Category Archives: Jessica Pinchbeck

Cut for performance: why women’s sports kit matters

By Jess Pinchbeck and Caroline Heaney

Image by Laura Rincón on Pexels

Why sports kit matters for women’s performance

The design and fit of women’s sports kit is increasingly recognised as a key factor in female sports participation and performance. While kit may seem trivial, evidence suggests that sportswear plays an active role in shaping athletes’ experiences, influencing comfort, safety, performance and empowerment of participants during sports performance.

Many women are still expected to wear sports kit that fits poorly, is impractical in colour, or unnecessarily sexualises their bodies.

These factors can discourage participation and affect performance at every level – from recreational sport to elite competition. This makes women’s sports kit a critical issue for those working with female participants, such as coaches, PE teachers and sport and exercise scientists.

The ‘shrink it and pink it’ problem in sportswear design

In many sports, particularly those traditionally considered ‘male’, women’s kit is created using a ‘shrink it and pink it’ approach. This means designs are based on standard male proportions and scaled down.

This reflects a wider research gap. Data shows that only around 6% of sports science research has focused exclusively on female athletes. This had led to women typically following training regimes and wearing footwear and clothing that has been designed based on research with male athletes.

As a result, women often have to adapt poorly fitting kit themselves. For example, footballers rolling waistbands for a better fit and women in martial arts altering uniforms to improve .

Improving female-focused sport and exercise science research is essential to designing kit that genuinely supports women’s bodies and performance.

Sexualisation of women’s sports kit

Image by H. B. from Pixabay

At the other end of the spectrum, sportswear designed specifically for women is often created to accentuate the female form. This contributes to the sexualisation of female athletes, with kit frequently designed to appeal to the male gaze. Compared to men’s sportswear, women’s kit is often more revealing, tighter fitting and less practical for movement and comfort.

Research suggests that tight, revealing clothing can reduce comfort and negatively affect performance. In recent years, many athletes are challenging these norms:

  • The Norwegian beach handball team wore shorts instead of traditional bikini briefs at the 2021 European Championships, to improve comfort and performance.
  • Gymnast Sarah Voss wore a full-body suit to compete in the 2021 European Championships making a stand against the sexualisation and the fear of exposure associated with wearing a leotard.

These actions highlight a growing movement to prioritise functionality, comfort and athlete autonomy over outdated expectations. Elite athletes are leading the way to drive change and stimulate discussion to alter the discourse around female athletes.

Why colour matters: menstruation and kit design

Sports kit colour, particularly white, is a major issue for many female athletes.

Research shows that wearing white kit can cause anxiety during menstruation due to concerns about the visibility of period blood – in sports such as rugby, tennis, and soccer. This is linked to wider societal pressures to conceal menstruation.

As a result, several high-profile changes have taken place, such as:

  • Wimbledon updated its dress code in 2023 to allow darker undershorts – the first significant shift in the iconic dress codes since 1877.
  • England women’s football and Ireland women’s rugby changed from white to darker shorts following player concerns.

Feminist acts such as these to resist uniform traditions can stimulate positive change, empower and develop agency amongst female athletes. All of which are important in the psychology of sport performance, influencing confidence and concentration, and facilitating the attainment of optimal performance.

Beyond the kit: challenging gender norms in sport

Sportswear doesn’t just affect performance – it can both challenge and reinforce traditional gender roles. Design choices reflecting societies’ ideas of what is ‘feminine’ can shape how women are viewed in the sporting environment and how female athletes are discussed and valued.

For example, in 2011 the Amateur International Boxing Association suggested skirts could make female boxers appear more ‘elegant’ and help distinguish them from their male counterparts. Two national teams (Poland and Romania) briefly mandated this approach, with the Polish coach Leszek Piotrowski stating “By wearing skirts, in my opinion, it gives a good impression, a womanly impression. Wearing shorts is not a good way for women boxers to dress”. However, this proposed skirt uniform was widely contested and refuted by the majority.

There is growing recognition that sports kit should be designed around function, inclusion and athlete experience – not outdated stereotypes.

Designing better sports kit for women and girls

To improve women’s sport experiences, sports kit should be designed for the female body for practical and performance reasons, not to confirm to societies’ acceptance and without sexualising the athlete.

Key considerations include:

  • Offering a wider range of sizes, fits and lengths
  • Providing choice in styles (e.g. shorts, leggings, bodysuits)
  • Avoiding ‘one-size-fits-all’ or unisex solutions.

Positive changes are already emerging. Both England Netball and Netball Australia have broadened uniform options in response to players’ calls for choice and inclusivity. Players can now wear combinations such as shirts, bodysuits, shorts, long pants and more.

These developments support body confidence, inclusion and performance optimisation.

What needs to change next?

The design of sports kit can either facilitate or hinder women’s participation and performance in sports.

To drive meaningful change, the sport and exercise sector must:

  • Invest in female-specific research
  • Listen to the lived experiences of female athletes
  • Design kit that prioritises comfort, function and choice
  • Challenge outdated traditions and gender norms.

