The animal other : horse training in early modernity

This historical sociological analysis of the training of horses for competition in early modernity draws from the sociology of the body to suggest that animals as we know them are constructed through human social processes. Contemporary horse-care publications are used to demonstrate how equine bodies were shaped through an application of humoral physiological theory. That is, they were made suitable for the human requirements of the time through preparatory procedures informed by models of somatic functioning used widely to understand humans and animals alike. The broader issue canvassed here is that ‘embodiment’ should include animal as well as human bodies. Through selective breeding, raising and care, animals have bodies that are shaped to human requirements – they embody human social processes.

Functional dairy protein supplements for elite athletes

Elite athletes require a greater dietary protein intake than recreationally active people to maintain optimal muscular function. The timing of protein ingestion relative to exercise is critical to maximizing its physiological impact on skeletal muscles. Sports protein supplements provide a convenient means of supplying athletes with an adequate and timely source of quality dietary protein. There is now strong evidence that not all dietary proteins are equipotent in their effects on various aspects of athletic performance and specific protein isolates can provide benefits to athletes beyond simple supply of nutritional amino acids. Thus, there is an opportunity to develop new functional protein supplements to maximize athletic performance. This paper outlines the clinical evidence for the benefits of dairy proteins in sports performance and describes the development of new dairy protein supplements to build muscle strength, and to expedite recovery of strength following muscle-damaging eccentric exercise.

New work ethics? The corporate athlete's back end index and organisational performance

Drawing on Michel Foucault’s later genealogies of the Self the paper will illustrate particular dimensions of the increasingly powerful individualizing and normalizing processes shaping the lifeworlds of worker-citizens in a globalizing risk society. Processes that require those who wish to be positively identified as professional, entrepreneurial, resilient, effective, athletic to do particular sorts of work on themselves. Here the paper argues that we can identify the emergence of what we call New Work Ethics. We illustrate this more general argument via an analysis of the ways in which a large Information Technology (IT) organization seeks to produce—via a workplace health and fitness program—employees who imagine themselves as embodying the behaviours and dispositions that mark the person as a corporate athlete. Knowledge of the Self in these terms can, it is promised, enhance the performance of the Self, and the organization.

Sporting clubs, alcohol and young people : enduring tensions and emerging possibilities

This paper examines data from a research project that investigated the cultural drivers of drinking in 14-24 year-old Australians, funded by Drinkwise Australia and the Department of Health and Ageing. At the same time that we were working on this project a moral panic about young people, risk and binge drinking had once more energised public debate. Prominent here was the highly politicised imputation of a strategic taxation levy on ready to drink products (alcopopos). This qualitative, interview-based project examined two separate but related aspects of young people's alcohol use: the roles played by sporting clubs, as community hubs, in shaping young people's use of alcohol: and young people's drinking biographies over different phases of their lives. This paper will focus on the sporting club study to discuss issues related to the positioning and serving of alcohol in the relation to young people. As part of the study, we conducted interviews with club administrators and young people in a range of sporting clubs. Insights from the study give rise to the potential for clubs to play an active and influential role in helping young people create positive/responsible approaches to alcohol consumption.

Adolescent girls in physical education and sport : an analysis of influences on participation

