Age Identity, Social Influence and Socialization through Physical Activity in Elderly People Living in a Nursing Home

Elderly people perceive their own ageing in very different ways and the aim of the present study was to explore age identity, the perception of »old age«, the role of physical activity in the socialization of elderly people and social influences on physical activity in elderly people living in a nursing home. Questionnaires were answered by 75 nursing home residents (79±8 years old; 19 males, 56 females), coming from two different Slovenian regions. Subjective age (»felt age«) was on average 5.5 years less than chronological age. Neither increasing chronological age nor subjective age was significantly correlated with a negative perception of health. Subjective age was neither correlated with any of the statements related to well-being and satisfaction with life. The importance of health in old age was confirmed by significant correlation of health status with perception of one’s well-being and satisfaction with life. Interestingly, the age at which one perceives a person as having become old was not significantly related to one’s own age. Nursing home residents in general associate old age with physical impairment and poor health. Slight differences between genders were noted; men grade retirement and communication difficulties with younger people as more prominent in old age. Interaction with other residents seems to be an important component of physical activity, as participants grade the importance of socializing during exercise quite highly; no significant differences between regions nor between men and women were noted. The social influence on physical activity did not differ significantly between genders and observed regions; the presence of negative social influence was relatively low. Furthermore, in the third period of life, physical activity plays an important socialization role and is, at the same time, influenced by the beliefs and ideas of the environment

Runners as Sport Tourists: The Experience and Travel Behaviours of Ljubljana Marathon Participants

The study analysed the experiences of participants on mass sport events, and explained the influence of such sport events on the lifestyle of runners. The study sample consisted of 664 participants of the 15th Ljubljana Marathon. The TRPS questionnaire was adjusted to establish the tourist roles. The role of sport tourists was assumed by 29.8 % of all participants. Sport tourists who take various trips mainly for sport purposes (66.7 %) participate more often in mass sport events at home and abroad and are more physically active in their leisure time. Moreover, 13 in-depth interviews were conducted with selected marathon participants. It was established that different travel behaviour and experiences from earlier sport events have influenced on their lifestyles

Neuravnoteženost u komentatorskim diskursima tijekom televizijskog prijenosa košarkaške utakmice

