National Leagues Research Articles

Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1902–1931: The Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues

Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1902–1931: The Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues

Black baseball entrepreneurs, 1902-1931: the Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues

Black baseball entrepreneurs, 1902-1931: the Negro National and Eastern Colored Leagues

Camille Boillat and Raffaele Poli: Governance models across football associations and leagues (2014)

This book is derived from a research mandate carried out by the Centre International d’Etude du Sport (CIES) on behalf of FIFA. Camille Boillat is a scientific collaborator at the CIES, while Raffaele Poli is the head of the CIES Football Observatory. The book maps the various existing models of national football associations and leagues and attempts to study the relationship between the two. It is divided into the following four chapters: (1) structural models, legal forms and agreements between national association leagues; (2) the league in the national association structure; (3) division of labour between national associations and leagues and; (4) league internal governance. The authors studied 32 FIFA member associations from each football confederation representing various levels of football development. The methodology for the research consisted of collecting information from reports, official documents and online sources. In chapter 1, the authors make a distinction between the association model and the separate entity model. In the association model, leagues take the legal form of an association, similar to the national football association to which they belong. The separate entity model refers to leagues for which the legal form is that of a company with an independent ownership structure. The association model is further divided in countries where the leagues are managed by the national associations on the one hand, and countries where leagues enjoy a wide margin of autonomy, called ‘‘self-management’’ leagues, on the other. The consequent mapping of the different models using these two distinctions forms the basis for many of the conclusions drawn in the book. Leagues will usually have less voting power within their national association when they themselves enjoy a large amount of independence. Equally, in association model leagues with national association management the league president will be chosen by the national association. Leagues that are self-managed will have greater autonomy when devising its own executive committee. Other conclusions drawn in this book do not directly flow from the clear-cut distinction in models described in chapter 1. The English Premier league is a separate entity and therefore enjoys a large amount of independence. Nonetheless, it is the English FA that governs the disciplinary proceedings in English professional football. On the other hand, Cameroon’s top tier league follows the association model and is financially dependent of the national association. However, as regards the disciplinary proceedings, it is the league of Cameroon that is in charge. Being geographers by training, the authors do not provide a legal analysis of their findings. For example, the book does not touch on the question whether the selection of a certain model finds its origin in the national law of a certain country, nor whether the differences found in jurisdictions can be transposed to the differences in models. Although the authors do not state whether one model is better than another, the book is a useful tool to understand what it entails for countries to have a certain model and identify specific problems related to those models. For example, Spain is currently trying to reform its broadcasting rights distribution system from an individualised selling system to a joint selling system. However, the Spanish national association (RFEF), the Spanish league (LNFP) and the Sport Governmental Council for Sport & Oskar van Maren, Researcher International and European Sports Law O.van.Maren@asser.nl

Analysis of Match Performance of Full-backs from Selected European Soccer Leagues

The aim of the present study was the analysis of match activities of full-backs from selected European national soccer leagues. The study sample comprised 30 full-backs playing in the autumn round of the 2014/15 season from five European national top-tier leagues: English Premier League, Spanish Primera Division, German Bundesliga, Russian Priemjer Liga and Italian Serie A. The performance of full-backs (left-back and right-back) from each selected team was analyzed using a professional match analysis system OptaPro which tracks every possible type of ball touch and on the ball action in match covered by a rigid set of definitions. The data for analysis included the total number of passes, total number of crosses, and total number of ball touches performed by the full- backs in three zones of the pitch: attack, midfield and defense. The study results showed that the full-backs from the Spanish Primera Division executed the highest number of passes and crosses as well as ball touches in the attack zone. They also performed the lowest number of passes in the midfield and defense zones, in which the highest percentage of passes was achieved by the full-backs from the German league teams. The study indicates that in modern soccer defenders must possess a high level of offensive skills that can be necessary in the last stage of a team's attack.

