Female soccer players report that the menstrual cycle (MC) can negatively impact sporting performance, with barriers identified in communicating their MC experiences to coaches and support staff. Whilst research is growing, there are few studies exploring the coaching staff perspective in soccer, and none from those at the youth level. The aim was to explore soccer coaches’ awareness, perceptions and experiences of the MC and the perceived impact on performance. Thirteen coaches (female n = 4; male n = 9, aged 33 ± 9 years) from Scottish elite adult and youth soccer participated in individual semi-structured interviews (average interview time 39 ± 11 min). Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim, with reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) performed. RTA generated three key themes from 232 meaning units: environment and culture, coach–athlete dynamic, and coach support and education. Coaches perceived a societal culture of the MC being hidden, or taboo, with similar barriers noted within the club environment. Coaches were often embarrassed to discuss the MC with players and believed players were embarrassed. Communication differed depending on the coach–athlete relationship, with trust and familiarity cited as improving comfort in communication. Coach awareness and understanding of the MC both generally and within a sporting context influenced their perceived ability to communicate and support players. Findings highlight the need to support coaches by providing MC education, and practical guidance on how to support players’ health and wellbeing. Improved confidence in communication should allow players to feel supported and normalise conversations about the MC.

As a result of the successful devolution referendum in 1997 and the passing of the Scotland Act 1998, several legislative powers were devolved from the Government of the United Kingdom to the new Scottish Parliament including responsibility for sport, health and education. In consideration of this initial constitutional change, and subsequent amendments to taxation and welfare, this country profile provides an overview of how sport is organised and governed in Scotland, including the evolving trends in sport and physical activity policy. The aim is to analyse sport and physical activity policy in Scotland and to explore the wider social, political and economic challenges that impact upon its successful enactment. The profile begins with a historical evaluation of sport in Scotland and the key policy developments that have shaped it across the 20th and 21st century. This is followed by an evaluation of the current politics, structure and funding of sport in Scotland. In building upon those evaluations, three significant and inter-connected contemporary issues in Scottish sport are critically analysed. Whilst there are other relevant contemporary issues worthy of critique, we contend that (1) mega sport event legacies; (2) equality and inequality in sports participation and, (3) health inequalities are the most relevant to the Scottish Governments wider policy agenda and the role of sport and physical activity within it. Finally, a summary of the key findings is presented alongside recommendations for future research in sport and physical activity in Scotland.

Female participation rates in ultra-running is considerably lower than that of males, but the reasons for this are not fully understood. In this study, online questionnaire responses were collected from ultra-runners taking part in the Scottish Jedburgh 3 Peaks ultra and Highland Fling race. One-to-one-semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with a subset of runners to further explore themes from questionnaire responses. Similar experiences among male and female ultra-runners were identified. Enablers were: wanting a challenge, nature/outdoors, and the friendliness of the ultra-community.The main barrier was training time. Qualitative responses suggested negotiation-efficacy was important for factoring in training around work and family commitments, and although a greater proportion of males had dependants compared to females, female participation was considerably lower than males.This may be due to the historical influences of traditional gender roles however this effect may be diminishing as female participation in Scottish ultra-races appears to be increasing.

Modern smartphones such as the iPhone contain an integrated accelerometer, which can be used to measure body movement and estimate the volume and intensity of physical activity. Objectives : The primary objective was to assess the validity of the iPhone to measure step count and energy expenditure during laboratory-based physical activities. A further objective was to compare free-living estimates of physical activity between the iPhone and the ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer. Methods : Twenty healthy adults wore the iPhone 5S and GT3X+ in a waist-mounted pouch during bouts of treadmill walking, jogging, and other physical activities in the laboratory. Step counts were manually counted, and energy expenditure was measured using indirect calorimetry. During two weeks of free-living, participants ( n = 17) continuously wore a GT3X+ attached to their waist and were provided with an iPhone 5S to use as they would their own phone. Results : During treadmill walking, iPhone (703 ± 97 steps) and GT3X+ (675 ± 133 steps) provided accurate measurements of step count compared with the criterion method (700 ± 98 steps). Compared with indirect calorimetry (8 ± 3 kcal·min −1 ), the iPhone (5 ± 1 kcal·min −1 ) underestimated energy expenditure with poor agreement. During free-living, the iPhone (7,990 ± 4,673 steps·day −1 ) recorded a significantly lower ( p < .05) daily step count compared with the GT3X+ (9,085 ± 4,647 steps·day −1 ). Conclusions : The iPhone accurately estimated step count during controlled laboratory walking but recorded a significantly lower volume of physical activity compared with the GT3X+ during free-living.

