State League Research Articles

Epidemiology of Acute and Overuse Injuries in Underwater Rugby.

Underwater rugby (UWR) is a team sport. Athletes require a high degree of strength, endurance, speed, and coordination involving intense physical contact. Currently, a paucity of literature exists regarding injury occurrence in UWR. To examine the nature and prevalence of acute and overuse injuries in UWR. Descriptive epidemiology study. Between November 2020 and March 2021, a total of 720 German UWR athletes were invited to take an online survey developed by orthopaedic specialists with UWR athletes. Data were recorded regarding general and health-related information, training habits, acute injuries that necessitated an interruption in training and/or doctor consultation, as well as overuse injuries. Overuse injuries were evaluated using the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Overuse Injury Questionnaire. Statistical analyses included t tests or rank sum tests depending on normality of distribution. A nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analysis of variance on ranks was used for nonnormally distributed data among several groups. This study included 161 active athletes (mean ± SD, 36.1 ± 11.9 years old; 75.3% male) for analysis, of whom 90.1% were competing regularly. The performance-level distribution was as follows: first German national league (n = 73), second German national league (n = 46), state league (n = 17), district league (n = 1), and no league (n = 24). The mean ± SD sport-specific training workload was 5.6 ± 3.0 h/wk, including UWR training, additional swimming (n = 71; 44.1%), strength (n = 70; 43.5%), and/or endurance training (n = 102; 63.4%). Acute injuries were recorded in 78.9% of all athletes. The most typical locations for acute injuries were hand/finger (42.4%), head/face (concussion, ruptured eardrum; 18.1%), wrist (5.5%), or spine (5.0%). Overuse injuries were reported by 42.9% of the participants. The predominant locations for overuse injuries were hand/finger (18.8%), shoulder/clavicle (14.1%), spine and wrist (10.7% each), head/face (8.7%), and ankle joint and knee (6.7% each). In the current study, 3 of 4 athletes reported at least 1 acute injury, and 2 of 5 athletes reported at least 1 overuse injury. Leading injury regions were the hand/finger, head/ear, wrist, and spine.

The cross-border movement of Republic of Ireland-born footballers to Northern Ireland clubs, 1922-2000

ABSTRACT This article examines the movement of Republic of Ireland-born players to Northern Ireland for professional football purposes after the partition of Ireland in 1921. It traces how this continued after the formation of the Free State League in Dublin and shows how a number of players used Belfast clubs to move to those of a higher level in Britain. However, it primarily focuses on movement to Northern Ireland from Dublin during the Troubles (1968–1998). In doing so, it draws on interviews with five Republic of Ireland-born players who made the decision to sign for clubs in Northern Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s. It examines the reasons why they made these moves, their concerns over security issues and it explores their relationships with players, managers and supporters at their new clubs. It will be shown that there were mixed experiences but the players generally felt welcomed by their new clubs.

Insights from an examination of a state league coach development initiative in community Australian Football (AFL) clubs

ABSTRACT Background: The need to generate empirical evidence regarding the nature of coach development in sports coaching to inform more meaningful coach education programmes is recognised. Understanding the professional development of sport coaches is a developing and growing area of scholarship, with calls for the implementation and evaluation of mentoring programmes that provide in situ contextualised mentoring to support coach development. Purpose: This paper provides insights gained from the examination of a coach education programme in Australia run by a state Australian football (AFL: Australian Football League) sporting body that utilised the role of a dedicated coach developer to facilitate community club coach development. Method: The research was guided by an interpretivist perspective and used a qualitative methodology enabling the researchers to make meaning from the data. Focus groups (N = 4: 12 participants) and semi-structured individual interviews (N = 9) were used to collect data. The interviews were analysed utilising inductive thematic analysis. Themes derived from interpretative analysis of the interview data were then analysed using an abductive process of induction and deduction to consider the data through the lens of the theoretical framework: situated learning. Results: The four themes developed were: reliance on volunteers; coach development resources, barriers and facilitators of coach development and club culture. The study found that cultivating coach education as a community of practice is not easy in an environment that is reliant on a volunteer workforce. Conclusion: A club culture that places a focus on a positive player environment through quality coaching tends to invest in a coach and player retention, and parent satisfaction and engagement. The affiliation of positive physical, social and cultural concepts with a positive player environment led clubs to anticipate success in these areas and a translation to the best possible quality in coaching practice, sustainable learning and knowledge acquisition. Further research is warranted to broaden knowledge of the scope of practice across other states in Australia and other sporting bodies.

