The Role of Mass Media in Promoting the Dual Career of the Performance Athlete.

BACKGROUND: One of the most pressing problems for athletes is related to the end of their career, a situation that presents serious challenges in the attempt to enter the labor market in the absence of an adequate education. Despite the fact that successful sports students encounter some problems in terms of time allocated to school, consistent work will ultimately provide them with a rewarding career and, most importantly, a relevant social role to inspire other athletes who are at the beginning of their careers. A successful approach to dual career cannot take place if athletes and their entourage (coaches, parents, teachers) are not aware of its importance. By analyzing the concept from different angles by professionals (EU, governments, ministries), dual career can be implemented in an efficient way and much faster if the appropriate institutions are involved. The use of mass media to create interest and content in the sports field has managed to produce major interest among specialists in the field. METHODS: In this study, the answers of 30 mass media specialists were analyzed to understand how "dual career" is promoted for the performance athlete in the mass media in Romania. In order to analyze if there is any connection between mass media, dual career and the profile of the performance athlete, we applied a chi-square test and Pearson and Spearman correlations. RESULTS: The obtained results indicate a weak connection between the analyzed terms. CONCLUSIONS: The conclusions reached allow us to form an overview of the analyzed terms, managing to create directions for action in order to constantly improve the phenomenon in Romania.

A Study on the Correlation between Intelligence and Body Schema in Children Who Practice Chess at School.

The role of intelligence in chess is crucial because the game involves a situation of adversity between two players whose goal is to checkmate the opponent's king. Due to the complex nature of the game and the huge amount of information needed to become a professional chess player, the ability to receive, analyze, sort and use abstract notions is essential. A total of 67 children from the third grade were selected and tested twice, initially and finally, to establish the level of body schema and intelligence. The Raven test was used to numerically quantify their intelligence and the Goodenough test was conducted for the body schema. We used the paired samples T-test to highlight the statistical difference between the results and performed a simple linear regression to see if the level of intelligence is a predictor of the body schema. There is a linear relationship between intelligence and body schema, and we can use the first one to predict the evolution of the second. In conclusion, body schema can be educated through chess lessons, and this will lead to better psychomotor development.

Psychometric Assessment of the Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale with Professional Romanian Athletes.

BACKGROUND: Although athletes' experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness play in key role in their motivation, performance-related outcomes, and wellness, there is no evidence to date on measures of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the Romanian sport context. Building upon self-determination theory, the objective of this research was to adapt the Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale and analyze its psychometric properties in the Romanian sport context. METHODS: The participants were 642 professional athletes (354 males and 288 females; Mage = 22.81, SD = 5.78) who competed at the international and/or national level. RESULTS: The results from confirmatory factor analyses psychometrically supported a six-factor correlated model, which was invariant across gender, age, and sport. Convergent validity was met by average variance extracted values between 0.60 and 0.74. Discriminant validity was underpinned by values from -0.72 to 0.72 for a heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations among the six factors. Reliability was endorsed by Cronbach's alpha scores between 0.75 and 0.89, and between 0.76 and 0.89 for Raykov's composite reliability coefficient. Criterion validity was supported by positive relationships of autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction to autonomous motivation, and positive associations of autonomy, competence, and relatedness frustration with controlled motivation and amotivation. CONCLUSIONS: The Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale is shown to be a valid and reliable measure of need satisfaction and frustration in professional Romanian athletes.

Appraisal of Motor Skills in a Sample of Students within the Moldavian Area.

The selection of children for training in a certain sports branch should be based on the assessment of their physical development and their motor skills. THE AIM OF THE STUDY: the evaluation of the students' motor skills in relation to Body Mass Index (BMI) in order to orient them towards certain sports branches. METHODS: The research study was conducted on a sample of 220 fifth grade students within the Moldavian Area. We have calculated the BMI and we have assessed the motor skills according to the national standards established for each school grade. RESULTS: The BMI values are mainly normal (75.45%), yet there are significant differences in development between students in the three counties under analysis, with the most significant values recorded in the county of Suceava (18.48 ± 0.45 for boys and 18.06 ± 0.48 for girls). As far as the push-ups test grading is concerned, 8.63% of the students achieved below 5; there are also significant differences from one region to another (the highest values were recorded in Iasi 11.05 ± 1.00 for boys, 9.93 ± 0.97 for girls, in Suceava 7.98 ± 0.89 for boys and 4.18 ± 0.46 for girls and in Vrancea 9.97 ± 0.48 for boys and 7.70 ± 0.33 for girls). Softball throw was perfectly executed and graded with 10 by 59.09% of the students. Standing long jump was graded with 10 for only 30.45% of the students. The differences obtained according to p-value indicated considerable differences for all motor skills tests and for all study groups. CONCLUSIONS: there are substantial differences in children's physical development and motor skills from one county to another and this aspect is essential in the selection of young people who will practice high performance sports.