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A Review of the Impact of Sporting Role Model-Led Interventions on Physical Activity and Sport Participation of Female Youth

Eimear Kelly, Katie Liston, Kieran Dowd, and Aoife Lane

There is a lack of evidence of on the impact of how sporting role models (SRM) influence adolescent physical activity (PA) and/or sport participation (SP) levels. The main aim of this review was to identify SRM-led interventions and highlight the evidence of impact of SRMs on female adolescents’ participation in PA and/or SP. A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature using key search terms was completed using electronic databases (APA PsycInfo, SPORTDiscus, and PubMed). The inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) Participants were ≤18 years old, (b) results were reported for female participants, (c) the study included an intervention arm/element, (d) an SRM or equivalent terminology was used as part of the intervention, (e) PA levels and/or SP was evaluated, and (f) peer-reviewed articles published in English. A total of 7,169 peer-reviewed articles were identified and screened. A systematic review of grey literature to identify SRM programs was also carried out through Google search engine, direct contact with relevant sporting organizations, and with authors who had written about role models, and 45 programs were identified. Identified documents were screened using the same inclusion criteria as described above. The results identified one peer-reviewed and 15 grey literature programs, all of which were deemed to be of poor quality. The programs revealed a lack of theoretical base and rigor in methodology, no objective PA or SP assessment, poor demographic context of participants and role models, and lack of evaluation.

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The Impact of COVID-19 on Team Sport Engagement: The Perceptions of Adolescent Females in Victoria

Rachel Keane and Mandy Ruddock-Hudson

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively investigate the impact of restrictions in response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on team sport engagement from the perspectives of Victorian adolescent females. In 2022, 10 female athletes aged between 14 and 17 years, recruited via snowball sampling, took part in semistructured interviews exploring their experiences and perceptions during the pandemic. Three higher order themes emerged: (a) team sport barriers during COVID-19, (b) emotional responses of athletes during COVID-19, and (c) behavioral reactions of athletes during COVID-19. Findings indicated that athletes reported harsh restrictions, a lack of social interaction, and resources severely impacted training, ultimately resulting in poor motivation, lowered mood, and decreased sport enjoyment. Athletes also expressed concern in relation to spreading the virus, adhering to restrictions, and discovering lost skills and ability postlockdown. Guided by the self-determination theory, the perceived reduction in motivation and sport engagement for Victorian female athletes during COVID-19 was a result of the added depletion of autonomy, relatedness, and competence during the strictest lockdowns worldwide. The practical implications of this research offered new qualitative insights into how extended lockdowns and limited sport engagement impacted participation of female youth athletes who resided in the most locked-down state in the world. It also provided a strong foundation to enhance female motivation and sport engagement through addressing athletes’ self-efficacy levels and encouraging enjoyable and socially simulating sporting contexts following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Successful Physical Activity Maintainers: Strategies and Characteristics of Young African American Women

Chloe S. Jones, Cristina S. Barroso, Lindsey A. Miossi, Eugene C. Fitzhugh, and Lyndsey M. Hornbuckle

African American (AA) women have disproportionately high physical inactivity and obesity prevalence rates in comparison to their gender and racial counterparts. AA women experience unique barriers to leisure-time physical activity (LTPA); however, methods to overcome these barriers are less developed. Therefore, this study used semistructured interviews to explore strategies of young, active AA women that support LTPA maintenance and to identify their psychosocial and behavioral characteristics. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire-long was also administered to provide descriptors of participants’ LTPA. Ten women (age: M = 26.1, SD = 1.7 years) who met national guidelines for aerobic or muscle-strengthening LTPA at least 6 months (aerobic LTPA: M = 2,578.0, SD = 1,228.5 metabolic equivalent-minutes [MET-min]/week; muscle-strengthening physical activity: M = 4.0, SD = 1.9 days/week) completed the study. Four categories emerged from the interviews: (a) early-life contributors to LTPA participation, (b) characteristics of current LTPA, (c) initiating LTPA participation, and (d) maintaining LTPA participation. Findings revealed participants identified weightlifting as a preferred type of LTPA, identified various planning/preparation methods to overcome LTPA challenges, and relied on social media to initiate and maintain LTPA. This study identified several strategies used by young AA women to maintain regular LTPA and program preferences. These data are important in this understudied group as similar strategies may help inactive young AA women overcome LTPA challenges and promote long-term adherence. This could help prevent health and physical activity disparities in this population.

