Humanitarian Athletic Participation and Identity Work

Numerous studies examine youth purpose and volunteerism, but only few investigate how altruistic activities shape identity development within athletic contexts. Endurance-based humanitarian fundraising teams are becoming increasingly popular forms of volunteerism among adolescents and young adults in the United States, but little is known about their developmental role. Twenty-four participants (15–21 years of age; M = 17.42) were interviewed to identify the prominent themes that arose from their experiences while training for and participating in a marathon. A thematic analysis was used to determine the dominant themes that characterized the intersection of humanitarian marathon training and running with aspects of identity work. The majority of the comments of the participants were directly tied to their experiences in running the marathon. Four themes were identified including identity work, faith, purpose, and social connection. More so than exploring their possible selves, a consistent theme throughout the interview with the participants was what they learned about their current selves and the capacities they already possessed during their marathon experience.

Athletic Participation, Training, and Adolescent Education

In Classical Athens athletics consisted of the sporting contests that were staged as part of festivals and the classes of an athletics teacher. Lessons in the standard sporting events were given only by these teachers, whose classes doubled up as the sole opportunity for boys and men to perfect them before competing in games. Thus the participation of individuals in athletics depended on their schooling. Because the Classical Athenians decided against publicly funding education, they did not enjoy equal access to it. Poor citizens could afford only the lessons of a letter teacher. It was only wealthy boys who were educated in the three traditional disciplines of athletics, music, and letters. As poor Athenians did not attend the classes of an athletics teacher, they would have done badly, if they entered games, and so were hesitant about doing so in the first place. Thus the athletes of democratic Athens came exclusively from the wealthy.

Graft Failure in Adolescent Patients Undergoing Adult-Type ACL Reconstruction with Bone Patellar Tendon Bone or Hamstring Autograft

Introduction: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries represent a quarter of high school knee injuries. Adult-type ACL reconstruction (ACL-R) is the treatment of choice for skeletally mature adolescent patients with a complete ACL tear. Graft choice is individualized to the patient, taking into account the patient’s anatomy, activity level, and athletic participation. This subset of patients is at perhaps the highest risk of failure due to demands on the reconstruction after surgery. Hypothesis/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes including graft rupture between bone-patellar tendon-bone (BTB) versus hamstring autograft in adolescent patients undergoing adult-type ACL reconstruction. Methods: A retrospective review of patients under the age of 21 undergoing primary adult-type ACL-R by a single surgeon using BTB or hamstring autograft between 2011 and 2019 was performed. Patient demographics, athletic participation, concomitant injuries, graft utilized, graft size, femoral and tibial fixation devices, compliance with rehabilitation protocol, complications, and rates of revision surgery were evaluated. Factors associated with graft failure were compared using Fisher’s exact test with statistical significance < 0.05. Results: 269 patients with an average age of 16.5 years (range 12.4-20.6) and an average follow-up of 2.1 years (range 0.4-6.6 years) were included. 52.5% of the patients were female. The overall graft rupture rate was 4.8%. There was no difference in average age, sex, compliance, and participation in high risk sports between graft type groups. Graft size was larger in patients with BTB autograft than patients with hamstring autograft (9.0 vs. 8.3; p<.001). There was no difference in the overall rate of re-operation between BTB and hamstring autografts (8.6% vs. 10.6%; p=0.81). There was no significant difference in rate of graft rupture with BTB and hamstring autograft (2.9% vs. 5.5%; p=0.26). Average time to revision surgery in those with ruptures was 1.7 years (range 0.7-4.7 years). 46% of patients had revision ACL-R with a different surgeon. There was no difference in age or participation in high risk sports between patients with and without graft tear. There was a higher percentage of documented compliance issues in patients with graft tear (46%) than without graft tear (29%), though not statistically significant (p=0.17). Conclusion: Rates of graft tear after ACL-R did not differ with BTB versus hamstring autograft. Rates of compliance and participation in high risk sports did not significantly differ in patients with and without graft tear. Many patients had a change in surgical provider for revision surgery.

