Richard Bailey

Children's First Experience of Taking Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids can Occur before Their 10th Birthday: A Systematic Review Identifying 9 Factors That Predicted Doping among Young People

Taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) can cause serious and irreversible health consequences, which can ultimately lead to premature death. Some young people may take PEDs without fully understanding the ramifications of their actions or based on the advice from others. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the main factors that predicted doping among young people. The literature was systematically reviewed using search engines, manually searching specialist journals, and pearl growing. Fifty-two studies, which included 187,288 young people aged between 10 and 21 years of age, 883 parents of adolescent athletes, and 11 adult coaches, who were interviewed regarding young athletes, were included in this review. Nine factors predicted doping among young people: gender; age; sports participation; sport type; psychological variables; entourage; ethnicity; nutritional supplements; and health harming behaviors. In regards to psychological variables, 22 different constructs were associated with doping among young people. Some psychological constructs were negatively associated with doping (e.g., self-esteem, resisting social pressure, and perfectionist strivings), whereas other were positively associated with doping (e.g., suicide risk, anticipated regret, and aggression). Policy makers and National Anti-Doping Organizations could use these findings to help identify athletes who are more at risk of doping and then expose these individuals to anti-doping education. Based on the current findings, it also appears that education programs should commence at the onset of adolescence or even late childhood, due to the young age in which some individuals start doping.

Sport policy and English primary physical education: the role of professional football clubs in outsourcing

Abstract Sports policy in England has led to considerable recent investment in Primary Physical Education (PE) via the ‘PE and Sport Premium’. An outcome of this has been growth in the outsourcing – handing over control of services to external agencies – of PE, including sport coaches from professional football clubs’ community programmes. Despite the growing research on healthy stadia, we know very little about the work performed by community arms of professional clubs in relation to delivering Primary PE. This article discusses the challenges of outsourcing PE to coaches who work for professional football clubs, while offering some evidence related to the employment and development of sports coaches. Given that the evidence of sport coaches’ involvement in Primary PE is limited and that funding and outsourcing it likely to continue England until (at least) 2020, it is important and timely to discuss critically the role of professional football clubs within the current sport policy.

Sport, physical activity and educational achievement – towards an explanatory model

Abstract Sport and other forms of physical activities have traditionally held an ambiguous place within schooling, often being pushed to the margins. At the same time, there is a consensus that such activities are necessary for the healthy development of young people. This was proven during the second half of the last century, representing a revolution in the understanding of health. Recent developments in neurology, psychology and related sciences hint at a second revolution in which a strict distinction between mind and body has become redundant. This article examines the case that sport and physical activity can make distinctive contributions to educational achievement, and a host of wider benefits. Focusing on cognitive functioning, psychosocial development, school engagement and general educational attainment, the article reviews the available evidence and concludes that there is sufficient reason to believe that sports and physical activity can make useful contributions to educational achievement.

The pursuit of lifelong participation: the role of professional football clubs in the delivery of physical education and school sport in England

Physical Education and School Sport (PESS) offers a key vehicle to support the development of lifelong participation in children and young people. At a time of government cuts and the emergence of external providers, including professional football clubs, it is pertinent to explore current practice. This research set out to explore the delivery, and partnerships involved within the School Sports Premium, particularly the relationship between the community arms and registered charities of professional football clubs and schools to deliver PESS. Semi-structured interviews with community managers from football community programmes and head teachers revealed two key themes; partnership working and the role of the community coach. Findings suggest the need to develop the scope of the partnership and to build methods of evaluation to understand the impact of the coaches’ practice in schools. Further evaluation of the partnerships between professional football clubs and schools would bring an increased understanding of the effectiveness and impact of the partnerships, in order to improve practice and the subsequent effectiveness of PESS, in terms of its contribution towards lifelong participation for children and young people.

The effects of physical activity on children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a review

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorder among children. Despite the noted positive aspects of the disorder, it is often associated with a range of negative outcomes for that are detrimental to childrens education and wider well-being. This comprehensive scoping review examined empirical literature from seven academic journal databases and specialist journals, published over 10 years, in relation to the benefits of sport/physical activity upon the effects of ADHD. The databases and time frame were chosen to give the ‘ideal [scenario] … that could answer the review question’, within the limitations of journal database access and resource available; searches of grey literature were also conducted. Ten articles were included in the final review. Due to the variation of methodological approach, sample size, and, most importantly, the form of physical activity measured, it is difficult to identify the ‘best’ form of physical activity to mediate symptoms of ADHD. However, it can be plausibly claimed that physical activity interventions may provide an alternative, non-pharmaceutical approach to management of ADHD in children.

Football and physical health: what do we know?

AbstractOur current understanding is that football is a popular intervention option and can offer valuable health improvement programme success. This includes interventions delivered by professional football clubs and their respective in the community programmes, as well as other sports clubs organizing recreational football and Football Fitness, which is small-sided football training rather than competitive 11v11 matches. This article seeks to communicate an understanding of the role of football in physical health improvement using research, grey literature and policy documentation undertaken predominantly across the UK and Europe. The core themes that emerge from the review include the following health conditions and behaviours: overweight and obese, cardiovascular disease and lifestyle-related diseases; and the following target groups: children and young people, men, women and older adults, including Black, minority and ethnic groups. The evidence supports the health effects of football for these condi...