Sports anthropological and somatotypical investigation of female handball players of different performance classes

The present study examines anthropometric and somatotypical differences between female handball players of the first and the second national league (n = 24, the age range 16–31 years) on the one side and female handball players of the district league (n = 24, age range 18–48 years) on the other side. Anthropometric data and computed constitutional and somatotypical parameters correspond to international standards.For the body height there is a highly significant difference in both leagues, as well as for the arm span in favor of higher performance classes. Finally, the arm length determines essential leverage ratios and throwing power and hence the performance in handball. Also for most of the rest of the height parameters the national leagues are dominating the district leagues.Within the study cohort, the goalkeepers are the largest, followed by the backcourt.The national league handball players have the expected smaller percentage of body fat and a higher lean body mass than the district players. The body weight of the female national league players surpasses the body mass of the district players by 3.6 kg. In the chess-board pattern graphic after CONRAD the players of the national leagues are more hyperplastic.The average somatotypes after PARNELL (1958) for the female handball players of the national leagues are 4-3-3 and for the district league 5-3-2. The corresponding somatotypes after HEATH and CARTER are 4.3-3.5-1.8 and 4.9-3.9-1.8.

Components of home advantage in 157 national soccer leagues worldwide

Comparison was made of home advantage in 157 national domestic soccer leagues throughout the world for six seasons between 2006 and 2012, a total of 169,752 games. Quantified as the number of competition points won by the home team that was expressed as a percentage of all points gained in the league, the advantage was present in all continents, but showed considerable variation between countries. It was by far the highest in Nigeria (86.82%), followed by Bosnia-Herzegovina, Guatemala, Indonesia, Algeria, Bolivia and Ghana, all between 70% and 80%. Regionally, there were pockets of high home advantage in the Andes, the Balkans, West Africa and Central America, while in the Baltic republics and in most of the Arabian Peninsula it was low. A multivariate model was developed by using proxy variables for the main explanations of home advantage and its worldwide variation. After controlling for the competitive balance in each league, significant predictors of home advantage were: Fédération Internationale de Football Association ranking (a proxy for crowd support), the maximum geographical distance between teams, the majority of teams coming from a single city, at least two teams playing at a high altitude, the recent occurrence of a civil war and the Corruption Perception Index. The model accounted for 43% of the variability in home advantage, the rest of which needs to be investigated after developing more precise measures for territoriality, the ethnic and cultural factors involved and the potential for referee bias.

Body Dimensions of Elite Handball Players with Respect to Laterality, Playing Positions and Playing Standard

Body Dimensions of Elite Handball Players with Respect to Laterality, Playing Positions and Playing Standard The aim of the present study was to examine, using a large player database, between-playing positions and playing standard differences in body dimensions. Methods: We compared stature and body mass of 1295 male elite handball players from different playing positions, i.e., backs (left and right), center backs, goalkeepers, pivots, wings (left and right) and playing standards (European championship, Champions league matches and national leagues from Germany, Spain and France).

LEAGUE‐LEVEL ATTENDANCE AND OUTCOME UNCERTAINTY IN U.S. PRO SPORTS LEAGUES

We extend the breakpoint literature regarding annual league‐level attendance and the impact of outcome uncertainty to the National Basketball Association, National Football League, and National Hockey League. As our measures are different than past work on baseball, we also apply our model to the American and National Leagues. Attendance series for each league under consideration are not stationary overall, but are stationary with break points. No form of outcome uncertainty (game, play‐off, or across seasons) matters for attendance in hockey or baseball regardless of which game uncertainty variable is used. Under the measure of game uncertainty that recommends itself for football, only play‐off uncertainty matters for attendance. Whether outcome uncertainty matters for basketball depends on the measure of game uncertainty. Situational similarities in the break points across leagues suggest general areas for future research. (JEL L83, C22)

World Health Day

Each year, World Health Day celebrates the formation of the World Health Organization. In 2013, the theme is hypertension, and on April 4 there will be a media release from the World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/ world-healthday/en/). The WHO intends to focus attention on “the causes and consequences of hypertension, the need for people to have healthy behaviours to prevent hypertension, the need for regular blood pressure checks, and the need for governments to create healthy environments that would assist in preventing hypertension.” Increased blood pressure is recognized by the WHO as the leading risk for death and disability worldwide. An estimated 9.4 million deaths annually and 7% of all disability are caused by increased blood pressure. The World Hypertension League supports the efforts of the WHO to bring attention to hypertension and requests national hypertension organizations and experts utilize the World Health Day to advocate for actions to prevent and control hypertension. In addition, the World Hypertension League through its national member leagues and societies promote public awareness of hypertension through World Hypertension Day, annually, on May 17th. The World Hypertension League reminds all that:

Cardiac events in football and strategies for first-responder treatment on the field

BackgroundThe incidence and outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and global strategies for prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in football are not known. The aim of this study was...