This study investigates the influences on participation in physical activity of thirty adolescent girls from a metropolitan secondary school in Victoria. It seeks to understand how they perceived, experienced and explained their involvement or non involvement in both competitive and non competitive physical activity during four years of their secondary schooling. Participants experienced physical education as both a single sex group in Years 7 and 9 and a coeducational group in Years 8 and 10. They were exposed to a predominantly competitive curriculum in Years 7 to 9 and a less structured, more social, recreational program in Year 10. These experiences enabled them to compare the differences between class structures and activity programs and identify the significant issues which impacted on their participation. Large Australian population studies have revealed that fewer girls participated in sport and regular physical activity than boys. An important consequence is that girls miss out on the health benefits associated with participating in physical activity. Other research has found adolescence is the time that girls drop out of competitive sport. However, an important issue is whether girls who drop out of competitive sport cease to be involved in any physical activity. There are some studies which have reported good participation rates by adolescent girls in non competitive, recreational forms of physical activity and the possibility exists that they may drop out of competitive and into non competitive physical activity. This study primarily utilises a qualitative approach in contrast to previous studies which have largely relied upon the use of surveys and questionnaires. Whilst quantitative research has provided useful information about the bigger picture, there are limitations caused by reliance on the researchers' own interpretations of the data. Additionally there is no opportunity for any clarification and explanation of findings and trends by the respondents themselves. The current study utilized qualitative individual and collective interviews in three stages. Questions were asked in the broad areas of coeducation and single sex classes, preferences for competitive or recreational activity and body image issues. Some quantitative information focusing on nature and extent of current activity patterns was also gathered in the first stage. Thirty Year 10 girls participated in individual first interviews. Nine selected girls then took part in the second (individual) and third (collective) interview stages. Results revealed three groups based on the nature of physical activity involvement: [1] competitive activity group, [2] social activity group and [3] transition group. The transition group represented those who were in the process of withdrawing from competitive sport to take up more non competitive, recreational activity. The most significant difference between groups was skill level. On the whole those entering adolescence with the highest skill levels, such as those in the competitive group, were the most confident and relished competing against others. The social group was low in skill and confidence and had predominantly negative experiences in physical education and sport because their deficiencies were plainly visible to all. Similarly, a lack of skill improvement relative to those of 'better performers' affected the interest and confidence levels of those in the transition group. Boys' domination in coeducational classes through verbal and physical intimidation of the less competent and confident girls and exclusion of very competent girls was a major issue. Social and transition group members demonstrated compliance with boys' power by hanging back and sitting out of competitive activities. Conversely, the competitive group resisted boy's attempts to dominate but had to work hard to demonstrate their athletic capabilities in order to do so. Body image issues such as the skimpy physical education and sport uniform along with body revealing activities such as swimming and gymnastics, heightened feelings of self-consciousness and embarrassment for most girls. When strategies were adopted by social and transition group members to avoid any body exposure or physical humiliation, participation levels were subsequently affected. However, where girls felt confident about their physical abilities and body image, they were able to ignore their unflattering uniforms and thus participation was unaffected. Specific teaching practices such as giving more attention to boys, for example by segregating the sexes in mixed classes to focus attention on boys, reinforced stereotypical notions of gender and contributed to the inequities for girls in physical education. The competitive group were frustrated with having to prove themselves as capable as boys in order to receive greater teacher attention. The transition group rejected teacher's attempts to coerce them into participating in the inter school sports program. The social group believed that teachers viewed and treated them less favourably than others because of their limited skills. Girls were not passive in the face of these obstacles. Rather than give up physical activity they disengaged from competitive sport and took up other forms of activity which they had the confidence to perform. These activity choices also reflected their expanding social interests such as spending time with male and female friends outside school and increased demands on their time by study and part time work commitments. This study not only highlighted the diversity and complexity of attitudes and behaviours of girls towards physical activity but also demonstrated that they display agency in making conscious, sensible decisions about their physical activity choices. Plain Language Summary of Thesis Adolescent girls in physical education and sport; An analysis of influences on participation by Julia Whitty Submitted for the degree of Master of Applied Science Deakin University Supervisor: Dr Judy Ann Jones This study investigates the influences on participation in physical activity of thirty adolescent girls from a metropolitan secondary school in Victoria in order to understand how girls' perceived, experienced and explained their involvement or non involvement in both competitive and non competitive physical activity. Qualitative individual and collective interviews were conducted. Questions focussed on attitudes about coeducation and single sex classes, preferences for competitive or recreational activity and feelings about body image. Some quantitative information about the nature and extent of current activity patterns was also gathered in the first stage. Thirty Year 10 girls participated in individual first interviews. Nine selected girls then took part in the second (individual) and third (collective) interview stages. Results revealed three clearly different groups based on the nature of physical activity involvement (1) Competitive, (2) Social and (3) Transition (those in the process of withdrawing from competitive sport to take up more non competitive, recreational activity). The major difference between groups was skill level. Those entering adolescence with the highest skill levels were more competent and confident in the coeducational and competitive sport setting. Other significant issues included boys' domination, body image and teaching behaviours and practices.

Biological properties of the Hendra virus envelope proteins

Outbreaks of Hendra virus in Queensland, during 1994-1999, resulted in the deaths of 17 horses and 2 humans from respiratory or neurological disease. Immunological, ultrastructural and expressional studies of the viral envelope proteins using recombinant poxviruses and DNA vectors contributed to improving our understanding of the biology of Hendra virus.

Community sports safety

This research developed a valid and reliable instrument to assess the sports safety policies and practices of community sports clubs. The instrument was used to describe the safety policies and practices of a sample of community clubs and a training package was developed and trialled to address the gaps identified.

Hypermasculinity in schools: the good, the bad and the ugly

Beneath the common-sense understandings that some boys are sporty and some are not lies a complex suite of identity positions. For those that manage to have their identity confirmed within the powerful sporting discourses that dominate the masculinity landscape, the path to peer acceptance is a clearer one. Conversely, for boys that have their identity diminished by these same discourses, the consequences can be quite dramatic. While physical and athletic prowess are clearly prominent vectors in this sorting process there is a range of other personal and social conditions that impact such trajectories. Built on narrative methodological approaches, this chapter draws on research conducted in a range of settings to describe some of the ways young males understand and enact sporting masculinities. Through a series of research narratives I present the voices of a number of young males as they navigate their identities within and against dominant sporting discourses. To help make sense of the identity practices contained within these narratives a theoretical leaning towards ambivalence will be engaged. Drawing on the work of Foucault, the formation of a masculine sporting identity can be understood as the development of a specific relationship with oneself and with others. Within this framework, sporting identities, like all other identities, are viewed as a process not a state.