Apples and oranges? Comparing player performances between the Australian Football League and second-tier leagues

ABSTRACT This study developed a model to determine the extent to which player performance objectively differs between various Australian football (AF) leagues. Champion Data (CD) ranking points were obtained during the 2016–2019 seasons, for all players across the Australian Football League (AFL) and the 10 main second-tier AF leagues. Data pertaining to each player’s age, playing position and the AF leagues in which they competed in were also collected. Phase One investigated the difference between the AFL and the senior second-tier leagues in which AFL affiliate teams participate. Post-hoc tests indicated that objective player performance was substantially different between the AFL and each of the four senior second-tier leagues (effects ranging from 16.8 to 21.6 CD ranking points). Phase Two investigated the difference between the second-tier leagues from which players are traditionally drafted by an AFL club. Post-hoc tests indicated that objective player performance was substantially different between the four senior second-tier leagues as well as the under-18 national championships, in comparison to each of the reserve and under-18 state leagues. Professional sporting organisations may utilise the methods provided here as an example of what could be implemented to support decisions regarding player contracting, recruitment and team selection.

ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ ЗАКЛАДІВ ІНТЕРНАТНОГО ТИПУ НА ЗАКАРПАТТІВ ПЕРІОД ДРУГОЇ СВІТОВОЇ ВІЙНИ

The history of boarding schools’ formation and development in Ukraine in general and in Transcarpathia in particular is an important source of pedagogical experience, the study, analysis and systematization of which will contribute to understanding of modern globalization in education and designing its future.Purpose is to fnd out the main trends in the boarding schools development and practice in Transcarpathia during the Second World War.Methods: bibliographical search is for the archival and library catalogs study, collections and descriptions; archival materials content analysis (orders government instructions); chronological is for determining the main trends in the boarding schools’ development and practice in Transcarpathia in 1939–1944.Results. Transcarpathian lands territorial subordination to Hungary in 1939 led to a change in the name of the region: instead of Subcarpathian Russia (during the period of Transcarpathian lands belong to the Czechoslovak Republic) Transcarpathian lands that returned to Hungary were called “Subcarpathia”. Childhood education and social protection were the the Podkarpackie Regent Commissioner’s responsibility, who appointed the principal of the Podkarpackie school district, and decisions on orphans and children deprived of parental care were the district orphanage courts’ responsibility. The Hungarian government organized a number of humanitarian actions in the returned territories through the involvement of government organizations “Hungarian for Hungarian” and the State League for the Protection of Children. With the beginning of hostilities, some boarding schools were subject to re-profiling: a separate structural unit of the Mukachevo State Orphanage “Orphanage for the crippled” was reorganized into the therapeutic department of the hospital in Mukachevo, and the educational building of the orphanage in Nad Sevlyush transferred to the use of the Hungarian army. The living and feeding conditions of pupils in boarding schools in Podkarpackie, and especially in orphanages (Greek-Catholic orphanage “Holy Family”) and family-type settlements have become more complicated. Constant changes in the pupils’ contingent, state orphanages employees’ places of work have led to late and incorrect payment of salaries to teachers and support staff of boarding schools.Conclusions. The boarding schools practice in Transcarpathia in the period 1939–1944 is characterized by the following trends: 1)boarding education curtailment in connection with the hostilities start, which reduced staffing and reduced the level of material and technical support of the educational process in boarding schools; 2)spreading the religious and public organizations influence (League for the Children’s Protection, “Levente”, “Hungarian for Hungarian”, etc.)Key words: boarding schools, orphanages, Transcarpathia, Hungary.

