SPARC
Funding to outdoor recreation sector - 31 Aug 2010
Outdoor recreation organisations will get more than $2.4 million over three years including for training volunteers under SPARC's new contestable approach. (SPARC website)
High Performance Sport
Building begins on NZ's biggest grandstand - 27 Aug 2010
Work started on Saturday 28 August on the construction of the main grandstand for the 2010 World Rowing Championships. At just under 10,000 seats, this will be the biggest temporary grandstand ever built in New Zealand. (World Rowing Championships 2010, NZ)
Government backs Winter Games New Zealand - 31 Aug 2010
Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee announced today that government will contribute up to $750,000 from the Major Events Development Fund to support Winter Games New Zealand 2011. (beehive.govt.nz)
Half a million Rugby World Cup tickets sold - 27 Aug 2010
More than half a million tickets were snapped up in the first phase of sales for next year's rugby World Cup. Rugby New Zealand 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden said sales targets were on track after 503,000 tickets worth $NZ76 million were sold in the first window which ended in May. (allblacks.com)
The Organising Committee makes elaborate medical arrangements to ensure a healthy Commonwealth Games - 26 Aug 2010
The Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi has made elaborate arrangements to ensure a safe and healthy Delhi 2010 for athletes and spectators alike, with a multi-faceted medical programme in place. (Delhi 2010)
Progress in Delhi says president - 19 Aug 2010
Mike Fennell, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation has recently returned from a trip to Delhi and has made an official statement. (NZOC)
IPC Swimming Sport Technical Committee meets in Eindhoven - 27 Aug 2010
From 22-23 August the International Paralympic Committee, Swimming Sport Technical Committee met in Eindhoven, following the very successful 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships. (International Paralympic Committee)
Working towards an inclusive games: Two years to go - 27 Aug 2010
The Second Annual Report of the London 2012 Equality and Diversity Forum, has been published. The report offers a snapshot of the projects that the London 2012 Equality and Diversity Forum have committed to deliver in order to host 'the most accessible Games ever'. (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, UK)
London 2012 athletes' village to feature new green spaces - 23 Aug 2010
The first stage of landscaping work is already underway on the London 2012 athletes' village site where an extensive wetlands park is being created. (London 2012)
London 2012 water polo arena gets planning go-ahead - 27 Aug 2010
Plans for the temporary London 2012 Water Polo Arena, with a distinctive sloping roof, have been approved. The 5,000-seat venue will host Water Polo during the London 2012 Olympic Games. (London 2012)
IOC: Traffic still biggest 2012 concern - 26 Aug 2010
The International Olympic Committee has admitted that traffic remains its biggest concern when London hosts the Olympics in 2012. (Sports City)
Sports Development
New Badminton New Zealand CEO - 23 Aug 2010
The Board of Badminton New Zealand is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Chief Executive, Nicki Martin, who currently resides in Cambridge, Waikato. (Badminton New Zealand)
Moller replaces Isaac as NZ Cricket Chairman - 27 Aug 2010
New Zealand Cricket announced that Chris Moller has been elected to replace outgoing Chairman Alan Isaac. Isaac stepped down after two years as Chairman and 20 years on the board to take up the position of ICC Vice-President. (New Zealand Cricket)
New Zealand Golf announce new membership growth and retention system with Debitsuccess - 26 Aug 2010
New Zealand Golf has announced a new initiative with Debitsuccess that will see an exciting programme 'FlexiSub' made available to all New Zealand Golf clubs. The goal of the new initiative is to help encourage more New Zealanders to join and retain their golf club memberships by providing the most convenient and affordable payment options for membership. (New Zealand Golf)
Softball New Zealand Club Tool Box - 19 Aug 2010
The Club Tool Box has been created to help support and develop Softball clubs and Associations. The Club Tool Box concept is based off SPARC's Club Tool Kit and much of the information is pointed back to the SPARC website. SNZ has pulled apart the Club Tool Kit and sourced various other useful websites to provide information that is specific to the Softball community. (Softball New Zealand)
Surf Life Saving New Zealand organisational development implementation update - 26 Aug 2010
With the final voluntary liquidation steps completed by Surf Life Saving Gisborne and Surf Life Saving Otago and the final confirmation of staff, the three regions of Eastern, Central and Southern are now in place. (Surf Life Saving New Zealand)
Building an active community: The economic contribution of sport and recreation in the ACT - Aug 2010
This report looks at the valuable contribution sport and recreation makes to the community. This contribution comprises four key elements: the direct contribution of sport and recreation organisations; the contribution from retail spending on sporting equipment; the preventive health benefits provided by physical activity; and the benefits of sports-related tourism. (ACT Department of Territory and Municipal Services, Australia)
Consultation: Shaping our plans for the future - Aug 2010
