Developmental Activities of Ontario Hockey League Players

Theoretical frameworks such as the Developmental Model for Sport Participation encourage multi-sport participation at a young age, and many practitioners warn that early sport specialization may be associated with several negative physical and psychosocial consequences. Despite this advice, the lure of extrinsic rewards has caused children to specialize in one sport at the expense of other activities at an alarming rate. The purpose of this study was to understand the developmental histories of current and former Ontario Hockey League players. Fifteen participants, completed quantitative retrospective interviews, detailing their past sport and recreational activities. The accumulated hours of deliberate practice reported by participants increased throughout the ages of 6 to 16, as did the number of hours competing in organized hockey games. The reported number of deliberate play hours peaked at 9 years of age and decreased thereafter. Additionally, participants played a combined 16 sports other than hockey, and accumulated the most hours in these sports at 12 years old. Using a three-point scale, participants were considered ‘highly-specialized’ at 14 years old, however quantitative indicators suggest that this may have occurred at the age of 12 years old. Relative to previous research, participants of the current study appear to spend more time practicing hockey, while ceasing hockey-specific play and other sports at a younger age. Furthermore, despite a diverse sport history, participants initiated hockey competition prior to the age suggested by Hockey Canada, and show high levels of commitment to hockey as young as 9 years old

Counseling Perpetrators of Violence: Applying the Invitational Approach to Male Professional Ice Hockey Players

Aggression and violence are common characteristics of professional ice hockey games. While hockey players are encouraged to be aggressive on-ice, these behaviors are not welcomed off the ice. Instances of athlete aggression occurring outside the context of professional sporting events have been documented, particularly within interpersonal relationships. In order to address this issue, the process of counseling professional male ice hockey players must be considered. The invitational approach, as outlined by Alan Jenkins, can be used to take into account the contradictions of violence and aggression in professional sporting contexts. Rather than label perpetrators of abuse with psychological shortcomings, invitational practice brings forth the politics of power relations within institutional settings. Narratives from former ice hockey players will be examined and the invitational approach will be applied from a counseling perspective. The institution of the National Hockey League (NHL) will be deconstructed in terms of power relations and practices. Four themes will be examined: fame/approval, masculinity, gender relations, and alcohol consumption. The goals of restorative practice allow for the cessation of violence and abuse, restitution for harm done, and help reclaim a sense of integrity for the perpetrator

Measuring The Implementation Fidelty Of Usa Hockey’s American Development Model

Critics of youth sports in the United States have lamented a system that creates issues of access and could be detrimental to the physical and mental health of its young participants. In response to these concerns, USA Hockey, using Long Term Athlete Development Theory (LTAD) as a key theoretical framework, created the American Development Model (ADM) to improve the delivery of youth hockey in the US. While USA Hockey has invested greatly in bringing ADM to scale across its constituents, it is not known to what extent the model is being implemented in its member organizations. Implementation fidelity of a prescribed treatment or curriculum is tied to better outcomes. This study leverages key concepts of program evaluation theory and survey development to produce a valid and reliable survey instrument that can be used to assess the implementation fidelity of ADM at the 12U age group across the nation. A survey instrument was developed through three waves of development. The first wave included local pilot testing and cognitive interviews. The second wave including a regional sample and utilized factor analysis coupled with item analysis to improve the instrument and to create composite scores of key constructs. The third and final wave included a national sample of 214 parents of 12U hockey players. The results of the survey produce psychometric properties indicating good reliability and validity of the instrument including face and content validity, internal reliability, and factor analysis. Analysis of composite scores for each construct of the model identified strong implementation of much of the on-ice components but was lacking in other areas such as physical development and mental skill development. The final ADM scale demonstrated statistically significant positive associations with two subscales of the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire, further validating the study and demonstrating an important association with the delivery model to key outcomes. The study concludes with a discussion of ADM’s implementation fidelity and policy recommendations regarding how the ADM curriculum may be improved given key findings

“IT’S A BIG ADJUSTMENT COMING FROM THE RESERVE TO LIVING IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT SOCIETY”: EXPLORING THE WELL-BEING OF FIRST NATIONS ATHLETES PLAYING SPORT IN AN URBAN MAINSTREAM CONTEXT

Indigenous athletes who are interested in pursuing sport at elite levels and seeking broader opportunities in Canada often relocate from their home communities to urban “mainstream” centres. Their reasons for relocating may include seeking elite facilities and coaching expertise as well as accessing more competitive sport environments. Adjusting to a mainstream context may involve navigating challenges such as racism and discrimination, isolation from family, friends, and community, and a dismissed cultural identity. The purpose of this study was to explore the psychological well-being and multicultural adjustment experiences of Indigenous athletes who relocated to pursue sport in mainstream context. The experiences of two Indigenous female athletes who relocated from a rural First Nations community to pursue hockey in an urban centre were explored using a qualitative case study. Grounded in an Indigenous research framework, culturally relevant methods of conversational group interviews and photovoice reflections were adopted to hear stories from six participants: the two athletes, the athletes’ parents, and the athletes’ billets. A mixed method approach was used to analyze the data which included thematic analysis, presenting story, and present self-in-relations. Five main categories were created to explain how the athletes adjusted and strove to flourish in their new environment including: (1) Having an interconnected web of support; (2) Managing emotional challenges; (3) Being comfortable in the new environment; (4) Progressing while dealing with setbacks; and, (5) Maintaining a cultural connection to their home community. These findings suggest that Indigenous athletes who relocate from their home communities require a robust support network and nurturing environment to flourish in an urban mainstream context. Further collaborative research is needed to develop and implement initiatives that would facilitate the factors identified as critical to the well-being of Indigenous athletes when they relocate

