Concussions in American Football by Austin Link and Dr. Thomas Orr

Since the work of Dr. Omalu and many academic experts in identifying and warning parents, coaches, administrators and young athletes of the dangers of concussions and high probability of one occurring in the sport of football; football continues to be popular. Football is played by millions of young athletes across the United States and injuries happen. According to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, between 1.7 and 3 million recreation/sport related concussions happen every year. Around 300,000 of these concussions are from the sport of football (Collins, 2023).

In 2014, former NFL center Michael Oriard asked the question: “Is football dying?”
(Pielke, 2020). At the time, the question seemed outlandish, as 34 of the 35 most-watched
television programs were occupied by the National Football League (Smith, 2014). In a culture
that is dominated by sports, where the best players in every league are viewed as superheroes,
football reigns as the supreme competition at every level of the game. But recently, a new trend has started to develop that reflects Oriard’s concerns. According to statistia.com, in 2006, 8.4 million Americans over the age of six participated in tackle football (Stripp, 2022). That number has shrunk significantly, as the same data shows that 5.23 million Americans participated in tackle football in 2023. While some may attribute this trend to restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, this decline in youth tackle football participation has been shown over the entire course of the 21st century. This suggests that there is a more significant underlying cause for the reduced participation in tackle football: concussions.

The topic of concussions in football has become a very controversial topic, but
that was not always the case. In the past, “getting your bell rung” was something very natural to the game of football, and players were expected to just get up and keep playing. This notion
started to shift when Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy research by Dr. Bennet Omalu began to gain popularity in the media. “Concussions: The Marketing Nightmare that Faces the NFL and Youth Sports”, written by Dr. Orr (2015) along with more examples in his and Dr. Jamieson’s Sport Violence text book (Jamieson and Orr, 2009) provided solutions and best practices they gleaned from industry leaders across disciplines to help with the epidemic and fight the old way of doing things. 

Much of the work done was educating the public. Making sure that people appreciate that CTE is developed by repeated sub-concussive blows to the head, which progressively and subtly causes pathophysiological changes to the brain was a simple but effective strategy. Visuals showing repeated blows and how the nature of this disorder leads to a high prevalence rate in athletes playing contact sports like tackle football made people rethink safety. 

Making sure people were aware was also key. Early onset factors of this disorder can be identified in collegiate and even high school athletes and with simple training a myriad of coaches and community members can now screen and identify athletes who may need further examination for concussions. It is important for coaches, parents, and athletes to continue to be educated on the signs and symptoms of concussions and to take appropriate action if necessary.

These same concerned people made sure that athletes received safer equipment and training. The mantra, football has never been safer has spread like a gospel between coaches in the last few years as they reinforce the response. Coaches further improve the research behind the prevention and treatment of concussions and CTE by changing how they did things.

The integration of biomechanics into the realm of athletics has been a growing field, and there are many precautions being taken by the NFLPA (National Football League Players Association) and other organizations to emphasize player safety. NFL helmets are constantly being adjusted to prevent concussions, adding more padding and streamlining the helmet to reduce impact. “2nd Skull Technology” is another application of biomechanics that is a skull cap made from urethane molecules - a flexible fabric that hardens under pressure to protect the head (Wilner, 2022). 

Another potential remedy for concussions and CTE in football lies within the medicinal field. Posted in the Journal of Neurotrauma, research from the University of Georgia points towards bio-manufactured exosomes as an effective form of prevention for CTE. Exosomes have the natural ability to enhance anti-inflammatory responses within the brain, and the research done at the University of Georgia involves dosing bio-manufactured exosomes with an injection. In rats with TBI (traumatic brain injuries), the injection has shown an improvement in functional recovery (Terry, 2019). There is still plenty of research to be done regarding the diagnosis and prevention of concussions and CTE, but these experimental steps are instrumental and provide hope for the progression of neurotrauma research and its application for sport.

Another potential solution for the rising rates of concussions in youth sports is to
innovate how the game of football is played. Pop Warner Youth Football, the largest and oldest
youth football organization in the US has recently made gameplay changes to prevent
concussions in their young athletes. These changes include banning the common three-point
stance, and replacing it with a two-point stance that is more functionally safe for players.
Another change was to eliminate kickoffs in the game, as there were a disproportionate amount of injuries on kickoffs compared to other plays (Flaherty, 2019). Combining injury data with the form and function of football is a promising strategy for lessening the prevalence of head injuries in youth sports, and has set the future of football in the right direction.
Although biomedical, biomechanical, medicinal and strategic advancements made in
reducing concussion prevalence in youth football are promising, there is no way to eliminate the risk of concussion entirely.

Making sure people recognize the damage and problems with concussions has also been a key component. Research from the NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) shows that 110 of 111 former National Football League players, 48 of 53 former college football players, and 3 of 14 former high school players had been pathologically diagnosed with CTE (McKee, 2020). Symptoms of CTE include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, anxiety, suicidality, parkinsonism, and, eventually, progressive dementia (BU Research Center). This research has become very mainstream, and is a significant reason for the recent decline in tackle football participation in youth sports.
Concussions and CTE are aspects of football that are widely recognized at the
professional level of football, but what are their implications for youth football?

