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As the importance of intercultural competence increases for future professionals, kinesiology faculty should consider internationalizing their curriculum. Faculty can promote intercultural competence through a variety of experiences, including studying abroad, attending international conferences, or adding a virtual exchange component to their classes. Global engagement in the classroom allows students to examine problem solving by scholars globally and enhances soft skills and career readiness skills. Because international travel through study abroad programs poses many challenges, this paper will focus upon an alternative, virtual exchange that can be implemented in any kinesiology or related course. Faculty can implement virtual exchanges with either an international class or a nonprofit organization on a large (e.g., complete course) or small scale (e.g., collaborative project). A sample design and tips for developing a collaborative project in a kinesiology course will be discussed to provide kinesiology faculty with a framework to begin a partnership around international course collaboration.

This study examined the effect of participation in a coaching education program compared to a control group on coaches’ perceived coaching efficacy. The program consisted of two 6-hour sessions. The Coaching Efficacy Scale was used to determine the impact of the program on perceived coaching efficacy. Forty-six Michigan high school coaches and 14 coaching preparation students were recruited for the experimental (n = 36) and control groups (n = 24) for this study. The participants were asked to respond to pretest and posttest CES questionnaires that examined how confident they were in influencing the learning and performance of their athletes in four dimensions of coaching: character building, motivation, strategy, and technique. Results showed a significant effect for a coaching education program on the perceived efficacy levels of the trained coaches compared to control coaches.

Youth sport research has expanded considerably since the founding of the Michigan State University Institute for the Study of Youth Sports in 1978. This research has resulted in meaningful advancements in knowledge and proved enormously valuable in both safeguarding athlete well-being and fostering positive sport experiences. There are still knowledge gaps in the scholarly literature that have important implications for youth sport participants and programs. Hopefully, the quantity and quality of the scholarly literature on youth sport will continue to expand in response to broader societal changes and scientific advances. This paper addresses the future of youth sport scholarship, focusing on 3 selected areas of promise. The first pertains to positive youth development work, including efforts tied to fostering economic opportunity among young people. The second pertains to youth sport as a domain for addressing public health, an emerging area with respect to physical activity promotion, injury surveillance, physical well-being, and mental health. Finally, the paper addresses implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution for youth sport and how this might shape scholarship over the coming decades. Pursuing these areas of research while attending to important opportunities for and challenges to the promotion of developmentally appropriate youth sport experiences is expected to meaningfully contribute to knowledge and, ultimately, the well-being of young athletes.

Background: Growing evidence of lower physical activity (PA), higher sedentary behavior, and prevalence of overweight and obesity in African countries calls for more research on PA behavior and its various correlates in this context. This study examined the proportion of adults meeting World Health Organization PA guidelines from 3 urban regions of Botswana, as well as the relationship among sociodemographic factors, body image, and participation in moderate to vigorous PA. Methods: Using a 2-stage stratified cluster sampling approach, cross-sectional data were collected from 699 participants (females = 66%; M = 32.60 y; SD = 11.96). Results: Overall, 45.8% of participants met World Health Organization PA guidelines. Censored regression analyses indicated that females (B = −221.573, P < .001), and individuals from middle- (B = −331.913, P < .001), and high-income (B = −165.185, P = .036) households spent significantly less minutes in moderate to vigorous PA per week. Evaluative (B = −333.200, P < .001) and affective (B = −158.753, P = .038) components of body image were associated with significantly less minutes spent in moderate to vigorous PA per week. Conclusions: A systematic approach to PA promotion that targets females, middle- to high-income groups, and individuals experiencing body image concerns is needed.