Faculty of Humanities
School of Social Sciences
Department of Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
The crises in which South African sporting bodies continually find themselves in and the necessity for these bodies to comply with the seven pillars of good governance as identified by the 2002 King II report, are the focus of the research project entitled: Compliance with Best Practice Governance Systems by South African National Sports Federations.
The research findings indicate a relative low compliance in terms of responsibility, transparency, independence and discipline. Recommendations include the incorporation or establishment of proper business management and governance structures within national sporting bodies that are line with the seven pillars of good governance as identified by the King II report.
These pillars are: Accountability, Responsibility, Transparency, Social Responsibility, Independence, Fairness and Discipline. If sporting bodies fail to incorporate these pillars in their management and governance structure, they are in danger of legislative regulation – an expensive and cumbersome process.
Additionally, findings indicate an overall mean compliance of 3,77 out of a maximum of 5,00. This means that sport bodies trail far behind corporate business in terms of compliance, even though they are moving increasingly into the corporate arena.
Findings further indicate that Sport in South Africa still has a long way to go before reaching full compliance and prepared to meet the needs of modern day professional sport. As a result of these findings, a number of guidelines were developed to aid national sport bodies to enhance their levels of compliance and to aid their future survival in the corporate arena.
However, the researchers warn that it would be shortsighted to consider these as the only stumbling blocks in the effective management and functioning of sporting bodies. Other problems include transformation and ignorance.
The findings of the study appeared in an international publication Aspects of Sports Governance Perspectives (2005; Volume 5). Another outcome was the hosting of two workshop requested by the national body for Boxing and the Gauteng provincial Cricket body.
Mr S Burger
Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences
+27 (0) 12 420 6050
salmar.burger@up.ac.za
The aim of this study entitled: Direction and Intensity Differences in Performance Anxiety amongst Elite and Novice Athletes, was to determine if elite athletes have mastered the art of perceiving symptoms of performance anxiety as constructive, positive and facilitating for achieving peak performance in sport.
A secondary aim was to determine if the intensity level of performance anxiety of elite athletes differs significantly from the novice athletes. A popular hypothesis is that the direction – the ability to perceive and interpret anxiety symptoms as constructive and positive or negative and destructive - of performance anxiety of athletes in these two groups will differ significantly because it is generally accepted that elite athletes should have mastered their anxiety by the time they reach that level.
The findings of this study confirm this hypothesis and indicate a statistically significant difference in the direction as well as the intensity of performance anxiety between elite and novice athletes. Elite athletes scored significantly higher on the direction questions than the novice athletes.
This proves that elite athletes perceive symptoms of anxiety as performance facilitating, because they have learned to concentrate on the positive when participating and remove negativity that can affect their performance. They scored lower on cognitive state anxiety as well as somatic state anxiety and higher on the self-confidence scale.
The novice group in contrast, perceive anxiety as debilitating. These findings have been incorporated in the training of individual sportsmen and women as well as teams with great success.
Prof BJM Steyn
Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences
+27 (0) 12 420 6094
ben.steyn@up.ac.za
Recreation as a contributing factor to quality of life presupposes an optimal level of leisure functioning. This cross- national study drew respondents from two related and comparable therapeutic communities for the hearing-impaired and examined the recreation competency, levels of control, need satisfaction and depth of involvements as domains of collective leisure functioning, providing a baseline for recreation facilitators to integrate recreation into a holistic wellness strategy.
Results indicated that Austrians have a 51% recreation functioning rate, compared to South Africans who have a 56% functioning rate. All respondents perceive recreation as having potential to improve quality of life, thus providing a baseline for recreation facilitators to work from. Insufficient depth of involvement and needs satisfaction were identified as primary causative factors limiting optimal recreation functioning. Prof AE Goslin
Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences
+27 (0) 12 420 6043
anneliese.goslin@up.ac.za
Lower back problems (LBP) affect more workers and result in higher costs to industry than any other musculoskeletal disorder. The purpose of this research study was to determine the prevalence and aetiology of LBP among workers in South African industries. This is one of the first studies of its kind conducted in a developing country.
The study – conducted in conjunction with the Vrije Universiteit of Brussels (Belgium) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) - also included the development of a Consise Back Screening Instrument (CBSI) that can be used to identify functional impairment due to LBP amongst industrial workers.
The findings of the study support the current view of a multi-dimensional aetiological approach to LBP and recommendations were made with the purpose of preventing and managing LBP in industry. The recommendations include:
· Within the context of occupational risk factors, multiple intervention and prevention strategies are needed. Possibilities could be stretching interventions after prolonged sitting, postural educational interventions and ergonomic interventions in plant control rooms. Avoidance of high-risk activities – if causality is confirmed by future prospective studies – could be controlled by legislation. This however needs to be further investigated in the South African setting;
· Within the context of work and family support systems, supervisors are encouraged to develop appropriate support and organizational systems which may be an inexpensive, but potentially beneficial, means of reducing worker stress and LBP;
· Within the context of fear-avoidance and pain coping, preventative screening procedures are recommended to identify workers with fear avoidance behaviours and negative coping strategies and the timely implementation of intervention, prevention and treatment to counter this; and
The CBSI, employed as a screening instrument, should be utilized to identify and manage the worker at risk, thus preventing the occurrence of LBP injuries.
Dr B van Vuuren
Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences
+27 (0) 12 420 6047
bernard.vanvuuren@up.ac.za
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