Sport Scotland are currently developing their corporate plan for 2011 to 2015, which will shape how they invest Scottish Government and National Lottery resources over the next four years. The consultation document sets out what they believe can be achieved through sport, the outcomes that need to be delivered and their emerging plans for the next four years. (Sport Scotland)
International award for design of hockey face protector - 26 Aug 2010
Design graduate Annabel Goslin's hockey face protector has won a top international Red Dot Design Award. Ms Goslin, called the protector the "Guardian". It is aimed at reducing the frequency and severity of injuries experienced, often after penalty corners in field hockey. (Massey University, NZ)
Ideas4Innovation discovers untapped talent to aid gold medal hunt - 25 Aug 2010
The aim of UK Sport's Ideas4Innovation programme is to develop an award scheme to acknowledge and harness outstanding research and innovation concepts for elite sport, generated by the UK's research community, to support the mission to London 2012 and beyond. (UK Sport)
International Cycling Union launches new iPhone application - 20 Aug 2010
The International Cycling Union (UCI) is constantly trying to open up new ways to offer cycling fans the best ways to follow their favourite sport. Besides television, internet, the social media Facebook and Twitter, and other communication methods, the UCI now proposes an iPhone application. (International Cycling Union)
Drugs in sport: Support available, Australian Psychological Society - 30 Aug 2010
As part of the Australian Government's $20.1 million Illicit Drugs in Sport - National Education and Prevention Action Plan (IDIS), the Australian Psychological Society will deliver a range of services to help combat drugs in sport, including working with national sporting organisations, providing psychological assistance for athletes with substance abuse issues and delivering training and education for counsellors and psychologists. (Medical News Today)
Sport Science, Medicine and Coaching
Portuguese coaches’ perceptions of and preferences for knowledge sources related to their professional background - Sep 2010
The purpose of this study was to analyse Portuguese coaches' perceptions of, and preferences for, knowledge sources as related to professional background; namely academic education level, coach education level and coaching experience. (Journal of Sports Science and Medicine)
Sports training: The importance of knowing what the purpose of your training workout is - 26 Aug 2010
Always emphasise the importance of knowing what the purpose of your session is. It can have a primary focus, followed by one or two secondary focuses. It can not have three primary focuses. (Peak Performance)
Strength training: How to increase muscle mass - 23 Aug 2010
Mass is important in some sports where moving objects - either people or heavy implements such as the shot or a rowing boat - requires the use of momentum. People in these sports often need to increase mass in order to perform better. (Peak Performance)
Emotional intelligence and emotions associated with optimal and dysfunctional athletic performance - Sep 2010
This study investigated relationships between self-report measures of emotional intelligence and memories of pre-competitive emotions before optimal and dysfunctional athletic performance. (Journal of Sports Science and Medicine)
Apples to apples - Jul/Aug 2010
A multitude of factors can come into play to influence performance and account for a difference between practice and competitive performances. This article takes a look at one such factor that can influence your performance and, if addressed, can help you perform closer to your potential in the competitive environment - the training environment. (NSCA's Performance Training Journal, US)
Lower limb strength in professional soccer players: Profile, asymmetry, and training age - Sep 2010
Kicking and cutting skills in soccer are clearly unilateral, require asymmetrical motor patterns and lead to the development of asymmetrical adaptations in the musculoskeletal function of the lower limbs. Assuming that these adaptations constitute a chronicity-dependent process, this study examined the effects of professional training age on the composite strength profile of the knee and ankle joint in soccer players. (Journal of Sports Science and Medicine)
Improved tool for cycling fitness developed by University of New Hampshire researchers - 31 Aug 2010
New research from exercise scientists at the University of New Hampshire has found that effective training regimens to increase faster cycling, which generally are created after expensive, time-consuming laboratory tests, can be developed from a relatively simple, do-it-yourself test. (Medical News Today)
Comparative effects of selected non-caffeinated rehydration sports drinks on short-term performance following moderate dehydration - 22 Aug 2010
The effect of moderate dehydration and consequent fluid replenishment on short-duration maximal treadmill performance was studied in eight healthy, fit males aged 28 - 35 yrs. (Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition)
'Striking' endurance boost provided by dietary supplement - 30 Aug 2010
Research from the University of Exeter has revealed taking a dietary supplement to boost nitric oxide in the body can significantly boost stamina during high-intensity exercise. (Medical News Today)
Miss to the right: The effect of attentional asymmetries on goal-kicking - 24 Aug 2010