Player Wellness (Soreness and Stress) and Injury in Elite Junior Australian Football Players Over 1 Season

Purpose: To investigate the association between player wellness and injury in elite junior Australian football players over 1 competitive season. Methods: Prospective cohort study. Elite junior Australian football players (N = 196, average age = 17.7 y, range = 16–18 y) were recruited in the under-18 state league competition in Victoria, Australia. They recorded their wellness (sleep, fatigue, soreness, stress, and mood) according to a 5-point Likert scale 3 times weekly, with injuries (missed match/training session) entered into an online sport-injury surveillance system. A logistic generalized estimating equation was used to examine the association (expressed as odds ratio [OR]) between wellness and injury (yes/no). Results: Soreness was associated with injury at each time point across the week, with the strongest association evident for soreness reported 6 d postmatch (OR = 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17–1.44; P < .001). Stress and injury were associated with injury for average stress values across the week, as well as specifically on day 1 postmatch (OR = 1.10; 95% CI, 1.01–1.21; P = .038). Mood reported in the middle of the week (3 d postmatch) was associated with injury (OR = 0.87; 95% CI, 0.78–0.97; P = .014), as was fatigue (OR = 1.10; 95% CI, 1.00–1.22; P = .044). Conclusions: This study demonstrates key associations between wellness and injury in elite junior Australian football, specifically soreness, stress, fatigue, and mood. Monitoring strategies help identify injury-risk profiles, which can help decision makers (coaches or medical staff) intervene when relevant to reduce injury risk.

The type and variation of evasive manoeuvres during an attacking task differ across a rugby league development pathway

ABSTRACT This study examined the relationship between evasive skill and developmental level in a rugby league (RL) talent pathway. An observational and cross-sectional research design was used with a total sample of 90 male participants (under 18, n = 30; under 20, n = 30; and state league, n = 30) performing an attack play task, requiring three attackers to compete against two defenders to successfully generate a “line-break”. Assessment criteria of the task included start position, type of evasive manoeuvre and task outcome (successful line-break or not), with relationships determined using the Fischer’s exact test (Crosstabs Command) with adjusted residuals (AR) and the multinomial logistic regression. Outcome scores for the task did not significantly differ between development levels, but the relationship between development level and evasive manoeuvres was significant (χ2 = 35.916; df = 26; P = 0.026; ES = 0.27). State league players had a greater frequency of “angled run”, “all square run” and combinations of evasive manoeuvres compared to the other levels. This study demonstrated that variation and type of evasive manoeuvre used by players differed across developmental level. These results could support the design of training activities intended to develop evasive skill in talented junior RL players.

Passing and tackling qualities discriminate developmental level in a rugby league talent pathway

ABSTRACTThis study compared the passing and tackling qualities of talent identified rugby league (RL) players within a developmental pathway. From a total of 88 players, three developmental levels were defined: under 18 years (U18; n = 27), under 20 years (U20; n = 29), and state league (SL; n = 32). All participants performed skills tests that measured passing and tackling qualities. A MANOVA modelled the main effect of developmental level (three levels: U18, U20 and SL) with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves then built for variables that showed a significant effect. A significant effect was noted for passing over four to 12 m (V= 0.303, F = 2.406, P< 0.05), with the SL players outperforming their U18 and U20 counterparts. The ROC curves generated an area under the curve of greater than 63% for each passing test criterion, indicating greater than chance discrimination. The choice of tackle and technical execution of tackle discriminated the SL players from the U18 and U20 groups. Utilising the criteria for objective measures for fundamental skill assessment throughout RL development is likely to assist with the junior-to-senior transition of talented RL players.

Absolute and Relative Load and Injury in Elite Junior Australian Football Players Over 1 Season.

To investigate the association between training and match loads and injury in elite junior Australian football players over 1 competitive season. Elite junior Australian football players (n = 290, age 17.7 [0.3] y, range 16-18y) were recruited from the under-18 state league competition in Victoria to report load and injury information. One-week load (session rating of perceived exertion multiplied by duration) and all time-loss injuries were reported using an online sport-injury surveillance system. Absolute load measures (weekly sums) enabled the calculation of relative measures such as the acute:chronic workload ratio. Load measures were modeled against injury outcome (yes/no) using a generalized estimating equation approach, with a 1-wk lag for injury. Low (<300arbitrary units [au]) and high (>4650au) 1-wk loads were associated with significantly higher risk of injury. Furthermore, low (<100au) and high (>850au) session loads were associated with a higher risk of injury. High strain values (>13,000) were associated with up to a 5-fold increase in the odds of injury. There was a relatively flat-line association between the acute:chronic workload ratio and injury. This study is the first investigation of elite junior athletes demonstrating linear and nonlinear relationships between absolute and relative load measures and injury. Coaches should focus player loads on, or at least close to, the point at which injury risk starts to increase again (2214au for 1-wk load and 458au for session load) and use evidence-based strategies across the week and month to help reduce the risk of injury.