Effectiveness of national elite sport policies : a multidimensional approach applied to the case of Flanders

While the results of nations in international sport competitions are most often used as an evaluation of effectiveness of elite sport policies, they do not take into account the long-term duration of an athletic career, nor the many confounding variables influencing international success. This paper argues that output evaluation is a one-sided approach to policy assessment. It applies a multidimensional approach to the measurement of the effectiveness of elite sports policy evaluation (meso-level) by examining a four-year cycle of elite sport policies in Flanders. This study endeavors to advance the development of a framework to assess effectiveness of elite sport policies of nations. Data were collected at multiple points of the input-throughput-output and feedback cycle. It was found that in spite of the increasing elite sport expenditures in Flanders (inputs), and notwithstanding the development of the throughputs (processes), this has not as yet lead to acceptable results (outputs) at an international level.

Cross-sectional geometry of weight-bearing tibia in female athletes subjected to different exercise loadings

Summary The association of long-termsport-specific exercise loading with cross-sectional geometry of the weight-bearing tibia was evaluated among 204 female athletes representing five different exercise loadings and 50 referents. All exercises involving ground impacts (e.g., endurance running, ball games, jumping) were associated with thicker cortex at the distal and diaphyseal sites of the tibia and also with large diaphyseal cross-section, whereas the high-magnitude (powerlifting) and non-impact (swimming) exercises were not. Introduction Bones adapt to the specific loading to which they are habitually subjected. In this cross-sectional study, the association of long-term sport-specific exercise loading with the geometry of the weight-bearing tibia was evaluated among premenopausal female athletes representing 11 different sports.

Methods A total of 204 athletes were divided into five exercise loading groups, and the respective peripheral quantitative computed tomographic data were compared to data obtained from 50 physically active, non-athletic referents. Analysis of covariance was used to estimate the between-group differences.

Results At the distal tibia, the high-impact, odd-impact, and repetitive low-impact exercise loading groups had ~30% to 50% (p<0.05) greater cortical area (CoA) than the referents. At the tibial shaft, these three impact groups had ~15% to 20% (p<0.05) greater total area (ToA) and ~15% to 30% (p<0.05) greater CoA. By contrast, both the high-magnitude and repetitive non-impact groups had similar ToA and CoA values to the reference group at both tibial sites.

Conclusions High-impact, odd-impact, and repetitive lowimpact exercise loadings were associated with thicker cortex at the distal tibia. At the tibial shaft, impact loading was not only associated with thicker cortex, but also a larger cross-sectional area. High-magnitude exercise loading did not show such associations at either site but was comparable to repetitive non-impact loading and reference data. Collectively, the relevance of high strain rate together with moderate-to-high strain magnitude as major determinants of osteogenic loading of the weight-bearing tibia is implicated.

Stereotypes and self-perceptions of physical education pre-service teachers

Stereotypes and self-perceptions are important in understanding how people develop their self-knowledge and social identity, become members of groups, and view groups and their members. While we have some understanding of the stereotypical view of the physical education teacher, we currently have little knowledge of how physical education pre-service teachers (students studying a physical education degree) are stereotyped, and also if there is any relationship between these stereotypes and how physical education pre-service teachers perceive themselves. The purpose of this study was to examine the stereotypes and self-perceptions of physical education pre-service teachers. The aims were to describe how physical education pre-service teachers stereotype and perceive themselves, examine if there are differences in the stereotypes and self-perceptions between males and females, and to explore if there were relationships between what the physical education pre-service teachers believed stereotyped them and how they perceived themselves. Participants were 250 students (n=120 males, n=130 female) studying a 4-year Bachelor of Education (Physical Education) degree at a university who completed a questionnaire which contained 10 items about how they viewed physical education pre-service teachers (stereotypes), and 26 items on how they viewed male physical education pre-service teachers and female pre-service teachers (stereotypes) and 26 items on how they view themselves (self-perceptions). Factor analysis revealed 2 stereotype factors, which were labelled as Sociable (e.g., socialise, partying, drinking, loud and outgoing) and Health and Lifestyle (e.g., fit, playing sport and not smoking). The stereotype of the male physical education pre-service teacher, comprised two factors: physical, assertive and aggressive behaviour (e.g., aggressive, dominant, self-confident, and competitive) and physical and self-presentation factors (muscular, athletic, physically fit, physically coordinated, and attractive). The stereotype of female physical education pre-service teachers comprised three factors: physical appearance and ability (e.g., physically fit, athletic, able-bodied, attractive, thin, and physically coordinated), aggressive and assertive behavioural style (e.g., intimidating, unapproachable, and aggressive), and masculine behavioural style (e.g., aggressive, masculine, feminine, muscular and dominant). The self-perception of male physical education pre-service teachers comprised three factors: perceived appearance and ability (e.g., athletic, physical fit, thin, attractive, muscular and pleased with their body), aggressive and confident behaviour (e.g., intimidating, dominant, show off and aggressive) and independence and intellect (e.g., independent, ambitious, self confident and intelligent). The self-perception of female physical education pre-service teachers comprised three factors: strong willed behaviour (e.g., ambitious, and dominant), presentation and appearance (e.g., pleased with their body, attractive, thin and self confident), and aggressive and dominant behaviour (e.g., aggressive, intimidating, masculine and show off). There were significant relationships between the male physical and self-presentation stereotype factor stereotype and perceived appearance and ability self-perception factor and between the male physical, assertive and aggressive behaviour stereotype factor and the male aggressive and confident behaviours self-perception factor. For females, the aggressive and dominant behaviour stereotype was related to both the aggressive and assertive behavioural style self-perception factor and the masculine behavioural style self-perception factor. It is suggested that future studies investigate the stereotypes and self-perceptions of students in schools during the recruitment phase of socialisation, and the possible influence of the physical education teacher education programme, faculty leaders, and significant others on the physical education pre-service teachers’ self-perceptions, stereotypes and socialisation into physical education.