This study explored whether the rightward deviation for bisecting lines in far space extends to tasks where a ball is aimed between two goal-posts. (PLoS one)
Preliminary development of a wearable device for dynamic pressure measurement in garments - Aug 2010
A wearable wireless monitoring device was constructed, which included six 18mm diameter low profile pressure sensors that were placed on the body at various positions, to sense garment pressure in the range of 5-50mmHg. The accuracy and precision of the wearable dynamic pressure monitoring device was explored using a series of step changes in pressure effected through the placement of a series of known masses. (Procedia Engineering)
Novel strategies in tendon and ligament tissue engineering: Advanced biomaterials and regeneration motifs - 20 Aug 2010
In this review, the authors describe design considerations and major recent advancements of scaffolds for tendon/ligament engineering. Specifically, they outline native tendon/ligament characteristics critical for design parameters and outcome measures, and introduce synthetic and naturally-derived biomaterials used in tendon/ligament scaffolds. (Sports Medicine, Arthroscopy, Rehabilitation, Therapy and Technology)
Ongoing projects aiming to prevent eating disorder in athletes - Aug 2010
The Medical Commission of the International Olympic Committee gathered an expert group on the topic of the female athlete triad to exchange knowledge in an endeavor to protect the health of the female athlete. As a first result of this work over now several years, an IOC Consensus Statement on the female athlete triad was published and released. (Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Norway)
Ultra-endurance running may not be good for the heart, study suggests - 31 Aug 2010
In 2009, a study was conducted in UK by Liverpool John Moores University and the Countess of Chester Hospital to assess the effects of running in ultra-endurance races. The conclusions, presented at the European Society of Cardiology's Congress 2010 in Stockholm, suggest that some damage is likely to occur to the heart muscle of competitors, while 12 percent of the study group showed signs of significant cardiac damage. (ScienceDaily)
Active Communities
Taking part: The national survey of culture, leisure and sport adult and child report 2009/10 - 19 Aug 2010
The latest data from the 2009/10 Taking Part survey provides reliable national estimates of engagement with sport, libraries, the arts, heritage and museums and galleries. It contains data for both adults and 5-15 year old children. (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, UK)
Loughborough University experts help create online Olympic tool - 24 Aug 2010
Sports experts at Loughborough University have helped create a new online tool designed to inspire couch potatoes in the run-up to the Olympic Games. With the countdown to the London Olympics 2012 under way, anyone wanting to become more active can log on to the new NHS website and find out which sport best suits them. (Loughborough University, UK)
Ping-pong points the way to ensure London 2012 legacy - 10 Aug 2010
St Pancras Station recently provided a glimpse of how London 2012 might best be used to encourage more sporting participation. Throughout the station's concourses, amid the hurried din of rush hour, was the clicking of ping pong balls against bat and table. (Inside the Games, UK)
Sport Scotland launch one of the first community sport hubs - 24 Aug 2010
The community sports hub concept is a new innovative approach to the delivery of community sport, aimed at providing more opportunities for communities to engage in an active healthy lifestyle and is a key part of the Scottish Government's 2014 Games Legacy Plan. (Sport Scotland)
New publications about sport and disability - 24 Aug 2010
The Danish Sport Organization for the Disabled has taken advantaged of the Platform's Toolkit and provided the a series of excellent articles discussing the use of sport for Development. (International Platform on Sport and Development)
Making sport accessible to everyone - 18 Aug 2010
A new initiative by Special Olympics Tasmania will help students with an intellectual disability get involved in sport and recreation at school. The Premier, David Bartlett, today officially launched the Community Sports-Link Schools Program.(Tasmanian Government, Australia)
Attention, couch potatoes! Walking boosts brain connectivity, function - 27 Aug 2010
A group of "professional couch potatoes," as one researcher described them, has proven that even moderate exercise - in this case walking at one's own pace for 40 minutes three times a week - can enhance the connectivity of important brain circuits, combat declines in brain function associated with aging and increase performance on cognitive tasks. (ScienceDaily)
Recreation
Queenstown trail receives $1.83 million from New Zealand Cycle Trail project - 19 Aug 2010
Nga Haerenga, The New Zealand Cycle Trail project will sign its contract for the new Queenstown Trail at a formal event in Queenstown today. The Queenstown Trail is a joint initiative of the Wakatipu Trails Trust, the Queenstown Lakes District Council, and the New Zealand Cycle Trail project. (Ministry of Economic Development, NZ)
Nelson and Tasman trails receive $2.63 million from New Zealand Cycle Trail project - 23 Aug 2010
