This article dilates on the culturally insignificance of football in Europe in spite of the receptiveness of Europeans to American popular culture in general. It is argued that this anomaly can be explained by a sociohistorical perspective on the differential popularization of sports and the changing social structure in which sports are being diffused. In doing so, it is shown that football only entered the European sport space after 1980 and that the attempts by the National Football League to launch football as a spectator sport will fail without a basic foundation at grassroots level.
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This study assesses the evolutionary leadership theory and the natural leadership instrument of Van Vugt and Ahuja (2011) in the context of youth elite football. The Evolutionary Leadership Theory is a comprehensive new way of looking at leadership that suggests environmental pressures influence the choice of who becomes the leader. The results revealed that the concept of natural leadership, as measured using the six natural leaders questionnaire, cannot be applied to the context of youth football. The preliminary data showed that natural leadership in youth sport requires a more basic framework of leadership consisting of communication, resources and focus on competition.
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Modifiable (biomechanical and neuromuscular) anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk factors have been identified in laboratory settings. These risk factors were subsequently used in ACL injury prevention measures. Due to the lack of ecological validity, the use of on-field data in the ACL injury risk screening is increasingly advocated. Though, the kinematic differences between laboratory and on-field settings have never been investigated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the lower-limb kinematics of female footballers during agility movements performed both in laboratory and football field environments. Twenty-eight healthy young female talented football (soccer) players (14.9 ± 0.9 years) participated. Lower-limb joint kinematics was collected through wearable inertial sensors (Xsens Link) in three conditions: (1) laboratory setting during unanticipated sidestep cutting at 40-50°; on the football pitch (2) football-specific exercises (F-EX) and (3) football games (F-GAME). A hierarchical two-level random effect model in Statistical Parametric Mapping was used to compare joint kinematics among the conditions. Waveform consistency was investigated through Pearson's correlation coefficient and standardized z-score vector. In-lab kinematics differed from the on-field ones, while the latter were similar in overall shape and peaks. Lower sagittal plane range of motion, greater ankle eversion, and pelvic rotation were found for on-field kinematics (p < 0.044). The largest differences were found during landing and weight acceptance. The biomechanical differences between lab and field settings suggest the application of context-related adaptations in female footballers and have implications in ACL injury prevention strategies. Highlights: Talented youth female football players showed kinematical differences between the lab condition and the on-field ones, thus adopting a context-related motor strategy. Lower sagittal plane range of motion, greater ankle eversion, and pelvic rotation were found on the field. Such differences pertain to the ACL injury mechanism and prevention strategies. Preventative training should support the adoption of non-linear motor learning to stimulate greater self-organization and adaptability. It is recommended to test football players in an ecological environment to improve subsequent primary ACL injury prevention programmes.
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