Winning the Game: Muslim Women and Sport

Female Muslim athletes face a number of obstacles when playing sports, both at home and abroad. For example, those who wear hijabs may be banned from playing a sport in certain countries or international arenas because their headscarves are deemed unsafe by the organization’s standards. By contrast, they may be required to wear a headscarf in other countries if they wish to compete publicly. By examining case studies from a variety of sports and countries, this paper explains how female athletes have worked to overcome these obstacles and fought for equality and the right to join the game

A grounded theory of psychological resilience in Olympic champions

Objective: Although it is well-established that the ability to manage stress is a prerequisite of sporting excellence, the construct of psychological resilience has yet to be systematically examined in athletic performers. The study reported here sought to explore and explain the relationship between psychological resilience and optimal sport performance. Design and Method: Twelve Olympic champions (8 men and 4 women) from a range of sports were interviewed regarding their experiences of withstanding pressure during their sporting careers. A grounded theory approach was employed throughout the data collection and analysis, and interview transcripts were analyzed using open, axial and selective coding. Methodological rigor was established by incorporating various verification strategies into the research process, and the resultant grounded theory was also judged using the quality criteria of fit, work, relevance, and modifiability. Results and Conclusions: Results indicate that numerous psychological factors (relating to a positive personality, motivation, confidence, focus, and perceived social support) protect the world’s best athletes from the potential negative effect of stressors by influencing their challenge appraisal and meta-cognitions. These processes promote facilitative responses that precede optimal sport performance. The emergent theory provides sport psychologists, coaches and national sport organizations with an understanding of the role of resilience in athletes’ lives and the attainment of optimal sport performance

Spartan Daily, January 26, 2017

Volume 148, Issue 1https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartan_daily_2017/1000/thumbnail.jp

Perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship predict the attainment of mastery achievement goals six months later : a two-wave longitudinal study among F.A. Premier League academy soccer players

All football teams that compete within the F. A. Premier League possess an academy, whose objective is to produce more and better home-grown players that are capable of playing professionally. These young players spend a large amount of time with their coach, but little is known about player’s perception of the coach-athlete relationship within F.A. Premier League Academies. The objectives of this study were to examine whether perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship changed over six months and if the coach-athlete relationship predicted self-reported goal achievement among F. A. Premier League academy players. This study included cross-sectional (n = 104) and longitudinal (n = 52) assessments, in which academy soccer players completed a measure of the coach-athlete relationship and goal achievement across either one or two time periods. The cross-sectional data were subjected to bivariate correlations, whereas the longitudinal data were analyzed using multiple regressions. Perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship remained stable over time. The coach-athlete relationship predicted the achievement of mastery goals six months later. Enhancing the quality of the coach-athlete relationship among elite adolescent athletes appears to be a suitable way of maximizing mastery achievement goals, particularly among developmental athletes who participate in team sports