There is increasing concern that head injuries in Association Football (or soccer) may lead to adverse health outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine whether head impacts or injuries are associated with an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease. We performed a systematic search using PubMed, Embase, and Ovid (up to April 2025). Studies included investigated neurodegenerative diseases in football in comparison to control athletic and general populations. Data were extracted according to PRISMA guidelines. Studies with an odds ratio (OR) were included in the meta-analysis. A total of ten studies were included in this review, of which nine were suitable for meta-analysis from eight cohorts. The risk for developing any neurodegeneration was 1.69 OR (95%CI 1.11 to 2.59; p = 0.01); for Dementia, it was 2.16 OR (95%CI 1.60 to 2.93; p < 0.01; for Motor Neurone Disease (MND), it was 1.39 OR (95%CI 0.67 to 2.53; p = 0.21); for Parkinson’s Disease (PD), it was 1.14 OR (95%CI 0.55 to 2.89; p = 0.79). Heterogeneity was reduced following the removal of two studies and the revised risk scores for any neurodegenerative disease; Dementia increased, with that for MND reaching significance, 1.81 OR (95%CI 1.22 to 2.30; p = 0.01), but there remained no association with PD. Evidence suggests that professional football significantly increases the odds of neurodegenerative disease.

Background/Objectives: The present study examined the predictive relationships between transformational leadership, psychological safety, and concussion reporting intentions. Interviews were used to understand the impact of the coach and teammates on the team environment and how this might lead to greater concussion reporting in team-sport athletes. Methods: This study employed a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design. 233 team-sport athletes (n = 160 males, n = 73 females, mean age = 19.83 years, SD = 3.15) completed quantitative measures of transformational leadership, psychological safety, and concussion reporting intentions, while five participants (n = 2 males, n = 3 females, mean age = 18.40 years, SD = 0.55) were subsequently interviewed about their experiences. Results: Quantitative results indicated that transformational leadership predicted a psychologically safe environment (p < 0.001), and social norms for team-sport athletes predicted concussion reporting intentions (p < 0.001). Qualitative findings highlighted the important role that coaches and teammates play in creating an open environment that encourages concussion reporting. Education and awareness were also seen to further develop such an environment, while athletes identified several barriers to reporting symptoms of concussion. Conclusions: The findings from this study provide researchers and practitioners with preliminary evidence that can shape the design of interventions to support the development of a team environment that can promote concussion reporting and, thus, prioritise player health.

This article draws on data from a large quantitative study of the experiences of student-athletes who are open about their minoritized sexual and/or gender identities to their teammates. Data accounts for the experiences of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender high school (n = 278), and/or collegiate (n = 475) athletes playing in the United States or Canada. Results show that transgender student-athletes (n = 11) report similar experiences to gay, lesbian, and bisexual athletes. Overall findings suggest acceptance and inclusion in sport, challenging the narrative that sport is solely a space of exclusion and hostility for sexual and gender minorities.

North American attitudes are liberalizing toward sexual minorities. This is even found within traditionally conservative, masculine institutions, like fraternities, religion, and the military. However, evidence for Liberalization Theory is mostly derived from attitudinal change of sexual and gender majorities alongside policy changes, with less evidence from sexual and gender minority experiences. Thus, there remain questions as to whether, or to what degree, improved majority attitudes promote sexual minority experiences. To investigate the impact of liberalization of the masculine organizational culture of team sports, we used survey results from 793 openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) high school and collegiate athletes, representing 981 coming out experiences. We find that 92.5% of high school and 97.1% of college athletes' coming out-of-the-closet to teammates experiences were deemed to be from neutral to perfect. We also found no significant differences in overall experience in being out to teammates in highly masculinized teams sports compared to other sports at either the high school or collegiate level. These results suggest that liberalizing North American sexual majority attitudes do translate into improved LGBT experiences within the socially conservative institution of educationally based team sports.

This article examines how 'framing' is used to resist a proposal to remove rugby tackling from UK schools. It focuses on rugby tackling for UK school children, which is often a compulsory part of many schools' curricula. Specifically, we explore the importance of framing in how the problem is described in various academic publications, how ideas about risk are articulated and how advocates themselves are represented. We show how the corporate interests of rugby governing bodies can become entangled with distortions about injury prevention. These distortions (or framing practices) include omitting arguments, conflating arguments, changing the argument, misrepresenting advocacy positions and skewing advocate identities. Next, the article demonstrates how a combination of recent advocacy, political interventions, research and cultural shifts appears to be changing perceptions about the risks associated with rugby tackling for children in school settings. In conclusion, we argue that while framing can be a useful strategy for policy advocates, there is value in paying attention to how framing is used by different stakeholder groups.

