The multi-league sports scheduling problem, or how to schedule thousands of matches

\u3cp\u3eWe consider the simultaneous scheduling of multiple sport leagues, with interdependencies arising from teams in different leagues belonging to the same club. Teams from the same club share the same venue with limited capacity. We minimize the total capacity violation in polynomial time when each league has the same, even number of teams. We introduce two generalizations: one where teams from a club have to play according to the same pattern, and one where club capacities differ throughout the season.\u3c/p\u3

Solving Challenging Real-World Scheduling Problems

This work contains a series of studies on the optimization of three real-world scheduling problems, school timetabling, sports scheduling and staff scheduling. These challenging problems are solved to customer satisfaction using the proposed PEAST algorithm. The customer satisfaction refers to the fact that implementations of the algorithm are in industry use. The PEAST algorithm is a product of long-term research and development. The first version of it was introduced in 1998. This thesis is a result of a five-year development of the algorithm. One of the most valuable characteristics of the algorithm has proven to be the ability to solve a wide range of scheduling problems. It is likely that it can be tuned to tackle also a range of other combinatorial problems. The algorithm uses features from numerous different metaheuristics which is the main reason for its success. In addition, the implementation of the algorithm is fast enough for real-world use.Siirretty Doriast

Investigating the level of interdependency between the performance(s) of direct opponent(s) in professional football: a study on teams, positional units and individual players competing in the German Bundesliga

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the levels of interdependency (simultaneity) between the performances of two direct opponents in professional football. More specifically, interdependency between performances is investigated at three different levels. Firstly, empirical analyses are conducted in order to assess the levels of interdependency between the performances of two teams in direct competition using team-game observations. Secondly, data on team formations and player starting positions within these formations is utilised in order to uniquely match individual players to a sole opponent on the field of play. Further empirical analyses are then conducted in order to investigate the levels of interdependency at this more isolated individual player level using player-game observations. Finally, an empirical investigation into the levels of interdependency between the performances of a positional unit (defence or attack) and their opposing team (as a collective) is conducted using positional unit-game observations. An exclusive and detailed data set ranging from the 2007-08 season to the 2010-11 season is utilised in order to estimate several production functions for teams, individual players and positional units competing in the German Bundesliga. The results in all empirical analyses confirm that the performance of the opponent is significant. At a team and positional unit level, no evidence is found to suggest that the performances of two direct opponents(s) are interdependent, however the results reveal that the recent past performances of the opponent(s) have a significant linear impact upon the performance of the subject. In particular, relative team form going in to a match is revealed to have a significant impact upon the performance of their opponent. At an individual player level, evidence is found to confirm that the performances of players in direct competition are interdependent thus supporting the sports economics theory of joint production. Specifically, the results reveal that the performances of defenders have a significant and negative impact upon the performances of their opposing attackers

The Origins and Development of Association Football in Nottinghamshire c.1860-1915

Home to two of the oldest football clubs in the world, Nottinghamshire was a hub of the association game. Yet it barely receives a mention in scholarly studies of football. Based predominantly on original research in the local press, this thesis offers new knowledge with regards networks, professionalism, amateurism and identity through its study of the game’s formation and development in relation to the county between 1860 and 1915. Nottinghamshire was especially involved in networks with Sheffield and the London based FA early in soccer’s history. Games continued to be played with differing rules depending on the region with Nottingham also having its own rules. This thesis demonstrates how it was mainly the FA Cup, but also other national events such as the North-South game and England-Scotland game, which were major influences in ensuring that the game played under the FA's rules became the dominant football code. This study examines how the FA Cup fuelled professionalism too as sides sought advantage over others. Nottinghamshire clubs felt justified in using professional methods because of professionalism in cricket. This aided their stance in the debates on legalizing professionalism which Nottinghamshire helped influence. Amateurism, meanwhile, remained a strong feature of the local game and Nottinghamshire’s staunch amateurs certainly played a prominent role in the Amateur Football Association during its split from the FA. Football was part of the identity of Nottingham and its county. This was expressed especially with the slightly varying FA Cup celebrations in 1894 and 1898. Civic leaders were keen to associate themselves with football early in the game’s development as it became a respected part of the county’s culture. The Notts-Forest rivalry was intriguing too: for a period it was class based; there was always an element of town versus county to it; sometimes the clubs were friends; at other times they were bitter enemies. The local press reflected and reinforced enthusiasm for the game. And when those from the area travelled, they took the game with them aiding the game’s expansion through work links or tours either primarily for the love of the game or as promoters of the sport

Corporate governance of the football industry - the stakeholder approach towards the game’s marketisation and professionalisation in China

Sports governance has been given greater consideration over the course of the last 30 years due primarily to the global trend of the increasing levels of sports commercialisation, and professionalisation. Despite this, there are varieties of sport governing models existing in different countries built against the difficult backgrounds of their own historical, cultural and economical development. The stakeholder approach has become a trend for improving not only corporate governance standards in many industries but also in sports worldwide. The application of stakeholder theory to sports governance ensures sports are developed within a necessarily transparent system and a balanced power structure. More importantly, it ensures that decisions are made based on the interest of the majority of stakeholders and for the best interest of sports. When this approach is applied to sport management, it helps a sports organisation increase commercial awareness in terms of addressing the needs of different stakeholders and thus benefits the organisation’s overall goal development and its long-term success.Alongside the rapid growth of the Chinese economy, sports development in China has also gradually attracted interest from the West. With regard to Chinese football - the most popular sport in the country, and the first sport to go the professional route under the market economy, the Chinese football market has been seen as an untapped territory with big business potential. It is not only attracting domestic investors but also global firms. This thesis explores the impact of transitional changes within China’s football modernisation process and the governance structure, by looking at the Chinese response to the football development trend of professionalisation and commercialisation. It is a novel explorative study on Chinese football, employing the framework of stakeholder theory to illustrate the transitional process. The data collected from interviews with other sources available in both Chinese and English, was qualitatively analysed and the findings provide evidence of stakeholder relationships between the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and local football associations (FAs), between the CFA and clubs, and between clubs and fans, which identify modern conflicts, occurring within the current Chinese football industry during this development phase. The discussion, based on evidence, is also able to suggest appropriate governance responses for the Chinese game at different levels in order to face challenges ahead

Sport specialisation in a Singapore secondary school: a case for legitimisation

This evaluation study of a curriculum innovation in sport specialisation was conducted in Singapore from 1994 to 1997. The longitudinal design provided scope for a comprehensive analysis of the school, the staff, the pupils and the implementation of the sports programme, known as the Sports Class. The use of qualitative as well as quantitative paradigms enabled data to be triangulated within the inquiry, which added security to the interpretation of the subjective data. Surveys, interviews and non-participant observations provided the qualitative data whilst established, validated inventories from the field produced the scientific data. A control/experimental group design was selected as a means of removing any maturational data that might have interfered with the results. The study examined the implementation of the programme as an innovation from its inception and provided formative feedback to the school from its findings through annual reports. As background research, the study considered the historical development of sport in Singapore from its colonial past through to its current status as a 'developing' nation to better understand the dominant values for sport within the culture. Elitism, gender and a pre-occupation with fitness were notions that initially directed the investigation. The study also examined the level of intrinsic motivation and assessed the task and ego profiles of the players in the programme. As well as assessing the programme outcomes against the original goals prescribed by the Principal, the study sought out unanticipated effects that made an impact on the school. The study addressed the influence this elitist initiative had on physical education from an egalitarian perspective. The study found that the programme had been successful in improving sporting as well as academic success, two of the original goals, but found that modifications made to the programme design impaired the final structure that created concerns about the future success of the initiative