Physical, Anthropometric, and Athletic Movement Qualities Discriminate Development Level in a Rugby League Talent Pathway.

Pearce, LA, Sinclair, WH, Leicht, AS, and Woods, CT. Physical, anthropometric, and athletic movement qualities discriminate development level in a rugby league talent pathway. J Strength Cond Res 32(11): 3169-3176, 2018-This study compared the physical, anthropometric, and athletic movement qualities of talent-identified rugby league (RL) players within a development pathway. From a total of 174 players, 3 developmental levels were defined: under 18 (U18; n = 52), under 20 (U20; n = 53), and state league (SL; n = 69). All players performed a test battery that consisted of 5 physical assessments, 2 anthropometric measurements, and an athletic movement assessment. A multivariate analysis of variance modeled the main effect of developmental level (3 levels: U18, U20, and SL) on test criterion variables. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were then built for the criterion variables that showed a significant developmental level effect. A significant effect was noted (V = 0.775, F = 5.43, p ≤ 0.05), with the SL players outperforming their U18 and U20 counterparts for measures of body mass, peak and average lower limb power, double lunge (left side), single-leg Romanian deadlift (left and right sides), the push-up, and total athletic ability assessment score (p ≤ 0.05; d = 0.35-1.21). The ROC curves generated an area under the curve of greater than 65% for each test criterion, indicating greater than chance discrimination. These results highlight the physical, anthropometric, and athletic movement qualities discriminant of development level within a RL talent pathway. Practitioners are encouraged to consider the thresholds from the ROC curves as an objective guide to assist with the development of physical performance qualities that may augment player progression in Australian RL.

Elite Junior Australian Football Players Experience Significantly Different Loads Across Levels of Competition and Training Modes.

Lathlean, TJH, Gastin, PB, Newstead, S, and Finch, CF. Elite junior Australian football players experience significantly different loads across levels of competition and training modes. J Strength Cond Res 32(7): 2031-2038, 2018-Well-developed physical qualities such as high jumping ability, running endurance, acceleration, and speed can help aspiring junior elite Australian football (AF) players transition to the Australian Football League competition. To do so, players need to experience sufficient load to enhance their physical resilience without increasing their risk of negative outcomes in terms of impaired wellness or injury. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in load for different levels of competition and training modes across one competitive season. Elite junior AF players (n = 562, aged 17.7 ± 0.3, range: 16-18 years) were recruited from 9 teams across the under-18 state league competition in Victoria. All players recorded their training and match intensities according to the session rating of perceived exertion method. Training sessions were categorized according to skills, strength, conditioning, and other activities, whereas matches were identified according to level of competition. The loads in U18 state league matches (656.7 ± 210.9 au) were significantly higher (p = 0.027) than those in school matches (643.3 ± 260.9 au) and those in U18 representative matches (617.2 ± 175.4). Players, who undertook more than one match per week, experienced significantly less load in subsequent matches (p < 0.001). Furthermore, U18 state league training sessions carried the most load when compared with other training modes. This article highlights that different combinations of training and match involvement affect overall player load, which may predispose players to negative outcomes such as impaired wellness or increased injury risk.

Greater loss of horizontal force after a repeated-sprint test in footballers with a previous hamstring injury

ObjectivesTo quantify changes in running kinetics and kinematics during a repeated-sprint test in football players, and explore the sensitivity and specificity with which these variables can identify previous hamstring injury. Design20 Western Australia State League footballers with previous unilateral hamstring injury and 20 players without completed a 10×6-s repeated-sprint test on a non-motorised treadmill dynamometer. MethodsChanges in horizontal force, vertical force, contact time and flight time were compared between previously injured and uninjured legs of participants. ResultsMean horizontal force production of the previously injured leg in the injured group was 13% lower (p=0.001), and this magnitude of change was used to identify the injured legs within the cohort with 77% specificity and 85% sensitivity. Furthermore, the area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve (0.846) demonstrated that the between-leg difference in mean horizontal force was a good instrument for identifying previous hamstring injury. ConclusionsThere is a greater fatigued-induced change in mean horizontal force during a repeated-sprint test in legs with previous hamstring injury than the non-injured legs of the injured players or the legs of uninjured players. Such asymmetry may contribute to impaired performance in football players returning from hamstring injury and also to the high rate of hamstring re-injury. Rehabilitation and return-to-play strategies should emphasise a reduction in asymmetry, particularly during repeated high-intensity efforts. Furthermore, binary regression and Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses suggest that changes in mean horizontal force could be used to assess risk of hamstring injury, re-injury and/or return to play.