If researchers are to understand the impacts of lockdown on children and young people, then the experiences of lockdown need to be explored from the perspective of the child. Young people participate in leisure for a multitude of reasons, yet, within the UK, children were largely unable to access their regular leisure activities for a six-month period during the first national lockdown. Within the context of this paper, leisure includes outdoor sports and physical activities within blue spaces. Following interviews with parents and young people (aged 11–16) focused on experiences of leisure during the Covid-19 pandemic, this qualitative study identified that children felt an intense sense of missing out on opportunities and found day-to-day life without leisure monotonous. However, there were some positive impacts of reduced leisure, such as a greater appreciation for what was once a regular activity. This research empowered the voice of children, so their distinct experiences were made visible to those who aim to support their wellbeing. Findings suggest that the promotion of leisure activities in the current climate could mitigate poor wellbeing among children associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Primary ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of home and away game travel on risk of concussion across different levels of rugby union.Research DesignExploration study across school, university, and professional rugby teams.Methods and ProceduresRetrospective analysis of concussion incidence and symptomology of surveillance data and prospective data collection for potential concussions via surveys. Data was collected from school rugby teams (n = 344 matches, over 2 years), a university rugby (n = 6 matches), and a professional rugby team (n = 64 matches, over two seasons).Main Outcomes and ResultsSchool level rugby had an increased prevalence of concussions in away matches (p = 0.02). Likewise, there was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in concussions at away matches in university rugby. In addition, the professional rug by team had significant differences in recovery times and symptoms with away fixtures, including longer recovery times (p < 0.01), more initial symptoms (p < 0.01), as well as greater and more severe symptoms at 48 hours (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThis research highlights an increased prevalence of concussion in school and university-aged rugby players away from home, as well as increased symptoms, symptom severity, and recovery times in professional rugby players.

Debates surrounding youth participation in governance have permeated a range of fields in the last two decades. This commentary is predominately situated in education and civic participation domains, with sporting domains remaining largely under researched. Indeed, this research becomes sparser when considered in school physical education and sport. In this paper, we consider the position of the student within decision-making processes in the physical education curriculum in English secondary state-schools. The paper reports on survey data from 288 English secondary state-schools exploring students’ involvement in decision-making related to the PE curriculum. Findings show considerable numbers of the schools reported no contribution from students to the physical education curriculum (n=54), and processes that were in place were problematic. Drawing on the legal framework of The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, we argue that the lack of student voice in the physical education curriculum presents a contemporary policy concern within the English education system that requires further investigation.

Objective:To establish the extent to which Rugby Union was a compulsory physical education activity in state-funded secondary schools in England and to understand the views of Subject Leaders for Physical Education with respect to injury risk.Method:A cross-sectional research study using data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) from 288 state-funded secondary schools.Results:Rugby Union was delivered in 81% (n = 234 of 288) of state-funded secondary school physical education curricula, including 83% (n = 229 of 275) of state-funded secondary school boys' and 54% (n = 151 of 282) of girls' physical education curricular. Rugby Union was compulsory in 91% (n = 208 of 229) of state-funded secondary schools that delivered it as part of the boys' physical education curriculum and 54% (n = 82 of 151) of state-funded secondary schools that delivered contact Rugby Union as part of the girls' physical education curriculum. Subject Leaders for Physical Education also perceived Rugby Union to have the highest risk of harm of the activities they delivered in their school physical education curriculum.Conclusion:Notwithstanding discussions of appropriate measures (i.e., mandatory concussion training, Rugby Union specific qualifications and CPD) to reduce injury risk, it is recommended that Rugby Union should not be a compulsory activity given that it has a perceived high risk of injury and is an unnecessary risk for children in physical education.

Rugby union, alongside other collision and contact sports, faces ever mounting pressure from increased recognition of concussive injuries and the risks they present to athletes, both in the short-term and long-term. Here, the media is a central component of increasing pressure for cultural change. This research analysed data from 524 self-selected survey respondents to examine rugby union fans’ and stakeholders’ perceptions of media portrayal of concussion and how it might influence their own perceptions. We found evidence of a complex and heterogenous relationship between perceptions of masculinity, views and attitudes toward mass media, and degree of involvement in rugby union. Specifically, partisans of the sport generally saw mass media as hostile, with coverage biased against rugby, allowing them to manufacture doubt regarding risk information, as well as maintaining involvement in the sport. We conclude that critical commentaries from the media have the ability to challenge masculinities around concussion.