Sports reporters have journalistic duties and as a rule they should thus be objective. However, they often fail to comply with reporting standards and they become subjective. Such subjectivity can influence the spectator’s perception of events. In this pilot study, we analysed recorded broadcasts of a top-level basketball match aired by the national television broadcasters from the participating teams’ countries. We ascertained that half of all the remarks made by both commentators were facts. Approximately every fourth remark expressed an opinion, while every fifth remark was related to statistical data. Half of the commentators’ remarks related to the team perceived to be ours, 30% of the remarks related to the other team, 10% of the remarks related to the game time and score, while 10% of the remarks involved other comments. The commentators’ discourse was obviously imbalanced. During international competitions commentators evidently favour teams from their own country. Sports commentators thus hardly comply with journalistic standards. This, however, does not confirm the subjectivity of the commentators. Further research is needed to clarify this field and topics for future research are proposed.Uvod Ne postoji jedinstvena definicija novinarstva. Svako od nekoliko teorijskih i praktičnih shvaćanja novinarstva naglašava različite aspekte ovog posla. Ipak, teoretičari se uglavnom slažu da bi novinari trebali objektivno (nepristrano) i cjelovito informirati javnost. Kao medijski sadržaj, sport je omogućio razvoj posebnih medija. Specijalizirane novine i televizijski prijenosi poznati su u svijetu. Privlačnost sportskih događaja za medijsku publiku najbolje se može potvrditi ogromnom gledanošću televizijskih prijenosa vrhunskih sportskih natjecanja kao što su olimpijske igre ili svjetska nogometna prvenstva. Sportski prijenosi popraćeni su komentarima sportskih novinara ili reportera. Tijekom utakmice oni opisuju i u određenom opsegu komentiraju događaje (iznose mišljenja o njima). Stručni komentatori često se priključuju reporterima. Sportski reporteri su novinari i imaju novinarske zadaće, stoga bi u skladu s pravilima novinarstva njihovi komentari trebali biti objektivni. Pa ipak, oni često ne uspijevaju zadržati reporterski standard i postaju subjektivni. Publika prihvaća takve otklone kao neizbježne pojave, ali navedena subjektivna neravnoteža u komentarima može utjecati na gledateljevu percepciju događaja. U ekipnim sportovima sudjeluju dvije ekipe. Ako pretpostavimo da je komentator objektivan i nepristran, možemo očekivati da će obje ekipe spomenuti otprilike jednaki broj puta. Da bismo ispitali ovu pretpostavku, snimili smo prijenose jedne košarkaške utakmice koju su prenosile dvije televizijske kuće i usporedili komentare oba sportska komentatora, odnosno raspodjelu određenih izjava komentatora tijekom njihovih prijenosa. Metode U ovoj pilot studiji, analizirali smo snimljeni prijenos vrhunske (Euroliga) košarkaške utakmice između momčadi Union Olimpija iz Ljubljane, Slovenija, i Cibona iz Zagreba, Hrvatska. Utakmicu su prenosile dvije nacionalne javne televizije: slovenska TV Slovenija (TVS) i hrvatska Hrvatska televizija (HTV). Utakmica je odigrana u Zagrebu 26. listopada 2006. Obje televizijske kuće imale su reportere koji su izvještavali s mjesta događaja, dok je hrvatska televizija u prijenosu dodatno imala i stručnog analitičara. Kvantitativna analiza prijenosa uključila je broj spominjanja svake ekipe i igrača svake ekipe, sudaca, rezultata utakmice, vremena igre i broj spominjanja ostalih informacija. Kvalitativna analiza sastojala se od klasifikacije svake pojedinačne informacije kao činjenice, opisa akcije, mišljenja ili statističkog podatka. Zabilježene pojedinačne informacije bile su dalje podijeljene s obzirom na faze utakmice u kojima su izrečene. Utvrđena je nadalje i frekvencija izricanja svakog iskaza ili diskursa za oba komentatora. Rezultati, diskusija i zaključak Otprilike polovina svih izjava obojice komentatora bile su činjenice. Otprilike svaka četvrta izjava označavala je mišljenje, dok je svaka peta izjava bila povezana sa statističkim podacima. Slovenski je komentator izgovorio više pojedinačnih informacija od obojice komentatora na hrvatskoj televiziji. Razlog tome je prigodni razgovor između dvojice hrvatskih komentatora: tijekom takvih dijaloga stručni analitičar često je temeljitije objašnjavao konkretne informacije. Slovenski komentator bio je fokusiran na opisivanje događaja te je bio manje analitičan. Od napomena stručnog analitičara 25% bile su činjenice, a 67% njegovih primjedaba bile su subjektivni komentari. Iznio je značajno manje pojedinačnih informacija u odnosu na komentatora, ali je bio relativno razgovorljiviji tijekom stanki. Oba komentatora bila su sklona navijačkom informiranju u kojemu su preferirali ekipu iz svoje države te je zbog toga približno polovina komentatorskih napomena bila usmjerena na ekipu koju komentator doživljava kao svoju. Ova brojka bila je čak i viša za hrvatskog stručnog komentatora i dosegnula je razinu od 65% njegovih napomena. Nadalje, 30% komentatorskih primjedaba odnosilo se na suparničku ekipu; 10% izjava odnosilo se na rezultat utakmice i vrijeme utakmice, dok je 10% bilo povezano s nekim drugim sadržajima. Oba novinara orijentirala su svoju publiku prema uobičajenom načinu komuniciranja povremenim spominjanjem naše košarkaške ekipe nazivajući drugu ekipu protivnicima. Protivnici, pak ni u jednom trenutku nisu spomenuti kao oni ili njima. To potvrđuje neravnotežu komentatorskog diskursa, ali ne i njegovu subjektivnost, budući da događaj može biti (objektivno) opisan na razne načine, ovisno o gledištu komentatora. Na taj način tekst može poprimiti različite konotacije. U praksi, sportski komentatori rijetko ispunjavaju novinarsko pravilo o točnosti informacija, odnosno vrlo rijetko prate mit o objektivnosti. To ipak ne znači da je njihov način izvještavanja nužno pristran budući da je činjenicu moguće opisati iz različitih perspektiva. Kako bilo da bilo, takva komentatorska neravnoteža definitivno stvara jedinstven stilski efekt koji može rezultirati navijanjem za ekipu koja se percipira kao naša. Zaključci ove pilot studije nisu konačni. Oni, doduše, otvaraju nekoliko pitanja koja se odnose na vrlo popularno, ali ne često istraživano područje o učincima televizijski praćenih sportova. Potrebna su daljnja istraživanja na navedenom području, stoga je u članku predloženo nekoliko tema za iduća istraživanja