The incidence, prevalence, severity, mechanism and body region of injury in elite junior Australian football players: A prospective cohort study over one season

ObjectivesTo describe the incidence, prevalence, severity, mechanism and body region of injuries in elite junior Australian football (AF) players over one competitive season in order to help inform injury prevention interventions. DesignProspective cohort, data collected during the 2014 playing season. MethodsPlayer and staff-reported injuries sustained by 562 players from an under-18 state league were entered into an online sports injury surveillance system. An injury was recorded if it led to a missed training session or match. Injury incidence was calculated as the number of injuries per 1000h of training and competition. Injury severity was defined by the number of days players missed training or competition. Injury mechanism was identified as either contact, non-contact or overuse. ResultsThere were 1192 football-related injuries sustained during the season; the majority (n=1041, 87.3%) were new, occurred during competition (n=954, 86%) and led to 4–7 missed days in severity (n=429, 46%). Injury incidence was 37.2 injuries per 1000h of exposure. Over half of injuries were contact in mechanism (n=355, 51%). Most injuries were to the lower limb (n=720, 60%), with the thigh representing the highest proportion of these. ConclusionsThis study provides key information as to the aetiology of injury in this level of competition and provides a stronger foundation from which injury prevention studies could be carried out. Future research is well-placed to develop an understanding of the injury risk factors in the elite junior cohort, whilst also reducing injury risk once players transition to the AFL.

Change in knee flexor torque after fatiguing exercise identifies previous hamstring injury in football players.

Muscular fatigue and interlimb strength asymmetry are factors known to influence hamstring injury risk; however, limb-specific exacerbation of knee flexor (hamstrings) torque production after fatiguing exercise has previously been ignored. To investigate changes in muscular force production before and after sport-specific (repeated-sprint) and non-specific (knee extension-flexion) fatiguing exercise, and explore the sensitivity and specificity of isokinetic endurance (ie, muscle-specific) and single-leg vertical jump (ie, whole limb) tests to identify previous hamstring injury. Twenty Western Australia State League footballers with previous unilateral hamstring injury and 20 players without participated. Peak concentric knee extensor and flexor (180°∙s-1 ) torques were assessed throughout an isokinetic endurance test, which was then repeated alongside a single-leg vertical jump test before and after maximal repeated-sprint exercise. Greater reductions in isokinetic knee flexor torque (-16%) and the concentric hamstring:quadriceps peak torque ratio (-15%) were observed after repeated-sprint running only in the injured (kicking) leg and only in the previously injured subjects. Changes in (1) peak knee flexor torque after repeated-sprint exercise, and (2) the decline in knee flexor torque during the isokinetic endurance test measured after repeated-sprint exercise, correctly identified the injured legs (N=20) within the cohort (N=80) with 100% specificity and sensitivity. Decreases in peak knee flexor torque and the knee flexor torque during an isokinetic endurance test after repeated-sprint exercise identified previous hamstring injury with 100% accuracy. Changes in knee flexor torque, but not SLVJ, should be tested to determine its prospective ability to predict hamstring injury in competitive football players.

"Completely Sold on Birth Control": Rural Extension Work of the Kentucky Birth Control League, 1933–1942

