What makes community sports programs successful? A group concept mapping study to identify effective elements.

Adults in socially vulnerable positions can benefit from participation in community sports programs. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the effective elements of these programs. To identify these elements, we consulted three groups of stakeholders: social sports coaches, program coordinators, and social workers. The effective elements were systematically arranged by means of group concept mapping (GCM), a mixed-methods approach for organizing thoughts. The social sports coaches (n = 14) mentioned 152 effective elements, the program coordinators (n = 5) mentioned 81 effective elements and the social workers (n = 8) mentioned 115 effective elements. Overlapping effective elements were mentioned by all three stakeholder groups, such as the role of the social sports coach, a safe sports climate, and structure of sports programs. However, the sport-specific knowledge and skills of coaches were mentioned only by program coordinators. Moreover, only the social workers provided elements that were protective in nature, such as not overburdening the participants. Average importance scores differed for these elements within groups and between groups. In conclusion, various effective elements were deemed necessary for community sports programs to be successful. Moreover, GCM appeared a successful tool to systematically identify effective elements of an intervention from the perspective of relevant stakeholders.

Physical literacy in Europe: The current state of implementation in research, practice, and policy.

Background/objective: The holistic concept of physical literacy (PL) embraces different person-centered qualities (physical, cognitive, affective/psychological) necessary to lead physically active lifestyles. PL has recently gained increasing attention globally and Europe is no exception. However, scientific endeavors summarizing the current state of PL in Europe are lacking. Therefore, the goal of this study was to comprehensively assess and compare the implementation of PL in research, policy, and practice across the continent. Methods: We assembled a panel of experts representing 25 European countries. Employing a complementary mixed-methods design, the experts first prepared reviews about the current state of PL in their countries (categories: research, practice/policy). The reviews underwent comparative document analysis, ensuring a transnational four-eyes principle. For re-validation purposes, the representatives completed a quantitative survey with questions reflecting the inductive themes from the document analysis. Results: The document analysis resulted in ten disjunct themes (related to "concept", "research", "practice/policy", "future/prospect") and yielded a heterogenous PL situation in Europe. The implementation state was strongly linked to conceptual discussions (e.g., existence of competing approaches), linguistic issues (e.g., translations), and country-specific traditions. Despite growing scholarly attention, PL hesitantly permeates practice and policy in most countries. Nevertheless, the experts largely anticipate increasing popularity of PL for the future. Conclusion: Despite the heterogeneous situation across Europe, the analysis has uncovered similarities among the countries, such as the presence of established yet not identical concepts. Research should intensify academic activities (conceptual-linguistic elaborations, empirical work) before PL may gain further access into practical and political spheres in the long term.

"Dear IOC": Considerations for the Governance, Valuation, and Evaluation of Trends and Developments in eSports.

In 2021, the International Olympic Committee ventured virtual space by launching their first ever Olympic Virtual Series - featuring virtual baseball, cycling, rowing, sailing and motor racing. Interestingly, all these virtual events take strongly after their physical counterparts. Which begs the question: Where are the massively popular esports games like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Dota?-What do the Olympic Virtual Series have that these popular video games do not? Here, we argue for the inclusion of esports within the Olympic program. In many respects, esports "act" and "behave" just like traditional sports. We argue that esports and traditional sports share many of the same values, like the values of meritocracy, competition, fair play, and the value of having a "level playing field". Yet, in esports, many of these values remain underappreciated, losing out to negative values such as physical inactivity and game-addiction. To preserve what is worth preserving, we borrow from Value Sensitive Design to ameliorate the design-tensions that are foregrounded in esports. Thereby, paving possible ways toward the inclusion of esports in the Olympic program. Ultimately, the question for the IOC should not be "does it look like 'real sport', as we know it?", but rather: are they sporting, rule-led, and fair activities worth preserving and setting an example for a new digitally savvy generation?

Integrating Juggling with Math Lessons: A Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing Effects of Physically Active Learning on Maths Performance and Enjoyment in Primary School Children.

There are tentative indications that physical activity (PA) during school time can be beneficial for children's academic performance. So far, most studies have focused on the effects of moderate-to-vigorous PA, for example, in the form of energizers or extra physical education lessons. Little is known about the effects of physically active learning, in which PA is integrated with the academic content of the lessons, especially in preadolescent children. Moreover, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the enjoyment of physically active learning in this age group. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to assess the effects of integrating juggling with math practice in primary school children, on (1) multiplication memorization performance and (2) enjoyment during the math lessons. We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial, in which 312 children (mean age 10.4 years) from nine Dutch primary schools participated. Fourteen classes were randomly assigned to either a group that learned juggling whilst practicing multiplication tables (intervention group), or to a group that practiced the same multiplication tables while sedentary (control group). Both interventions had a duration of 5 weeks and consisted of 20 short lessons (4 lessons per week, 5 to 8 min). We used mixed-model analyses to examine the effect of the intervention on multiplication memorization performance. Group (control or intervention) was used as the fixed factor, and class and school as random intercepts. Analyses were adjusted for pretest multiplication performance, age, gender, general motor skill level, physical activity behavior (PAQ-C), and academic math performance. No significant intervention effect on multiplication performance were observed. However, the math-juggling program significantly increased enjoyment of children during the math lessons. We can conclude that the intervention did not improve, but neither deteriorated children's math performance. The increased enjoyment in the math-juggling group can serve as an important starting point for structurally incorporating physical activities in the classroom setting.

