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Background: Researchers within transdisciplinary fields examine physical literacy; however, substantial changes have been suggested regarding the evaluation and reporting of physical literacy within health education. Purpose: This systematic review provides an overview of a) physical literacy literature published in the U.S.; b) scholars, disciplines, and contexts represented in available U.S-based physical literacy studies; and c) explicates the progression of physical literacy in the U.S. over the last 20 years. Methods: Utilizing the PRISMA-P 2015, 36 manuscripts met the inclusion criteria. Results: Concepts such as health, education, activity, school, development, life, competence, and knowledge were strongly related to physical literacy. Most reviewed studies operationalized the physical literacy construct, applied physical literacy elements to various health and educational contexts, provided overviews and assessments of curricula and program interventions, or delineated between definitions and understandings of physical literacy. Discussion: Constructive debate continues over the meaning, purpose, and outcomes of physical literacy, allowing future research endeavors to bridge existing philosophical and pragmatic perspectives by testing new evidence-based interventions. Translation to Health Education Practice: This study exposes gaps in knowledge to inform Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) on how to successfully conceptualize physical literacy in various educational contexts.

During the 2022 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college football season, eight of the 65 Power-5 head coaches were Black. The racial composition of assistant coaches, however, was nearly 50% Black and 50% White. While the head coach of a Power-5 football team serves as the leader of the program, the 10 assistant coaches permitted by the NCAA oversee a variety of critical roles; the most valuable of which is recruiting. This study extends previous work by examining the racial composition of Power-5 football coaching staffs and recruiting responsibilities through the lens of racial tasking. An analysis of Power-5 football recruiting classes from 2019 and 2020 illustrates that assistant coaches are tasked with recruiting prospective athletes racially similar to themselves 58% of the time. Furthermore, Black assistant coaches are disproportionately tasked with recruiting Black recruits and higher rated recruits (i.e., five- and four-star) compared to their White counterparts. We contend such racialized responsibilities and expectations may affect opportunities for advancement among Black assistant coaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to synthesize and apply White racial identity theory and concomitant research to the interaction between athletic and racial identity, specifically as it relates to the experiential variations of how race impacts White athletes within the college sport environment. White dialectics, or the tensions that White Americans experience as dominant social group members, serve as the guiding theoretical framework and provide a theoretical lens through which the experience of White college athletes is examined at each distinct dialectic. Through this article, the application of White dialectics offers a theoretical foundation for developing a better understanding of how White college athletes not only make sense of their racial identity, but also understand their racialized experiences within intercollegiate athletics.

Low levels of physical activity can have adverse effects on youth development due to increased risks for many chronic illnesses and medical conditions. Improving physical literacy (PL), or the ability to move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities within multiple environments, can shape a path of healthy development for youth. According to cumulative disadvantage theory, inequalities accumulate and manifest over the course of one's life through demographic and developmental processes. We believe that systematically enhancing PL among youth with chronic disease will dramatically reduce existing health disparities caused by low levels of physical activity. We propose four recommendations for improving PL among youth living with chronic disease: (1) explore and create culturally appropriate instruments that can reliably measure PL among disadvantaged youth with chronic disease; (2) mandate updated PL curricula in underperforming US schools; (3) establish community-based out-of-school-time (OST) PL initiatives for U.S. youth with chronic disease in under resourced communities; and (4) invest in sustainable OST PL programs that target this vulnerable subpopulation. We believe taking these next steps will reduce health-related inequalities. Thus, Health Education specialists should advocate for health promotion initiatives that foster optimal PL among disadvantaged youth living with chronic disease.