In June 2017 the Chief Medical Officers of the United Kingdom released guidelines for exercise during pregnancy to be used by those in the healthcare and sport sectors when providing advice to pregnant women. These recommend pregnant women should take part in at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. This qualitative study employed a social-ecological framework to investigate the experiences of new mothers based in the UK and the practicalities of engaging in regular exercise during pregnancy and the postpartum period. An online qualitative questionnaire was completed by 200 UK-based women who had recently given birth. Ten of these participants then took part in a semi-structured interview. Qualitative data from the questionnaires and interviews were thematically analysed and 3 themes were generated as recommendations to the sector. The first theme was the importance of providing 'trusted advice' from reputable sources. The second theme was the need for provision of 'safe, affordable sport and exercise options'. The final theme was the need for more 'considered postpartum support' for exercise, through further childcare options and a range of supportive environments for women to exercise within postpartum. The findings suggest that women's sport participation tends to decrease during and after pregnancy. Women are officially recommended to maintain participation throughout these life-stages, but the current UK sport and leisure environment is not ideally suited to support this. Collectively the UK healthcare and sport sectors should work to provide trusted advice and considered sport and exercise options for pregnant and postpartum women.

Inclusive and modified sport promotes opportunities for participation usually for older people or people with disabilities, physical and or mental health issues. Walking sports, a form of modified sport, is often designed to support engagement in physical and social activity amongst people over 50 years. This qualitative study explored how walking football sessions were designed and delivered for, and experienced by people living with dementia and their family carers. We thematically analysed 18 qualitative interviews and identified three main themes (1) social impact, (2) embodied memories and (3) flexible carer respite. The findings increase our understanding of how walking sports such as football can be viewed as a psychosocial intervention and be modified to promote the inclusion and agency of people living with dementia and respite for family carers. The study offers best practice recommendations for those organising modified sports activities for older people living with dementia.

OBJECTIVES:To explore athletes' past and current experiences and perceptions of the menstrual cycle in relation to its impact on sporting performance.METHODS:15 international female rugby players participated in individual semi-structured interviews (age: 24.5±6.2 years). All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, resulting in 37 376 words of text for descriptive and thematic analysis. Inter-rater reliability checks resulted in a concordance of agreement of 83%.RESULTS:Almost all athletes (93%) reported menstrual cycle-related symptoms. Thirty-three per cent perceived heavy menstrual bleeding and 67% considered these symptoms impaired their performances. Two-thirds of athletes self-medicated to alleviate symptoms. Thematic analysis generated 262 meaning units, 38 themes, 10 categories and 4 general dimensions. The four general dimensions were: (1) symptoms: physiological and psychological menstrual cycle-related symptoms such as dysmenorrhoea, flooding, reduced energy levels, worry, distraction, fluctuating emotions and reduced motivation; (2) impact: perceived impact of menstruation on different aspects of daily lives and performance including negative and neutral responses; (3) resolution: the methods/approaches in dealing with menstruation-related concerns including accepting, or adapting and managing symptoms with self-medication or expert treatment; (4) support: available support and comfortability in discussing menstrual cycle-related issues.CONCLUSIONS:This study provides the first in-depth insight into athlete's experiences of the menstrual cycle and perceived impact on training and competition. It highlights individual responses to menstrual 'issues' and emphasises the need for clinicians and support staff to undertake menstrual cycle profiling, monitoring and continue to develop awareness, openness, knowledge and understanding of the menstrual cycle.

Accelerometers worn on the wrist or hip can be used to measure physical activity (PA) levels in free-living populations. Most modern smartphones also contain an inbuilt accelerometer but the capacity of this technology to accurately measure parameters of PA needs to be further established. PURPOSE: The primary objective of this study was to assess the validity of a popular smartphone to count steps and estimate energy expenditure (EE) during laboratory-based PA. A second objective was to compare free-living daily step counts measurements from the smartphone with a waist-worn accelerometer commonly used in research studies. METHODS: Healthy adults (n=20, 28 ± 5 yrs) took part in a single laboratory trial and a free-living trial (n=16, 42 ± 17 yrs). Participants wore the smartphone and accelerometer in a waist-mounted pouch continuously during both trials. Laboratory trials comprised 5 min bouts of treadmill walking and jogging. Step counts were manually counted (MC) and EE was measured using indirect calorimetry (IC). The estimates of PA parameters from the smartphone and accelerometer were compared to each other and to the gold standard measures (MC and IC) using the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) with the thresholds: almost perfect >0.90; substantial >0.8 - 0.9; moderate 0.65 - 0.8; poor <0.65. Levels of agreement are expressed as mean bias with 95% limits of agreement (LOA). RESULTS: Compared to MC (700 ± 98 steps), the smartphone (703 ± 97 steps; CCC 0.992; mean bias 3 steps, LOA -19 to 25 steps) and accelerometer (675 ± 133 steps; CCC 0.76; mean bias -25 steps, LOA -179 to 129 steps) provided accurate measurements of step count. Compared to IC (8 ± 3 kcal·min−1), the smartphone (6 ± 1 kcal·min−1) underestimated EE with poor agreement between methods (CCC = 0.48; mean bias -1.9 kcal·min−1, LOA -5.6 to 1.8 kcal·min−1). During free-living, the smartphone (7990 ± 4673 steps·day-1) substantially underestimated step count compared to the accelerometer (9085 ± 4647 steps·day-1; mean bias -1095 steps·day-1, LOA -4780 to 2591 steps·day-1). CONCLUSION: The smartphone provided accurate measurements of step count during a controlled laboratory walking trial but substantially underestimated PA in comparison to an accelerometer during a period of free living. Supported by a grant from the Digital Health and Care Institute.

