"Big Time" (Sports in schools and onwards)

"Big Time" Introduction Schools are introducing and encouraging students to join their sports program. It is to influence students and to improve their skills in playing, develop confidence and develop good values in sportsmanship. There are many advantages in joining sports. Sports offer many benefits to students and with sports a person would learn many things that he or she can apply and use to in real life. Not only that, but it would also make you get in good shape. You would learn the value of hardworks, discipline, teamwork, commitment, fair play, and at the same time can save the student money if one can get scholarship. And if that person becomes a superstar, there is a change he can make lots of money as a professional. There are many athletes in our world today. There are those that are classified as good athletes and the bad athletes. The good athletes are those who consign themselves to the game they're playing, at the same time keeping their good values intact and of course maintaining their academic performance and grades. The bad ones are those whose head became "big" enough to fit to a door that they would become so boastful, become so conceited and very proud. These people are usually the types who would get caught in the web of drugs, frequent partying, alcohol, sex, addiction, greed, corruption and would sooner become deprived of the education they

  • Word count: 3655
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Are Muscle Fibre Types Genetically Determined Or Determined By Training?

Are Muscle Fibre Types Genetically Determined Or Determined By Training? The type of muscle fibres an athlete possesses will prove to be a limiting, or promoting factor in the sport an athlete chooses to participate in. There are two main types of muscle fibre, slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow twitch fibres enable an athlete to perform under aerobic conditions whilst fast twitch fibres enable an athlete to perform under anaerobic conditions. Therefore the percentage an athlete possesses of each can be a predictor of how well an athlete will do in a given sport. The percentage of each type of fibre an athlete possesses is genetically determined. That is it is inherent from parents and other ancestors. This could be shown by a muscle biopsy taken, for example (although not practical in real life), at birth and then again at a later stage in the athletes life. The percentage of muscle fibre types would still be the same. Why is this important? If we look at modern day athletes, in particular 100m sprinters, it is clear to see that the majority of athletes are coloured. Their somatotypes suit sprinting and muscle biopsies have shown that they posses a large percentage of fast twitch fibres, a higher percentage than most white athletes. This means they have a genetic advantage which immediately puts them ahead of most of the white athletes. So if our muscle fibre types are

  • Word count: 858
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Winning - The Only Outcome!

HPE 1129 Philosophy of Human Movement and Sport Lecturer - Dennis Hemphill Research Paper Due - 20th September 2002 Corey Lawson 3077890 Winning - The Only Outcome! "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Acceptance of this viewpoint means that losing is equated with nothing and hence has no value. Benefits only accrue from winning. When a person like myself puts his life on hold for one prize, then the above quote has substance. In competition no one remembers who comes second, to me winning is the only thing I strive for on the sporting arena. The Stawell Gift is a major professional athletics competition which occurs each Easter. The three-day carnival comprises of supreme athletes competing for the ultimate: the winner's sash and the feeling of immortality within its ranks. It is Easter Monday at Stawell. A bright crisp morning saw the running of the 800 metre heats. I was allocated to heat one with many challengers in front of me. The winner of this event makes it through to the finals, furthermore, a shot at glory. I won my heat in convincing fashion. Mission Accomplished!!! I qualified second fastest for the afternoon final. I positively think to myself, "Hey I will win the big one". The afternoon session is televised live, all my family and friends are watching, They have grand expectations of me perceived or otherwise. How can I face them if I

  • Word count: 2594
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Assessing different approaches to customer service

Introduction For my Customer Service Unit I will be interviewing two leisure centres, College of St. Mark and St. John and the Mayflower leisure Centre. I have chosen these two centres because they are slightly different and I thought it would be interesting to see how different companies have different customer service. The College of St. Mark and St. John is in Derriford, Plymouth. It covers a very large area and its facilities include a 25 metre indoor heated swimming pool, a fitness suite, two squash courts, a fully equipped gymnasium, three sports halls, each with four badminton courts and a specialist built-in rock-climbing wall, computing facilities, and an outdoor pursuits centre. In addition to extensive playing fields, there is a full size all-weather floodlit pitch for top level hockey and football. A smaller all-weather surface accommodates tennis and provides a good training surface all year round. In addition to this there is a 36m. square sports hall for participation in a variety of sports which is also large enough to accommodate Trade Fairs and other large events; a gymnasium for martial arts, aerobics, 'step' and tone & trim classes; a standard size sports hall available for volleyball, basketball, badminton; 2 squash courts and a Fitness Suite with up to date cardiovascular and weight training equipment. Although this sports centre is within the college,

  • Word count: 494
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Doping in sport - a deadly game

Doping in sport - a deadly game Doping in antiquity Doping in sport is not a new phenomenon; athletes have taken performance-enhancing agents since the beginning of time. The legendary Arthurian knights supposedly drank magical potions from the cup of Merlin. Our own Celtic tales describe the use of strengthening potions to aid valour in battle and the druids' use of narcotics is well documented by historians. The berserkers', a class of ancient Norse warriors who fought frenziedly, "berserk" behaviour was attributed to a deliberate diet of wild mushrooms. The Ancient Olympics in Greece were riddled with corruption and doping to the extent that the games had to be dissolved.1 In Ancient Rome, gladiators drank herbal infusions to strengthen them before chariot races and going into battle. Almost two millenia later, the first documented report in the medical literature was published in 1865 in the British Medical Journal, citing expulsion of a swimmer from an Amsterdam canal race, for taking an unnamed performance-enhancing drug.2 The first doping death occurred in 1886 in cycling.1 In the last three decades a number of names have joined the cheaters' hall of fame including Ben Johnson (stanozolol), Diane Modahl (testosterone), Dan Mitchell (testosterone), Lindford Christie (nandrolone), Olga Yegorova (erythropoetin) and Andrea Raducan (pseudoephedrine), to name a few.

