The role of parents in youth sport values

Values are fundamental constructs that influence individuals’ attitudes and behaviours. Children can develop sport-related values systems from the attitudes and behaviours of their significant others. This thesis employed quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the relationships between parents’ values, motivational climate, and children’s values. In Study 1, 92 school children (mean age = 14.10 years, SD = 1.10) and their parents (mean age = 47.40 years, SD = 5.60) completed versions of the Youth Sport Values Questionnaire-2 and Parent-Initiated Motivational Climate Questionnaire-2. Strong correlations were found between children’s own and perceived parent competence, status, and moral sport values. A moderated-mediational analysis found that children’s perceptions of their parents’ values and motivational climate significantly predicted children’s own competence values (R2 = 0.52, p < 0.001), and parent’s values for their children were indirectly associated with children’s own competence values via children’s perceptions of their parents’ values, abs = 0.17-0.22, 95% CIs [0.04, 0.43]. Parents’ own values and children’s perceptions of their parents’ values significantly predicted child own status values (R2 = 0.65 & 0.63, p < 0.001), but parents’ values for their children were not associated with significant indirect effects on children’s own status values via motivational climate or children’s perceptions of their parents’ values. In Study 2, six parents (mean age = 41.00 years, SD = 7.54) participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis identified some inconsistencies between parents on the values they perceived to be important for their children compared to what has been identified by previous research as important for children in sport and some lack of awareness around how values are effectively transmitted. Other key themes that emerged from the analysis were parent own values, competition in children, social influences on child values and the behaviours of other parents. The findings from both studies emphasise how such interactions between parent and child values and motivational climate may differ depending on the value type, with a potential lack of conscious awareness from parents on how they transmit these values. Although it is important to consider the challenges and limitations associated with this type of research, the findings from both studies provide direction for future research and advance our understanding about the role of parents in shaping children’s sport values.This research was funded through a legacy fund provided posthumously by Dr Martin Lee

Detecting injury risk factors with algorithmic models in elite women’s pathway cricket

This exploratory retrospective cohort analysis aimed to explore how algorithmic models may be able to identify important risk factors that may otherwise not have been apparent. Their association with injury was then assessed with more conventional data models. Participants were players registered on the England and Wales Cricket Board women’s international development pathway (n=17) from April 2018 to August 2019 aged between 14–23 years (mean 18.2±1.9) at the start of the study period. Two supervised learning techniques (a decision tree and random forest with traditional and conditional algorithms) and generalised linear mixed effect models explored associations between risk factors and injury. The supervised learning models did not predict injury (decision tree and random forest area under the curve [AUC] of 0.66 and 0.72 for conditional algorithms) but did identify important risk factors. The best-fitting generalised linear mixed effect model for predicting injury (Akaike Information Criteria [AIC]=843.94, conditional r-squared=0.58) contained smoothed differential 7-day load (P&lt;0.001), average broad jump scores (P&lt;0.001) and 20 m speed (P&lt;0.001). Algorithmic models identified novel injury risk factors in this population, which can guide practice and future confirmatory studies can now investigate

Injuries in England and Wales Elite Men’s Domestic Cricket:A nine season review from 2010 to 2018

Objectives: This study primarily aimed to explore injury incidence rates in the three main domestic competition formats in England and Wales (First-Class, One-Day and Twenty20 [T20]). For the first time, the study also describes the epidemiology of elite men's domestic cricket injuries across nine seasons (2010–2018 inclusive). Design: Prospective cohort analysis. Methods: Injury incidence and prevalence from all injuries calculated according to the updated international consensus statement on injury surveillance in cricket, with statistical process control charts (SPC) used to detect trends in the data. Results: The average match injury incidence was 102 injuries/1000 days of play, with highest incidence in One-Day (254 injuries/1000 days of play), followed by T20 (136 injuries/1000 days of play) and First-Class Cricket (68 injuries/1000 days of play). Most match injuries were sustained during bowling (41.6 injuries/1000 days of play), followed by fielding (26.8 injuries/1000 days of play) and batting (22.3 injuries/1000 days of play). The thigh was the body area most commonly injured (7.4 injuries/100 players per season), with lumbar spine injuries the most prevalent (1.3% of players unavailable on any given day during the season). On average, 7.5% of players were unavailable on any given day during the domestic season when all injuries were considered (match and training). The SPC charts showed relatively consistent match injury incidence for all competitions, reproduced across all nine seasons. Conclusion: These findings provide a robust empirical base for the extent of the injury problem in domestic cricket played in England and Wales, with similar injury profiles across the three formats.</p

Negative association between injuries and team success in professional cricket:A 9-year prospective cohort analysis

Objectives: To examine the relationship between injuries and team success in professional cricket. Design: Prospective cohort analysis. Methods: A prospective cohort of all match time-loss injuries and County Championship point tallies for nine seasons (from 2010 to 2018 inclusive) for all 18 First-Class County Cricket (FCCC) cricket teams in England and Wales. Two injury measures of match time-loss injury incidence and burden were assessed for within-team (linear mixed model on season-to-season changes) and between-team (correlation on differences averaged over all seasons) effects. County Championship league points tally was used as the measure of team success. Results: A moderate negative correlation was found between injury burden and team performance (r = −0.36; 90% CI −0.66 to 0.05; likely negative, P = 0.15). A reduction in match injury incidence of 2 match time-loss injuries per 1000 days of play (90% CI 1.4–2.9, P = 0.10) within a team, or a reduction in match injury burden of 75 days per 1000 days of play (90% CI 50–109, P = 0.053) in any given season was associated with the smallest worthwhile change in County Championship points (+13 points) for Division 1, but not for Division 2. Conclusion: Moderate reductions in injury burden are associated with potentially worthwhile effects on performance for a domestic cricket team in the County Championship Division 1.</p

Hamstring injuries in England and Wales elite men’s domestic cricket from 2010 to 2019

Objectives: Describe hamstring injury incidence across competition formats, activity at time of injury, and time of season, facilitating the identification of injury risk factors in elite men's senior First-Class County Cricket. Design: Prospective cohort. Methods: Hamstring time loss injury incidence (between format, activity, and time of season) calculated for elite men's senior First-Class County Cricket seasons 2010 to 2019. Results: The diagnosis with the highest seasonal incidence was ‘Biceps femoris strain grade 1–2’ (2.5 injuries/100 players). Hamstring injury incidence was highest in One-Day cricket (mean 27.2 injuries/1000 team days). Running between wickets when batting was the activity associated with the highest incidence in the shorter competition formats (8.4 and 4.8 injuries/1000 team days for One-Day and T20, respectively). Bowling delivery stride or follow through was the activity with the highest incidence for longer multi-day Test format (mean 2.3 injuries/1000 team days), although similar incidence was observed across all formats for this activity. Most injuries were sustained at the start of the season (April; 22.7 injuries/1000 team days), with significantly fewer injuries at end of the season (September; 4.1 injuries/1000 team days). Conclusions: Similar bowling injury incidence across formats suggests hamstring injury risk is associated more with the activity itself, whereas injury risk when batting was susceptible to changes in match intensity. The notably higher (albeit non-significant) incidence in April may allude to a lack of preparedness to meet the physical demands of the start of the season. The findings have practical relevance for practitioners, identifying potential opportunities for preventative strategies.</p