The Global Business of Sport in a Brave New World: Conceptualising a Framework for Alternative Futures

In July 1991, Sports Illustrated published a special issue featuring two articles that prognosticated about what sport would look like 10 years later. As the world entered the 21st century, Sports Illustrated writers, Oscar Johnson and Ron Fimrite, offered their visions of sport in the year 2001. Their analysis highlighted how a range of economic, social and technological changes in society would impact on how sport is structured, produced and consumed, but also offered insights into the future of the major professional sport leagues in North America. It has been 30 years since they publicised their views and, while technology continues to impact sport, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced the world to pause and to consider a range of deep, soul-searching questions about the nature of society, including sport. Against this background, we consider the opportunities and challenges for sport in the 21st century. The paper is divided into three sections including: (1) a reflection on the meaning, value and significance of sport including its privileged position in society, or what we refer to as “sporting exceptionalism”; (2) a brief overview of a case study that illustrates the challenges facing the global business of sport; and, (3) a framework for conceptualising alternative futures in the global business of sport, drawing on examples from women's sport.

Proposing an underwater exercise program to increase respiratory muscle strength in the elderly

Ageing societies are more and more common across the world, placing growing emphasis on elderly care. Although elderly care has been implemented, these systems were developed prior to the growth in ageing societies and, in addition, life expectancies have since increased which means that elderly people require care for longer. It is not enough to focus on the ease of provision of care and extending life, elderly care must also focus on improving health and wellbeing and elevating quality of life. These standards of care will also be applicable to disabled people and help create healthier societies. Professor Yoshihiro Yamashina and Hiroki Aoyama, Aino University, Japan, are introducing more effective, low impact exercises in order to improve elderly care, with a specific focus on enhancing respiratory muscle strength. This could help reduce the risk of diseases such as atelectasis and pneumonia and is important because pneumonia is a common cause of suffering and death in the elderly population. For those who are unable to undertake high impact sport, such as the elderly and people with injuries or chronic pain, aquatic exercises are effective. Yamashina and Aoyama are working to better understand how water can be used to strengthen the respiratory muscles.

Occurrence of asymmetries of lower limbs in basic futsal athletes

Futsal is a sport on the rise worldwide, attracting more and more new practitioners and as well as in field soccer, it has undergone changes in recent years, increasingly demanding athletes, becoming a high impact sport, promoting overload, in the short, medium and long term, predisposing to injury to different degrees of the locomotor apparatus. The aim of this study was to analyze lower limbs asymmetries in futsal-based athletes, as well as their relationship to the incidence of injuries. The study was developed with 47 athletes of the basic category, futsal, from a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo, where functional tests were performed with the help of the PHAST application. A pattern of similarity was identified between the muscle groups tested, except for the gluteus muscle, presenting a significant difference. According to the indicators found, the patterns of strength deficit of the middle glutes may trigger, or predispose to, some types of biomechanical lesions whether proximal, in the hip region, or distal, as dysfunctions in the knee joint. When an athlete presents with a weakness of this muscle, ipsilateral femur adduction, increased medial rotation and fall of the pelvis against lateral, promoting increased dynamic angle of the knee, increasing the overload in this joint. Thus, it is concluded that pre-season evaluation is important to identify possible asymmetries, implementing preventive work to correct them, in order to minimize the risks of injuries.

Prevalence of Urinary Incontinence in High-Impact Sport Athletes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The aim of this study was to systematize the scientific evidence that assessed the prevalence of urinary incontinence in female athletes and determine which modality is most predisposed to stress urinary incontinence. From September to December 2018, a systematic literature search of current interventional studies of stress urinary incontinence of the last ten years was performed using PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus and Web of Science databases. The methodological quality was assessed by the Downs and Black scale, while the data collected from the studies were analyzed through meta-analysis. Nine studies met the eligibility criteria, meaning they included reports of urinary incontinence in different sports. The meta-analysis showed 25.9% prevalence of urinary incontinence in female athletes in different sports, as well as 20.7% prevalence of stress urinary incontinence. The most prevalent high impact sport was volleyball, with the value of 75.6%. The prevalence of urinary incontinence can be high in female athletes, with high-impact sports potentially increasing the risk for stress urinary incontinence. Further research is needed regarding the potential risk factors related to the onset of urinary incontinence.

Investigating the grip forces exerted by individuals with and without hand arthritis while swinging a golf club with the use of a new wearable sensor technology

Hand arthritis is the leading cause of disability in individuals over the age of 50, causing impairments in grip strength and range of motion. Golf is often recommended to patients with hand arthritis as a low-impact sport to maintain a healthy lifestyle. As such, numerous “arthritic” golf grips have been marketed, but lack quantitative measures to justify their use. The objective of this study was to quantify the differences in total applied grip force in golfers with/without hand arthritis using several types of golf grips. Twenty-seven participants (17 without and 10 with hand arthritis) were evaluated swinging mid-iron clubs with 12 different golf grip designs (9 standard and 3 “arthritic”). The trail hand thumb, index, middle, and ring finger applied grip forces were measured using the wireless FingerTPS system. Finger grip configuration (finger joint angles) of the thumb and index were measured using the Dartfish Movement Analysis Software paired with the newly developed Grip Configuration Model to obtain grip range of motion. Results indicated that golfers with hand arthritis had a significant deficit of 45% golf grip strength (P = 0.02). In addition, individuals with hand arthritis exhibited larger forces in 11 out of 12 golf grips tested when compared with their maximum golf grip strength. Despite how these grips are marketed, there are no “savings” in finger force or grip configuration when using the “arthritic” designed golf grips. Therefore, these grips may not be beneficial for patients with hand arthritis.

Concussion in youth sports: A survey study assessing knowledge, attitude, & experience

PurposeResearch on concussive injuries among athletes has increased substantially but is limited due to the lack of studies involving adolescent athletes, who experience the majority of sports-related concussions, and differences by sex and sport. The purpose of this study is to better understand how adolescents comprehend and experience concussions.MethodsA survey assessing knowledge, attitude, and experience regarding concussion was administered to athletes ages 10–17 in the spring of 2016 and 2017. Data collection occurred during an annual sports physical event and was administered on laptop computers. Analysis included descriptive statistics as well as the χ2 testing of scores reflecting knowledge and attitude among participants by age, gender, and sport.ResultsIn total, 208 athletes (50.96% male, average age 13.6 years, SD 1.84) completed the survey and (33, 16%) endorsed a history of concussion. They participated in 21 different sports and the majority (64%) received formal concussion education. While 98% understood that they were not allowed to return to play on the same day they were concussed, 50% indicated that they would continue to play with a headache sustained from a sport injury. When comparting the sports athletes played, attitude score trends were more positive among low-impact sport athletes when compared to high-impact sport athletes (p = 0.0291).ConclusionsWhile a high prevalence of concussions and unhealthy attitudes toward reporting are found at the highest levels of professional and collegiate athletics, this study provides evidence that youth athletes are also vulnerable. This study and similar works on older populations suggest that a paradigm shift is likely necessary to change the culture of athletics beginning at the youngest levels with an emphasis on the responsibility to protect one's brain over the need to get back in the game.