Women’s national leagues: does CEDAW go far enough?

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, CEDAW on the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 1249 U.N.T.S. 13, 1979) states the goals of equality between men and women in sports. However, today there are only a limited number of women’s national leagues in the world, but hundreds of men’s national leagues, which seems to go against CEDAW’s edict of equality. This paper will consider the issues relative to the goals of CEDAW with regard to equality as specifically applied to the idea of women’s national professional sports leagues and whether or not CEDAW goes far enough in supporting this goal.

The Effect of an Ecological Imagery Program on Soccer Performance of Elite Players

Despite the acknowledged impact of imagery on performance, ecologically sound studies investigating imagery and its effects on performance subcomponents in real games are surprisingly limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of imagery training on passing improvement in elite soccer players. Sixty nine soccer players taking part in the national championship leagues in four age categories including U16, U19, U21 and over 21 were randomly assigned to the imagery and control groups. Interventional group participants completed an 8 week video-aided, cognitive imagery program on how to make a perfect soccer pass. Performance analysis through close video analysis showed that successful pass rate increased significantly in the intervention group compared to control (OR = 1.19, P=0.002, (95%)CI = 1.06-1.33). Further analysis revealed that the results are statistically significant in U16 and U21 but not other categories. We concluded that successful soccer passing through real competitions as a multidimensional and critical open skill could be enhanced by an ecologically sound method of mental imagery.

Short-term isokinetic training versus isotonic training: effects on asymmetry in strength of thigh muscles.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two training protocols on the isokinetic performance of athletes. The study was conducted in 38 athletes, (age 23.3 ± 3.6 years) participating in national level leagues of different sports, whose initial concentric hamstrings-to-quadriceps (conH/Q) torque ratio was lower than 0.5. During seasonal testing, an isokinetic measurement of knee extensors and flexors was performed at 60°/s. The athletes were divided into two groups. Nineteen athletes performed the isokinetic training protocol (IT) while the second group of 19 athletes followed the isotonic training protocol (RT). Both protocols lasted 4 weeks. After completing the training protocols, both groups underwent a final isokinetic testing. The isokinetic data revealed significant increases after training in measures of peak torque in both extensor and flexor muscle groups, in both the IT and RT study groups (p < 0.05). There were significant increases (p< 0.05) in conH/Q ratio in both groups after the implemented protocols, but greater in IT group. Consequently, applied IT protocol induced changes in working muscles, thereby restoring detected asymmetry to an acceptable balance more efficiently compared to RT protocol.

Assessment of umpire perceptual and decision-making skill in Australian Football

Introduction: Australian Football (AF) is a complex team sport given the game speed, the number of athletes, and the combative nature of contests. Consequently, unique perceptual and decision-making demands are placed on the umpires to adjudicate and make ‘correct’ decisions. This study sought to validate the use of a video-based protocol for the assessment of domain-specific perceptual and decision-making skill for AF umpires. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the presence of any perceptual/decision-making differences between AF umpires across two distinct skill levels (national and state leagues).