By raising awareness of the intricacies of this through research and teaching it is possible to improve the knowledge of those working with girls and women to support choice and empowerment when it comes to sportswear design. Working together, those within the sport and exercise field can promote a more inclusive and empowering sport environment for female athletes.

Interested in sport, performance and inclusion?

Studying sport and exercise can help you understand how factors like sports kit influence performance, identity and participation.

At The Open University, you can explore these topics through flexible, research-led study designed to reflect real-world challenges in sport today.

Adam Peaty: the family behind the athlete

By Jessica Pinchbeck

The Games of the Tokyo Olympics have been played in empty stadiums and venues, without fans and family members. Jessica Pinchbeck looks at the importance of Adam Peaty’s family to his success.

In an incredible feat of Olympic history Adam Peaty has claimed gold in Tokyo to become the first GB swimmer to retain an Olympic title, but this year’s Olympics has a very different feel for the competitors with no spectators to provide that extra buzz and to join in the celebrations when success strikes. Perhaps the most noticeable absence of all is that of the athletes’ families and their emotional displays of pride and affection. For many athletes their families form an integral part of their athletic journey and Tokyo gold medallist Adam Peaty has been extremely vocal in his thanks to his parents over the years:

“Parents are the unsung heroes of our sport.”
Adam Peaty, GB Swimmer

Parental influence is fundamental in shaping a child’s sporting journey (Knight, 2019) and this influence is formed by the culmination of many different factors. There exists a considerable body of research to demonstrate that physical activity participation is influenced by factors related to the athletes’ family such as social class, the home environment and economic status (Dagkas and Stathi, 2007).

“You do feel on the back foot if you don’t come from a rich family or a family who are already involved in sport… You’re starting off at a massive disadvantage against those kinds of people.”

“As an amateur you’re up against people with money who can afford physio or therapists, and these kids turn up with all the kit. Not everyone is equal. But if anything, it made me more determined to make the most of what I did have and give 110% in training.”
Adam Peaty, GB Swimmer

Adam Peaty Rio 2016

Peaty’s success demonstrates that although environmental factors such as financial support can be influential other contributing factors are sometimes more important, such as attitudes and beliefs about the value of sport. The majority of young children’s time is spent with family members, especially parents, and this is why the family is a vital social facilitator in sport, influencing the way a child thinks and behaves, and the opportunities they are presented with.

Admittedly, social factors such as cost, local provision and proximity to amenities are relevant but these decisions are informed by the parents’ own attitudes and beliefs. Expectancy Value Model (Eccles et al., 1983; Eccles, 1993) states that if parents perceive sport to be important, they will provide more frequent opportunities for their child to participate in sporting activities based on a range of values.

“We forced him to swim and we have a strong belief that all children should swim because it’s a life-saving skill.”
Caroline Peaty, Mother of Adam Peaty

Peaty’s family clearly valued the importance of swimming and made every effort to ensure he had the opportunities and support to start swimming. Once Adam’s talent and success were evident, at aged 14 he joined City of Derby Swimming Club which involved increased travelling and greater commitment. It was a grueling regime and with his dad unable to drive, it was Peaty’s mum who bore the brunt of the training commitments:

“I’d get up at four in the morning, drive him 40 minutes to Derby, sit and wait two hours while he was training, or go to Tesco, then drive him back again and do a full day’s work as a nursery manager. Then we’d do it again in the evening.”
Caroline Peaty, Mother of Adam Peaty

Without such dedication and support from his parents Peaty’s Olympic journey would likely not have been possible. Throughout the athletic journey, as well as logistical support such as transport and organisation, the emotional support from an athlete’s family is vital in keeping them grounded and ensuring they maintain an identity beyond that of their sport.

Siblings have also been shown to influence a child’s sports participation, though, research shows sibling influence to be multifaceted and varied. Peaty, the youngest of four children, was heavily influenced by his older brothers in a unique way:

“I was scared of the water as a child. I even hated having baths; I’d scream every time […] My older brothers had told me sharks could swim through the plughole.”
Adam Peaty, GB Swimmer

Siblings are sources of both positive and negative sport experiences (Blazo and Smith, 2018) and despite this initial negative influence from his brothers, Peaty’s siblings may also have played a positive role in his development. For example, older siblings have been shown to be positive role models for a work ethic (Côté, 1999) with birth order also associated with athletic differences, including suggestions that later-born children are more likely to perform at a higher level (Hopwood et al., 2015).