Retroactive interference and mental practice effects on motor performance : a pilot study

This study examined the effect of similar versus dissimilar retroactive interference on the mental practice effects for performing a novel motor skill. Research has shown that mental practice of a motor task can interfere with learning and performance of the task; however, little is known about how different retroactive interference activities affect mental practice effects. 90 volunteers ages 18 to 51 years (M=26.8, SD=9.6) completed a pre-test and post-test of 10 sets of five trials of a throwing task with the non-preferred hand. In the practice phase, participants mentally practiced the throwing task and then mentally practiced a task that was similar, dissimilar, or completed an unrelated reading task. Performance for all groups improved from pre- to post-test; however, there were no differences in increases for the three groups. The findings suggest that mental practice of similar and dissimilar tasks produced no significant interference in performance.

The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test (Level 1) to discriminate elite junior Australian football players

The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery (IR) Test is currently used to assess endurance performance in team sport athletes. However, to date, no data has been presented on its application to an elite junior Australian football (AF) playing group. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (IR1) ability to discriminate between junior AF players at two different playing standards and a group of non-athletic healthy males. Sixty age matched participants (16.6 ± 0.5 years) spread over three groups (20 per group): elite junior footballers; sub-elite junior footballers; and non-athletic healthy males participated in this study. Participants undertook a single Yo-Yo test performance on an indoor basketball court for each group. A one-way ANOVA with Scheffe's post hoc analysis revealed the elite junior footballers covered a significantly greater total distance (p < 0.001) and completed a significantly greater number of high-intensity efforts (p < 0.001) in comparison to their sub-elite counterparts, whilst both AF groups performed significantly better (p < 0.001) than the non-athletic healthy males. This study demonstrates the ability of the Yo-Yo IR1 to discriminate endurance performance between elite and sub-elite AF players, whilst further distinguishing AF players from a non-athletic healthy control group.

Coaches’ perspectives on implementing an evidence-informed injury prevention programme in junior community netball

Objective For effective sports injury prevention, information is needed about the implementation context for interventions. This study describes coaches’ feedback on the implementation of an evidence-informed injury prevention programme in community junior netball using coaches’ perceptions and the RE–AIM framework.
Methods A lower-limb injury prevention programme (Down to Earth; D2E), for teaching safe-landing techniques, was delivered to 31 coaches from 31 junior community netball teams in a 1-h workshop. Coaches then delivered a 6-week programme at team training sessions starting in the week before the competition season commenced. 65% of coaches completed a feedback survey 17 weeks after they had delivered the programme.
Results Most (88%) coaches believed that D2E improved their players’ ability to perform correct landing techniques in games and that players had retained these improvements over the season. The majority (83%) indicated that an improvement in player athletic attributes was the greatest advantage of D2E, followed by a reduction in injury risk. Identified barriers to implementing
D2E were running out of time and very young players fi nding the drills too diffi cult. Coaches reported that they needed more ideas for training drills that could be incorporated into their programmes and believed that their own coaching training did not adequately prepare them to implement an injury prevention programme.
Conclusions Although coaches believed that D2E was effective in developing correct landing techniques, some modifications are needed to make it more suitable for younger players and coach education by accreditation courses could be improved to support the implementation of injury prevention programmes.