United States Sports Academy - "America's Sports University"

Abstract

Mention the s-word -- strategy -- and thoughts go immediately to business issues and the boardroom. Strategy is easily used in the business context but it is just as easily ignored, forgotten, or possibly not even considered in the sports environment. If the s-word -- strategy-- is mentioned in sports, typically it is in reference to upper management or the owners. Then, the objective is dollars and cents -- maximizing gate receipts, holding costs in line, and returning profit on investment. Yet, strategy can be applied on the field/on-court/on-ice; the tactics of strategy are just as relevant in the sports arena as in the business arena.

The third edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement
presents readers with a comprehensive reference guide covering the modern
Olympic movement, including chronologies, dictionary entries, appendixes,
and references.

In a day and age when we are inundated with clichés and superficial
analyses about sports, Learning Culture through Sports: Exploring
the Role of Sports in Society is a refreshing, thought-provoking
departure from the sociobabble presented by mainstream sports media. The
authors critically evaluate the role of sport in society. They present
a critical view of how several socio-cultural issues are represented in
and through sports.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of elite individual athletes in NCAA Division I-A football on undergraduate admissions applicants to their respective institutions, an examination of what the media has labeled as the “Flutie Factor”. Using a pretest-posttest control group design, a statistically significant time-by-group interaction effect was found, with universities realizing a 6.59 percent increase in undergraduate applicants for admission in the year following having a football player finish among the top five vote recipients for the Heisman Trophy .

Abstract

Stress and anxiety can adversely affect athletic performance across all levels of athletic ability and types of sports. The researchers wanted to determine if progressive relaxation techniques (PRT) would improve sports performance in a group of female recreational golfers. The study was conducted over a 3-month period during which the experimental group (n=9) regularly engaged in PRT. Both the experimental group and the control group (n=9) played their regular golf game; recording their scores, putts per round, and number of greens hit in regulation. Preintervention measures were recorded and compared with post intervention measures. Both groups recorded significant improvement on all three measures. The amount of improvement observed for the experimental group was more than that observed for the control group. The between-group differences were not, however, significant.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence Korean
teens’ athletic footwear purchase. Four hundred and fifty-six teens
participated in the study. Throughout the review of related literature
and the conduction of a pilot study, seven characteristics were considered;
price, color, style, brand name, comfort, quality, and celebrity endorsement.
ANOVA procedures indicated that gender played a significant role in the
purchasing behavior of Korean teens. Male teens stated that comfort and
quality are the most important factors while female teens revealed that
style and color are more important factors than any other factor. Marketers
and advertising managers of athletic shoes companies should utilize the
findings of this study to communicate with teen consumers more effectively.

All across the United States each year many individuals make the conscious
decision to try out for interscholastic athletic teams in the hopes of
being part of something great. These individuals also understand that
prior to the last cut; they will need to sacrifice time, energy and social
gatherings to make the team successful. However, what many of these individuals
do not recognize and understand is that try-outs don’t always end
when the last cut is made and the final team list is posted. In recent
years, an old, but very much alive problem has begun to resurface in sports,
and that is the issue of humiliating and victimizing rookie athletes through
hazing rituals. These horrible acts leave victims debilitated in many
capacities, and such practices break down the institution of sport which
has been noted for building such positive character qualities as strength,
discipline, and a strong work ethic.

ABSTRACT

Accurate kinematic analysis of human movement is a significant factor
for the improvement of movement performance and for the reduction of injuries.
A polynomial method for 3-D analysis was implemented to determine the
knee kinematic parameters during level and 9% downhill grade running.
The knee kinematic parameters for the level and downhill running were:
20.9 o and 17 o degrees for the flexion angle in foot strike, 36.2 o and
43.1 o for the peak flexion angle in stance phase, and 7.1 rad.sec -1
and 7.4 rad.sec -1 the peak flexion angular velocity respectively. The
knee kinematic characteristics, determined using a polynomial method,
were within the range of the respective values reported in previous studies,
indicating that the polynomial method used is adequate for accurate 3-D
kinematic analysis. The results indicate that the knee extensor muscle
group is worked over a greater range during downhill running than in level
running and furthermore, during the footstrike, the knee flexion angle,
in level running is higher than in downhill running, which probably could
be affected to the magnitude of the compression forces applied to knee
during downhill running

Abstract

Teaching physical education and sports activities are among the indispensable
occupations of our time. Sports, apart from being an occupation of entertainment
and free time, have also a function that develop health and contributes
joy and happiness to the participants’ daily lives. Physical education
and sports activities have become signs of contemporariness. In Turkey,
the average beginning age for children’s participation in many or
team or individual sport activities is between ages 8 and 12. This is
also the average age level that most children start to participate in
school Physical Education and Sport courses. Physical Education is not
an elective course. It therefore is a core course and Turkey has a national
physical education teaching program. Despite the fact physical education
teachers are educated in various public and private physical education
programs, the core of the curriculums are very similar. All of the Physical
Education Teacher Education programs for the eight-year mandatory elementary
schools are monitored and constituted through the ministry of education.
While entire P.E. curriculums for education teachers are administrated
centrally and monitored by the ministry of education, there are few special
programs that training and preparing quality physical education and sports
teachers to teach high level physical education and sports courses at
8-year compulsory basic education institutions. The effectiveness of the
current programs that applied at most of compulsory basic education institutions
of eight years is a significant concern of this study. The purpose of
this research is to determine to what extent the physical education teacher
training programs that are currently used by those universities are effectively
and successfully training preparing physical education teachers to teach
at compulsory eight-year elementary schools.

The XIX. Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City 2002 seemed to be a
great success for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC). Consequently,
Research Team Olympia from the University of Mainz/Germany had favorable
conditions for an empirical investigation of the spectators at the biathlon
venue “Soldier Hollow”.