Former college student-athletes encounter unique health-related challenges following athletic retirement. Many retired student-athletes adopt sedentary lifestyles that can lead to long-term health problems, while others struggle to maintain good mental health due to issues associated with resolving their own athletic identity. Retired student-athletes who are able to successfully transfer their athletic identity into life after college sports are less likely to engage in chronic disease risk behaviors. Unfortunately, there is a relative lack of personal health and wellness programs for this vulnerable subgroup of the college population, which is concerning given the large number and high proportion of retired college student-athletes who are highly susceptible to chronic health issues. It is important that appropriate resources are made available to dissuade retired student-athletes from living unhealthy lifestyles, while at the same time encouraging them to actively pursue wellness following college. Currently, there is a unique opportunity to improve holistic wellness among retired college student-athletes through "coaching" them to live healthy lifestyles after their athletic career is over. Certified Health Education Specialists can play a key role in planning, implementing, and evaluating multi-dimensional wellness coaching programs that address the unmet health promotion needs of retired college student-athletes.

University officials are increasingly considering selling alcoholic beverages at campus football stadiums. To inform this decision, we report on offenses occurring at a campus football stadium and surrounding community on game day weekends between 2009 and 2013. Campus police log data for 35 home football weekends were examined, accounting for 1,940 distinct incidents. There was a general upward trend in crime incidents. On average, 330 total crime incidents occurred when alcohol was not sold (2009-2011) compared to 475 annually when alcohol was sold (2012-2013). Liquor law violations and alcohol consumption by a minor were the two most frequently cited offenses. Liquor law violations (317) was highest after alcohol sales initiated. Police incidents were markedly higher when playing a traditional football rival at home. College administrators, health officials, athletic departments, and local law enforcement must work together to weigh the potential benefit of enhanced financial profit against the risk of increased alcohol-related crime.

In this article, the authors drew from the epistemological and methodological considerations of neighboring social science fields (i.e., counseling psychology, education, sociology, and women's studies), which suggest a reevaluation of reflexive research practice(s). In discussing the implications this reevaluation may have for future sport management research, the authors contend that such dialogue may encourage scholars to understand that, while adopting a reflexive approach is good research practice, it may also mean taking a closer look at how our biases, epistemologies, identities, and values are shaped by whiteness and dominant ways of knowing and, in turn, serve to affect our research practice. Thus, this may allow all researchers, with explicit consideration for those in positions of conceptual, empirical, and methodological, as well as cultural and racial, power, to acknowledge and work toward a more meaningful point of consciousness in conducting sport management research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One prominent, well-debated issue in the American higher education system is whether university officials should remove the names of individuals with racist pasts from campus buildings/structures that bear their namesake. The purpose of this study was to analyze basketball and football facilities at Division I Football Bowl Subdivision institutions to explore the racialized history of the people whom these facilities are named after. Utilizing a collective case study approach, the authors identified 18 facilities that were named after athletic administrators, coaches, and philanthropists who engaged in racist activities or harbored racist views. The authors argue, using critical race theory and systemic racism theory as interpretative lenses, that naming buildings after racist persons legitimizes their legacies, rationalizes systemic racism, and continues to unjustly enrich this particular group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through engagement with sport and physical activity, sportbased youth development (SBYD) programs aim to support the development of youth toward a positive sense of self, enrich their human and social capital, and enhance their personal skills, development assets, and competencies. The purpose of this study is to explore the role, programmatic strategy, and impact of sport sampling opportunities offered in a SBYD program. To this end, we interviewed 19 racially and economically marginalized youth, ages 10-17 years old, participating in an after-school SBYD program on the campus of a large university in the Southeast United States. Data revealed four themes (sampling sport, emotional management, development outcomes, and sports mentoring) comprised of 12 sub-themes. We discuss each against the backdrop of the racially and economically marginalized community in which participants live. Implications of our study can be used to help advance sport-sampling as a development intervention in campus-community partnerships, as well as expand our conceptual understanding of sport sampling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to synthesize and apply White racial identity theory and concomitant research to the interaction between athletic and racial identity, specifically as it relates to the experiential variations of how race impacts White athletes within the college sport environment. White dialectics, or the tensions that White Americans experience as dominant social group members, serve as the guiding theoretical framework and provide a theoretical lens through which the experience of White college athletes is examined at each distinct dialectic. Through this article, the application of White dialectics