorts of general sports participants. The few studies that have described the financial costs of sports injuries have typically not assessed how these injuries affect quality of life. Despite recent estimates that lost quality of life accounts for 81% of total sports injury costs,1 this has received relatively little attention in the literature. The aim of this paper is to describe the quality of life outcomes associated with sports injuries and to present some preliminary observations about how these change over a six-week period.

Validity and reliability of a voice-recognition game analysis system for field sports

The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of observers to use voice-recognition analysis to accurately classify gait transitions and quantify gait durations typical of team games. Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability was also determined. Four males were filmed performing pre-determined gait protocols, each comprising different sequences of walking, jogging. running and sprinting. Two operators independently classified gait transitions and the time spent in each gait was determined by the voice recognition system. All gait modes as measured by trained observers demonstrated statistically significant correlations (p<O.O I) to predetermined measurement criteria. The mean absolute error for all gait transitions was less than half a second (0.32-0.36 5) with the maximum percentage error being approximately 4% for the walk, jog and run gaits and 10% for sprinting. Gait classification error was low at 1-9%. The intra-rater and inter-rater reliability was consistently high ranging from r =' 0.87 to 0.99. In conclusion, observers using voice-recognition software provided valid measures of time spent in each of the four gait categories with 90% or better accuracy achieved.

Bad sports : the risks associated with not 'fitting in'

This paper is about peer rejection and bullying in schools and the tragic consequences that it can have. The focus of the paper is in the ways schools interact with groups of young males and, more importantly, those who are left out of these groupings. My concern is that schools currently give too little attention to informing and/or shaping the peer group practices of young people. I argue that the current educational theory and practice focus too heavily on individuals and their potential to act independently and overlook the all-important socialization that takes place within and between groups. Drawing on two case-studies of young males who experience peer rejection, I seek to raise concerns about the contemporary socializing practices of young males and the burgeoning need for schools to play a role in bringing about change. Given the continued prominence of sport as a trajectory for defining the dominant masculinity, I believe that it is critical that physical educators engage with the discussions and debates that surround this topic.

Integrating highlights for more complete sports video summarization

Summarization is an essential requirement for achieving a more compact and interesting representation of sports video contents. We propose a framework that integrates highlights into play segments and reveal why we should still retain breaks. Experimental results show that fast detections of whistle sounds, crowd excitement, and text boxes can complement existing techniques for play-breaks and highlights localization.

An empirical analysis of gender differences in sports attendance motives

In Australia, male sports attendees outnumber female sports attendees by 25%, yet little research has been conducted into the attendance motives of women. This study undertakes an analysis of 460 respondents using descriptive and multivariate statistics to distinguish the attendance motivations of women and compare them directly to those of male attendees. The findings suggest that female attendance can be influenced through management and promotional strategies.

Sports-events, tourism and destination marketing strategies: an Australian case study of Athens 2004 and its media telecast

The focus of this study was the media telecast of the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games. The study explored the efficacy of the Australian telecast in developing positive perceptions and attitudes of Greece as a tourist  destination and was origin-based—in that a survey was undertaken of a sample of Australian residents (n = 350). Participants were segmented based on their post-consumption perceptions of Greece. Four segments were identified and labelled—'extremely positive' (n = 75), 'highly positive' (n = 153), 'positive' (n = 83) and 'negative' (n = 29). Statistical differences were found between the segments based on whether attitudes towards Greece had improved as a result of their consumption of the media telecast of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games (Athens 2004). To gain insights into this phenomenon, open-ended responses provided by segment members were then analysed.

Across the sample, 38.7% of respondents indicated that their overall attitude towards Greece as tourist destination changed as a result of their consumption of the telecast of Athens 2004. Considering that the attitudes of participants in the current study improved, not as a result of first-hand experiences at the destination, but as a result of their vicarious experiences of the destination through consumption of a media telecast of a special event, the results provide insights to the efficacy of this particular telecast in developing positive attitudes with regard to Greece as a tourist destination. The results of this study could be used a benchmark for future event-related destination marketing strategies. Similarities and differences emerged between the segments with regard to the reasons as to why members of each of the clusters attitudes towards Greece as a tourist destination had improved as a result of their consumption of the telecast. While their responses appeared to be similar, the frequency in which the concepts emerged for each of the segments varied intensity. The key issues that emerged for the four clusters were the appearance of Greece; culture and history of Greece; capacity, or 'hostability', of Greece to stage the Athens 2004; and infrastructure in Greece.

The profit-driven action sport industry working within the not-for-profit Australian sport system : the case of freestyle BMX Australia and the Australian sports commission

When not-for-profit organisations and for-profit organisations are forced to work together, conflict can arise. This paper explores the tensions that have resulted in the Australian sport setting when the Australian Sport Commission (ASC), with its emphasis predominantly directed at not for profit sport, sought to embrace the traditionally for profit sport of Freestyle BMX into the mainstream sport system. This case study traces the development and implementation of the ASC's Street Active program through Freestyle BMX. It was found that Freestyle BMX experienced mission drift and did not provide a product or service relevant to its consumers by adhering to the guidelines required by the ASC. Further, in the development of the program, the ASC did not expect the rivalry between suppliers in the free market action sport industry when it engaged three management groups to deliver the Street Active program. As a result the action sport industry is further fragmented into for-profit agencies, and farther removed from the Australia's federal governing agency, the ASC.

Content-based video indexing for sports applications using integrated multi-modal approach

To sustain an ongoing rapid growth of video information, there is an emerging demand for a sophisticated content-based video indexing system. However, current video indexing solutions are still immature and lack of any standard. This doctoral consists of a research work based on an integrated multi-modal approach for sports video indexing and retrieval. By combining specific features extractable from multiple audio-visual modalities, generic structure and specific events can be detected and classified. During browsing and retrieval, users will benefit from the integration of high-level semantic and some descriptive mid-level features such as whistle and close-up view of player(s).

Who speaks on footballers and sexual assault? A gender analysis of sports reporting

The recent spate of sexual assault allegations made against Australian Football League (AFL) players has generated intense media scrutiny and public concern. Following from similar highly publicised allegations directed at the National Rugby League, these incidents have engendered significant debates around sexism and football culture in the popular press. It is the media’s response to allegations of sexual assault made against AFL footballers that will be analysed here. This study offers a content analysis of articles from the sport sections of two major Australian newspapers, The Age and the Herald-Sun, with the aim of assessing the prevalence of women’s perspectives on the issue of player misconduct and whether the gender of the reporter has any bearing on gender stereotyping in sport reporting. By assessing how the phenomenon of player misconduct has been covered in sport news, this paper evaluates the media’s role in changing dominant attitudes and perceptions of gender relations in Australian society.

An analysis of factors relating to attendance at sports events

The factors that motivate attendance at sports events are many and varied and include social dimensions and on-site entertainment. Recent studies have found that attendance at sporting events in Australia is on the rise with approximately seven million Australians attending sporting events in 2002 (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003). The Australian bureau of statistics reports, however, that in the five-year period to 2002, male spectators outnumbered female spectators by 25%. This paper reports on a survey of 460 respondents from the city and suburbs of Melbourne that identifies and explores the factors that motivate attendance at sports events and compares the responses of male and female respondents. The findings show that male and female attendees place a different emphasis on different attendance factors and that venue managers can influence attendance through a variety of management and promotional strategies.