unwillingness to express emotion, lack of problem awareness and low mental health literacy are important barriers to help-seeking in elite athletes ( Gulliver, Griffiths, & Christensen, 2012a ; Wood, Harrison, & Kucharska, 2017 ). Player Welfare Although research relating to athlete mental health and welfare
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“Someone to Talk to”: Influence of Player Welfare Provision on Mental Health in Professional Rugby League Players
Susanna Kola-Palmer, Samantha Buckley, Gabrielle Kingston, Jonathan Stephen, Alison Rodriguez, Nicole Sherretts, and Kiara Lewis
Effect of the PreBind Engagement Process on Scrum Timing and Stability in the 2013–16 Six Nations
Edward J. Bradley, Bob Hogg, and David T. Archer
risk and therefore a positive outcome for player welfare at the elite level in rugby union. However, the conditioning requirements of both increased mean (44%) and total scrum contact duration (37%) must be considered in terms of player preparation. Changes in scrum contact time due to the PreBind
Tackle Your Feelings: Experience of Help-Seeking for Mental Well-Being Concerns in Professional Rugby Union Players
Deirdre Lyons, Philip Clarke, and Robert C. Dempsey
.1123/jcsp.2021-0032 Kola-Palmer , S. , Buckley , S. , Kingston , G. , Stephen , J. , Rodriguez , A. , Sherretts , N. , & Lewis , K. ( 2019 ). “Someone to talk to”: Influence of player welfare provision on mental health in professional rugby league players . Journal of Clinical Sport
Toward an Understanding of Optimal Development Environments Within Elite English Soccer Academies
Andrew Mills, Joanne Butt, Ian Maynard, and Chris Harwood
This study examined the factors perceived by successful coaches to underpin optimal development environments within elite English soccer academies. A semistructured interview guide was developed to interview 10 expert coaches about the environments they create for players at a key stage in their development. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and inductively content analyzed. The results identified a wide range of factors resulting in a conceptual framework that explained how these factors interact to underpin an optimal environment. Subcomponents of this framework included organizational core (e.g., advocate a player-driven ideology), adaptability (e.g., embrace novel ideas & approaches), player welfare (e.g., understand players’ world-view), key stakeholder relationships (e.g., build trust with parents), involvement (e.g., encourage players’ ideas/feedback), and achievement oriented (e.g., establish an explicit pathway to senior level). Collectively, the findings highlight the importance of establishing strong, dynamic, organizational cultures at elite youth soccer academies. Ways that academies might be helped to establish such environments are discussed.
Nutritional Recommendations for Water Polo
Gregory R. Cox, Iñigo Mujika, and Cees-Rein van den Hoogenband
Water polo is an aquatic team sport that requires endurance, strength, power, swimming speed, agility, tactical awareness, and specific technical skills, including ball control. Unlike other team sports, few researchers have examined the nutritional habits of water polo athletes or potential dietary strategies that improve performance in water polo match play. Water polo players are typically well muscled, taller athletes; female players display higher levels of adiposity compared with their male counterparts. Positional differences exist: Center players are heavier and have higher body fat levels compared with perimeter players. Knowledge of the physical differences that exist among water polo players offers the advantage of player identification as well as individualizing nutrition strategies to optimize desired physique goals. Individual dietary counseling is warranted to ensure dietary adequacy, and in cases of physique manipulation. Performance in games and during quality workouts is likely to improve by adopting strategies that promote high carbohydrate availability, although research specific to water polo is lacking. A planned approach incorporating strategies to facilitate muscle glycogen refueling and muscle protein synthesis should be implemented following intensified training sessions and matches, particularly when short recovery times are scheduled. Although sweat losses of water polo players are less than what is reported for land-based athletes, specific knowledge allows for appropriate planning of carbohydrate intake strategies for match play and training. Postgame strategies to manage alcohol intake should be developed with input from the senior player group to minimize the negative consequences on recovery and player welfare.
The Implementation of a National Strategy to Encourage Injury Prevention Program Uptake in a Community Female Sport in Ireland: A Camogie Case Study
Siobhán O’Connor, Wesley O’Brien, and Peter Lacey
in this stakeholder consultation phase ( n = 6). This was led by the Player Welfare Coordinator of the Camogie Association. Step 3: Development of a Workshop and Material to Guide Coaches and Players The coach education workshop and supplementary material available to coaches were specifically
Governance in Sport: Analysis and Application
Cassandra Coble
governance internationally and in various countries and continents around the world. Within this growing sector, governance and legislation is developing to address concerns outlined in the chapter, including intellectual property and publicity rights, player welfare, and competitive integrity. Governance in
The Talent Development Environment Questionnaire as a Tool to Drive Excellence in Elite Sport Environments
Andrew J.A. Hall, Leigh Jones, and Russell J.J. Martindale
timetable. These were information giving sessions, but also opportunities to reinforce the rationale and philosophy for key training and competition phases. Improved player welfare and psychological skills provision was targeted through the recruitment of an Athlete Welfare Manager (AWM). The AWM helped
“An Occupational Hazard”: Former Elite Male Professional Players’ Experiences of On-Field Violence in Australian Football (1970 to 1995)
John H. Kerr
, especially with regard to concussion injuries in Australian as well as other types of football, it was time to revisit the 1991 Vamplew report: Sports Violence in Australia: Its Extent and Control. 42 With a view to enhanced player welfare, they called for a reexamination of the report’s recommendations to
“Rocked by Racism”: A Confessional Tale From a Trainee Practitioner Following a Racism Scandal at an Elite Youth Soccer Academy
David Price, Christopher R.D. Wagstaff, and Alessandro Quartiroli
in England. In this work, I openly worked as a “trainee” but my role titles were Performance Psychologist and Player Welfare Officer. This dual role involved a blended approach to supporting both the performance and well-being of players and the wider academy system (i.e., coaches, physiotherapists