School sports and identity formation: socialisation or selection?

It seems common knowledge that school sport participation leads to all kinds of social, educational and health outcomes. However, it may also be that students with a certain predisposition, sometimes referred to as sporting habitus, are more inclined to participate in school sports and that the 'outcomes' were already present before participation. Several studies indicated that identity formation mediates between sport participation and the outcomes described. Therefore, a longitudinal survey study was used to investigate whether participation in an elementary school sport competition brought about changes in the formation of sport identity and student identity of students. The results of the study showed that participation in the competition was not related to changes in the sport identity and student identity of the children. In contrast to commonplace assumptions about the socialising effects of school sport participation, the results indicate that participating in this school sport competition did not influence the student identity and sport identity of children. It may be that a selected, predisposed group of children with a strong sport identity participates in school sports, although future research is necessary to test this hypothesis.

Doping control, providing whereabouts and the importance of privacy for elite athletes.

BACKGROUND: To improve anti-doping efforts in sports, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) introduced the World Anti-Doping Program, in which (among others) regulations for providing athletes' whereabouts are described. Because the effectiveness and efficiency of this system depends on the co-operation and compliance of athletes, the perspective of elite athletes is important. This paper answers the following research questions: What is the perspective of Dutch elite athletes on the current whereabouts system in general and how important is their privacy in providing whereabouts in particular? In addition, this study explores how far the whereabouts system can be developed in the future. Are athletes willing to accept greater invasions of their privacy in order to reduce administrative effort and whereabouts failures? METHOD: A structured questionnaire was completed by 129 Dutch elite athletes registered in the national and/or international testing pool. RESULTS: The results of this study indicate widespread dissatisfaction with the whereabouts system. Most respondents support anti-doping testing in general, but many athletes feel that WADA's whereabouts system is unacceptable in several respects. In terms of physical privacy, there was a great dissatisfaction. Nearly half of the athletes felt that the '1-hour time slot' limits their freedom, but on the other hand, most athletes disagreed with the statement that the distinction between their sport and private life is disturbed. For almost one in three respondents, the whereabouts system has a negative influence on the pleasure they experience in being an elite athlete. In terms of informational privacy, almost all athletes had confidence in the confidential treatment of their whereabouts information. Almost all athletes would accept giving their phone number to Doping Control Officials, but only half of the athletes would accept sharing their location on their mobile phone. Furthermore, almost two in ten of the athletes would accept wearing a permanent wrist or ankle bracelet or accept being implanted with a GPS chip in order to facilitate future anti-doping testing. CONCLUSION: The current whereabouts system needs to be improved in order to increase athletes' satisfaction with the anti-doping rules. The athletes themselves need to be engaged in this process. The results of this study indicate that a majority of the athletes are not likely to accept a greater violation of their privacy than the current whereabouts regulations already entail.

Enhancing disabilities: transhumanism under the veil of inclusion?

Technological developments for disabled athletes may facilitate their competition in standard elite sports. They raise intriguing philosophical questions that challenge dominant notions of body and normality. The case of 'bladerunner' Oscar Pistorius in particular is used to illustrate and defend 'transhumanist' ideologies that promote the use of technology to extend human capabilities. Some argue that new technologies will undermine the sharp contrast between the athlete as a cultural hero and icon and the disabled person that needs extra attention or care; the one exemplary of the peak of normality, human functioning at its best, the other representing a way of coping with the opposite. Do current ways of classification do justice to the performances of disabled athletes? The case of Oscar Pistorius will be used to further illustrate the complexities of these questions, in particular when related to notions of normality and extraordinary performances. Pistorius' desire to become part of 'normal' elite sport may be interpreted as an expression of a right to 'inclusion' or 'integration', but at the same time it reproduces new inequalities and asymmetries between performances of able and dis-abled athletes: we propose that if one accepts that Pistorius should compete in the 'regular' Olympic Games, this would paradoxically underline the differences between able and disabled and it would reproduce the current order and hierarchy between able and disabled bodies.

Genetic testing and sports medicine ethics.

Sports medicine ethics is neither a well established branch of sports medicine nor of medical ethics. It is therefore important to raise to more general awareness some of the significant ethical implications of sports medicine practices. The field of genetics in sports is likewise in its infancy and raises significant ethical concerns. It is not yet clear how genetics will alter our understanding of human potential and performance in sports. While a number of professional medical bodies accept genetic interventions of a therapeutic nature, we argue that the use of genetic technologies to predict sports potential may well breach both the European bioethics convention and North American anti-discrimination legislation, which are designed to support important ethical ideals and the ongoing commitment of the physician to the welfare of their patient. We highlight further ethical problems associated with confidentiality and consent that may arise in genetic testing as opposed to more conventional methods of testing in sports medicine. We conclude that genetic testing in sport that is not strictly limited to the protection of the athlete against harm, should be viewed in a very sceptical light by sports medicine professionals.