"Completely Sold on Birth Control":Rural Extension Work of the Kentucky Birth Control League, 1933–1942 Courtney Kisat (bio) In August 1939, after years of seeking birth control for her rural patients, community health nurse Lutrella Baker from the Line Fork Settlement in southeastern Kentucky wrote to Jean Tachau, president of the Kentucky Birth Control League (KBCL) in Louisville. "At last I have some grand news to report," she exclaimed, "There is a new doctor at Pine Mountain Settlement School … [and] he is completely sold on birth control, especially as he sees conditions here."1 Tachau and Baker went on to organize supplies for the clinic at Line Fork, a successful outcome of rural extension work from the KBCL. The birth control movement grew throughout the 1930s, and state affiliates of the American Birth Control League (ABCL) operated clinics that served thousands of women.2 The KBCL was the fifteenth state affiliate of the ABCL and like other state leagues, they successfully established birth control clinics in urban areas such as Louisville and Lexington. But unlike other states, the Kentucky State Board of Health did not support birth control as a public health initiative, so county clinics offered no form of contraception. The KBCL filled that void with state extension work in rural counties. The initiative [End Page 303] came from Tachau, an experienced social worker who drew from her networking skills and experience to build collaborative committees in rural communities. Rural Kentucky women who received birth control access in the late 1930s and early 1940s benefitted from this collaboration. Central to the state extension work of KBCL was the creation of community committees, which included ministers, teachers, librarians, nurses, and women's church groups. The KBCL was willing to recruit any person interested in establishing birth control services for the women of their county.3 Participants included a first-grade teacher in Edmonton, a USDA Home Demonstration Agent in Franklin, and a county health nurse in Daviess County, all of whom wrote the KBCL for information.4 Successful extension work was especially evident in Bell and Breathitt Counties, where the KBCL helped create community committees; in Madison County, where their efforts contributed to a strong local birth control initiative; and in Letcher County, site of the Line Fork Settlement. This study is a contribution to the growing literature of state-level birth control initiatives in the interwar period.5 It shows that despite the lack of support from the state, the KBCL impacted rural women in places where they were able to draw from social work methods to collaborate with people in those communities. Between 1880 and 1930, progressive women's groups drove social, political, and economic changes in the Commonwealth. This included such initiatives as the Kentucky Equal Rights Association, founded by women in 1888, and the Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs in [End Page 304] Click for larger view View full resolution Map of KBCL extension work. Counties in light gray represent places where birth control clinics were established. Those in dark gray represent places in correspondence with KBCL. Map by author, all rights reserved. 1894. Women's clubs helped create the first county health department in Mason County in 1914, and by the late 1920s, health departments in every county of Kentucky. When Congress passed the Sheppard-Towner Act in 1922 to provide funding for health programs to benefit women and children, Kentucky legislators responded to women's advocacy and approved a measure to create a Bureau of Maternal and Child Health. The birth control movement in Kentucky was not the first reform driven by women, but rather a link in a long chain of maternalist policies in state reforms.6 From their first meeting in 1933, the KBCL worked to "help mothers have healthier babies, check the practice of induced abortions, and establish clinics in all sections of the state."7 They gained public support by promoting birth control [End Page 305] to improve maternal and child health and as an economic measure for poor families. The KBCL was especially visible throughout the state, first in the cities of Louisville and Lexington, and gradually in over forty rural eastern Kentucky counties. Early professional social...

Bob Kuzava: Forgotten World Series Hero

Bob KuzavaForgotten World Series Hero John Rossi (bio) In 1949, when I was thirteen years old, my uncle and I attended an Athletics-White Sox game at Shibe Park. Details of that game are vague, but I remember our seats were in the lower reserved section directly behind home plate. Around the seventh inning the White Sox brought in a relief pitcher, Bob Kuzava. I knew nothing about him but was amazed at the sound of the ball hitting the catcher's glove. For reasons only a thirteen-year-old can explain, I began following his career. I remember watching him on television pitching in the final games of the 1951 and 1952 World Series. And then he faded from my memory except for a brief appearance with my favorite team, the Phillies, in 1955. Fifty years later, after I had begun teaching a course in baseball history and writing about the history of the game, I happened to see a video replay of the seventh game of the '52 World Series, in which Kuzava played a key role, saving the game for the Yankees. Sparked by nothing else but an old memory, I got in touch with him, finding his story an interesting reflection of baseball's past. Ask a serious baseball fan who saved the last games of the 1951 and 1952 World Series and you will most likely get a blank stare. Few people today, even baseball fanatics, remember it was Bob Kuzava, the 6' 2", 206-pound blond lefty who labored in the majors for eight different teams from 1946 to 1957. Today he would be labeled a journeyman, a lefty specialist, but Kuzava put up very respectable statistics in the majors: he won 49 games versus 44 losses for a .527 percentage over his career.1 Both a starter and a reliever, he accumulated seven shutouts and saved 13 games during his career. He struck out more batters than he walked, allowed less than a hit per inning pitched while compiling a career ERA of 4.05, consistently below the league average in that statistic in his career. [End Page 113] In his midseventies I interviewed him about his career. He was pleasantly surprised that anyone remembered him. Like so many players from his era, he was happy to talk about his time in baseball and most of his memories were happy ones.2 Kuzava was born in Wyandotte, Michigan, a small town located south of Detroit, on May 28, 1923. He was the only child of Leo and Anna Kuzava. He said his father worked for the Penn Salt chemical plan in Wyandotte until his retirement, providing the family with a comfortable life. Kuzava attended St. Patrick's grammar and high school in the town and was an outstanding athlete, particularly in baseball where his skills as a left-handed pitcher attracted scouts. He signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians in 1941 while still in high school, a procedure still allowed back then. After he graduated, he was sent to Mansfield in the Ohio State League where he earned the princely salary of $65 a month, thrilled to have someone pay him to do what he loved: pitch baseball. Despite an undistinguished record of 5-7, he showed signs of talent, striking out 108 batters while walking just 36. Cleveland promoted him to their Charleston team in the tough Class C Middle Atlantic League for the 1942 season. The nineteen-year-old had a breakout season, leading the league in wins with 21, winning percentage of .778 while compiling an impressive ERA of 1.73. Kuzava went into the Army after the 1942 season and first served in North Africa before being transferred to the India-China-Burma front. I asked him why with his background he didn't play baseball in the Army. He said that role was reserved for major leaguers or top minor league prospects. He said he spent most of his time in the military as an MP, which led to one of his favorite baseball nicknames, "Sarge." He would also be called "Whitey" because of bright blond hair but said he preferred "Sarge." After his...