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The Effect of Detraining After a Period of Training on Menopausal Symptoms and Quality of Life

Maryam Hosseini, Maryam Koushkie Jahromi, Negar Kouroshfard, and Mohammadamin Safari

Although the effect of some types of exercise on some menopausal symptoms has been approved, the effect of exercise training and detraining, especially during long duration, on menopausal symptoms is not clear yet. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of training as well as detraining before and during the COVID-19 outbreak. Ninety postmenopausal women participated in the study voluntarily in three groups, including never-active (women who did not participate in regular exercise), formerly active (previously active women who had stopped exercise training for 1 year while participating for 1–3 years before COVID-19), and active women (women who participated in regular physical activity during and 1–3 years before COVID-19). Physical, psychological, and sexual symptoms of menopause as well as the quality of life were assessed using the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life questionnaire. Before COVID-19, menopausal symptoms were lower and quality of life was higher in active and formerly active groups compared with the never-active group. During COVID-19, menopausal symptoms in all three groups increased significantly. Most of the menopausal symptoms in active women were less than in the other two groups. In summary, exercise reduced menopausal symptoms and improved quality of life. However, these positive effects were eliminated by stopping exercise for 1 year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

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Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Toward the Menstrual Cycle and Menstruation Among Elite African Women Football Players, Coaches, Health Personnel, and Referees

Nonhlanhla S. Mkumbuzi, Senanile B. Dlamini, Andreas Serner, Katrine Okholm Kryger, Natalie Brown, Brianna Larsen, and Fidelis Chibhabha

Despite cross-cultural differences in knowledge and attitudes toward menstruation, most studies on menstruation in women’s sport have been conducted in high-income countries, such as in Europe, and none have been conducted in Africa. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of African elite women football players, and their support personnel toward the menstrual cycle and menstruation. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to all participants (n = 564) at two African women football tournaments. Ultimately, 238 women football players, 44 coaches, 18 health personnel, and 17 referees completed it. From 317 questionnaires analyzed, 17%, 27%, 56%, and 0% of players, coaches, health personnel, and referees, respectively, knew at least one menstrual cycle hormone; 91%, 95%, and 100% of players, coaches, and referees, respectively, did not know at least one menstrual cycle phase. Over 70% of health personnel believed that menstruation negatively affects women’s performance in sports compared with 36% of players; 18%, 28%, and 18% of players, health personnel, and referees, respectively, believed that, for convenience, the menstrual cycle should be changed by drugs like contraceptives; and 54%, 61%, 62%, and 40% of players, coaches, health personnel, and referees, respectively, were confident providing advice about the menstrual cycle to teammates. Minimal knowledge of the menstrual cycle has implications on the development of menstrual cycle considerate training environments and educational materials in African women’s football. Furthermore, the relatively low perceived effect of the menstrual cycle on sporting performance and belief in the use of contraceptives may be attributable to differences in community-level religiocultural and social contexts which influence menstrual experiences, and shape behavioral expectations.

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Envisioning the Expansion and Continuity of the Cross-Generational Conversation in Women’s Sport and Physical Activity

Yeomi Choi, Akilah Carter-Francique, DeAnne Davis Brooks, Judy Liao, and Katherine M. Jamieson

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Roots of Resistance: The Origins of the Black Women in Sport Foundation and the Politics of Race and Gender

Raja Malikah Rahim and Rita Liberti

Tina Sloan Green, Nikki Franke, Alpha Alexander, and Linda Greene represent an integral part of a culture of Black women in sports who created a place and space for themselves and others in opposition to the long history of racism and sexism that suffused sports in the United States and global world. As founders of the Black Women in Sport Foundation (BWSF), their activism and organizing on behalf of Black women and girls in, and beyond sport, is as varied as it is vast. While the founders have been interviewed about the BWSF numerous times throughout their respective careers, those interviews fail to capture the paths that led them to successful careers or the incorporation of the BWSF. Using oral history narratives, this paper contends that their experiences from childhood to young adulthood offer incredible insights about the origins and evolution of their critical consciousness around race and gender that emerged during their formative years. It illuminates the familial, communal, educational, and sporting legacies of BWSF founders from childhood to the mid-to-late 1970s, when their worlds collided at Temple University. Their histories underscore how they navigated and negotiated the ideologies of racism and sexism from childhood to adulthood. As young Black women who lived before the passage of Title IX, their stories depict the early struggles and successes of women and girls’ participation in sports and broader society. Individually and collectively, BWSF founders’ oral history narratives offer a great understanding of Black women in sports and society in the past and present.

