African Athletes Research Articles

Antecedents and consequences of South African female athletes’ trust in the coach

The purpose of this study was to investigate female South African school athletes’ trust in their coaches in relation to their perceptions of the coaches’ justice, benevolence, integrity, competence, commitment to coach, willingness to cooperate, and performance. A quantitative cross-sectional research design was used in this study. The results showed that there was a large correlation between trust in the coach and the following factors: perceived justice (r = .504, p < .01), perceived integrity (r = .511, p < .01), and perceived competence (r = .534, p < .01). Furthermore, multiple regression analysis results revealed that perceived justice was the only significant predictor of trust in the coach as it had a higher beta value (β = .17, p < .05) than the other variables. This study shows that coaches should demonstrate fairness in their decision-making by providing players with incentives, opportunities to play, friendly relationships, and places of preference.

Analysis of African athletes give-back behaviours as cultural identity or popularity

ABSTRACT This study explores how male Ghanaian migrant players utilise Give-back behaviours to demonstrate their connectedness and sense of belonging to their communities. The literature provides theoretical insights for understanding player behaviour from the perspectives of personal values, objectives, conceptions, or economic interests, all of which can define a person’s cultural identity. Players’ actions may either determine a return on investment to their families, relatives and the community or strengthen the relationship with their local communities. Qualitative interviews with 20 former and current professional Ghanaian players contribute to explaining how their economic and non-economic investments in their communities are influenced by cultural identity. Findings reveal that Ghanaian players’ give-back behaviours are not only based on social norms and cultural values but also cement their cultural affiliation in the communities. The study can provide valuable information for African governments to congeal the African diaspora’s shared identity and history via socioeconomic investments to promote local and national development.

Social Support, Stress, and Mental Health: Examining the Stress-Buffering Hypothesis in Adolescent Football Athletes.

Football sport participation has been linked to both positive and negative effects on overall health. Social support, a network that provides individuals with resources to cope effectively, may positively influence one's stress and mental health. However, little research has been conducted on adolescent football players. To examine the relationships among social support, psychological stress, and mental health in adolescent football athletes. Cross-sectional study. High school athletes during the precompetitive and postcompetitive football season in rural Alabama. Black and African American adolescent athletes (N = 93) competing for a school-sponsored football team. After a competitive season, participants completed a battery of social support, psychological stress, and mental health symptom measures using the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Application and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System. The T-score means, Pearson correlations, and multiple regression analyses were calculated. Social support was negatively correlated with psychological stress (emotional support, r = -0.386; family relationships, r = -0.412; peer relationships, r = -0.265) and mental health (depression, r = -0.367 and r = -0.323 for emotional support and family relationships, respectively), whereas psychological stress and mental health (depression, r = 0.751; anxiety, r = 0.732) were positively correlated. In regression analyses, social support measures (ie, emotional support, family relationships, and peer relationships) were used to predict psychological stress (F = 7.094, P < .001, R2 = 0.191), depression symptoms (F = 5.323, P < .001, R2 = 0.151), and anxiety symptoms (F = 1.644, P = .190, R2 = 0.052). In line with the stress-buffering hypothesis, social support in the form of family relationships and overall emotional support garnered through sport participation may reduce psychological stress and help to preserve the mental health of football athletes. These findings indicate that perceived social support may act as a positive resource for the coping of Black and African American adolescent athletes. Further research is warranted to understand the effects of stress and social support on the mental health of adolescents, particularly racial and ethnic minorities who are underrepresented in the athletic training literature.