offers a theoretical foundation for developing a better understanding of how White college athletes not only make sense of their racial identity, but also understand their racialized experiences within intercollegiate athletics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale/purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine a single sport-based youth development program across a variety of contexts and examine programmatic differences and similarities that lead to positive outcomes. Research methods: Through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and direct observation, we analyzed the program inputs and designs of ten different sites operating within the same sport-based youth development organization. Findings: Programs operating across different environments used a range of strategies to tailor the needs to its community, including changes to program design, recruitment, co-participation, and parental investment. Practical implications: Findings outline potential strategies for sport-based youth development programs to incorporate their community into the program to achieve outcomes. Research contribution: Findings suggest that individual environments are essential to a program design that creates optimal interactions, and that using local approaches can help create an environment that incites true community development rather than singular individual outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the start of the 2015 college football season, 15 of the 128 NCAA Dl-FBS programs took the field with a new head coach. Of note, is that none of the newly hired head coaches were Black, and 11 of the 15 hires climbed the coaching ranks on the offensive side of the ball. Given that 11.7% of the head coaching jobs in the league were available this offseason and none were filled by a Black coaching candidate could signify that the positive trends found after the 2010 season regarding the hiring of Black head football coaches (Bopp & Sagas, 2012) may have plateaued, or even worse, declined. The purpose of this study was to ascertain if significant strides are being made in the promotion of Black coaches to head coach and offensive coordinator positions in college football, and evaluate how successful they have been in those positions. The findings of our study, which were interpreted using racial tasking (Bopp & Sagas, 2014) as our theoretical lens, found that a) Black representation at the head coach and offensive coordinator position has plateaued, b) White head coaches statistically have higher winning percentages than their Black counterparts, c) White head coaches are afforded nearly a year more on average than Black head coaches to lead their programs, and d) that White offensive coordinators tend to manage more prolific passing teams (e.g., attempts, yards, and touchdowns) than their Black counterparts. The performance of Black coaches compared with their White counterparts has not favored Black coaches which may create prejudice in the mind of athletic administrators. Implications and suggestions for change are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport-based youth development (SBYD) programs utilize sport to positively contribute to youth's overall development. It is professed sport provides experiences and a context in which life skills and development assets can be learned and practiced, so as to transfer into other life occurrences. Resilience, the ability to positively act and adapt while coping with stress, anxiety, and adverse situations, is one such developmental asset. Thus, the overall purpose of this paper is to examine the role of a SBYD program in supporting and enhancing resilience among racially and economically marginalized youth. Interviews reveal that this particular SBYD program is having a positive impact on participants' ability to better manage, interact with, and persevere in their current environments. One space in which this has been particularly helpful is the youths' academic resilience. These findings are further discussed with regards to their practical and conceptual application to SBYD program design and curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to ascertain if positional segregation continues at the quarterback position in college football. To determine its existence, we examined differences in run and pass plays executed by African American and White quarterbacks over four different seasons in the NCAA DI-FBS (N = 548). Results revealed significant differences such that African American quarterbacks rushed the ball more and averaged fewer pass attempts than their White counterparts. Likewise, the percentage of rush attempts made by African Americans nearly doubled that of Whites, while White quarterbacks passed the ball 12% more often than their African American counterparts. We argue that these findings support that a new form of discrimination and positional segregation, one we define as racial tasking, may exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past studies have concluded that institutional and access discrimination remain potential deterrents in achieving a more diverse and equal representation of racial minority head coaches in college football. This study sought to examine and compare the career paths of all DI-FBS coaches to determine the potential continued existence of discrimination and its impact. Findings revealed an overall positive shift in the representation of African American coaches, particularly at the assistant coach level. Thus, the coaching career paths of current head coaches and coordinators appear to he paving a more equitable path for assistant and future coaches. However, the data also portray the existence of both institutional and access discrimination. Such biases facilitate and maintain an underrepresentation of African American coaches; and while the increased acceptance of upper-level coaches with diverse racial, playing, and coaching backgrounds suggests a positive shift toward racial equality among coaches, the movement for a balanced representation perseveres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to move toward a nuanced understanding of how whiteness serves to uphold structural