Analysis of the contribution of sport events to sustainable development: Impacts, support and resident's perception.

The current study intends to evaluate the link between the affects observed by citizens on athletic events, the perception of their contribution to municipalities' sustainable development, and support for their celebration. A total of 2049 inhabitants from the Valencian Community's three provincial capitals (Spain) took part in this study, which used a stratified random sample with proportionate allocation. The causal association model fit well, with RMSEA = 0.044, NNFI = 0.94, CFI = 0.95, and IFI = 0.95. The study's findings demonstrate that residents' perceptions of the positive and negative impacts caused by sporting events in their communities are an antecedent that explains how these events contribute to sustainable urban development. A positive relationship between perceived sustainable development and support for the hosting of sport events in these localities was also found. These results highlight the need to promote sustainable management development of any sporting event to increase local support from the residents.

Sports entrepreneurship during COVID-19: Technology as an ally to maintain the competitiveness of small businesses.

The sports sector, specifically the field of personal trainer entrepreneurship, has been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. However, there are still few empirical studies that analyze how the actions taken before and during this crisis can affect sports entrepreneurs' performance. This research aims to analyze which combinations of sports entrepreneurs' personal characteristics and actions performed have been most and least effective in minimizing the negative impact of COVID-19 on their businesses. A validated online questionnaire was administered to personal trainer entrepreneurs from May to June 2020 before they reopened their facilities. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was performed to assess the impacts. The results show that both post-COVID measures (adaptation of the business model) and previous strategic orientation seemed essential. Specifically, high levels of sports entrepreneurs' resilience and innovation/R&D when competing against their closest competitors before the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased use of technologies (sports services digitization) during the pandemic have been essential to maintaining the performance of the sports business. Thus, improvements in the digital competencies of personal trainers' sports entrepreneurs, the development of strategic plans and activities related to innovation/R&D and process improvements are important measures to maintain the competitiveness of small sports businesses during crises.

Promoting Physical Activity Habits after Completing Secondary School: Does the Age Matter?

Physical inactivity is one of the most important problems in our society, especially during adolescence. During this stage of schooling, students practice physical activity in physical education classes, but after they finish school, many of them stop practicing it. This research aims to determine which variables predict the intention to practice physical activity after finishing secondary school and to discover the effect that age during adolescence has on these predictive variables. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of secondary school students. The results show that physical exercise identity influences the three antecedents of this theory, while the attitude towards the behaviour (ß = 0.13; p < 0.05), perceived behavioural control (ß = 0.46; p < 0.05), and physical self-concept (ß = 0.41; p < 0.05), have a statistically significant influence on the intention to be physically active. Moreover, when the age is lower, is more important to develop a positive perceived behavioural control and physical exercise identity. Moreover, for younger male adolescents instead of the physical exercise itself, identity seems more important in developing a positive attitude towards behaviour. Likewise, in young female adolescents a low level of support from their close environment (subjective norm) leads to dropping out. The research concludes with the importance of including these variables in physical education classes to promote physical activity practice after completion of secondary school. Some practical implications are presented.

Emotions and Sport Management: A Bibliometric Overview.

Emotions are considered a fundamental aspect of sport scenarios, and within sports, consumer behavior is a very popular area of research in the sport management field. Thus, in recent years, there has been a growing interest for sport managers regarding the role that emotions play in sport consumer behavior. Thus, the aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the academic research on emotions in the sport management field using two techniques: a bibliometric performance analysis and a graphic mapping of the references in this field. This analysis focuses on authors, journals, papers, institutions and countries. Bibliometric indicators including the h-index measure, productivity and the number of citations were used to perform the performance analysis. Then, VOSviewer software was used to perform co-citation, bibliographic coupling and co-occurrence of keyword analysis (mapping analysis). The results of both types of analysis are consistent, with the United States being the most influential country in emotions in sport management research because the main authors and institutions in this research field belong to this country. The overall results indicate that the literature on this research topic has grown significantly in recent years in all scientific disciplines; however, the research topic is incipient, and therefore, the number of articles is still limited. Thus, this research presents the key aspects in the topic of emotions in sport management that could be helpful for researchers and policy makers in the field of sport management to make future decisions.

Predictive Variables of Adolescents' Intention to Be Physically Active after Graduation. Is Gender a Conditioning Factor?

The acquisition of physical activity habits during adolescence is fundamental to guarantee its adherence throughout life. However, these levels decrease during this stage, with women experimenting a more significant decrease. This paper aims to analyze if there are significant differences in the variables related to the intention to be physically active between men and women and if there is a moderating effect of gender on the variables that predict this intention. The sample is composed of 256 adolescents, aged between 16 and 19 years, 55.50% of whom are men, and 44.50% women. The results show that there are statistically significant differences (p < 0.05), with boys showing higher scores in the intention, athletic identity, and in the strength, condition, and attractiveness. About the predictive variables of the intention, the gender moderates the relationships between the physical attractiveness, condition and strength with the perceived behavioral control (pcfmale-pcfmale = 0.44; -0.48 p < 0.001; 0.27, p < 0.05, respectively), and between the subjective norm and the intention to be physically active (pcmale-female = 0.33, p < 0.01). These results highlight the importance of considering gender when designing specific policies for the promotion of physical-sports practice among adolescents to reduce the existing gender gap.

Amateur Runners' Commitment: An Analysis of Sociodemographic and Sports Habit Profiles.

The aim of this work is to analyse the commitment to running among urban runners by identifying groups regarding commitment to this sport and by defining their sociodemographic profile and their sports habits. A sample of 1806 participants in popular urban races in the city of Valencia was interviewed using an 11-item questionnaire on commitment to running, sociodemographic characteristics, and sports habits. The psychometric properties of the running-commitment scale allowed for the identification of two factors in commitment to running: enthusiasm for running (6 items) and affliction from running (5 items). Subsequently, a cluster analysis combining hierarchical and non-hierarchical methods was performed, identifying three groups of runners: highly committed (n = 650), moderately committed (n = 749), and slightly committed (n = 407). Highly committed runners positively rate all aspects of running enthusiasm (M = 4.15), while moderately committed runners show a more neutral attitude (M = 3.41) and slightly committed runners disagree on these aspects (M = 2.41). Both highly (M = 1.32) and moderately (M = 2.04) committed runners disagree on the affliction-related aspects of running, while slightly committed runners show a trend towards neutrality on some affliction indicators. The variables referring to age, level of studies, sports habits, and running addiction contributed to differentiating the identified groups.

Sporting Habits of Urban Runners: Classification According to Their Motivation.

This study analyses the sporting habits of runners participating in short-distance urban running events to identify groups with different motivations towards the practice of endurance running and participation in urban running events. A sample consisting of 937 participants in the Valencia running circuit was interviewed using a questionnaire consisting of a scale of 22 items to analyse their motives for participating in popular races. An exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis was carried out to check the validity of the instrument, and the analysis identified the following four factors into which the indicators were grouped: psychological and physical motives (3 items), social motives and interest in running events (5 items), occupation of time and social recognition (6 items) and competitive and material motives (3 items). Subsequently, a cluster analysis was performed by combining hierarchical and non-hierarchical methods, and the analysis identified the following three groups of runners with different characteristics: individual hedonists (n = 276), enthusiasts (n = 312) and socializing hedonists (n = 349). Enthusiastic runners consider most motives important when participating in running events, individual hedonists consider individual psychological and physical motives important, and socializing hedonists consider personal and social motives and interest in sport important. Variables related to age, educational level, annual income level, frequency of running, how the individuals went out to run and the level of the runners contributed to differentiating the identified groups. The results confirm the heterogeneous nature of urban runners.