Talent identification in English junior-elite football - an academic perspective

Talent identification and talent development are ubiquitous features of contemporary sport. Identifying, recruiting, developing, supporting and managing talent are fundamental activities of clubs, as well as the wider sports system, and the rewards for dealing with them successfully can be considerable. In some ways, talent represents the “Holy Grail” of sport: it is evasive, often mistaken, and easily lost. Despite its importance to modern sport, talent is much less well understood than is often assumed. There have been decades of empirical research, of course, but this has often been over-generalized and under-theorized. In addition, studies of talent identification and development in sport have, until relatively recently, presumed simplistic constructs of talent, ignoring insights from cognate fields like cognitive and developmental psychology, behavioural genetics and philosophy. And even as theoretical and empirical work in this area has advanced and become progressively more sophisticated and nuanced, it has rarely trickled down to the day-to-day practices of clubs and coaches. This is why, I think, we still hear talk of “spot them young and drive them through the system” (alarmingly, a comment from a government adviser for sport), and cohorts of young players are divided into “the talented” and the rest, who are then rejected and expelled from the system. One of the many virtues of this collection of articles is that makes clear the inherent complexity of any talent identification process. Matthew Reeves and his colleagues have managed to retain a sense of caution and humility when examining this much-misunderstood phenomenon, and a variety of methods utilized in these papers reflects a proper recognition that they are pursuing something multifaceted and multidimensional. This is as it should be. Talent identification is not just a technical problem, it is also a moral problem: judgements made about typically very young players can affect the rest of their lives. You may remember the film “Minority Report”, in which the hero, played by the actor Tom Cruise, is charged with arresting people for crimes they are predicted to commit in the future. This is harmless Hollywood fluff, of course, because it is impossible to predict how events will turn out in the future. Except this is not fantasy, as the ability to predict the future is a foundational belief of almost all talent programmes. And if you do believe that you have discovered a method for telling the future, please get in touch as I have some life insurance to sell you! Talent is an emerging set of attributes, and clues about its identification and manifestation need to be balanced by an acknowledgement of its inherent complexity and unpredictability. This essential tension between our growing knowledge and the open future makes talent identification such as exciting topic of research. This special issue succeeds in capturing this excitement, both with its individual papers, and as a collective. It’s also a good read!

The prevalence of pseudoscientific ideas and neuromyths among sports coaches

There has been an exponential growth in research examining the neurological basis of human cognition and learning. Little is known, however, about the extent to which sports coaches are aware of these advances. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence of pseudoscientific ideas among British and Irish sports coaches. In total, 545 coaches from the United Kingdom and Ireland completed a measure that included questions about how evidence-based theories of the brain might enhance coaching and learning, how they were exposed to these different theories, and their awareness of neuromyths. Results revealed that the coaches believed that an enhanced understanding of the brain helped with their planning and delivery of sports sessions. Goal-setting was the most frequently used strategy. Interestingly, 41.6% of the coaches agreed with statements that promoted neuromyths. The most prevalent neuromyth was “individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style (e.g., auditory, visual, or kinesthetic),” which 62% of coaches believed. It is apparent that a relatively large percentage of coaches base aspects of their coaching practice on neuromyths and other pseudoscientific ideas. Strategies for addressing this situation are briefly discussed and include changing the content of coach education programs.

Management Strategies Of Non-Profit Community Sport Facilities In An Era Of Austerity

ABSTRACT Research Question: This qualitative research explores the impact of austerity on community sport facilities across England (United Kingdom), drawing upon resource dependence theory (RDT) embedded within network theory. Research Methods: In-depth semi-structured interview data were collected from 24 stakeholders related to community sport facilities (n = 12 facility managers, n = 6 regional grant managers, n = 6 national funders both third sector and corporate). The qualitative data were thematically analysed to understand the impact of austerity on how community sport facilities managed their organisations and operations. Results and Findings: The findings from this research offer insight into the challenges that community sport facilities are encountering which have resulted from austerity, and a shrinking of the funding from the central Government to local public services. Furthermore, different community sport facilities have navigated these challenges to maintain sustainability, essentially through adapting network structure and through income dynamism. In addition, using a network theory approach alongside RDT within a sporting context has allowed us to address issues on how network flow and structure impact sustainability and operations within and between organisations. Implications: The article offers managerial recommendations for community sport facility managers, practitioners and policy makers who operate in times of fiscal constraint. It recommends that future sport research utilises and applies both RDT and network theory to examine these changes and the subsequent management strategies adopted to overcome the associated challenges of fiscal constraint.

Football, sport and the development of young people’s life skills

Abstract The development of life skills has been associated with participation in sport, football and other physical activities. A factor in enabling this ambition to be realized is the actions and behaviours of sports coaches. Drawing on the concept of positive youth development through sport, the first part of this paper considers the types of environments coaches need to create in order for players to develop life skills. The second part of this paper discusses formal coach education and its role in developing coaches’ knowledge of life skills development. The third and final section of this paper offers an alternative explanation of how people’s exposure to certain social contexts results in the development of life skills. A review of literature in these areas reveals that the role sport and football has played in players’ development of life skills is unclear and in need of future research attention.