Factors enabling and hindering sporting success among South African elite athletes from historically disadvantaged areas: Through a coaching lens

Sporting success among nations provides a sense of value and national pride. This paper evaluated the perceptions and experiences of national coaches on the enablers and hindrances of international sporting success by elite athletes from historically disadvantaged areas (HDA) using the SPLISS framework. A qualitative research study design was employed for this study. Ten internationally recognised coaches (46.7 ± 12.9 years) volunteered for the study. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Data was analysed using a computer software programme. Governance, organisation and sports policies, coach provision, local/international competition access, bursaries/scholarships and sport volunteerism were perceived as enablers, while lack of financial support, foundation level participation, school sport, athlete retention, sports facilities, reliable transport system and scientific support were perceived to be hindrances to sporting success. The findings highlight the need for policymakers to oversee and ensure a systemic governance approach with an integrated sports support system and effective policies, institutions and strategic planning, coupled with an adequate budget allocation in support of this system to facilitate elite sports success.

I feel at home: an analysis of the perception of Immigrant East African road runners in Brazil

The present study aimed to analyze the perception of road runners of East African origin about the reception and hospitality extended to them by local athletes during the period in which they lived and competed in Brazil. A qualitative approach was used, appropriating sources acquired through interviews conducted by the authors of the study and documentary research. Among other findings, it was established that there was a distinction between personal relationships and the positioning of professional interests between Brazilian and East African athletes. In other words, as much as foreigners feel well received in Brazil, when they enter the professional part, Brazilian athletes express discontent with the presence of these foreign athletes in the country. The interview results and documentary analysis point to a contradiction. East African runners are considered athletic superstars and are admired by Brazilian runners. However, when it comes to professional relationships, Brazilians worry about financial losses related to race prizes when competing with top-performing African athletes. Key words: Qualitative research, Kenyan runners, Ethiopian runners, Brazil, Athlete Migration.

Intersex in the USA’s Best-Selling Undergraduate Psychology Textbooks: Uneven Critique in an Ongoing Scientific and Ethical Crisis

The field of intersex studies is advancing and requires scholars to update their knowledge and representation of people with intersex variations. To examine how psychology students are taught about people with intersex variations, we reviewed best-selling USA psychology textbooks in introductory psychology (n = 8), psychology of women and gender (n = 5), human sexuality (n = 4), and biological psychology (n = 3). All textbooks indexed intersex or cognate terms, with alternative terms (e.g., disorders of sex development) indexed less frequently. Intersex variations were described as emerging during the stages of sex development, and as challenging binary categories for sex. Several specific variations were commonly described as syndromes with little reference to psychological research or lived experiences. Women and girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) were most clearly framed as “natural experiments” about how nature and nurture intersect. Diverse sex development involving 46 XY genotypes tended to be described as difference from norms for male endosex development. However, two textbooks included lengthy narratives of people’s lived experiences as intersex, and photographs of intersex-identified individuals were common. Photo images of the South African athlete Caster Semenya depicted more of her body than did the photo images of other intersex-identified individuals. The textbooks generally included critical reflection on the assumptions of a gender binary, and on the attribution of ambiguity to others’ bodies, genetic determinism, the medical gaze, and the sex testing of athletes. We consider how information in these textbooks can shape the representation of intersex among psychology students, and how it may be used to develop more humanizing representations of intersex across all psychology textbooks.

Dual sport career experiences of student-athletes studying in South Africa and the USA

Background: Institutions of higher education are hubs for student-athletes pursuing dual careers, in sports and higher education. The concepts of dual careers, transition models and support systems for student sports provide the conceptual framework for this study.Objectives: The study investigated the dual sports career experiences of South African track and field student-athletes who studied at universities in South Africa and the United States of America (USA). Objectives determined satisfaction in terms of student-athlete support systems in their chosen localities.Method: This qualitative study used a purposive sample of 12 participants from a general population of South African junior track and field athletes who pursued dual careers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews.Results: The respondents found the US National Association Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports system superior to the South African sports system. The dual-career student-athletes transitioning through the last two stages of the South African Long-Term Athlete Development model reported a lack of support that negatively impacted the success of their dual career balance.Conclusion: The South African context of student sport is not generally conducive to creating and enabling a dual sports–academic career environment because of insufficient contextual, processional and sports-specific factors. The participants perceived the NCAA system of student sport as holistic and supportive of their dual-career development.Contribution: This study adds to the limited pool of knowledge relating to the dual-career development of student-athletes, and provides a base line for future research studies.