Ekstremni sportovi u percepciji slovenske sportske javnosti

The purpose of the research was to determine the perspectives of the sport-oriented people regarding the participation of a continuously increasing number of athletes in extreme sports. At the forefront, there is the recognition of the reasons why people actively participate in extreme sports. We were also interested in the popularity of individual sports and in people‘s attitudes regarding the dangers and demands of these types of sports. The research was based on a statistical sample of 1,478 sport-oriented people in Slovenia, who completed an online questionnaire. The results showed that people were very familiar with individual extreme sports, especially the ultra-endurance types of sports. The people who participated in the survey stated that the most dangerous types of sports were: extreme skiing, downhill mountain biking and mountaineering, whilst the most demanding were: Ironman, ultracycling, and ultrarunning. The results have shown a wider popularity of extreme sports amongst men and (particularly among the people participating in the survey) those who themselves prefer to do these types of sports the most. Regarding the younger people involved in the survey, they typically preferred the more dangerous sports as well, whilst the older ones liked the demanding sports more. People consider that the key reasons for the extreme athletes to participate in extreme sports were entertainment, relaxation and the attractiveness of these types of sports.Cilj je ovoga istraživanja bio utvrditi kakva su stajališta prema sportu usmjerene javnosti o pojavi sve većega broja sportaša koji se počinju baviti ekstremnim sportovima. U središtu pozornosti bilo je prepoznavanje motiva i razloga za bavljenje ekstremnim sportovima. Zanimala nas je i popularnost individualnih sportova te mišljenje ljudi o opasnostima koje nose te o težini i zahtjevnosti tih sportova. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 1478 sportski orijentiranih državljana Republike Slovenije koji su dobrovoljno ispunili internetski upitnik. Rezultati su pokazali da su ispitanici vrlo dobro upoznati s individualnim ekstremnim sportovima, osobito sa sportovima ultra-izdržljivosti. Ispitanici su među najopasnije sportove uvrstili: ekstremno skijanje, spust brdskim biciklima te alpinizam, dok su najnapornijim sportovima smatrali: ironman, ultra biciklizam i ultra trčanje. Rezultati su pokazali da su ekstremni sportovi populariniji u muškaraca (osobito onih koji su sudjelovali u istraživanju) te u onih koji se i sami najviše vole baviti ekstremnim sportovima. Mlađi ispitanici bili su skloniji opasnijim sportovima, dok je u starijih ispitanika prevladavala sklonost prema zahtjevnijim sportovima. Također je utvrđeno da ispitanici smatraju kako su ključni razlozi zbog kojih se ekstremni sportaši bave ekstremnim sportovima zabava, opuštanje te atraktivnost ekstremnih sportova

ATTITUDE TOWARDS CONFLICT SITUATIONS IN A TEAM AMONG HANDBALL COACHES

The aim of the study was to ascertain the attitude of handball coaches towards conflict situations with regard to selected socio-demographic characteristics. The sample consisted of 58 Slovenian handball coaches working in youth teams. Many differences were discovered between groups of participants. Female coaches held a higher degree of education compared to their male colleagues, and more of them were single (all younger than 31 years). More than half of all participants are involved in an emotional relationship and have children of their own. Generally speaking, coaches have a relatively neutral attitude towards conflicts; they admit their presence, but do not always act as to prevent them from happening. They do not immediately exclude a conflictive player from the team, but try to influence her/him. A conflict with the players or the team management does not divert them from their activity. Female coaches are “more tolerant” of conflicts in their team and seldom intervene between players. Older coaches tend to choose extreme statements. They admit the presence of conflicts, but do not seek reasons for them, often leaving the players to settle the conflict by themselves. Coaches involved in an emotional relationship are slightly more “tolerant” of conflicts. Less experienced coaches perceive conflicts as “less useful” compared to more experienced coaches, while professional coaches agree to a greater extent that conflicts must always be solved. Higher educated coaches tend to notice more conflicts, which probably comes as a consequence of their greater self-criticality. They more frequently see positive sides of conflicts and try to discover the causes for conflict arise

Some views of elite athletes on cooperation with the media and the media's influence on sports and private lives