One explanation was that that first born children may focus more on their own development, whereas younger children compare themselves to older siblings, which results in firstborn children being more motivated to learn, whereas later born children possess a greater motivation to win (Carette et al., 2011). Competition and rivalry between siblings have been shown to have positive effects, whereby younger siblings sought to perform as well as, if not better than, an older sibling, though this was not necessarily always linked to sport, rather the creation of a general competitiveness (Lundy et al. 2019). This appears to be evident within the Peaty family:

”Growing up with three older siblings, I’ve always had a competitive edge. The continuous and unforgiving strive to be exceptional in whatever I do derives from my childhood to always try, take part and do even better next time.”
Adam Peaty, GB Swimmer

Therefore, although the physical absence of Peaty’s parents and siblings was most certainly felt in Tokyo this year, their continued support throughout his athletic journey was certainly not absent from the success of his gold medal winning performance.  Since becoming a father himself, Peaty has voiced the importance of being a role model to his own son, passing on his own work ethic to the next generation.

References

Blazo, J. A., & Smith, A. L. (2018). A systematic review of siblings and physical activity experiences. International review of sport and exercise psychology, 11 (1), 122-159.

Carette, B. Anseel, F. and Van Yperen, N.W. (2011) ‘Born to learn or born to win? Birth order effects on achievement goals’, Journal of Research in Personality, 45, pp. 500–503.

Côté, J. (1999) ‘The influence of the family in the development of talent in sport’, The sport psychologist, 13 (4), pp.395-417.

Dagkas, S. and Stathi, A. (2007) ‘Exploring social and environmental factors affecting adolescents’ participation in physical activity’, European Physical Education Review, 13 (3), pp.369-384.

Eccles, J. A., Futterman, T., Goff, R., Kaczala, S., Meece, C., & Midgley, J. (1983). Expectations, values, and academic behaviors. Achievement and achievement motivation, 283-331.

Eccles, J. S. (1993). School and family effects on the ontogeny of children’s interests, self-perceptions, and activity choices Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1992: Developmental perspectives on motivation

Hopwood, M., Farrow, D., MacMahon, C., & Baker, J. (2015). Sibling dynamics and sport expertise. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 25 (5), 724-733.

Knight, C. J. (2019) ‘Revealing findings in youth sport parenting research’, Kinesiology Review, 8 (3), pp.252-259.

Lundy, G. I., Allan, V., Cowburn, I., & Cote, J. (2019). Parental Support, Sibling Influences and Family Dynamics across the Development of Canadian Interuniversity Student-Athletes. Journal of Athlete Development and Experience, 1 (2), 4.

This article was originally published on OpenLearn.

Managing a career and motherhood: Is it possible in Elite Netball?

By Jess Pinchbeck and Candice Lingam-Willgoss

With the 2019 Netball word cup upon us our screens are filled with inspirational female athletes and role models showing not only great displays of physical athleticism but also the psychological composure to perform under pressure. However, in addition to their netballing prowess these women are also role models for their inspirational stories off the court. Many of the players in the tournament are not full-time professional athletes and often hold down regular jobs alongside training and playing at elite level, demonstrating an extraordinary commitment and drive to fulfil their playing ambitions. Added to this some of the women combine work and elite sport with motherhood.  This is something of a break from tradition which used to see women end their career in sport to have children but with optimal fertility often falling at the same time as peak performance we see more instances of elite athletes breaking down the myth that combining these two roles is incompatible.

One such inspiration story is that of Samoan international Gerardine Nafanua Solia-Gibb, a 35 year old mother of five boys aged between one and fourteen years. Despite being a mother of five Solia-Gibb is reported to be one of the fittest members of the Samoan camp, however she does explain that taking note of your body after birth is important, particularly the impact of breastfeeding which can soften ligaments and increase the risk of injury. There are also the logistics of training commitments and to overcome this her sons frequently attend training with her after school. Like many of the teams in the World Cup netball is not particularly well-funded in Samoa and so typically players work alongside playing netball. Solia-Gibb runs a fibre cable installation business with her husband, factoring this in alongside everything else. Coming from a sporting family  herself with four older sisters, who have all made appearances for Samoa Netball, and a husband, who played rugby for Samoa, this perhaps gives her the drive and support network required to cope with such demands on her time.     

Another mother to grace the courts at Liverpool this summer is 26 year old Singapore centre court player Shawallah Rashid, who returns to the World Cup squad after giving birth to her second child in February. Rashid admits to being driven to return to fitness following the birth to make the World Cup squad after missing out on previous competitions due to pregnancy.   Similarly, to Solia-Gibb, Rashid also balances work, motherhood and netball successfully working as a secondary school executive. Rashid is the first mother to be part of the Singapore squad, and attributed her ability to return to international netball to the support of her family. Rashid admits that being apart from her children during the World Cup is not easy but feels that being a role model for her children is important. This example illustrates how a strong support network is necessary for an athlete who is considering balancing motherhood with sport and that this tends to be very tangible support (e.g. childcare) provided by both an athletes spouse and other family. 

An example of the conflict between netball and motherhood is evident in Casey Kopua’s return to World Cup Netball for New Zealand following her international retirement in 2017. From a slightly different background in New Zealand, where Silver Ferns players typically earn enough money to be full-time netballers, 34 year old Kopua, is returning to international netball, after the birth of her first child in 2016. The desire to win a World Cup gold medal proving just too much to resist and with her daughter now slightly older, and the support of her family, Kopua feels it is the right time to return.