Influence of energy availability on metabolic hormonal profiles in east African female and male distance runners.

Energy availability (EA) and relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) are understudied in East African endurance athletes, both females (F) and males (M). This study assessed the metabolic hormonal profiles of such athletes relative to their EA status. Forty athletes (F=16, M=24) had their EA status, training, maximal oxygen uptake, and resting blood samples assessed using standard research practices. Subjects were stratified into two groups, high EA (HiEA) and low EA (LoEA) based on combined median value. Cortisol (P=0.034) and insulin (P=0.044) were significantly elevated in the LoEA group, while growth hormone (P=0.045) was significantly suppressed; and, prolactin (P=0.078) trended towards suppression, respectively compared to the HiEA group. All other hormonal comparison were non-significant. Metabolic hormonal profiles of female and male African distance runners are affected by their EA status. Aspects of these alterations agree in part with published findings based upon White populations, although some differences exist and need further investigation.

Dual Career Experiences of South African Olympic Athletes

Dual Career Experiences of South African Olympic Athletes

Spiritual Hermaphroditism or Thinking with the Androgynous Soul

“Oedipus complex and spiritual intelligence: Are men less spiritual than women? Part I” examined Sigmund Freud’s Oedipus complex and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex in the light of male spiritual intelligence. In it, we argued that men are likely to be less spiritually intelligent than women. We extrapolated the findings of the Pew Research Center 2016 Report which found that women were generally ― but not essentially or universally ― more religious than men. Part II argues that patriarchy and toxic masculinity, have made men less spiritually intelligent by canonising the alpha male. The result is that most men are unable to realise their full potential as created imago Dei or spiritual hermaphrodites. Disavowing patriarchalism enables them to embrace their androgyneity. Utilising the example of South African athlete, Caster Mokgadi Semenya, we argue that wherever we find ourselves on the continuum between the poles of male and female, even as inter-sex, we are all called to realise our spiritual hermaphroditism. In a nutshell, Part II is an invitation to think with the androgynous soul. Methodologically, we asked respondents to answer four questions on spiritual intelligence and gender fluidity. The theoretical framework chosen for both Part I and Part II was Sigmund Freud’s Oedipus complex, interpreted as a power drive in men to dethrone their father. We used online and offline surveys to generate the state of public opinion on the subject in academia. As purposive sampling, the number of returned questionnaires was inconsequential. Part II’s objective is to adumbrate a new theory of human sexuality called spiritual hermaphroditism, which would act as an antidote to toxic masculinity. Part II also required its own methodology, a literary-linguistic-syntactic analysis and hermeneutics of suspicion of Gen 1:26‒28 and 2:7, which was not dependent on informants’ views but addressed spiritual hermaphroditism.

A Mutual Dependency: Postcolonial Relations between the French Athletics Federation and French-Speaking African Athletics Federations (1956–1969)

While scholars of postcolonial Franco-African relations in the field of sport regularly examine football, they have paid little attention to athletics (track and field). Yet French athletics remains closely linked to the African countries that emerged from France’s former colonies, offering financial, material and human resources to develop the sport. This connection has led some of the best African athletes to represent French clubs or even to opt for French nationality. A variety of postcolonial processes were at work in the relationship between the French Athletics Federation (FFA) and the athletics federations of French-speaking African countries that emerged after independence. The time period studied begins when the North African states under French domination gained independence in 1956 and ends in 1969, before these relations were redefined around Francophonie (the community of countries that use the French language) and took on new forms. The corpus studied included specialist press archives and reports from French and international athletics federations. The results distinguish two periods since 1956. The first reveals a loose relationship of mutual dependence: the FFA needed colonial athletes following independence, and the new African federations needed the FFA in order to develop. In the second period, from 1963 onwards, this mutual dependence became institutionalized by a more official cooperation policy supported by the French government, in which the organizations involved each had an interest. This relationship would characterize relations between the FFA and the athletics federations of French-speaking African countries in the postcolonial period.