Plum Blossom Fêtes and Japanese Lantern Balls: Narcissa Cox Vanderlip and 1920s US-Japan Cultural Exchange

Plum Blossom Fêtes and Japanese Lantern Balls:Narcissa Cox Vanderlip and 1920s US-Japan Cultural Exchange Linda L. Johnson (bio) In the summer of 1924, a crowd gathered on Fifth Avenue, staring as New York socialite, Narcissa Cox Vanderlip, led a parade of brightly-costumed Japanese women, one of whom was conveyed in an ornate rickshaw borrowed from the Metropolitan Opera House. Vanderlip paused theatrically to release a flock of carrier pigeons to deliver invitations to the US Secretary of State and Japan's Ambassador to the United States for a Japan-themed garden fête to be held at her Hudson River estate. A prominent philanthropist and political activist, Vanderlip's fête was to be a fund-raiser for the victims of Japan's Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 and an expression of opposition to the Immigration Act of 1924 that prohibited immigration from Japan. Vanderlip had honed her skills in events planning, fundraising, and publicity in settlement house work, the New York women's suffrage campaign, the World War I mobilization of Westchester County, and the New York League of Women Voters. Following the war, Narcissa Cox Vanderlip used the skills she had developed in New York political and social activism to promote world peace by leading humanitarian and philanthropic projects to improve the lives of women and children. Her engagement in private diplomacy, sparked by her participation in a 1920 cultural exchange tour of Japan, culminated in a public relations campaign to influence a more favorable view of the Japanese in American public opinion. This study builds on the 1982 biography, Narcissa Cox Vanderlip: Chairman, New York State League of Women Voters, by Hilda R. Watrous.1 While Watrous focused on Vanderlip's role in the New York women's [End Page 409] Click for larger view View full resolution Narcissa Cox Vanderlip Image Source: Hilda Watrous, Narcissa Cox Vanderlip (New York, NY: Foundation for Citizen Education 1982, originally published 1982), 1–13. [End Page 410] suffrage campaign and the early work of the League of Women Voters, I make the connection between Vanderlip's New York political experience and her later internationalist campaigns. Scholarship on post-World War I, US-Japan cultural exchange has addressed only men's participation; it has not included consideration of Vanderlip as a participant who broadened cultural exchange to include women's issues and philanthropic initiatives.2 I use reports of Vanderlip's activities, as chronicled in New York publications, and her unpublished papers, which include texts of her speeches and editorials, as well as her Japan-related correspondence.3 While legislation prohibiting Japanese immigration signaled the failure of cultural exchange diplomacy, as has been represented in the scholarship, Vanderlip presented an alternative, positive narrative, emphasizing the role that educated Japanese women would play in promoting peace between the US and Japan. "Let's Get Through with It Now": Developing Public Relations Skills in New York Political Campaigns With intelligence and enthusiasm and backed by considerable wealth, Narcissa Cox Vanderlip was a stalwart in the New York campaign for women's suffrage and the legislative initiatives to benefit women and children that followed. Reporters for New York newspapers described Vanderlip as "attractive and athletic," with "a crisp and robust manner," observing that she "rode horses and played politics with equal joy and intensity."4 She radiated vitality and enthusiasm, with a direct manner of speaking that instilled confidence and respect.5 An admiring New York Journal interviewer effused, "Her tireless, boundless energy is a constant source of amazement. She reads incessantly … and has a great intellectual [End Page 411] curiosity about things. … There's no denying that the good works she accomplishes are boundless and that she's a champion of the 'underdog.'"6 Born in Quincy, Illinois in 1880, Narcissa Cox entered the University of Chicago in 1899, studying sociology, to which she attributed her interest in human relations and perhaps more broadly, her intellectual approach to social problems.7 Typical of the ability she later demonstrated in juggling multiple projects, while at the university she managed the women's basketball team, belonged to the...