High School Sport Participation Intensity and Breadth

The purpose of this study was to address the gap in research related to whether measures of participation (intensity and breadth) demonstrated a relationship with academic achievement for 11th grade student athletes (N=128) in a rural Midwestern high school. Anonymous athletic participation and achievement data from 2015-2017 was obtained from the school’s archive and analyzed by correlation, hierarchical regression, and one-way ANOVA. Data derived from statistical analyses demonstrated two outcomes regarding sport participation, ACT, and GPA: (a) Intensity demonstrated no statistical significance to student achievement measured by ACT, however intensity demonstrated a statistically significant relationship to cumulative GPA (p < .05), and (b) ANOVA analysis demonstrated statistically significant differences in breadth and GPA (p < .01) between one sport athletes and three sport athletes. Three sport athletes had statistically significantly higher GPAs than one sport athletes and significantly higher GPAs than two sport athletes. The research was limited to one cross-sectional heterogeneous rural high school population of participants over a three-year period. Furthermore, the study was limited to school-specific athletic participation data as school non-athletic activity and out-of-school activity participation was not available. Results from this study suggest programming and potential practice recommendations for rural school leaders. Future research on ESA sport, activity, and non-school activity participation intensity and breadth related to academic outcomes is justified.

Entrando en el juego: The Role of Hispanic-Serving Institutions in Fostering Educational and Athletic Outcomes for Latinx Athletes

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) enroll the majority of Latinx undergraduate students and constitute the second-largest institutional type in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (D1). Yet, little is known about the role intercollegiate athletics play in fostering educational outcomes for Latinx students at HSIs. Under the guise of Latinx critical race theory, this qualitative study examined how HSIs operate both the federal designation and NCAA D1 membership in relation to athletic participation and completion outcomes for Latinx student-athletes. Document analysis was utilized to disaggregate data from various reports to identify the HSI-D1 institutions and their Latinx athletes’ participation, and graduation rates. These findings were then compared to the overall NCAA D1 averages. Among the findings, Latinx student-athletes graduated at higher rates than non-athletes from the HSI-D1s. However, as an aggregate, these institutions had below average graduation rates of Latinx students and student-athletes in comparison to the national rates across NCAA D1 membership. Furthermore, HSI-D1s provided limited athletic participation opportunities for Latinx athletes. The study concluded with the implications of findings and recommendations for future studies.

Willardian Spiritual Formation, Novel Spiritual Disciplines, and Basketball: A Case Study

Athletic participation provides a unique forum for the practice of spiritual disciplines. Central to Dallas Willard’s robust theory of spiritual formation is the critical role the body plays in effectively engaging in spiritual disciplines and thereby cultivating Christlikeness. I outline the central themes of Willard’s theology and philosophy of spiritual disciplines, with particular attention to how they bear on athletic participation. I distinguish between classical and novel spiritual disciplines and show how the latter are usefully appropriated towards the ordinary activities of daily life, and particularly towards the arena of athletics. Using basketball as a case study, I show in detail how this activity can be fruitfully reappropriated as a set of novel spiritual disciplines.

Inventing Traditions

Mega sporting events, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup, align perfectly with Qatar’s economic agenda, which uses athletics as part of its nation-building ambitions. This chapter journeys through several sports worlds in Doha, where low-wage migrant workers are bused to soccer stadiums for televised games, so that it appears that the stands are filled with ardent fans, and where Kenyan runners are granted temporary Qatari citizenship in order to compete as natives. The government has spent a fortune to erect state-of-the-art facilities, host international sporting events, and send athletes to compete globally. Sports are also a primary platform for modern traditionalism’s motif of female empowerment. Despite these efforts, however, rates of women’s athletic participation remain in the single digits. Interviews with players, coaches, and spectators reveal the social processes underlying these dynamics. Finally, the chapter demonstrates how sportswomen overcome barriers to athletic participation by dynamically engaging with modern traditionalism, aligning their sports-related activities with empowerment, Islam, and family values.