  • Word count: 992
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Resting ECG and Heart Rate

Resting ECG and Heart Rate INTRODUCTION The electrocardiogram or ECG plays an essential role in diagnosing heart diseases. It measures the electrical activity if the heart and is the stimulus for cardiac contraction. 'It is a good way of evaluating sporting participants before competition to detect and abnormalities thus preventing sudden death or progression of disease.' (Swallow et al 2007) The method was first developed by William Einthoven from Leiden but later modified by Augustus Waller who applied it to man. Nowadays, a traditional ECG consists of twelve leads. The standard readings are at 12mm/second. An electrocardiogram or ECG is a functional diagnostic exercise test that measures the electrical activity of the heart. The electrical impulses are made while the heart is beating with the hearts rhythm. It provides a method of examining the heart rate during a range of physical activities and stress testing. Electrocardiograms assess if patients have had heart attacks of suspected coronary artery disease. The standard ECG uses ten cables to obtain twelve electrical views of the heart. There are three limb leads, three uni-polar leads and six chest leads. For an improved reading the electrodes are placed onto the torso to replace those that are usually placed onto the ankles and wrists. This should minimise any limb interference during the exercise. METHOD A

  • Word count: 681
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Managing People and Performance

Assignment #2 Managing People and Performance Submitted to: Prof. N.M. Agrawal PGSEM 2005 Section B Names: Vikas Agarwal (2005115) I believe that everyone is born in this world for some specific purpose. Career in my sense is a path that a person takes to reach his final goal in life. For a career, it is important for everyone to identify one's current position and one's goal in life. Simply speaking, career is like a road and goal is like a destination. For example, If someone wants to go from IIM-B to Electronics City, he/she has to first understand his current location and his/her destination. Career identification in my sense is an ongoing process and one keeps on refining one's career based on his/her exposure in the world. Goal plays a very important role in framing someone's career. Sometime goals are very simple and people feel complacent after achieving them. Sometime goals are very difficult to achieve and people feel frustrated. It becomes very important to revise the goals once someone reaches near completion. Also the hard goals should be broken down into smaller and simpler milestones. Therefore, it becomes very important to identify the right goal. Goal identification can by following one or more of the following factors/methods: * God Gifted Abilities * Available opportunities, information and options * Current situation * Advice from well

  • Word count: 1237
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Trace the development of one major sport for people with a physical disability from an historical perspective and give a succinct analysis of the fitness requirements for this sport.

Trace the development of one major sport for people with a physical disability from an historical perspective and give a succinct analysis of the fitness requirements for this sport. It is only in recent years that organised sport has been available for people with physical disabilities. In fact it was the two World Wars that brought about the first major change in attitude towards disabled people and sport. Due to the amount of soldiers who had lost limb's etc in the Wars, the amount of physically disabled people in Britain dramatically rose in the latter half of the 20th Century. Increases in life expectancy for disabled people also improved during this period which meant many had to learn adaptive lifestyles, increasing the need for some kind of disabled physical activity. The main drive behind disabled sport came from Stoke Mandeville hospital founded by the neurologist, "Sir Ludwig Guttmann in 1944, often considered the father of wheelchair sports" (Winnick, J. 1990). Sir Ludwig Guttmann believed sport was a vital part in establishing rehabilitation and adapted lifestyles for the permanently disabled. In 1948 the first sports competition for the disabled was held at Stoke Mandeville, it consisted of 14 ex-service personnel competing in an archery competition. The Stoke Mandeville games became international in 1952 when a team entered from Holland and

  • Word count: 1804
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Why do Athletes Use Drugs?

Why athletes use drugs? Doping is an issue which continues to challenge the sporting community. There are a number of factors that may contribute to an athlete misusing drugs. These factors can be related to the drug itself, the person or their environment. The basic desire to be successful and satisfy ego requirements is a major source of internal pressure. Problems such as self doubt, lack of confidence, nervousness, stress and depression are common to all athletes. The characteristics of self pressure are not exclusive to people in the sporting field. Competitors set the standards to which an athlete must perform. If an athlete believes that a competitor has obtained some kind of advantage, then the pressure to also have or use this advantage is significant, for example, a better designed golf club, a lighter running shoe or the use of steroids. Similar peer group pressure may come from team mates. A successful athlete is often associated with a successful coach. As a result, the coach may place direct pressure on an athlete to perform and may be the source of further internal pressure. Financial and material rewards are major influences on athletes and sporting performance. Sport, which was once an activity to fill in leisure time, has now become a way to earn a living for some of our elite athletes. In recent times people have commented that money-making principles

  • Word count: 852
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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Factors Affecting Performance Age, gender and disability

Factors Affecting Performance Age, gender and disability Age: Age can affect people's performance in no matter what sport. As you get older, your body starts to lose some of the aspects it had when you were younger and starts slowing down. We become less flexible and our bones become more brittle and easier to break. This means we can't do things as sufficiently as we'd like to. Muscles lose some of their capacity for effort and long endurance so endurance and strength are reduced. This means that as we get older, we are less likely to take part in contact sports as we won't be as fit or flexible to do so. Our limb speed and reaction time also slows down with age. It is good that as we grow older, we still participate in activities as it helps us keep good health. Disability: As we become older, we will become less mobile; our vision will get worse, along with our hearing and other things and we become unable to do things that we once used to be able to. There are also people who could have been affected by disability either mentally less able through inherited conditions, accidents or illnesses or physically. An example of physical disability is arthritis that can affect anyone at any age but is most likely to affect you as you get older. This disease causes inflammation in the joints and when you move it becomes very painful. Medicines that have development have made

  • Word count: 2126
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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