Although some of the women here have demonstrated that it is possible to combine motherhood and netball, for some this feels unachievable. Many players see international netball and motherhood as incompatible, often deciding to retire from the sport when they wish to start a family.  As alluded to by Rashid the incompatibility of this often stems from the fact that a sport such a netball requires a mother having to be away from her family for extensive periods of time.  However, 34 year old England goalkeeper, Geva Mentor, has chosen a slightly different path and opted to freeze her eggs after the tournament to be able to become a mother once she makes the decision to retire. Mentor hopes this leads the way for other young netballers to give them an option of having a full career before starting a family.


It would appear that with a good support network and the financial stability required managing international netball and a family, often alongside a career, can be achievable and effective, however for some players the prospect of taking the career break required to have a baby is too much to contemplate. With Netball continuously rising in popularity and increasing professional opportunities for elite players there are many issues surrounding netball and motherhood that need to be explored further.

The 2019 Netball World Cup and beyond: playing for the future

By Jess Pinchbeck

So far this summer we’ve seen women’s sport grow from strength to strength with greater coverage than ever in the global media, and it’s not over yet! Building on the excitement and drama of the Women’s Football World Cup another significant sporting event is poised to commence, the Vitality Netball World Cup, hosted here in England! England’s tense Commonwealth Gold medal victory over Australia on their home turf in April 2018 means the world number one’s are out for revenge, although it’s certainly not a two-team tournament with Jamaica, New Zealand and South Africa all major contenders.

The World Cup, hosted in Liverpool, begins on Friday 12th July, comprising 60 matches over 10 days, with the final being played on 21st July. There are sixteen teams selected through a mixture of International Netball Federation (INF) world rankings and qualifying tournaments. England automatically qualified as the home nation, and are currently ranked as 3rd  in the world. The five top ranked teams in the world also gained automatic qualification; Australia (1st), Jamaica (2nd), New Zealand (4th), South Africa (5th), and Malawi (although they have now dropped to 9th in the rankings as of June 2019). The remaining places were finalised via regional qualifier events throughout 2018 with the top two teams from each INF region securing places; Africa (Uganda and Zimbabwe), Americas (Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados), Asia (Sri Lanka and Singapore), Europe (Northern Ireland and Scotland) and Oceania (Fiji and Samoa). Unfortunately, this resulted in Wales, currently 12th in the World rankings, failing to qualify.

The timing of this World Cup on home soil couldn’t have been better for England Netball, with the sport reaching new heights in England, both at participation and performance level.  In 2016 funding ensured 14 players entered a full-time athlete agreement, rising to 21 players being awarded full-time contracts in 2018-19. Sky Sports coverage has continued to grow since 2006, broadcasting the Vitality Netball Super league every season, with every World Cup game live across Sky Sports platforms. The BBC, on which 1.5 million people watched the England Roses Commonwealth victory against Australia, continues to support netball by also broadcasting the World Cup games across its TV and digital channels. Elite success and increased media coverage  has also impacted the sport at grassroots level with participation figures rising year on year, due to the huge success of the Back to Netball, Walking Netball and Bee Netball campaigns, encouraging participation in women of all ages and abilities, with over a million women playing netball each week.

Even at elite level there is a mix of age and experience amongst the Roses. England’s most experienced player is centre/wing defence Jade Clarke, aged 35, boasting 161 caps, with Geva Mentor, one of the most prolific goal keepers in the world, aged 34, also adding a wealth of international experience with 138 caps.  Six other members of England’s historic gold-medal winning Commonwealth Games team also make the world cup squad; Eboni Usoro-Brown, Joanne Harten, Natalie Haythornthwaite, Chelsea Pitman and of course Helen Housby, who scored the winning goal. Rachel Dunn missed out on the Commonwealth Games but at 36 years old and with 86 caps, and two previous world cups under her belt, adds experience to the shooting circle. Tracy Neville, the England manager, has made some bold decisions leaving the Corbin sisters out of the final squad, as well as previous captain Ama Agbeze. Instead, youth has been injected into defence with Fran Williams, aged 21 and Layla Guscoth , age 27, both playing in their first major tournament along with centre court player Natalie Panagarry, aged 28.

The exclusion of such talented players illustrates the depth of the England squad and undoubtedly funding for full-time contracts has contributed to this and is to be celebrated. However, for those players with established careers the disruption of committing to netball full-time can be difficult to navigate and two of the Roses squad opted out of full-time netball to maintain their careers. 31-year-old Eboni Usoro-Brown works as a trainee solicitor at Mogers Drewett around her netball commitments for Team Bath and England. Likewise, Rachel Dunn, age 36, continues to balance both domestic and international netball as well as a career as a genetic scientist:

“I came up in an era when there wasn’t a full-time programme available. You had to have a job, otherwise you wouldn’t survive. And there are still a lot of Superleague players now who are in that situation. We do still need more funding”.