Dental injuries in water polo, a survey of players in Switzerland

Water polo is a sporting activity which has a medium risk of causing dental trauma. Owing to the high speed, close body contact, and the combination of throwing and swimming that is inherent to the sport, the general injury potential is high. Using a standardized questionnaire for a total of 415 water polo players from Switzerland, this study examines the frequency of dental and facial injuries in water polo, athletes' habits regarding the wearing of mouthguards, and the general level of knowledge about emergency procedures following dental trauma. The participating players came from 6 divisions: Swiss national leagues A and B, first and second leagues, as well as the women's, and junior's league. The data were evaluated according to division and gender. Of the 415 interviewees, 185 (44.6%) had witnessed a dental injury in water polo. Eighty-seven (21.0%) players reported having suffered a tooth injury when playing water polo. Tooth fracture was the most stated dental injury [86 (16.4%)]. A similar number of tooth injuries were experienced by both male [355 (21.1%)] and female [60 (20.0%)] players. The interviewees over the age of 50 showed a higher incidence of tooth injuries than younger players (>50 years = 41.7%). Slightly more than half of the interviewed players [228 (54.9%)] were aware of the possibility of replanting avulsed teeth. As few as 43 (10.4%) players were familiar with tooth rescue boxes. Only 32 (7.7%) water polo players wore a mouthguard; the most common reason for not wearing a mouthguard was that it was seen to be unnecessary [169 (40.7%)]. This survey highlights the potential for improvement in the level of knowledge about dental injury prevention in water polo. In addition to information and guidelines from the relevant sports' associations, and coaches, dentists could also play a role in the provision of this education.

How the Shaughnessy Plan Redefined Success in Sports

There were cries of heresy and treason under headlines such as Has Sold Its Soul for Cheap TV Thrills when in 1993 Major League Baseball expanded its postseason structure to double the number of qualifying ball-clubs in both the National and American Leagues.(1) Critics accused baseball of stooping to the postseason greed sported by the three other dominant professional sports, football, basketball, and hockey. is the only major sport where only a champion at the end of the long season qualifies for the opportunity to play for the world title, Joe Giuliotti wrote in the Boston Herald. Now there's a move to dilute its championship format. The new playoff structure will be a world with wild-card races instead of pennant races, a world in which finishing first is worth just a one-game home-field advantage in a best-of-five first round playoff series, Jayson Stark wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The idea literally didn't play in Peoria. Spurred on by lust for lost television revenues and a reckless desire to spur new interest in the game, [baseball] plans to add second-place division wild card teams to form a new tier of postseason games, Bryan Oberle wrote in the Peoria Journal Star. (2) In reality, though, the playoffs that the NFL, NBA, and NHL had so successfully orchestrated to generate millions of dollars in revenue had been originally spawned by baseball--through its minor-league operations--which the other professional sports leagues had merely copied. Very few commentators in 1993 bothered to mention baseball's role in the original creation of the playoff concept back in 1933. New York Times writer Charles Einstein was one who did evoke the memory of the father of the playoff concept. And the name of the mystery man mentioned above? Frank Einstein wrote about the forgotten pioneer of the playoffs. devised a post-season playoff scheme that all of the more than 50 Depression-ridden minor leagues instantly adopted, mainly to save themselves from total collapse. The first four teams in any eight-team league automatically made it into the playoffs?' It had just taken Major League Baseball a little longer than other professional sports to adopt the playoff concept that Shaughnessy had pioneered in the minor leagues six decades earlier. (3) In the 1995 season, for the first time in the more than one hundred years of Major League Baseball, a ballclub without the credential of a first-place finish, the wild card, had a chance to be crowned champion. Indeed, just two years later, the Florida Marlins did capture the National League pennant as a wild-card qualifier, and then went on to win the World Series. By 2004 when the wild-card Boston Red Sox dislodged the Curse of the Bambino and won the World Series, the third consecutive wild-card ballclub to do so, there were few, if any, who felt that the Red Sox were not legitimate holders of the title. Actually, fans loved it. However, one hundred years earlier when the Red Sox won the first modern World Series in 1903, that would not have been the case. Since the formation of the National League in 1876, the champion ballclub in a major league was determined on a winner-take-all basis, rewarding the ball-club with the best win-loss record during the regular season (with just one exception). From 1969 to 1993 (except for the 1981 strike-interrupted year), the leagues had two divisions where the two first-place finishers vied to be league champion. Following the strike-shortened season of 1994, Major League Baseball implemented the cataclysmic change in postseason structure, with the eight-club playoff format described above for the 1995 season. (4) Frank Shaughnessy, general manager of the Montreal International League ballclub in 1933, had cast the seeds of the 1995 change in how league champions were determined in Major League Baseball. Shaughnessy devised a system of postseason playoffs (the Plan) that not only revolutionized how champions were determined but also how success was defined at the highest levels of professional sports. …

The relationship between different adaptational changes and injury in the dominant shoulder of female overhead athletes

BackgroundAdaptational changes (gleno-humeral internal rotation deficit – GIRD, SICK scapula signs and muscular imbalances) develop in the dominant shoulder of overhead athletes.ObjectiveTo evaluate the incidence and the correlation between different...