Sponsorship Evaluation of Soccer Teams: An Exploratory Study of São Paulo State League

Brazil is developing in sport management, what gets Brazilian soccer teams to take less advantage over the several means of raising income that exist, among which there is sport sponsorship. In this sense, given its importance and considering the gap of studies using new methods for sponsorship evaluation in Brazil, as well as the importance of A-1 series of Sao Paulo State League ( Campeonato Paulista de Futebol , in Portuguese) – which has not been studied yet –, this paper presents the brands that sponsored the 20 clubs that participated in the aforementioned championship in 2012. We separated the sponsors of the clubs into technical and commercial, pointing out the television media exposure time of each brand to demonstrate strategies that contribute to sport sponsorship and to the soccer teams. The research conducted was exploratory, with consultation to primary and secondary data. Therefore, the theoretical background used was about sport sponsorship and the Brazilian context, and sponsorship evaluation. The results pointed out to a configuration in which major international companies sponsored, preferably, major clubs, obtaining wide exposure on television media. On the other hand, smaller companies, located near the clubs’ headquarters, sponsored clubs that participated with lower frequency in the championship, obtaining lower exposure on television media. Finally, the study provided the perception of the benefits that certain sponsorship strategies to smaller clubs may generate by allowing wider television media exposure when the clubs are sponsored concurrently.

Influence of Rest on Players' Performance and Physiological Responses during Basketball Play.

Pre-match warm-ups are standard in many sports but the focus has excluded the substitute players. The aim of this research was to investigate the result of inactivity on physiological and performance responses in substitute basketball players during competition. Two basketball players from the second tier of the State League of Queensland, Australia volunteered for this study and were assessed for performance (countermovement jump—CMJ) and physiological (core temperature via ingestible pill; skin temperature at the arm, chest, calf and thigh; heart rate—HR) responses prior to and following a 20-min warm-up, and during the first half of a competitive basketball match (2 × 20-min real time quarters). Warm up resulted in increases in CMJ (~7%), HR (~100 bpm) and core (~0.8 °C) and skin (~1.0 °C) temperatures. Following the warm up and during inactivity, substitute players exhibited a decrease in all responses including CMJ (~13%), HR (~100 bpm), and core (~0.5 °C) and skin (~2.0 °C) temperatures. Rest resulted in reductions in key performance and physiological responses during a competitive match that poses a risk for match strategies. Coaches should consider implementing a warm up to enhance core/skin temperature for substitute players immediately before they engage with competition to optimise player performance.

How Can Ward Teaching Be Made More Systematic?

: Editor's note: From its first issue in 1900 through to the present day, AJN has unparalleled archives detailing nurses' work and lives over more than a century. These articles not only chronicle nursing's growth as a profession within the context of the events of the day, but they also reveal prevailing societal attitudes about women, health care, and human rights. Today's nursing school curricula rarely include nursing's history, but it's a history worth knowing. To this end, From the AJN Archives highlights articles selected to fit today's topics and times.This month's article, from the June 1926 issue, offers ideas "by which we hope to make ward experiences of more value to the student." Author Mina A. McKay originally presented this material at a meeting of the Massachusetts State League of Nursing Education. She calls for more comprehensive morning and evening reports ("not just a mere reading of… orders"), the use of student experience records, ward clinics ("the type of bedside talk which supplements class room lectures"), and case reports presented by the students themselves. Efforts to improve clinical nursing education are ongoing, and in "'Flipping' the Classroom" in this month's AJN, Diane M. Billings describes a relatively new way of translating clinical concepts into practice.