Concussion is a growing issue within sport, including within soccer. Despite the developing medical understanding of concussion, there is still an array of sociocultural discourses and misconceptions around it. In the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final, Liverpool Football Club goalkeeper Loris Karius suffered a head collision in the 48th minute. Postmatch, he was subsequently diagnosed as being concussed. As a result of his concussion, Karius’ performance was arguably impeded, with suggestions that this may have resulted in him making some key errors in the game. Through an analysis of media framing in 52 news articles in the days following the incident, four dominant frames were identified: deflection away from concussion, misunderstanding concussion, education on concussion, and recommendations. Frames that focussed on the lack of awareness and preventative measures that are present in soccer served to highlight the lack of significance afforded to concussion at this particular point in time. In particular, we highlight differences in concussion discourses between those working inside and outside the soccer industry. Overall, these findings contribute to the growing body of sociological work examining concussion in sport.

The purpose of this study was to explore the cycling community’s online interactions with sports-related concussion within competitive cycling. Through an analysis of twitter data (n=196), this study examined the limited discourse related to the problem of concussion in cycling. The results found overall engagement and awareness of concussion in cycling was low but has been increasing year on year from 2008 to 2019. Thematic analysis of the data found three main themes within the online cycling community on Twitter: 1) Increasing awareness of concussion as a problem for the sport 2) A narrative of apathy in policy by governing bodies and 3) The need for better education as a result of misperceptions of concussion. Overall, these findings contribute to the limited research in the field of concussion in competitive cycling and outline the utility of social media as a platform to disseminate educational resources around the safe management of concussion in the sport.

Physical activity (PA) participation was substantially reduced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to assess the association between PA, mental health, and wellbeing during and following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the United Kingdom (UK) and New Zealand (NZ). In this study, 3363 adults completed online surveys within 2–6 weeks of initial COVID-19 restrictions (April/May 2020) and once restrictions to human movement had been eased. Outcome measures included the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short-Form, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-9 (mental health) and World Health Organisation-5 Wellbeing Index. There were no differences in PA, mental health or wellbeing between timepoints (p > 0.05). Individuals engaging in moderate or high volume of PA had significantly better mental health (−1.1 and −1.7 units, respectively) and wellbeing (11.4 and 18.6 units, respectively) than individuals who engaged in low PA (p < 0.001). Mental health was better once COVID-19 restrictions were eased (p < 0.001). NZ had better mental health and wellbeing than the UK (p < 0.001). Participation in moderate-to-high volumes of PA was associated with better mental health and wellbeing, both during and following periods of COVID-19 containment, compared to participation in low volumes of PA. Where applicable, during the current or future pandemic(s), moderate-to-high volumes of PA should be encouraged.

The current study explored how young females who compete in aesthetic sports adopt self-presentation strategies on social media. Data from semi-structured interviews with 10 collegiate female trampolinists (aged 19–24 years) were analyzed through reflective thematic analysis, and six themes were generated; self-analysis, the best you, emotional consequences, judgment, social media perceptions, and acceptance. Framed around these themes, creative nonfiction techniques were employed to present the results as an ethnodrama. Findings illustrated how participants demonstrated a high need to present their “best self”, as failure to do so results in fear of judgment, extreme self-criticism, and, subsequently, post-prevention. Moreover, participants used upward social comparisons, and when they felt they did not match the ‘thin ideal’, often made negative associations between weight gain and attractiveness. This study contributes to body image literature by demonstrating a more detailed understanding of how social media influences one’s need to alter their self-presentation to fit in with highly pressured societal ideals. In addition, the ethnodrama provides an educational tool to stimulate reflection about the extremity of this issue in today’s modern world.

While sport has traditionally been a hostile environment for gay men, attitudes toward homosexuality among youth in the West have changed significantly in recent years. This research uses Herek's Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale, Revised Version (ATLG-R) scale to investigate attitudes toward homosexuality among 243 undergraduate male students in the UK. Results revealed no significant differences in student attitudes toward gay men in the first two years, but significantly more positive attitudes onward from the third. Overall, incoming attitudinal dispositions of homophobia among young male student-athletes were minimal. Anderson's Inclusive Masculinity Theory (IMT) is used to explain these findings, with the results supporting existing literature concerning positive attitudes toward homosexuality among young, sporting men in the UK.

This article examines the influence of ethnicity on sporting men's attitudes towards homosexuality. We employed Herek's Attitudes Towards Lesbians and Gay Men, Revised Version (ATLG-R) scale to collect data with British undergraduate sports students, as well as interview data with the players of an English Premier League (EPL) football academy, to show that black and minority ethnic (BME) men espouse more conservative attitudes towards homosexuality than their White counterparts. This, we theorize, is attributable to multiple factors, such as socialization into a fundamentalist version of Christianity by family, and the influence of immigration from countries where attitudes towards homosexuality remain more conservative in comparison to the UK. In documenting these findings, this research is consistent with other studies which document higher rates of intolerance among groups of BME men.