The stories of Usuro-Brown and Dunn illustrate the importance of receiving full-time contracts early on in players careers and the difficulties that can arise if offered later, when alternative careers with perhaps greater longevity have been worked for and established. It is clear to see the impact of full-time funding on the depth and strength of the England squad and so with England Netball admitting that funding will be difficult past 2019 there is so much to play for at this World Cup to keep the netball dream alive for England’s future Roses.

Sport and Fitness Student Induction: Student Hub Live

On Tuesday 26th September 2017, as part of our induction for sport and fitness students studying at the Open University, we held a live induction event through our Student Hub Live platform. If you missed the session you can watch the full video here on the link below or you can watch the individual videos of each session below.

Session 1: Sport and Fitness Qualification Overview (Caroline Heaney and Ben Oakley)

Session 2: Sport and Fitness Blog and Social Media (Helen Owton and Karen Howells)

Session 3: The Role of the Tutor (Helen Owton and Ola Fadoju)

Session 4: E117 App Demonstration (Ben Langdown and Caroline Heaney)

Session 5: The Student Journey (Jess Pinchbeck and Caroline Heaney)

Student Hub Live: Careers Showcase

On 16th May 2017 Open University Sport and Fitness lecturers Jessica Pinchbeck and Karen Howells, along with careers advisor Ros Johnston, took part in a Careers Showcase for Student Hub Live. This event contained lots of useful information about careers in sport and fitness and our sport and fitness qualifications. If you missed it you can watch it again below.

For more information on Student Hub Live visit: http://studenthublive.kmi.open.ac.uk/

Making young children give everything to football is a bad idea – here’s why

By Jess Pinchbeck 

Many of the players at Euro 2016 will have been recruited to football clubs as children. Football has become such a big business that top clubs are under great pressure to ensure they recruit the next Cristiano Ronaldo before their nearest rival. As a result, they are taking on players very young.

British clubs commonly take advantage of the fact that they can sign players on schoolboy terms from the age of nine. And the clubs invite even younger children to their development centres and have been known to scout five-year-olds.

When a youngster signs for a big club, they and their parents sometimes have to agree not to play other sports or play for other football teams for fear of injury. This helps explain why British players who go on to become professionals tend not to participate in other sports. Yet the average age of World Cup winning teams is as old as 27.5 years. So is this early specialisation necessary?

Many specialists like myself would say it looks more like a by-product of the current talent development system rather than the most effective route to expertise. Research suggests that in sports like football where players reach their peak well into adulthood, you needn’t specialise before the age of 13; and you’re more likely to keep playing and to become an elite performer if you take part in a range of activities between the ages of six and 12.

One of the main arguments in favour of early specialisation is the hypothetical positive relationship between the amounts of time you spend practising a sport and the level of achievement you go on to attain – the idea that 10,000 hours of practice makes perfect. But this has been widely contested within sports research – and, even if this is true, it’s not necessarily an argument for concentrating on one sport.

Jack Butland.
PA/David Davies

For example the Stoke City and England goalkeeper Jack Butland, who is missing Euro 2016 through injury, played rugby alongside football until he was 16. He strongly believes the rugby helped him develop as a goalkeeper. The research evidence suggests that related team sports with similar rules, movement, dimensions and strategies to football have the most transferable benefits. Playing darts may not be quite as beneficial, in other words.

The impact of specialising early

At top UK football clubs, only one in 200 of those under nine make it to the senior team. There are obvious psychological effects on young footballers having to cope with not only the time demands and pressure of being part of a professional club but often the brutal rejection following years of commitment.

It also takes its toll on the body by subjecting young players to more frequent and intensive loads. Between 10% and 40% of football injuries among children and adolescents are from playing too much. Players under 14 incur more training injuries than older players and they develop growth-related disorders linked to overplaying because their skeletons and tissue are still growing. The evidence indicates that children are better off not training intensively, yet the UK has recently adopted an Elite Player Performance Plan that focuses on early specialisation and increases the number of on-pitch hours for youngsters per week.

For all these reasons, the compromise for numerous continental European football clubs is to engage players at a young age but not to make them overspecialise. For example FC Barcelona is Europe’s largest multi-sports club. It has four professional sections besides football – basketball, handball, roller hockey and futsal (a variant of five-a-side football). There are also six amateur sections – athletics, rugby, volleyball, field hockey, ice hockey and figure skating. Another example of this approach is Sporting Clube de Portugal, home to Sporting Lisbon.

Messi need not apply.
OK Fotos, CC BY-SA

Then there are clubs such as Belgium’s Standard Liége, which are not multi-sports clubs but do provide coaching support that develops general skills and abilities, such as agility and coordination, that can be transferable to numerous sports.

These clubs approach youth football in these ways because the reality is that early specialisation is not the most effective route to the top. Countries whose clubs operate in this way are surely more likely to end up with the better players in the long run. The UK has long had a reputation for producing very few top players from club academies. If Euro 2016 ends up being another campaign where England falls short, it needs to take this into account.