Nga Haerenga, The New Zealand Cycle Trail project will sign its contract for the new Dun Mountain and Tasman Loop cycle trails at a formal event at the Tasman District Council in Richmond today. The trails are a joint initiative of the Nelson City Council, the Tasman District Council, the Nelson Cycle Trails Trust and The New Zealand Cycle Trail project. (Ministry of Economic Development, NZ)
Tourism and recreation around the Avon-Heathcote estuary/Itutai: Current usage, awareness and perceptions of tourism and recreational opportunities - 2010
The purpose of this research is to assess the current usage, awareness and perceptions of tourism and recreational opportunities of the Avon Heathcote Estuary of visitors to the Estuary and of Christchurch residents in general. (Lincoln University Research Archive, NZ)
First Southland water report in 10 years available now - 25 Aug 2010
Environment Southland and Te Ao Marama Inc have launched 'Our Health', the first of four reports which make up Southland Water 2010: Report on the State of Southland's Freshwater Environment. The first part looks at the aspects of freshwater quality that Southlanders value for their health: that it is safe to swim and play, safe for human and animal drinking water supplies and for gathering and consuming kai/food. (Environment Southland, NZ)
Review of risk management and safety in the adventure and outdoor commercial sectors in New Zealand 2009/10: Final report - Jun 2010
This report by the Department of Labour was sparked by concerns about a number of serious incidents in the adventure and outdoor commercial sector. It is the Department's report, but it is informed by the work of members of the steering group set up at the Prime Minister's request to investigate and report back on ways of improving risk management and safety in the sector. (Department of Labour, NZ)
Outdoor education theories: A review and synthesis - Aug 2010
A presentation to the Outdoor Recreation Industry Council Annual Conference held in Sydney, Australia. This 45-minute keynote (slideshare) summarises and reviews outdoor education theory to date and then proposes a dynamic model to synthesise the main theoretical elements. (Wilderdom)
Public schools: An untapped recreational resource - 30 Aug 2010
Researchers suggest limiting liability issues to make playgrounds and other recreation areas on school grounds accessible as a cost-effective way to promote public health. (Miller-McCune)
Young People
Racqueteers to replace Kiwibadminton - 1 Sep 2010
The Racqueteers programme is a new Badminton NZ national initiative to introduce Badminton to schools throughout the country. (Badminton New Zealand)
Successful Singapore Youth Olympic Games come to a close - 26 Aug 2010
The Closing Ceremony of the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games brought a dramatic and emotional end to 12 days of world-class sporting competition and cultural and educational activities in Singapore on Thursday night. (The Olympic Movement)
Can the screening criteria for heart disease in young athletes be improved? - 30 Aug 2010
The screening process for young footballers at risk of heart disease needs to be re-evaluated. That is the conclusion of a recent study, which has shown that the common criteria used for assessment does not take into account the type and intensity of the exercise performed. (Alpha Galileo, Europe)
American Academy of Pediatrics updates guidelines on sport-related concussion - 31 Aug 2010
Young athletes are more susceptible to the effects of a concussion because their brains are still developing, and appropriate management is essential for reducing the risk of long-term complications. (Medical News Today)
Kids' sports training injuries on the rise - 20 Aug 2010
Each sport is unique to the type of injury it can produce, depending on the body part most often used. Half of pediatric sports injuries are related to overuse while the other half constitutes ligament sprains, muscle strains and bruises. One of the main pieces of advice for parents is to discourage year round sport specialization until after puberty, while at the same time encouraging the "well rounded" athlete. (Medical News Today)
Last child on the couch: How 10 grassroots innovators are helping kids get active outdoors - Aug 2010
Our kids need to move - hike, bike, paddle, skate, walk, run, whatever - just move. And they need to do it outdoors, both for the exercise and the exposure to sunshine and fresh air. Introduce kids to nature at a young age, studies show, and you give them a foundation for lifelong health, fitness, and self-confidence. (Backpacker Magazine, US)
A 'design through play' exercise ensures community involvement in design process - 28 Aug 2010
Planning for the all abilities playground project in Townsville began in late 2007 and was funded by a grant from Disability Services Queensland. The design methodology followed was based on a 'design through play' exercise held within the playground site where the local community were asked to discuss the design needs of the space and contribute ideas to the designers. (World Architecture News)
Useful Weblinks
World Rowing Championships 2010
The official web site for the 2010 World Rowing Championship, which will take place at Lake Karapiro, New Zealand in 2010.
JSAMS Editor's Choice articles now available
The Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Editor’s Choice articles from between 2006 to 2010 are now freely available at the Editor's Choice webpage.
2010 UK Coaching Summit Presentations, Cardiff
Releases, presentations and images from the 2010 UK Coaching Summit that took place in Cardiff on 29-30 June 2010.