Maine, Volume 81, Number 1, Spring 2000

A special 125th Anniversary Issue providing profiles of Alumni On the Move, Making an Impact. Those selected were: A. Manette Ansay \u2787 --- Don Holder \u2780 --- Christina DeHoff \u2795 --- Frank Hackett \u2789 --- Kimberly Strom-Gottfried \u2780 --- Heather Blease \u2786 --- Blair LaCorte \u2785 --- John Coleman \u2785 --- Andrew Frawley \u2784 --- Kevin Mann \u2786 --- John Brier \u2788 --- Matthew Kenney \u2788 --- Peter Brooks \u2788 --- Jeff Jackson \u2788 --- Nicole Kimball \u2794 --- Kate Wynne \u2781G --- Linden McClure \u2789 --- Richard Londraville \u2789G --- John Baldacci \u2786 --- Robert Tyrer \u2787 --- Kathleen Stevens \u2793 --- Paul Kariya \u2796 --- Jim Boylen \u2787 --- Rick Carlisle \u2783 --- and David Nonis \u2788.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/alumni_magazines/1395/thumbnail.jp

The Relations between Newcomer Integration Processes and Youth Athletes’ Perceptions of the Group Environment in Competitive Ice Hockey

Abstract The ways in which new members are integrated into a particular group environment—also known as organizational socialization processes—have been shown to be a powerful predictor of newcomer adjustment in the workplace. Yet, there is a scarcity of research on how sport teams manage the integration of new team members, and the consequences of different tactics. The current research uses the recently developed Sport Team Socialization Tactics Questionnaire (STSTQ) to evaluate how socialization processes are systematically related to youth athletes’ perceptions of their group environment. Across two time points, 202 competitive adolescent ice hockey players (Mage = 14.47, SD = 1.23, 26.24% female) completed the STSTQ processes near the beginning of the season, and then measures of group conflict, social identity, and cohesion later in the season. As hypothesized, coach-initiated role communication tactics positively predicted task cohesion (p p Keywords: newcomer integration; socialization; cohesion; social identity; relationship conflict; group dynamics; sport psycholog

2006 Scholar\u27s Day Program

Scholars\u27 Day was established in 1997 and is a day-long conference devoted to showcasing the wide array of scholarship, research and creative activities occurring on campus. In 2012, a new emphasis on student research lead to a name change to Transformations: A Student Research and Creativity Conference. This event focuses on student research, which is defined as an original investigation or creative activity through the primary efforts of a student or group of students. The work should show problem-solving skills and demonstrate new conceptual outcomes.https://digitalcommons.cortland.edu/transformationsprograms/1016/thumbnail.jp

Head’s Up! Examining the Relationship between Field of View and Head Position in Ice Hockey Players

Ice hockey is a dynamic, fast-paced game where players need to be aware of multiple factors, devoting appropriate attention to varying salient aspects to enhance performance. The term “keep your head up” is ubiquitous encouragement because if players do not, their visual field (what they can see) is compromised, performance (what they can do) decreases, and likelihood of injury increases. Head-down behaviour is problematic and is observed at all skill levels. Head position (HP) behaviour has not been quantified objectively in any sport. Through collaboration with an NHL player development coach, their practice-based knowledge and tacit experience informed the direction of the research objectives. The overall question of this dissertation was “How does head position effect game vision and skill demonstration in ice hockey players?” Objective one utilized a 3-week coaching intervention that incorporated helmet-mounted player point of view (PPOV) video and specialized training drills to provide post-practice feedback regarding HP and vision (n=18). It was hypothesized that these training sessions combined with video feedback would alter head position behaviours (Chapter 2). Results revealed this approach did not refine behaviour. Objective two simultaneously quantified multiple players’ HPs during small ­area games (SAG). The HP were measured in 2-on-2, and 3-on-3 SAGs (commonly used in practice). Players’ HPs (n=25) were measured with accelerometry during each on-ice shift and categorized further into HP during stickhandling or skating during offensive and defensive play (Chapter 3). The range of HP were portrayed as frequency distributions indicating player HP behaviours changed with respect to the number of players involved and the skills exhibited. Objective three quantified how players’ on-ice field of view (FOV) changed as HP decreased from the horizon, both with and without a half visor (Chapter 4). The results illustrated that head down positions severely impact FOV and it becomes dominated by immediate ice area, reducing game visibility regardless of eye movements. This dissertation, the approaches, and the results, suggests how closer collaboration of coach and performance scientist afford better blending of practice-based knowledge derived from experience with evidence-based knowledge derived from research for coaches to enhance team performance