 

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Rugby: A game of risk and reward

By Jessica Pinchbeck

As a parent I fully support and actively encourage my children’s involvement in a range of sports activities. Sport can bring about so many positive developments and watching my son play rugby this season I have seen improvements not only in his physical skill level but also his psychological and social skills. For example, his decision making, concentration and attitude have all developed. Similarly, his confidence, and general maturity when talking to coaches and referees have carried forward into every aspect of his life. Despite this at the back of my mind is the knowledge that as he gets older and tackling becomes part of the game (from U9 onwards) perhaps the risks will begin to outweigh the rewards. In particular the risk of spinal injury is the scariest to contemplate. But what is the nature of such a risk and am I just being an overprotective mother?
rugby_1_inline

What is the risk?
Fuller (2008) found that “the risk of catastrophic injury in rugby union was comparable with that experienced by most people in work-based situations and lower than that experienced by motorcyclists, pedestrians and car occupants” and concluded that “the risk of sustaining a catastrophic injury in rugby union could be regarded as acceptable and that the laws of the game therefore adequately manage the risk”. MacLean and Hutchinson (2012) conducted an audit of U19 player admissions to spinal injury units in Great Britain and Ireland. They found that U19 rugby players sustained serious neck injuries requiring admission to spinal injury units with a low but persistent frequency, with the rate of admission in Scotland being “disproportionately high”. The study also highlighted the lack of a register of catastrophic neck injuries making it difficult to accurately track the number of rugby related neck injuries in U19 players. Whilst the risks involved in rugby have received a lot of media attention in recent weeks it is important to note that any sport which involves movement and force can cause spinal injury, like football, water sports, wrestling, rugby, and ice hockey (Mishra, 2010).

Although the statistics were informative as a qualitative researcher I wanted to explore this risk through people’s thoughts, feelings and emotions. In other words the real stories of the risks of rugby.

George Robinson’s Story
In July 2015 an English school boy, George Robinson (aged 17) suffered a transection of his spinal cord whilst playing rugby for his school in Cape Town. George underwent surgery in South Africa and when safe to be moved was flown home in September and is still undergoing extensive rehabilitation. At present George’s movement below the neck is limited to his right bicep and minimal movement in his left. George’s story is an inspiring one and I have followed it closely over the past eight months. The rugby community have united to provide endless demonstrations of support and encouragement to George and the positivity of the young player and his family is astounding. In particular I was interested to hear both George and his father’s views on rugby and the current debate whether to remove tackling from the school game. Talking to The Times George’s father Simon Robinson said:
“We have discussed it as a family…I would do anything for this not to have happened but I just think [that] it is the nature of physical sport. You can cross a road and get knocked over by a car or a bicycle. That is what happens in life”.

Both the family and George himself still place emphasis on the value of sport and it is captivating to hear their viewpoint. Mr Robinson stated:
“We love the values of sport; the enjoyment it gives, the satisfaction it gives, the team spirit. That has been an incredibly important part of our life and still is. We spoke to George and he supports the nature of the game. He doesn’t know how else you would have the game”.

David Ross’ Story
George and his family are not alone in their views. David Ross, who broke his neck playing rugby at 18, expresses similar opinions. David, who is paralysed from the neck down, has aspirations to play wheelchair rugby in Tokyo 2020 and is once again an example of tremendous resilience and determination. David feels that “People who get involved in rugby, … know it’s a contact sport and they know what they’re getting in for and injury is part of all sport”. As part of his rehabilitation David stresses the need to keep pushing himself to keep his body healthy to ensure he is in the best condition to aid his recovery. I began to wonder whether playing rugby perhaps provided both George and David with the mental toolkit that has led them to approach their rehabilitation with such tenacity and resolve.

Matt Hampson’s Story
Former England player Matt Hampson suffered a spinal injury in training in 2005 aged just 20 when a scrum collapsed. Hampson has spoken about how his background as a sportsman provided him with the coping skills required to deal with such an injury:
“I think the mental strength comes from being a rugby player, from being at Leicester Tigers where it is a tough upbringing,”

Not only is Hampson coping with his own injury but he works tirelessly to help other sportspeople cope with theirs. Hampson set up the ‘Matt Hampson Foundation’ to raise money for his own treatment as well as helping others like George Robinson. Rugby is still very much a part of Hampson’s mentality:
“My approach to rugby is the way I lead my life – always wanting to improve and always wanting bigger and better things. That is what I was like as a rugby player and that is what I am like as a fundraiser now.”

The stories of George Robinson, David Ross and Matt Hampson are extremely powerful. All three players hold such passionate views about the value of sport and have demonstrated extreme levels of resilience and grit to overcome adversity that surely their voices and opinions should be the most prominent ones in this discussion.

Conclusion
In relation to my son and his rugby, as a parent I’m sure I will continuously worry about every aspect of keeping him safe, but if playing rugby instils in him the same remarkable values and attributes that George, David and Matt demonstrate then I will be an extremely proud mother.

