Although previous researches have suggested that Team Identification (Team ID) and Place Attachment are positively correlated, the causal relationship between them has not been clarified sufficiently.
    In this research we attempted to verify the hypothesis that “inhabitants who have raised the Team ID will raise Place Attachment, compared to the inhabitants who have not raised it.” The investigation method was a longitudinal survey focused on inhabitants of Imabari City, designed to assess the change in the Team ID and Place Attachment.
    The results of the two-way ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference between the Place Attachment of inhabitants who had raised the Team ID and those who had not. Place Attachment of the former increased, and thus the hypothesis was supported.
    The causal relationship between Team ID and Place Attachment been clarified by this research, however, the existence and the influence of other parameters have not been clarified. In order to clarify the mechanism between Team ID and Place Attachment, accumulation of expert knowledge will be required.

View full abstract

     To evaluate the effects of visual attention on anticipatory response, we attempted to detect microsaccades from eye movements during anticipatory response tasks, which consisted of three conditions, free viewing and two fixational conditions toward ball-racquet impact and ball-release areas, using video image of tennis serve. Eight expert female tennis players participated the experiment voluntarily. In the free viewing condition, they were required to explore serve motions freely on a display, and to predict a direction of serve by pushing a right or left button as accurately and quickly as possible. In the two fixational conditions, they were asked to fixate constantly a target of blue circle (diameter twelve pixels) superimposed on ball-racquet impact area or ball-release area of serve motions, and to respond in the same way as in the free viewing condition. We used an algorithm of “Engbert and Kliegl (2003) ” for the detection of microsaccades. As a result, we found that microsaccades were detected from eye movements in the both fixationl conditions and not the free viewng condition. The results in the fixational condition toward release area indicated that the frequency of microsaccades lowered as visual attention increased when some cues of serve motions for anticipation existed in a distant area from the fixational target. And the direction of microsaccades showed the direction of ball-racquet impact area after ball release. Hence, it was concluded that microsaccades could be detected from eye movements during anticipatory response tasks using video image, if the subjects tried to fixate the fixational target, and the microsaccades would be an indicator of covert attention for anticipatory response.

View full abstract

    This study aimed to develop an Affective State Scale for Sports Performance Prediction (ASSSPP) for university student-athletes in specific situations such as before a competition or carrying out a play. Questionnaire surveys designed for university student-athletes were performed to select and narrow down possible affective terms that could be the items for the scale. A factor structure was then constructed by carrying out factor analyses to confirm the reliability and validity of the scale.
    Based on the circumplex model of affect, the created ASSSPP was composed of 16 items of affective terms, which were distributed two-dimensionally into four domains by pleasant/unpleasant and high/low activation, each domain corresponding to four factors (activated-pleasant, unactivated-pleasant, activated-unpleasant, and unactivated-unpleasant) to evaluate affection states that are at a high level of abstraction. The reliability of the ASSSPP was confirmed from the viewpoints of internal consistency (Cronbach′s α) and stability (test-retest). Sufficient criterion-related validity was also confirmed by correlation analyses with the Japanese version of Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and performance level. Additionally, construct validity was confirmed for the verification model that set the affective states in the pleasant/unpleasant domains as the independent variable and the performance level in competitions as the dependent variable by covariance structure analyses.
    Therefore, it was suggested that ASSSPP has a sensitive and specific reactivity with athletes′ affective state in a specific situation of sports competitions and thus it is able to predict their subsequent performance level.

View full abstract

    An interview survey was conducted to ascertain the kind of management talent sought by a professional sports club. In order to conduct the survey, one club was selected from each of the J1, J2, and J3 groups in the 2014 season. Semi-structured interviews were conducted based on: 1. skills and qualifications required for work, 2. organization and work content of the club, 3. growth process of the club management, and 4. human resource development policy of the club.
    The results show a division in the abilities required to run a professional sports club, ranging from requiring highly versatile abilities such as worker fundamentals, drive, and job compatibility to specific abilities tailored to the business of a professional sports club.
    The foundation of a professional sports club’ s business is entertainment. Therefore, skills in communication to entertain people and in gaming business management are required. In addition, as sponsorship of local companies is a key focus for management, the ability to demonstrate communication that generates empathy and responsive management is essential.
    Clubs that are recognized as public assets of a community tend to build business models that utilize volunteers. Strategic communication to promote spontaneity was identified as an important strength to effectively manage this business model.

View full abstract

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence on college students of various factors such as exercise experience in high school, acquisition of physical activity class credits in university, current physical activity, and barriers to exercise behaviors. Another purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the confidence that exercise will be maintained after college graduation and exercise experience in high school, current physical activity, and barriers to exercise behaviors. Seven hundred twenty-eight college students participated in this study. Results indicated that students who were male, regularly exercised in high school, and had taken or intended to take university physical activity classes were more likely to exercise regularly compared with students who were female, did not exercise regularly in high school, and had not taken or had no intention to take physical activity classes. The students who exercised regularly scored lower on barriers to exercise behaviors (lack of physical resources and personal internal constraints). Additionally, students who regularly exercised in high school or who currently exercise regularly reported a higher confidence that exercise will be maintained than students who did not exercise regularly in high school or who do not currently exercise regularly. However, no relationship was reported between confidence that exercise will be maintained and acquisition of physical activity class credits in college. Regarding barriers to exercise behaviors, lack of physical resources predicted the confidence for male students, and personal internal constraints predicted the confidence that exercise will be maintained for male and female students. Therefore, universities should prepare more fitness facilities or advertise various fitness facilities that are available for students on campus. Additionally, students who do not regularly exercise should be encouraged to start light exercise and learn time management skills so that they can eventually increase their physical activity levels and enhance the likelihood that they will continue exercise after college graduation.

View full abstract

    The aim of this research was to clarify what kind of support collegiate student athletes seek, and to identify what kind of person they recognize as a mentor. A qualitative questionnaire was administered to collegiate student athletes, in which text data on mentors and support seeking was collected and then classified by the KJ method. According to responses from 135 students, support for athletic sports activities was classed into categories such as “environment in training,” “environment outside training,” “money,” “having an understanding of them,” “free time,” “care for themselves,” “psychological counseling,” “family,” and so on. Support for daily life was categorized into “environment,” “money,” “having a support network,” “leisure,” “having an understanding of them,” “self-development,” “having family members,” and so on. One hundred and six athletes had mentors, whereas 24 did not. Attributes of mentors were categorized as “family,” “same-grade peers in the athletic club,” “friends outside of the athletic club,” “seniors in the athletic club,” “coaches who taught them in the past,” “coaches who currently teach them,” “former teachers,” “past team mates,” “understanding people,” “junior colleagues,” “graduates of college athletic club,” and so on. The results of this study suggest that in order for collegiate student athletes to lead a fulfilling life, it is necessary to create an environment of sport-life balance. It is important to consider mentoring related to the competition life, as well as the daily life of the collegiate student athlete and to identify a familiar person who may be suitable as a mentor.

View full abstract

    The U.S. women’s national volleyball team is one of the best teams in the world. The purpose of this paper is to present characteristics of management of the top-ranked junior volleyball clubs that develop elite volleyball players in the U.S. The authors visited, observed and interviewed four top-ranked women′s junior volleyball clubs to study profile of the clubs, how to recruit players, how to generate income and so on. We found that those club teams were run by Non-Profit Organizations (NPO), were sponsored by sporting goods manufacturers, offered varieties of programs and played games depending on ages and skills. In addition, as they cooperated closely with local high school teams, many players and coaches were actively involved in both club and high school teams.

View full abstract