International Road Race of São Silvestre: why don't brazilians win anymore and what do we need to do?

Aim: To compare the Brazilian and foreign runners in the International Road Race of São Silvestre. Methods: Retrospective study that evaluated the results of 220 athletes of both genders that reached the top 10. The time of each race was converted in seconds to compare the performance. Results: After 11 editions of the International Road Race of São Silvestre only one Brazilian athlete won without any female victory. In the male 10 foreign athletes won (Kenya 5 x 5 Ethiopia) and all the females proved were won by foreign athletes (Kenya 9 x 2 Ethiopia). There was a difference when comparing the performance of foreign elite runners in the male (p&lt;0.004) and female (p&lt;0.001). Conclusion: Despite the large number of existing runners, the Brazilian elite does not develop the same level of performance to beat African athletes. To change this condition, it is necessary to change the strategy for preparing Brazilian athletes from the base of training athletes.

Promotion of Para Athlete Well-being (PROPEL II): A Cross-sectional Study of Sleep in Para Athletes Across Two Nations.

Limited research exists on the sleep profiles of South African Para athletes. The aims of this study are to describe sleep quality, day-time sleepiness, and chronotype of South African Para athletes and to compare the relationship between sleep-related outcomes and demographic factors to athletes from a higher-resource country. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted. Sleep-related characteristics were assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Multiple regression models were run with and without country as independent variable. One hundred twenty-four South African athletes and 52 Israeli athletes were included. Thirty percent of South African athletes presented with excessive daytime sleepiness, 35% slept 6 hrs or less per night, and 52% reported poor sleep quality. Thirty-three percent of Israeli athletes reported excessive daytime sleepiness, 29% slept 6 hrs or less, and 56% reported poor sleep quality. Chronotype was the only variable that differed significantly between countries (overrepresentation of morning types in South African athletes, and intermediate types in Israeli athletes). Intermediate chronotypes had significantly greater odds of excessive daytime sleepiness ( P = 0.007) and poor sleep quality ( P = 0.002) than morning types, irrespective of country. The high prevalence of poor sleep among both South African and Israeli Para athletes warrants further investigation.

‘I get used to it, I train through it, even though there are some days you cry through it’: Coping behaviours and adaptation of two West African footballers in Germany

Elite African players are a major group in the growing international football talent market, especially in Europe. Through qualitative interviews, this study examined the coping strategies and adaption practices of two West African athletes in the process of transition into German football and society. Examining the players’ narrative through the interpretive biography approach, the findings highlighted subjective adaptive and coping practices, as well as the role of the structures of talent development systems. The strategies included both problem-focussed and emotion-focussed strategies, namely training in a European-modelled football system, culture learning, multilocal belonging, rationalisation and acceptance of circumstance, reconstitution of self-identity, and social support. The key contributions demonstrate the impact of West African football academies on the experience of transnational migration, and the ways a transnational African athlete may redefine his conception of self to make sense of his experiences.

The transnational prosocial activities of elite African footballers in their communities of origin

Through a digital ethnography of Twitter and Instagram and semi-structured interviews, this paper examined the different forms of prosocial activities of elite African footballers in their home countries. A few studies have examined ‘give back’ activities in communities of origin in the form of remittances to family and friends and social philanthropy initiatives. This approach has proven to be limited as it does not capture their non-material contributions to society. By framing the research problem around the concepts of prosocial behaviour and athlete citizenship, this study added new dimensions to our understanding of African players’ prosocial activities in their home countries. The findings show that African players are socially conscious agents who are obliged by their social norms and cultural values to support their communities in many different ways, including through active citizenship. The implication is that conceptions of the elite African athlete need to recognise them as ‘citizen athletes’ whose non-sporting lives go beyond remittances and philanthropy.

BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PATIENTS WITH DIHYDROLIPOAMIDE DEHYDROGENASE DEFICIENCY

In 2016 Wayde Van Niekerk, a South African athlete of mixed-race heritage won an Olympic gold medal. In South Africa, his win caused hashtags such as #proudlysouthafrican, #blackexcellence and #colouredexcellence to trend online. By and large, these hashtags index the ongoing competitive discourses regarding nationalism, race and culture in Cape Town (cf. Author, 2018).Amongst these hashtags, however, was #dalawhatyoumust, a Kaaps hashtag generally meaning to “do what needs to be done”. Unlike the aforementioned hashtags, this one seems to cross the linguistic and racial divide despite its strong associations with Coloured1 people on the Cape Flats. The seemingly effortless uptake of this hashtag by diverse South Africans suggest that it has somehow become unmoored of its ethnic and linguistic inception.We explore the use of this Kaaps hashtag as a form of translingual practice which is affect-laden and transportable across and between diverse users online and which promotes a particular “cool Capetonian” culture. Analyzing select posts from the #dalawhatyoumust thread on Facebook, we provide a nuanced look at #dalawhatyoumust as an uplifting genre which proleptically advises nameless viewers of the importance of self-actualization, determination and aspiration. Additionally, we include Goffman’s (1974) framing foundation to investigate how positivistic discourse has been rhizomatically taken up by a ‘realm’ of implicit collective users online. This research interrogates long-held ideological boundaries between Kaaps and legitimized Standard Afrikaans and standard English.We conclude with a focus on Kaaps hashtags as semiotic acts of Linguistic Citizenship (cf. Williams and Stroud, 2013) which allows for the conjoining of Kaaps with diverse audiences, complex trajectories, and an assortment of accompanying semiotics. Following Stroud (2018:3) we argue that this Kaaps hashtag has become a form of languaging that facilitates “…the building of broad affinities of speakers that cut across…divisions and borders, and that negotiate co-existence/co-habitation outside of common ground in recognition of equivocation”. In South Africa, division was the order of the day and when we explore contemporary ordinary moments posted by heterogenous users using #dalawhatyoumust (henceforth #dwym) we aim to explore the ordinariness of languaging which brings people together despite their race, linguistic background, and ethnicity, that is to say an affinity of ‘cool Capetonian’ style.

Dalawhatyoumust: Kaaps, translingualism and linguistic citizenship in Cape Town, South Africa

In 2016 Wayde Van Niekerk, a South African athlete of mixed-race heritage won an Olympic gold medal. In South Africa, his win caused hashtags such as #proudlysouthafrican, #blackexcellence and #colouredexcellence to trend online. By and large, these hashtags index the ongoing competitive discourses regarding nationalism, race and culture in Cape Town (cf. Author, 2018).Amongst these hashtags, however, was #dalawhatyoumust, a Kaaps hashtag generally meaning to “do what needs to be done”. Unlike the aforementioned hashtags, this one seems to cross the linguistic and racial divide despite its strong associations with Coloured11Coloured people are characterized as those of mixed descent and so was differentiated from Black and White during apartheid. This is a diverse group where heritage could stem from countries such as Britain, Netherlands, Malaysia, Madagascar, Ceylon, India, Java and other places in Africa. people on the Cape Flats. The seemingly effortless uptake of this hashtag by diverse South Africans suggest that it has somehow become unmoored of its ethnic and linguistic inception.We explore the use of this Kaaps hashtag as a form of translingual practice which is affect-laden and transportable across and between diverse users online and which promotes a particular “cool Capetonian” culture. Analyzing select posts from the #dalawhatyoumust thread on Facebook, we provide a nuanced look at #dalawhatyoumust as an uplifting genre which proleptically advises nameless viewers of the importance of self-actualization, determination and aspiration. Additionally, we include Goffman’s (1974) framing foundation to investigate how positivistic discourse has been rhizomatically taken up by a ‘realm’ of implicit collective users online. This research interrogates long-held ideological boundaries between Kaaps and legitimized Standard Afrikaans and standard English.We conclude with a focus on Kaaps hashtags as semiotic acts of Linguistic Citizenship (cf. Williams and Stroud, 2013) which allows for the conjoining of Kaaps with diverse audiences, complex trajectories, and an assortment of accompanying semiotics. Following Stroud (2018:3) we argue that this Kaaps hashtag has become a form of languaging that facilitates “…the building of broad affinities of speakers that cut across…divisions and borders, and that negotiate co-existence/co-habitation outside of common ground in recognition of equivocation”. In South Africa, division was the order of the day and when we explore contemporary ordinary moments posted by heterogenous users using #dalawhatyoumust (henceforth #dwym) we aim to explore the ordinariness of languaging which brings people together despite their race, linguistic background, and ethnicity, that is to say an affinity of ‘cool Capetonian’ style.

