Perceptions of the Socioeconomic Impacts of a Women’s Major Sporting Event in Africa

Major sports events have emerged as an important destination development tool for many developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to assess the socioeconomic impacts of the 2016 Women African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) hosted in Cameroon. Taking the hosting cities (Limbe and Yaounde) as the case study sites, the study utilized a mixed-methods research approach. The data emerged from the 759 questionnaires distributed to the event attendees and 10 interviews with key informants. The study showed the event to have created employment and income generation opportunities in the host cities and have contributed to increased national pride and social cohesion. Also, the study found the event to have played an important role in the advancement of women in sport. However, the research revealed little leveraging of the event’s socioeconomic opportunities for longer gain. The study concludes that female sports events, for destination development and the advancement of women’s sport, is an important but neglected area of focus. The study argues for stronger collaborations and partnerships within tourism and sport stakeholders to ensure the positive advancements of female sports events are sustained.

Small Relative Age Effect Appears in Professional Female Italian Team Sports

The relative age effect (RAE) concerns those (dis)advantages and outcomes resulting from an interaction between the dates of selection and birthdates. Although this phenomenon is well known in a male context, limited data are available in female sports. Thus, the aim of this study was to quantify the prevalence and magnitude of the RAE in a female Italian context at the professional level in basketball, soccer, and volleyball. A total of 1535 birthdates of elite senior players were analyzed overall and separately between early and late career stages. Chi-square goodness-of-fit tests were applied to investigate the RAE in each sport. An asymmetry in birthdates was observed in all sports (Crammer’s V ranged = 0.10–0.12). Players born close to the beginning of the year were 1.62 and 1.61 times more likely to reach first and second Italian divisions of soccer and volleyball, respectively, than those born in the last part of the year. A small over-representation of female athletes born close to the beginning of the year is evident at the senior professional level in all Italian investigated team sports. In soccer, this trend was more evident in the first stage of a senior career.

Female Sports Medicine

This chapter is comprised of 10 questions and answers, which are all purely academic, knowledge based. The corresponding answers can be found at the end of the chapter, each of which has a short explanation and at least one reference.

Sports Diplomacy and Gender: Equal Opportunities for Women in Czech Basketball

The article focuses on the role of equal opportunities and gender in the sports environment, examining their impacts on the creation and functioning of sports diplomacy. Subsequently, in the form of a case study it first concentrates on the Czech sports environment and women’s representation in international and national sports federations. In the final part, it examines the basketball environment and analyses its individual structures. Women are not sufficiently represented as coaches, referees or officials. Several main challenges are mentioned: the perception of sport as a predominantly male phenomenon, the overall society setting fixed on traditional perceptions of the role of women and men in the Czech Republic, a small number of suitable female sports models, the time-consuming character of the activities, gender stereotypes at work, the absence of suitable conditions for reconciling family and work life and the low self-confidence of female candidates. The article concludes that the Czech sports environment (including basketball) is markedly masculine, and women face a number of barriers, which in practice are reflected in the Czech Republic’s representation in international sport organisations and the way in which sports diplomacy is used as a foreign policy tool.

A Social-Ecological Analysis of Barriers to Sports and Physical Activity for Female University Students in China

<p>Female university students’ participation rates in sports and physical activity have been low for decades in China. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that impact female university students’ participation in sports and physical activities. This study is grounded in the theoretical underpinnings of a social-ecological model of influences on participation in sports and physical activity. The study was conducted in China and focuses on an identification of the factors that impact the participation rate of female university students aged 18 to 22. Questionnaires were distributed to 2000 female university students between the ages of 18 and 22 in 11 cities. The study yielded several interesting findings. First, female university students who infrequently participated in sports and physical activity primarily experienced strong intrapersonal barriers, whereas those who often engaged in sports and physical activity were more likely to encounter greater environmental barriers. Second, the factors examined using a social-ecological model that most affected female university students’ participation in sports and physical activity included personal physiological factors, participation and the support of people around them, site and natural environmental factors, and a lack of female sports facilities and exercise opportunities for women.</p>

A Social-Ecological Analysis of Barriers to Sports and Physical Activity for Female University Students in China

<p>Female university students’ participation rates in sports and physical activity have been low for decades in China. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that impact female university students’ participation in sports and physical activities. This study is grounded in the theoretical underpinnings of a social-ecological model of influences on participation in sports and physical activity. The study was conducted in China and focuses on an identification of the factors that impact the participation rate of female university students aged 18 to 22. Questionnaires were distributed to 2000 female university students between the ages of 18 and 22 in 11 cities. The study yielded several interesting findings. First, female university students who infrequently participated in sports and physical activity primarily experienced strong intrapersonal barriers, whereas those who often engaged in sports and physical activity were more likely to encounter greater environmental barriers. Second, the factors examined using a social-ecological model that most affected female university students’ participation in sports and physical activity included personal physiological factors, participation and the support of people around them, site and natural environmental factors, and a lack of female sports facilities and exercise opportunities for women.</p>

The influence of sports policies on the right to fair competition for women

Purpose Competitions in high-performance sports are based on the premise of fairness and the absence of advantages for participants. Therefore, several metrics were created to divide participants into categories and neutralize the advantages of some athletes. The division by sex is justified in the face of differences in body development between men and women due to testosterone levels. Faced with the difficulties of determining a single unequivocal criterion for determining sex, major sports entities periodically change the rules that guide the inclusion criteria to compete in the female category. The purpose of this study is to assess whether changes in gender metric rules bring female sports performance closer to male performance, reducing the equality of conditions for female competitors. Design/methodology/approach This is a retrospective study that compared female and male results from the past 5 Olympic games in the 100-metre dash, high jump and javelin throw. Findings The performance in the men's category in the 100-metre dash was superior to the women's in the Olympic Games in Sydney by 8.78% (± 0.16), in Athens by 9.88% (± 0.21), in Beijing by 10.11% (± 0.29), in London by 9.25% (± 0.59) and in Rio de Janeiro by 8.6% (± 0.23). The male high jump was higher than the female by 17.24% (± 1.18) in Sydney, 16.61% (± 1.83) in Athens, 17.01% (± 1.79) in Beijing, 15.47% (± 1.96 higher) in London and 19.67% (± 1.09) in Rio de Janeiro. In the javelin throw, the male superiority was 34.87% (± 2.35) in Sydney, 29.88% (± 4.15) in Athens, 31.87% (± 4.15) in Beijing, 29.44% (± 3.24) in London and 32.31% (± 2.69) in Rio de Janeiro. Research limitations/implications As limitations of the study, this study mentions the lack of hormonal dosage of the athletes involved, the non-evaluation of other modalities with different dynamics of execution and muscular requirements and the non-evaluation of the rules in sexual metrics during the qualifying stages for the games. Practical implications In this manuscript, the authors show that interference of the International Olympic Committee in the sex metric influences the athletic performance of women in some sports. Rules that facilitate participation of transgender athletes, or with sexual differentiation disorder and other forms of hyperandrogenism, improve female athletic performance overall. Originality/value The authors believe that this manuscript is appropriate for publication by International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare because it is an original paper that fits the goals of the publication. This manuscript creates a paradigm for future policies that rule the sex determination metrics in competitive sports.