Volume 52 (2011): Issue 1 (October 2011)

In this paper I argue for a cross-disciplinary approach to teaching sport ethics. I call this a logical and evolutionary account because information that emanates from cell biology, anthropology, philosophy and everywhere in between, I claim, is needed in developing effective fair play pedagogies. The gist of the argument is this: We need to teach smarter, not just harder. Teaching smarter, I say, comes from an understanding of human nature and the logic of sport. I discuss animal behavior, emotions, genetic predispositions, human evolution, the structure of games, philosophical idealism, and other factors in producing five recommendations for teaching sport ethics.

Sport psychologists rarely discuss religious belief or spirituality in their work. Where they do, this is most usually in relation to flow and positive experiential states linked to optimal performance. This article argues that other spiritual dimensions, such as courage, sacrifice and suffering can also be encountered in sport, especially at elite and professional levels. By drawing on broader and more holistic approaches to identity in sport it becomes possible to recognise that for some athletes, religious faith and other sources of spirituality are a major source of meaning in their lives. Applied experiences of the author delivering sport psychology counselling inside several English Premier League teams over 9 seasons is used to highlight how spirituality can be encountered in work with elite professional footballers. Existential phenomenological psychology and philosophical personalism are offered as ways in which sport psychology might be able to find a suitable theoretical framework that can accommodate spiritual ideas and renew focus on the person of the athlete.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and member institutions' presentation of major college basketball in the United States as an endeavor of amateurism is contradictory to the realities of college basketball. Discussed are the following amateurism related hypocrisies: a) requiring players to fully engage in formally structured basketball activities as a priority over education, b) expansion of the post season March Madness tournament regardless of the fact that players will miss more classes, c) compensating basketball coaches with salaries contingent on success defined by winning, and d) the athletic scholarship. Literature supports amateurism hypocrisies in major college basketball (Bermuda 2010, Colombo 2010, Sundram 2010). Understanding the effect of NCAA and member institution hypocritical behavior on determining the moral standing of major college basketball is discussed in the context of claims by Grant (1997), that Machiavelli recognized the necessity of political hypocrisy. A utilitarian analysis using Jeremy Bentham's holistic utilitarian approach calling for the agent to "sum up all the values of all the pleasures on the one side, and those of all the pains on the other" (p. 39) to determine the degree of morality, indicates a presence of morality in major college basketball. Under the premise that major college basketball is an extension of core values held by higher education, Aristotle's Golden Mean (Aristotle, 1941) is used to help identify a point of balanced moral perspective concerning sentiments of the sporting community held for the sport. The end goal is to maintain major college basketball's strong level of satisfaction among members of the sporting community, while controlling the false representation of amateurism surrounding it to preserve the moral and structural integrity of major college basketball.

Author considers assumptions related to foul play in sport as a phenomenon, that affect the body, psyche, or relationships - various social involvements, conditionings, and determinants of those involved with that particular form of athletic activity. This includes fouls committed on and off the field, as well as those not even related to a particular game. Our considerations include fouls of a verbal or acoustic nature; fouls in the form of printed materials; those in the form of visual commentary in films, TV shows, Internet appearances, whether in feature films, dramatized documentaries, documentaries or reports presented in a different publications, festivals, exhibitions, during which co-participants, adversaries or competitors make comments on past or future events during or beyond the competition.

Fouls in sport, particularly those committed by athletes during competition, will always be inconsistent with the accepted rules of the game, that is, with the official regulations. Fouls will also always influence - in more or less annoying, depressing, painful or even tragic ways - the fate and the health of athletes.

No logical - conditional, cause and effect - connection exists between a foul and the rules. Neither the need for nor praise of foul play can stem from the regulations. Yet people directly associated with the sport tolerate it because there is a widespread, quiet acquiescence of such play. Foul play is strongly opposed by supporters of the fair play principle, by those who do not regard sports competition as a phenomenon that can be considered independently beyond moral good and evil.

Foul play is seen also as a desirable phenomenon, when inter alia, regardless of the various penalties imposed on players and team, it helps - in the final balance of losses and benefits - to achieve the planned success. Moreover, it is worth adding that, for instance, the so-called "good foul" in basketball enables one to stop the game clock, the so-called pure-play time of the referee. This creates the possibility of obtaining at least one more point (for a possible 3-point shot from a distance) than the team that executes its two one-point penalty shots granted for the offense (that is, "good foul").

Foul play may also enhance the course of the sports spectacle, and encourage spectators to cheer more frequently. This is particularly important when professional athletic contests are treated as a form of business. The dramatization of foul play as a creation of "game" within a game can also be an additional attraction of the competition; foul play might be used as sophisticated and spectacular trickery, that dismays and hurts in its pragmatic-aesthetic construction, both the referee and the opponent.

