Skip to main content

The Sports Monograph

  I have been lucky enough to be able to collaborate in the writing of a chapter in this book, due for publication on the 31st July and available for order on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0956627064/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE.

My chapter is entitled 'Understanding parental influence on child athletes : from fanatical to disinterested parents'.  The chapter considers the relative power relationship of the coach, athlete and parent, and how it can affect the athlete's development.  It draws on some examples from gymnastics, both in Russia and America, as well as from other sports, and considers some of the guidelines developed by sports governing bodies to try to encourage best practice.

My co-authors (Butler, Hedge and Cunliffe) are all students on the sports management programme at the University of Central Lancashire, and the book is edited by Dr Clive Palmer.  Regular readers of this blog will recognise him as the author of the PhD thesis on gymnastics judging.  It is an eclectic collection of work that will be of interest to students of sports studies, management and coaching,  and anyone with an interest in sport.

Clive's description is as follows:

'With over 120 contributors across 60 chapters, their ages ranging from 6 months to 60 years, the Sports Monograph represents a compendium of voices; telling experiences and rich perspectives, all stimulated by personal involvement in sport, Physical Education and sports culture. Consequently, the volume has a broad remit but a common theme. This has permitted a refreshing degree of freedom for people across a wide spectrum of education to register their thoughts and feelings about physical culture as they may have experienced it. Chapters are generally of two styles; first, academic essays of sporting interest with critical and factual discussion, and second, creative stories, poems and other biographical reflections which bring to the fore the realities of sport and PE. The latter conspicuously holding up a mirror to those theorised experiences, revealing quite vividly the primacy, sensuality and emotional importance of being physically educated, but through the medium of literature.'

'

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Anna Pavlova interview - YOU ask the questions

Anna with her team mate Maria Nekrasova today.   Maria competed in this spring's Russia Cup and will join Anna on the Azerbaijan national gymnastics team.  Picture courtesy of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation on Facebook. As Anna prepares to compete at this week's Voronin Cup, representing Azerbaijan for the first time, RRG, in collaboration with Anna's authorised website Anna Pavlova Online, would like to invite readers to submit their questions for an interview with Anna.  What have you always wanted to ask one of Russia's best gymnasts of the last decade? Each reader may submit up to three questions.  We will collate and if necessary edit the questions and Anna will answer the ones she finds most interesting.  Please add your questions as comments to this blog, or you may email them to me at rewriterussiagym@btinternet.com.  We hope to publish the final interview on both websites by Christmas. Many of you must dream of having a conversation with Anna...

Simone and the others - results and reflections

In the end, it was as predicted : Simone and the others, with Simone's teammate, Alexandra Raisman, providing the back up.  I do not need to point out that, by definition, the Americans are scoring significantly higher marks than the rest of the field.  Congratulations to them! Aliya Mustafina finished in third place.  The 2012 bronze medalist led the competition after vault and uneven bars, but had a very nervous outing on beam that might have taken a less experienced gymnast out of the medals.  A bravura performance on floor brought Aliya back though to confirm her third place all around.  From her senior debut in 2010 to today, Mustafina has continuously set high standards of grace.    It is the first time since 2000 that a gymnast (Amanar) has medalled in the all around at two consecutive Olympics, and  if Aliya can medal on Saturday's uneven bars final, she will once again be Russia's biggest medal winner of the women's gymnastics.  Russ...

'Mustafina is no longer in pain' - Valentina Rodionenko

Picture of Aliya Mustafina, courtesy of RGF Valentina Rodionenko has provided some updates on the Russian teams and how their preparation for Worlds (Nanning, China, 3 to 12 October) is progressing, via Allsports (http://www.allsportinfo.ru/index.php?id=84328) - The teams are now at camp in Italy, in two small towns close to Milan, by the sea, where the girls travelled on 29th June and the men on 1 July.  The athletes aren't only training, they can also relax. - Komova is working out at Round Lake, she didn't go to Italy.  We will see how she does at the Russia Cup, which will be held late August in Penza. Tatiana Nabiyeva is looking good in training and the other girls are also working.  Ksenia Afanasyeva won't have time to prepare for Worlds, and Anastasia Grishina's participation is also in doubt, we just don't know if she will qualify for the team.   We have hopes for Aliya Mustafina.  As always, she is our number one.  It would be great if there were t...

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more