Reduced home advantage for basketball teams from capital cities in Europe

The aim of the present study was to investigate the home advantage effect in professional basketball leagues in Europe, especially the differences in home advantage between capital city teams and other teams in each country. All the teams (n=159) of seven national professional basketball leagues were studied (Bulgaria, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Spain, and Turkey) and classified as capital city teams or other teams. The data (n=7432 games) were gathered for six seasons (2003–2004 to 2008–2009). The results confirmed the existence of a home advantage effect in all seven basketball leagues. There was a significant difference (P<0.001) between the leagues, with home advantage highest in Romania (65.10%) and Greece (65.02%), and lowest in Turkey (58.12%) and Lithuania (56.13%). The results also show that capital city teams experienced lower home advantage compared with other teams in all seven countries. After controlling for team ability, this was statistically significant for Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Turkey (all P<0.05), but not for Lithuania, Russia or Spain (all P>0.10). These results are consistent with previous studies in football, which suggested that teams playing in capital cities in Europe had lower home advantage than those playing elsewhere. Possible reasons for this finding include a diminished sense of being part of a cohesive local community when playing in a capital city, a lower sense of territorial protection and, for the away team, a lessened feeling of unfamiliarity.

Comparing Hall of Fame Baseball Players Using Most Valuable Player Ranks

We propose a rank-based statistical procedure for comparing performances of top major league baseball players who performed in different eras. The model is based on using the player ranks from voting results for the most valuable player awards in the American and National Leagues. The current voting procedure has remained the same since 1932, so the analysis regards only data for players whose career blossomed after that time. Because the analysis is based on quantiles, its basis is nonparametric and relies on a simple link function. Results are stratified by fielding position, and we compare 73 Hall of Fame players up to 2010. We also consider the players on the 2011 Hall of Fame ballot as well as other potential Hall of Fame candidates. The analysis is based on the method of maximum likelihood, and results are illustrated graphically.

THE IDENTIFICATION OF MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS RELATED WITH HORIZONTAL BODY AXES OF HANDBALL AND FOOTBALL PLAYERS

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Many research projects that deal with the transformations of morphological characteristics have pointed out their extensive complexity, considering the fact that they are the result of genetic factors (endogenic influence) as well as factors pertaining to the environment (exogenic factors), where it is necessary to point out that the influence of genetic factors is not the same for all of the latent morphological dimensions. &amp;amp;Ograve;he different positions of the biacromial and bicristal range in the latent and taxonomic structure of morphological characteristics that have contributed to the actualization of the problem of the relation between the first and second horizontal axis of the body, as well as their relations to the other components of morphological status. Taking that viewpoint, we defined the aim of this research to identify those morphological characteristics which are to the greatest extent related to the development of the horizontal axes. Using a sample of 130 athletes, handball players (N=70) and soccer players (N=60), aged 16 to 27, all of whom play in national leagues, and using a system of 21 anthropometric variables, we analyzed the relations between the first and second horizontal axis of the body, and their connection to the development of the remaining morphological characteristics. The first horizontal axis was defined as the biacromial range and the other as the bicristal range, while the remaining morphological characteristics were defined as the 19 standard measurements of longitudinal and transversal dimensionality, volume and body mass, and subcutaneous fatty tissue. When calculating the connection between the first and second horizontal axis and the remaining variables of the morphological system, we used the Pearson correlation coefficient. In addition, we calculated the dimorphism index for the biacromial and bicristal range as the point of the biserial correlation between the peripheral types of sport and every horizontal axis. It has been determined that in the case of handball players, it is possible to talk of biacromial and bicristal variants of an ectomesomorphic body type, while in the case of soccer players, of a biacromial variant of an ectomorphic type and a bicristal variant of an endomesomorphic body type. Both in the case of the biacromial and bicristal range, the dimorphism is pronounced among athletes who belong to different populations.&amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;