Foul play in sports has so many forms and will probably never lose its popular and sometimes spectacular character. Knowing that, everything should be done to protect players from bothersome health, interpersonal, and cultural disablements resulting from foul play.

The present paper is an attempt to move structurally towards the understanding of the basic constitution of the core concept of this paper. It's basically looking at the empirical and inner ideological conception of issue of participation of transgender athletes in sports. The creed of the Olympics states: "The important thing in the game is not winning but taking part. The essential this is not conquering, but fighting well". As noble a goal as this is, it has little to do with the reality of the modern sports world. Athletes are rewarded for winning at virtually every level of competition. Second place is viewed as the "first loser". Modern sports' and the media's misplaced fixation on fame, fortune and winning at all costs have unintentionally created a growing market for unhealthy practices. This review manifests an attempt towards the conceptual study of the participation of transgender athletes in competitive sports, which is one of the latest equality challenges for sport-governing organizations worldwide. The paper investigates the motif of interrelated dynamics between gender terminology and legal and medical issues related to transgender athlete participation in sport. On 28 October 2003, an ad-hoc committee convened by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical Commission met in Stockholm to discuss, then issue recommendations on, the topic of the participation of individuals who have undergone sex reassignment (male to female and vice versa) in sport. This has resulted in a heated debate that there is a competitive advantage for a male who has undergone sex reassignment surgery because of his physical training and development. Men have significantly higher levels of testosterone, a greater muscle-to-fat ratio, and greater heart and lung capacity than women. The other side of the debate argues that a physiological advantage does not necessarily exist. Transgenders must continually take massive doses of oestrogen, which decreases their strength, and their bodies no longer produce testosterone. The issue under consideration has multi-faceted dimensions of interpretations that center on a desire to ‘deconstruct’ the present structuration of acceptance of sex and gender terminology. The resultant aim is to create a worldview of equality, respect for the ‘other’, and competitive fairness. The latent attempt of the paper is to deconstruct the binary of inequality in the field of sports with a view to give vibrational impetus for attaining the ideals of equality in sports.

The paper entitled Social Aspects of Physical Education and Sport in Schools follows the tradition of social research on physical culture, focusing on the evolution of physical education and sport in schools. The subject is analysed using terms and theories that are characteristic of sociology, most notably the sociology of physical culture, historical sociology and the sociology of culture. Individual subsections look at physical education and sport from the angle of cultures and societies, analysing them in the context of their presence in different schooling systems. Questions of physical education and sport in schools are presented with regards to the following concepts: institutionalisation of education, pre-modern societies, developing modern societies, and developed modern societies. In the closing section, the paper discusses the situation of physical education and sport in schools during the final phase of modern societies, including in Poland.

This article focuses on the structure and management systems of sport at Iranian universities. The method of this research was through an analysis of documents. Sport in the system of Iranian universities is divided into three different categories. The physical education department of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran is responsible for sport at universities in the country, and managing sport affairs. Authority was granted to secretariats in the various regions so that decision making would be decentralized due to the large size of the country and the large number of universities in the various geographical regions. Due to this great geographical diversity, universities should continue their activities under the supervision of sport secretariats in their given regions. The participation of students in sport activities at Iranian universities was calculated in three categories; students with different interests and skills can participate in various numbers of sports, championships, and sport festivals. At this time, with regards to the scientific attitudes towards sport and physical activities and the expanding culture of sport at Iranian universities, the number of participants in sport activities is increasing. In the conclusion it is stated that improving the knowledge and attention of students regarding the importance of sport in different aspects of education and life, as well as the recognition of present barriers and support of campus volunteers, could help to increase the participation of students in sport activities. Moreover, the allocation of more power and authority to each region, as well as holding different local and traditional sport festivals, could help to improve the development of sport at Iranian universities.

This present study intends to deal with the lifestyles and living standards of elderly men. The health-related lifestyle was examined including a closer look at how elderly people value their own living standards, and how it is connected to the present state of their condition and activities. Our main goal was to highlight all lifestyle elements, because such an age, lifestyle has a decisive role in improving living standards. It seems reasonable to take several aspects - physical activity, change of lifestyle, and age differences - into consideration when health-cultural behaviour is examined because all of them can influence elderly people's lifestyles and quality of life. Data were collected in eastern Hungary, in Hajdú-Bihar County, among elderly males above 60 years old (N=1,269; M=70.23; min: 60; max: 99; SD±7.095) through questionnaires. Our survey contained questions in three main topics: demographic profile (age, sex, education, financial status, living conditions, and occupation), health status (subjective health status, health awareness, mental health status), and health behaviour (physical exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption). Different sub-patterns were examined during the analysis: different qualifications, age, and settlement types.