<strong>BACKGROUND</strong>: Today, sport represents an element of the quality of life as it is often an indicator of a country's civilisational, societal and economic development. The public is mostly interested in elite sport which has effects for both society as well the lives of individuals as the public is not only interested in sports achievements but also in athlete's private lives. The border between the public and private is difficult to establish. The interlinked work of elite athletes and the media often results in misunderstandings as the media intrudes on the private lives of athletes, which in turn impacts both the private and professional lives of athletes. <strong>OBJECTIVE</strong>: The study's main purpose was to identify the attitude of elite athletes to the media and the influence of the media on the private and professional lives of athletes. The study also evaluated the qualities of an ideal journalist in the eyes of athletes. <strong>METHODS</strong>: Differences between more and less experienced elite athletes were studied on a sample of 67 Slovenian athletes from team sports. The data were collected through a questionnaire. The findings were further interpreted in line with the opinions of ten leading athletes from individual sports, which were collected through a semi-structured interview. <strong>RESULTS</strong>: Differences between groups of more and less experienced athletes were detected in answers to the question, "When do athletes decide to cooperate with the media?" and "Have you already been offended by the media?". Elite athletes like to cooperate with the media and usually give information away freely. Similarly, journalists largely understand that athletes desire peace and quiet prior to a competition. Athletes perceive precision and verification of information as the most important qualities of journalists, while they consider some personal qualities and materialistic characteristics as less important. <strong>CONCLUSIONS</strong>: The study's results show that in the future athletes would like journalists to write articles that offend them less, regardless of whether the published information is about their sports achievements or private lives

Differences in travel behaviors of small and large cycling events participants

Tourism has been and will continue to be one of the biggest and most profitable industries in the world. Sport is obviously a very important aspect of society in many different ways: culturally, economically and socially. Like in the past, local authorities continue to regard all sporting events as a way of promoting and positioning their destination. Participation in sport events relates to tourism because it also involves travelling to host destinations. Therefore, the aim of our study is to compare participation in small and large sport-for-all events in relation to tourism in Slovenia. We analysed the factors determining differences in the travel behaviours of sport event participants and certain aspects of participation (travel behaviour, frequency of sport event participation, reasons for participation) at the largest cycling event in Slovenia (the Franja cycling marathon) and two smaller cycling events (the “Three hearts Radenci” recreational cycling marathon and the “Around the region of Prlekija” recreational cycling marathon). The study analysed the active participants of different cycling sport events. The sample of respondents consisted of 382 participants. We found that over the third of the participants take on the role of a sport tourist in their travels. They are also very sport-active in their leisure time. The majority of them are engaged in sport activities more than three times a week. The results indicate differences in travel behaviour and sport-active lifestyles among the participants of different types of small and larger sport events

HANDBALL AS FORM OF RECREATION

The objective of the paper was to research the field of veteran handball. With a survey, which involved a questionnaire, we wanted to collect the data by which we could understand who the people that practice handball as recreation are and which are the main motives for choosing this form of recreation. Furthermore, we wanted to find out how succesfull the former handball players, undertaking handball recreational activities, were in their sports career as well as why and when they ended it up. At last, we wanted to figure out the ways of financing veteran handball and how often do the recreationists undertake their activities. The sample consisted of 144 recreational handball players, 83 Slovene and 61 Croatian. The data was collected with a survey based on a questionnaire and was analysed using the SPSS programme (Statistical Package for The Social Sciences). We found out that the handball recreational activities are mostly undertaken by former handball players who didn't achieve significant results during their active sports career. The recreational handball players mainly participate at the tournaments to meet people and have fun. It was also found out that the recreationists don't undertake their activities very often and that the costs arising from such activity are mostly covered by themselves

DIFFERENCES IN TRAVEL BEHAVIORS OF SMALL AND LARGE CYCLING EVENTS PARTICIPANTS

Tourism has been and will continue to be one of the biggest and most profitable industries in the world. Sport is obviously a very important aspect of society in many different ways: culturally, economically and socially. Like in the past, local authorities continue to regard all sporting events as a way of promoting and positioning their destination. Participation in sport events relates to tourism because it also involves travelling to host destinations. Therefore, the aim of our study is to compare participation in small and large sport-for-all events in relation to tourism in Slovenia. We analysed the factors determining differences in the travel behaviours of sport event participants and certain aspects of participation (travel behaviour, frequency of sport event participation, reasons for participation) at the largest cycling event in Slovenia (the Franja cycling marathon) and two smaller cycling events (the “Three hearts Radenci” recreational cycling marathon and the “Around the region of Prlekija” recreational cycling marathon). The study analysed the active participants of different cycling sport events. The sample of respondents consisted of 382 participants. We found that over the third of the participants take on the role of a sport tourist in their travels. They are also very sport-active in their leisure time. The majority of them are engaged in sport activities more than three times a week. The results indicate differences in travel behaviour and sport-active lifestyles among the participants of different types of small and larger sport events