Context: Walking football (soccer) has recently emerged as a physical activity option targeted at older males to enhance health and wellbeing. Design: This pilot study aimed to examine the feasibility of recruiting and retaining males aged 50 years and over to an 8 week walking football programme in a professional football club. Intervention: Participants were recruited via social media and assigned to an intervention group or a wait-list control group. The intervention group engaged in 1 h of walking football a week led by a community coach from the professional football club, followed by an optional social session in the club facility. Physiological and psychological outcome measures were obtained onsite at the football club facility (aiding compliance and retention) at baseline and following 8-weeks, from both groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted after the 8-week programme and 1 year later, to explore motivations for engagement and the social impact. Results: The opportunity to engage in football and the link to a professional football club were key attractions. All participants recruited were overweight, sedentary, exhibited blood pressures outside normal ranges, and all but two were hypertensive. Adherence to the programme was 900/o over 8 weeks, and of the participants who were contacted after one year, all (n=6) had maintained engagement in walking football. Walking football is therefore a feasible, cost-effective method of recruiting and retaining males aged 50 years and over to a physical activity programme, though attrition is to be expected. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

There has been a considerable level of global research into the history of physical education since the original publication of Sheila Fletcher’s Women First (London, 1984), which investigated the ...

Voluntary sports clubs (VSCs) provide the primary opportunities for organized community sport in the UK and thus hold the responsibility for delivering on mega-event sports participation legacies. This study presents findings from open-ended questionnaires and interviews conducted in two phases (Phase 1—Spring, 2013; Phase 2—Summer, 2015) with representatives from a sample (n = 39) of VSCs to understand their ability to deliver on the participation legacy goals of London 2012 and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Thematic analysis of the data outlined three themes where support for VSCs should be placed when planning future mega-events: building VSC capacity, retaining members in the long-term, and promoting general visibility of the VSC throughout the event. Bid teams who hope to use mega-events as catalysts for sports participation increases should direct funding and guidance toward VSCs to ensure they have the tools, knowledge, and capacity to deliver on national sports participation ambitions.

Macrae discusses post-school exercise and shows the many ways women were able to access sport and physical recreation, despite contemporary dominant discourses being largely unsupportive of women’s sport. Through the use of oral history testimony from nurses and factory workers, Macrae shows that there were options for women to take part in sport if they were determined to do so. The chapter covers workplace provision of sport, community sport, and the influence of friends and family on the exercise experiences of young women. Macrae argues that despite the real and perceived barriers towards women’s sport and exercise, many women were able to keep up their exercise participation in their post-school years.

Macrae argues that the life-cycle stages of marriage and motherhood had a major impact on women’s access to exercise and sport. She provides oral history testimony to show the effect of marriage on female exercise participation in the postwar years and argues that social class and regional locality could play a major part in structuring participation. Macrae discusses motherhood and how childcare, financial responsibilities, and the marriage model that a couple ascribed to could all shape access to exercise. The chapter concludes with a review of 1960s facility development after the creation of the British Sports Councils and their promise to develop ‘sport for all’.

Macrae provides a review of physical education trends in twentieth-century Britain, using oral history testimony to look into the experiences of girls who took part in PE in the interwar and postwar years. She examines the ways in which girls were educated about their physical capabilities at school, taking into account official state understandings of the adolescent female body and how these may have affected girls’ experiences of exercise and sport. Macrae discusses provision of PE and feminine hygiene facilities in schools, as well as the type of sex and health education which adolescents had access to in the twentieth century.

This article investigates the ways in which exercise and movement became an increasingly important aspect of the antenatal experience in mid-twentieth-century Britain. This theme is explored through the experiences of women who attended fitness classes in the mid twentieth century, and the impact which these all-female spaces had upon their physicality and embodiment during pregnancy. It uses oral history testimony to argue that these exercise classes had a hand in the gradual spread of the idea that gentle exercise during pregnancy was safe for mother and baby, and this played a part in encouraging pregnant women to reject the discourses of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which suggested that the middle-class pregnancy should be primarily sedentary. These all-female fitness classes played a role in developing ideas about the pregnant female body; educating women about their physiology; and encouraging women to safely maintain sporting identities throughout every stage of their lives.

In the 1890s British women witnessed a ‘cycling craze’ that had the potential to enhance the health and physical freedom of many women. This article examines the cycling craze from a Scottish perspective by investigating representations of Scottish female cyclists in a weekly magazine first printed in Glasgow in 1888 entitled The Scottish Cyclist. Despite suggestions that the popularity of cycling faltered after the initial ‘cycling-craze’ of the mid-1890s, perusal of The Scottish Cyclist suggests that a number of Scottish women continued to cycle beyond the years of this initial craze, thus eventually helping to make the cycling woman a familiar sight in Scottish society. This article argues that whilst by 1914 the cycling woman clad in ‘rational dress’ was no longer a key symbol of emancipation, still the determination of female cyclists in Scotland had contributed to the physical emancipation of women, giving them access to greater independence, mobility, and physical freedom.