Reproducibility of the brief religious coping inventory with African athletes' sample using ordinal factor analytical approach.

Previous studies have revealed that religious coping strategy is common among athletes due to the stressful experiences before and during competitions as part of the mental preparations they go through, the uncertainty of sporting outcomes, and other organizational issues they encounter. This research assessed the reproducibility of the Brief Religious Coping (RCOPE) instrument in an African setting using athletes' samples from different countries. Particularly, the research sought to assess the (1) factor structure of Brief RCOPE with an African sample, (2) construct validity of the RCOPE measure, and (3) measurement invariance of the RCOPE instrument based on gender and nationality. The study surveyed a convenient sample of 300 athletes, including 164 male and 136 female athletes, from 3 African countries (Benin, Ghana, and Nigeria) who participated in the 2018 West African University Games. The Brief RCOPE instrument was administered to the athletes for validation purposes before the competition. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using the ordinal factor analytic approach. This validation study confirmed the two-factor dimension (positive and negative religious coping) of the Brief RCOPE measure. Further, all items for each of the dimensions of the inventory contributed significantly to the measure of the Brief RCOPE domains. The positive and negative religious coping dimensions contributed more than half of the variance of their respective indicators. Measurement invariance across gender and nationality was confirmed. Sufficient evidence was gathered to support the interpretation and use of the Brief RCOPE measure. Coaches and sports psychologists could adopt the Brief RCOPE measure to understand the mental or thought patterns of religious athletes based on existential concerns or stress accrued from impending competitions to inform appropriate religious coping interventions. This notwithstanding, the Minimum Clinical Important Difference (MCID) of the Brief RCOPE should be further investigated to enhance the utility of the instrument for use in intervention-based studies.

‘Just another world’: an interpretive biography of the cultural transition of two West African footballers in Germany

This paper explored the cultural and career transition experiences of two elite West African footballers in Germany using the approach of interpretive biography. By analysing data collected through semi-­structured interviews, the players’ narratives revealed a range of experiences emerging at different temporal points or life domains. The experiences included the psychosocial states of pre-transition, the challenges associated with language and weather, the increased demands of professionalism, the challenge of adapting to a new environment and routines of daily life, the superficiality of relationships and the attendant loneliness. It however, advanced literature by demonstrating how an African footballer in Europe may locate self and progress career within the European football economy and how a high-status African migrant athlete may use his social position to characterise self in a certain manner so as to exercise the right to belong.

Identity and Sports Marketing in Africa: A General Review

Background: Sports marketing is distinct from other consumer products, and that producers of sport experience cannot foresee the outcome, certain events are unpredictable, and results are unknown. Aim: The study purpose was to examine and review identity and sports marketing in Africa. Methods: The study used qualitative data and relevant literature reviews, using past literally works and secondary data. Results: The study showed that the distinction between personal and social identity is frequently misleading, hiding both the parallels and linkages between two ostensibly different levels of identity. Moreover, the sports sector has the potential to contribute to Africa's industrial prosperity significantly. Findings of these results related to personal (self) and social identity and other practical implications are discussed. Conclusion: The study concluded that positive self-identity helps African athletes to have a positive image about themselves which enhances their sporting performance, thereby leading to sporting progress in Africa.