Interscholastic inclusion: Local and National News Framing of High School Transgender Athletes

Debates of who is and is not permitted to participate in sport have been magnified in regard to those whose gender identity deviates from traditional heteronormative standards. Former high school transgender athletes Mack Beggs and Andraya Yearwood, in states with different stances toward trans participation, were thrust into media spotlights. A content analysis examined local and national newspaper reporting about the individuals and their states’ policies. Newspapers did not uphold perceived hegemonic ideals associated with sport by negatively depicting each marginalized athlete. Journalists applauded both for driving conversations toward equal opportunity in high school athletics.

Dynamics of maximum oxygen consumption in middle-distance runners in a one-year training cycle

Purpose of the work: to study the dynamics of the indexes of maximal oxygen consumption in a one-year cycle of training in skilled runners who combine 800 and 400 m distances. Methods and materials: theoretical analysis and generalization of literary sources, analysis of documentary materials, submaximal Valunda-Schestrand test (PWC170), pedagogical experiment and methods of mathematical statistics. The research was conducted on the basis of the School of High School athletics of Kharkov. There were 5 boys and 5 girls who are 17-23 years old (4 - Candidates Master of Sports and 6 – athletes of the first category). In the course of the work it was established that the indexes of maximal oxygen consumption of athletes is changing with the growth of their training. It was found that the boys’ level of maximal oxygen consumption changes more significantly in the process of their training than in the process of girls’ training. This can be explained by lower aerobic productivity (power), which is reflected in lower results of women in sports with predominant manifestation of endurance. This factor explains the relative reduction of record results with increasing distance. It is marked that under the influence of training loads of a special preparatory stage of the preparatory period, the indices of maximal oxygen consumption of girls did not change.

Attorney General v. MIAA at Forty Years: A Critical Examination of Gender Segregation in High School Athletics in Massachusetts

Published: Erin E. Buzuvis, Attorney General v. MIAA at Forty Years: A Critical Examination of Gender Segregation in High School Athletics in Massachusetts, 25 TEX. J. C.L. & C.R. 1 (2019).Forty years ago, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled in Attorney General v. Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association that the state constitution's newly-added equal rights amendment prohibited the blanket exclusion of boys from girls' athletic teams. The state’s constitutional law departed from Title IX, as well as that of other states, in providing a legal foundation for a wider selection of gender-integrated high school sports. However, most sports remain segregated by sex. The Author opines that sport organizers in Massachusetts have missed an opportunity to provide students a more balanced menu of athletic opportunities that incorporate both sex-segregated and gender-free sports for the advantages each uniquely provides. This Article further describes how gender-free sport can address logistical challenges posed by segregating boys' and girls' opportunities within the same sport, mitigate the stereotypes of inferior girls' sports, and maximize inclusion of transgender athletes. While segregated sports serve an important role to protect and preserve opportunities for female athletes whose interests and abilities have historically and continuously been suppressed, the Author suggests it is time to start thinking not about replacing girls' sports altogether but adding more gender-free sports. Massachusetts should identify those sports in which separation does more harm than good, and test whether degendering sport provides net advantages.

The Effect of Psychological Factors on Athletic Injury and Recuperation

In spite of the evident benefits of exercise on health, it is also an irrefutable fact that exercise and injury come together as well. Over a million injuries occur each year in the United States alone, and that only counts collegiate sports; should we factor in high school athletics, professional leagues, gyms and street athletes, the incidence rate would be astounding, affecting millions of Americans. Prior research shows that injury comes from training, more that from competition. It also shows that athletes keep on training in spite of their injuries because of the pressure to compete. This project shows that psychology plays a negative role in the rate and incidence of injury; but that a positive disposition on the part of the athlete goes on to contribute in the injured athlete’s recovery. Coaches and sports federations must address the psychological factors that adversely affect injury and positively affect recovery as much as they now focus on the medical aspects of injury and recovery.

Understanding the impact of MSHSAA by-law 3.15.3 on participation in Missouri high school athletics from 2008-2016

This quantitative policy analysis seeks to understand the potential impact of MSHSAA By-Law, 3.15.3, the contact day policy, on sport participation in Missouri high school athletics. This policy increased the number of practices Missouri coaches could have with their athletes in the 07 from 14 to 25 days. There was a concern from MSHSAA school leaders and coaches that this policy could impact single and multi-sport participation. This study seeks to determine if a relationship can be identified with the implementation of the policy and changes in participation. ... This quantitative policy analysis revealed a significant difference in single sport and multiple sport participation for the years prior to and following the implementation of MSHSAA By-Law 3.15.3. Research question two revealed that there has not been a significant change in the overall number of single sport and multi-sport participants. Research questions three and five revealed that urban school participation has significantly decreased following the implementation of the By-Law. Research questions four and six revealed that students that attend schools that offer ten or less sports have also seen a decrease in single and multi-sport participation. Finally, research question number seven revealed that multi-sport participation has decreased significantly in schools that do not offer 11-man football and has increased in schools that do offer 11-man football.