racism within intercollegiate athletics, particularly through its influence on the experiences of White college athletes. More narrowly, as it relates to White college athletes, how do they make sense of their racial identity and understand their racialized experiences within the college sporting context? Through a methodological lens informed by interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), semi-structured interviews revealed three common phenomena. First, participants perceived whiteness as representing no definitive cultural or racial identity, allowing them to moderate its sociopolitical implications. Second, in developing and maintaining relationships with non-Whites, participants reported challenges in connecting across race, some of which manifested as unintended racist pitfalls. Lastly, participants found it difficult to conceive of an association between race and structural inequalities in college sport. Moving forward, implications derived from this study's findings include: issues concerning personal accountability and the moderation of both personal and structural effects of whiteness within sporting spaces; how White college athletes compartmentalize their own racial identity while actively engaging with the racialized identities of teammates; and how White college athletes navigate the resultant internalized tension(s) from said interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the coverage of sport-related news as reported on Internet websites, and examining the content of those news stories to determine if the coverage was associated with deviant or non-deviant activities and behaviors. 3078 sport-related news stories were collected from nine popular sport websites, and analyzed. Results indicate that these sport websites release a greater number of stories related to "non-deviant" behaviors than "deviant" behaviors, and that "non-deviant" stories were longer (as measured by word count) than "deviant" stories. However, when it comes to stories related to deviance, stories about on-field violence tend to be longer than stories related to use of performance enhancing drugs, off-field violence, and use of alcohol/street drugs. These findings suggest possible social ramifications related to the coverage of sport on the Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University officials are increasingly considering selling alcoholic beverages at campus football stadiums. To inform this decision, we report on offenses occurring at a campus football stadium and surrounding community on game day weekends between 2009 and 2013. Campus police log data for 35 home football weekends were examined, accounting for 1,940 distinct incidents. There was a general upward trend in crime incidents. On average, 330 total crime incidents occurred when alcohol was not sold (2009–2011) compared to 475 annually when alcohol was sold (2012–2013). Liquor law violations and alcohol consumption by a minor were the two most frequently cited offenses. Liquor law violations (317) was highest after alcohol sales initiated. Police incidents were markedly higher when playing a traditional football rival at home. College administrators, health officials, athletic departments, and local law enforcement must work together to weigh the potential benefit of enhanced financial profit against the risk of increased alcohol-related crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine fan opinion toward the active recruitment of prospective student-athletes with deviant pasts. College football fans were surveyed to determine to what extent the deviant behavior of a prospective student-athlete impacted how much they would support their favorite team recruiting that athlete. There were three primary findings: (a) deviant behavior negatively impacts a prospective student-athlete’s fan support score, (b) assault of a female student is the most severe deviant behavior in which an athlete could engage, and (c) White recruits were judged more harshly for using illegal drugs when compared to Black recruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sport has become racialized such that minority youth accrue limited health and academic benefits from participation, compared to their White counterparts. Understanding the welcomeness that minorities feel in sport, leisure and physical activities plays an important role in breaking down barriers to participation. Thus, the overall aim of this study is to further examine the determinants of sport participation, particularly as it relates to race, socialization and perceived welcomeness. College students (N = 451) scored their perceived level of welcomeness for Whites, African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos in 14 sports. Results reveal significant differences in the perceived welcomeness felt by Whites, African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos in most of the sports analyzed. The discussion focuses on the socialization agents that facilitate such racialized perceptions and hinder access and opportunities for racial and ethnic minority youth to experience the health, academic and social benefits of sport participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research sought to demonstrate how institutional complexity within the field of college athletics in the United States offers conflicting prescriptions for ethical leadership. With college athletics serving as the context for this investigation, data were collected from 14 athletic administrators at four universities. Participants suggested that ethical leadership in college athletics consisted of prioritizing the institution while integrating servant leadership. We discussed how these two logics are conceptually incompatible, thereby creating conflicting perspectives as to what it meant to be an ethical leader. By incorporating an institutional logic perspective, we demonstrated that conceptions of ethical leadership are subjected to engrained ideals that may not always be compatible as they lend themselves to differing ethical frameworks. The contextual implications as well as the broader discipline implications of this research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]