"Male athletes play well to feel good, and female athletes feel good to play well": Attitudes, beliefs, and practices pertaining to perceived sex-related differences in communication and interpersonal approach of strength and conditioning coaches in international women's rugby union.

Effective communication and rapport building with athletes are key tenets of coaching. As the majority of empirical evidence to date has adopted an androcentric view of strength and conditioning, a potential knowledge gap exists regarding sex-related differences in physical preparation and coaching approaches. Therefore, this study explored the attitudes, beliefs and practices of strength and conditioning coaches (n = 8; M/F, 6/2) in elite level (international) women's rugby union using semi-structured interviews (mean ±standard deviation duration 59 ± 15 min). The interviews explored differences in coaching practices for elite female rugby players compared to males, with a specific focus on the interpersonal aspects of the athlete-coach relationship. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to generate a rich qualitative dataset. The analysis resulted in the identification of higher order themes: athlete engagement, and interpersonal approach. The coaches in this study consistently perceived important differences between male and female players in factors related to engagement and interpersonal approach. Coaches adopted differing coaching practices for male and female athletes. This study provides important contextual evidence for the understanding of differences in the interpersonal relationships of female rugby players compared to male athletes from the perspective of elite-level strength coaches.

The relative age effect in the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA): a mixed methods approach.

BACKGROUND: Background: In the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Talent Academies (TAs) and senior teams cater for high-performing players. However, only two previous studies have quantified the relative age effect (RAE; i.e., a selection bias favouring those born near the beginning of the cut-off date) in these cohorts. Additionally, no studies have explored stakeholder understanding of the RAE using qualitative methods. AIM: This study aimed to: (a) quantify the RAE in TAs and senior teams, and (b) investigate stakeholder perspectives of the talent development environment, providing practical insight into the RAE. METHODS: A mixed methods sequential explanatory study design was employed. Phase one involved a retrospective analysis of longitudinal data for the frequency and distribution of births using TA (n = 12,445) and senior (n = 8,752) players. Phase two comprised two focus groups of key stakeholders [coaches (n = 4) and Talent Development Leaders (n = 4)] at TA and senior level. RESULTS: Analysis revealed a significant difference between TA birth quarter (BQ) distributions compared with expected distributions (P < 0.001; BQ1 = 30.4% vs. BQ4 = 17.6%), whereas at senior level, there were no significant differences observed (χ2 (df = 3) = 3.812, P = 0.282). In phase two, inductive analysis revealed three higher-order themes: (a) understanding of the RAE, (b) selection criteria, and (c) player characteristics. CONCLUSION: The GAA are encouraged to reflect on the practice of chronological age band grouping, investigate possible solutions to limit the effects of the RAE, and offer support programmes to educate key stakeholders.

The inter-relatedness and demographic predictors of physical activity, self-rated health, and mental well-being: A three-wave study in secondary school children.

INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organisation recommends that children and adolescents engage in at least 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day. Previous research has shown that physical activity is related to other constructs such as mental well-being and self-rated health. This study examined the inter-relatedness of these constructs in Northern Irish school children. METHODS: This study was a secondary analysis of data gathered as part of a longitudinal study. Participants were n = 1791 adolescents in their final years of secondary (high) school (age range 15-18; female = 64.6%). Data were gathered on three occasions over a 2-year period on self-rated health, physical activity, mental well-being, heavy episodic drinking, lifetime smoking, psychological and somatic symptoms, as well as a range of socio-demographic measures. RESULTS: Descriptive results showed extremely low levels of self-reported physical activity within the past week, with <6% of the sample attaining the WHO guidelines at each wave of data collection. There were significant gender differences on all variables assessed. Results further showed a small-sized relationship (statistically significant for girls only) between physical activity and mental well-being. There was also a small-sized relationship between physical activity and self-rated health. Notably, effect sizes for the relationship between self-rated health and both physical activity and mental well-being were higher. In terms of socio-demographic predictors of lower physical activity, being female, lifetime cigarette smoking, and higher somatic and psychological symptoms were all statistically significant factors. CONCLUSION: Self-rated health emerged as the most important predictor of physical activity among adolescents.