Details of George Robinson’s charity #teamgeorge can be found on twitter and on facebook.

This article was first published on OpenLearn

Rugby: A sport for sampling or specialisation?

By Jessica Pinchbeck

With the World Cup now upon us my household is at fever pitch and my six year old son is mesmerised by the strength, skill and speed of the players. He is a keen rugby player himself and has been attending training at the local club since he was four. However despite his passion for the sport he is yet to define himself as ‘a rugby player’ as he also participates in a range of other sports including football, swimming and golf.  This is similar to most of his rugby teammates who also take part in a range of sports from ballet to ice-hockey. However the majority of his football teammates tend to only play football, football and more football. So what is the best approach? Should my son choose to focus on rugby, the sport he excels at the most, and forget the rest? Would that make him a better rugby player and increase his chances of reaching elite level? What are the benefits and risks of such early specialisation?

Kelsey E ] via Flickr Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelseye/786999279

Kelsey E via Flickr Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelseye/786999279

Early Specialisation

Early specialisation is a hot topic at the moment with youth sports becoming more and more susceptible to commercial pressures and parents and coaches often encouraging children to participate in intensive training and highly competitive events in their specialised sport at a young age. There are various definitions for early specialisation however typically it involves continual year-round training in a single sport between the ages of 6 and 12 years with a specific focus on development in that sport. One of the main arguments for endorsing early specialisation is the positive relationship between the amounts of time spent in deliberate practice i.e. highly effortful and structured activity, and the level of achievement attained. Therefore in theory, the earlier you start practicing the earlier it is that you are likely to ‘make it’ to the top level. However this is a very simple outlook and this linear approach has been questioned in relation to sports performance. Although deliberate practice is considered important the exact requirements of the type and amount of such practice remains in question.

Currently the general consensus is that sampling a range of sports throughout childhood provides the best grounding for both progressing onto a higher level in a chosen sport as well as for continued participation into adulthood. Sampling allows for the transfer of cognitive skills and physiological conditioning to different sports. There is also strong evidence that in sports where peak performance is reached into adulthood specialisation does not need to occur before the age of 13. So how does this apply to rugby?

Rugby is a sport where peak performance is typically achieved later into adulthood. This corresponds to statistics from the previous World Cup winners where the RFU calculated average team ages of 27 (Australia), 28 (England), 27 (South Africa) and 28 (New Zealand). In their 2015 squad New Zealand have opted for experience including four players who have played in four world cups and France have just one player under the age of 25 with an average age of 29.1. Rugby players are thought to benefit from late specialisation whereby players sample different sporting activities to develop physical, psychological and sociological skills that benefit their rugby performance.

‘Rugby is a late maturation sport, further complicated by the different maturation rates that tend to apply to the different positions. There is also a wide consensus based on statistical evidence that selection for elite training and specialisation would be more effective if delayed until after maturation, that period of maximum growth and change. In practice, almost all sports begin such selection rather earlier. So the RFU and the Regional Academies must continue to encourage both early engagement and late specialisation in the sport.’ (England Rugby, 2013)

However according to rugby journalist Stephen Jones this is not happening within English rugby with Rugby Schools dominating and the quest for talent forcing children to specialise and be identified earlier. Interestingly in the England 2015 World Cup Squad Stuart Lancaster has eighteen players aged under 27 including youngsters Luke Cowan-Dickie (20), Elliot Daly (22), Maro Itoje (20) and Henry Slade (22) who have progressed through the player development pathway, which would suggest that the system is working to some extent. It would be interesting to know if these players were early specialisers. However one could also argue that the current system encourages early talent identification and specialisation which can often fail to distinguish between potential and performance and so for those players such as Cowan-Dickie and Itoje that make it to the top level many potentially elite youngsters have been disregarded. There is also evidence to suggest that early specialisation poses risks to the young athletes.

What are the risks of early specialisation?

Evidence suggests that early specialisation can lead to negative consequences, both physically and mentally. Early sport specialisation may increase rates of overuse injury and sport burnout, showing higher training volumes to be a factor in injury with injuries more likely to occur during the adolescent growth spurt. Evidence also suggests that athletes who had early specialised training withdrew from their sport either due to injury or burnout from the sport. This is particularly important for contact sports such as rugby.

As well as the physical risk of injury the main psycho-social risks of early specialisation include decreased sport enjoyment, low intrinsic motivation, compromised social development, social isolation, dropout, psychological burnout, and even the potential to lead to eating disorders in some sports. In contrast early sampling is thought to lead to sport expertise because of the intrinsic motivation that stems from the fun, enjoyment, and competence children experience through their sporting involvement (Côté & Hay, 2002).

What is the answer?