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Tick-Tock Goes the Biological Clock: Challenges Facing Elite Scandinavian Mother-Athletes

Max Bergström, Stig Arve Sæther, Guro Strøm Solli, and Kerry McGawley

Challenges facing mother-athletes (MAs) have aroused research and media attention in recent years, with an increasing number of sportswomen attempting to successfully combine pregnancy and motherhood with an elite athletic career. The aims of this study were to explore how MA-specific challenges manifest in elite cross-country skiing in Scandinavia and to better understand how female athletes balance their priorities as they initiate, maintain, and/or discontinue their role as a MA. Qualitative data were collected through semistructured interviews with 13 female cross-country skiers from Norway and Sweden. Thematic analyses revealed four MA-specific challenges facing the athletes: (a) Biological clock versus peak performance, (b) Maintaining fitness versus training safely, (c) Receiving support versus facing deselection, and (d) Balancing competing MA demands. Many of the athletes felt pressured into prioritizing either motherhood or athletic excellence, particularly in their early to mid-30s when the window of opportunity for building a family was considered limited. Further, maintaining fitness and training safely during pregnancy were perceived as a challenge, as was balancing the MA role after childbirth. In many cases, athletes felt uncertain about whether they would receive support from their team or federation. Moreover, there were expectations of incompatibility surrounding the MA role. More research and educational efforts to promote MA-specific knowledge, as well as developing structured processes and providing policies to support female athletes, are identified as vital future steps. These measures may prolong athletic careers and enhance well-being for elite female athletes.

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Exploring Basic Needs, Motivation, and Retention Among Female Sport Officials

Janna K. Sunde, Robin Tharle-Oluk, Alice A. Theriault, and David J. Hancock

Sport officials in general, and female sport officials specifically, are underrepresented in the research. More work is required to better understand what attracts female sport officials to the role, along with what facilitates their retention. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between female sport officials’ motivations, basic needs, and intentions to remain as officials. Through an online survey, 186 female sport officials responded to (a) the Basic Needs Satisfaction in Sport Scale (BNSSS), (b) the Referee Retention Scale (RRS), and (c) questions assessing Reasons for Becoming Officials. Pearson correlation tests established relationships among various subscales, and regression tests were conducted to determine whether any variables predicted RRS scores. All five BNSSS subscales significantly correlated with most RRS subscales and one Reasons for Becoming Officials subscale. Further, regression analysis revealed that increased scores on the BNSSS—specifically feelings of competence, choice, volition, and relatedness—predicted intentions to remain as officials, as measured by the RRS. Since the BNSSS predicts retention, sporting organizations should implement retention strategies that focus on building competence, volition, and relatedness among female sport officials.

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Season Phase Comparison of Training and Game Volume in Female High School Volleyball Athletes

Mario Muñoz and Jennifer A. Bunn

This study evaluated the differences in training and match volume per set by season phase in female high school volleyball. Twelve athletes wore a device to measure total jumps (TJ) and high jumps (HJ), movements per minute (MPM), kinetic energy expended, and stress percent throughout the season phases: preseason, tournament, and district. In matches, athletes jumped less and had lower MPM in preseason (4.4 ± 2.3 TJ/set, 1.9 ± 0.5 MPM/set) compared with tournament (13.2 ± 8.1 TJ/set, 6.4 ± 1.7 MPM/set) and district (16.5 ± 9.9 TJ/set, 6.7 ± 1.8 MPM/set; p ≤ .001 for all) phases. District registered more HJ/set (2.6 ± 2.2 HJ/set) than preseason (0.7 ± 0.7 HJ/set, p = .007) and tournament phases (292 ± 172 J/lb/set, p < .001), and more kinetic energy expended/set (488 ± 174 J/lb/set) than preseason (201 ± 94 J/lb/set, p = .001). The highest training volume occurred during preseason with more TJ (preseason: 70.9 ± 26.0; tournament: 44.3 ± 19.3, p < .001; district: 34.7 ± 3.4, p = .004) and kinetic energy expended (preseason: 1,645 ± 547 J/lb; tournament: 980 ± 506 J/lb, p = .018; district: 1,108 ± 362, p = .016). Preseason training had higher stress percent (16.6 ± 3.0%) than tournament (19.4 ± 3.7%, p = .004) and more HJ (7.7 ± 6.3%) than district (3.1 ± 2.9%, p = .012). Match volume was unbalanced across the season phases, with preseason showing the lowest volume and district having the highest volume. This was counterbalanced with a higher training volume during the preseason compared with the other phases.