With early specialisation becoming more prominent despite the evidence documenting the risks the IOC have issued a consensus statement with a range of recommendations for those involved in youth sport. For example acknowledging that each child will develop at different rates due to varying responses to training. Developing children holistically, to provide a foundation that will help them be successful in life as well as in sport and ensuring steps are taken to prevent injury. In addition the IOC challenge governing bodies to embrace the recommendations which are based on academic evidence to ensure youth sport is healthier, inclusive, sustainable and long-term. Johnny Wilkinson is a good example of this ideal:

‘I have always loved rugby but have also been fortunate to play a whole host of different sports from a young age. I hope that all children have similar enjoyable opportunities to play and keep active throughout their lives’.

Evidence suggests that in a sport such as rugby there is no place for early specialisation and in fact participating in a range of different sports would provide a better foundation for performance as well as continued participation. So to answer my earlier question I will continue to support my son in his rugby but also encourage him to continue sampling a range of activities to promote a positive sports experience that hopefully continues into adulthood.

Siblings in the scrum: long history of brothers makes rugby a family affair

By Jessica Pinchbeck

It’s well known that family plays a key role in a child’s initial socialisation into sport and his or her continued participation. This family involvement is certainly evident on a Sunday morning at my local rugby club where siblings of both genders and all ages participate in a range of activities. Add to this the fact that as many of the mums and dads are former players who now help with coaching and refereeing, with a few grandparents thrown in as well, there can often be three generations of the same family involved.

The level of family involvement in the 2015 Rugby World Cup appears to confirm research that family influences a players’ introduction and experience of the sport in a variety of ways – from taking up the game to sibling rivalry driving performance. Being an England fan I was already aware of the two sets of brothers in the England squad – Billy and Mako Vunipola and the brothers Ben and Tom Youngs (whose father Nick was a former England scrum-half).

Tom and Ben Youngs, whose father also played rugby for England.
Steve Parsons/PA Archive/PA Images

Then there is Scotland and the Gray brothers, Jonny and Richie. Interestingly it was Jonny, the younger sibling, who first took up rugby, sparking Richie to then follow suit.

Scotland’s siblings Jonny and Richie Gray.
Jeff Holmes / PA Archive/PA Images

The Ireland squad features brothers Dave and Rob Kearney. Rob has said that his passion for rugby was strongly influenced by his father’s love of the sport though he also acknowledged the important role of mothers in today’s game – if his mum didn’t want him playing the game he wouldn’t be doing it.

What all these sets of brothers have in common is their closeness and the bond between them, as well as a healthy element of sibling rivalry. Dave Kearney explains this relationship: “If there’s someone with you it’s easier. It’s competitive too. You’re working hard against each other and trying to get the best out of each other. It was good having someone you can work with and push on.”

Owen and Ben Franks are the latest in the line of 43 sets of brothers who have played for the All Blacks over the years.
Reuters/Nigel Marple

New Zealand has a long history of brotherly participation with 43 sets of brothers having played for the All Blacks at different times. However for those brothers lining up alongside each other this figure drops to nine. This year Ben and Owen Franks make up the fraternal component of the 2015 squad. Once again it was their father who was instrumental in their rugby career, training the duo from a young age. Like the Kearney brothers, sibling competition also plays a key part and Owen revealed that: “Ben would try to bait me into fighting him because I was so much weaker and smaller but as I got older I could start to compete a little bit more.”

Springboks brothers Bismark and Jannie du Plessis.
REUTERS/Howard Burditt

Canada also join the brotherly club with the inclusion of Phil and Jamie MacKenzie as do the Springboks featuring Jannie Du Plessis and Bismarck Du Plessis. The Du Plessis brothers have spoken openly about their strong relationship and bond and even made their Springboks debut together in the same game. Their closeness is magnified by their working, living and playing together and their unified goal of playing in a World Cup final watched by their father.

Potential record breakers

At the top of the list is Samoa, which is fielding three brothers: George, Tusi and Ken Pisi, in the same squad. If all three appear on the pitch at the same time they will create Rugby World Cup history. George explained his feelings of brotherly love: “When Ken was small, Tusi and I used him for tackling practice … Later, whenever we were on opposite sides in a game, I had this extra-special feeling of just wanting to smash him.”

Samoa is fielding three brothers in this year’s World Cup: Tusiata, Ken and George Pisi.
Reuters/Paul Childs

Samoa are no strangers to family ties and the Tuilagi brothers Henry, Freddie, Anitelea and Sanele have all played internationally for Samoa and brother Manu played for England. Brother Alesana Tuilagi, a winger in the Samoan 2015 squad would therefore also contribute to the history books if he makes his Rugby World Cup debut.

The family connections continue still beyond brothers, with other family links in the competition including Ireland’s Luke Fitzgerald whose father Des played for Ireland, Welsh back Ross Moriarty who is following in the footsteps of his father and uncle who both played internationally for Wales, and the England player Owen Farrell whose father Andy, a former England player, is also part of the England coaching staff. Rugby, it seems, truly is a family affair.

Jessica Pinchbeck, Lecturer in Sport and Fitness, The Open University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.