Common research literature has assumed that youth football players are more susceptible to concussions than adults for years, but not until recently has this been proven. Research from the Biomedical Engineering Lab at Virginia Tech monitored the head impacts of six youth football teams consisting of players ranging from age 9-14. For high school, collegiate, and professional players, concussion impact is generally associated with 102 g of acceleration. This research found that youth athletes are at risk for concussions when experiencing collisions accelerating at 62 g (Kolenich, 2021). Although young athletes experience concussions at a much lower acceleration, the title of overall frequency of concussions belongs to the high school demographic. A study conducted in 2019 and published in The Archives of Clinical
Neuropsychology found that the relative risk for a concussion was almost two times greater in
18-year olds than 13-year-old athletes (Tsushima, 2019). This seemingly contrary finding in the
relationship between concussion acceleration threshold and concussion age prevalence is due to a multitude of reasons. These reasons include: increased practice/playing time for high school athletes, increased frequency of high-impact collisions because of stronger and faster players, and a lack of proper equipment. Because of this, a parallel trend to the youth tackle football participation proportion can be seen with high school football players. According to data from The National Federation of High Schools, 1.006 million students were involved in football, which is actually a significant decrease of 100,000 students compared to the last decade (Conley, 2015). This data becomes even more significant considering the increasing population size of high schools and the increasing popularity of football as a sport in American culture. The youth and NFL have a shared concern over how they are perceived and must be seen as not excessively dangerous or they will lose financial dollars as well as parts of their fanbase.

By revisiting the success and steps forward we hope to continue the discussion about concussions and specifically, develop more effective preventative measures and solutions. All of the concerns for player safety as a result of concussion and CTE research are
justified and should be taken seriously.

References

Collins, M. (2023). Concussion statistics and facts: UPMC: Pittsburgh. UPMC Sports Medicine.

Retrieved April 16, 2023, from
https://www.upmc.com/services/sports-medicine/services/concussion/about/facts-statistics

Conley, M. (2015, January 20). Where should parents put their foot down with football? Slate Magazine. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from

https://www.slate.com/articles/sports/esquire_fnt/2015/01/where_should_parents_put_the
ir_foot_down_with_football.html 

Flaherty, D. (2022, May 9). Is "America's game" on the decline or the rebound. SportsEvents Magazine. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from
https://sportseventsmediagroup.com/is-americas-game-on-the-decline-or-the-rebound/

Jamieson, L., & Orr, T. (2009). Sport and Violence; A Critical Examination of Sport. London: Elsevier. From https://www.routledge.com/Sport-and-Violence/Jamieson-Orr/p/book/9780750684057 

Kolenich, E. (2021). Youth football players are more susceptible to concussions than older
players. Prince George County, VA. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from
https://www.princegeorgecountyva.gov/news_detail_T6_R2803.php

McKee, A. C. (2020). The neuropathology of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Handbook of clinical neurology. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30482357/

Omalu, B., Hammers, J. L., Bailes, J., Hamilton, R. L., Kamboh, M. I., Webster, G., &
Fitzsimmons, R. P. (2011, November 1). Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in an Iraqi
war veteran with posttraumatic stress disorder who committed suicide. focus. Retrieved

December 12, 2022, from
https://thejns.org/focus/view/journals/neurosurg-focus/31/5/2011.9.focus11178.xml

Orr, T. (October, 2015). Concussions: The Marketing Nightmare that Faces the NFL and Youth Sports. Journal of Business and Economics, 6, 10, 1735-1739. From http://www.academicstar.us/UploadFile/Picture/2016-3/20163922612901.pdf 

Pielke, R. (2022, October 12). The decline of football is real and it's accelerating. Forbes.
Retrieved April 16, 2023, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerpielke/2020/01/28/the-decline-of-football-is-real-and-i
ts-accelerating/?sh=24f3bb62f372

Smith, M. (2014, January 8). 34 of America's 35 most-watched fall TV shows were NFL games. ProFootballTalk. Retrieved April 16, 2023, from
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/08/34-of-americas-35-most-watched-fall-tv
-shows-were-nfl-games/

Steinfeldt, J., Rutkowski, L., Orr, T., & Steinfeldt, M. (2012). Masculine Norms and moral atmosphere in college football. The Sport Psychologist, 26, 3, 341-358. From https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/15244 

Stripp, H. (2022, December 8). U.S. Americans who played tackle football 2021. Statista.
Retrieved April 16, 2023, from
https://www.statista.com/statistics/191658/participants-in-tackle-football-in-the-us-since-
2006/  

Terry, M. (2019, December 13). New technology could help treat traumatic brain injury.
BioSpace. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from
https://www.biospace.com/article/new-technology-could-help-treat-traumatic-brain-injur
y/  

Tsushima, W. T., Siu, A. M., Ahn, H. J., Chang, B. L., & Murata, N. M. (2019). Incidence and
Risk of Concussions in Youth Athletes: Comparisons of Age, Sex, Concussion History,

Sport, and Football Position. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 34(1), 60–69.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.umary.edu/10.1093/arclin/acy019
Wilner, B. (2022, January 5). Riddell's axiom could be breakthrough helmet for football. AP
NEWS. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from

https://apnews.com/article/nfl-technology-sports-football-8b534f21090992d07a3bdcd0a04e7bdf 

Should Transwomen be allowed to Compete in Women’s Sports?

A view from an Exercise Physiologist

Gregory A. Brown Ph.D., Professor of Exercise Science, Physical Activity and Wellness Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences, University of Nebraska Kearney,

Tommy Lundberg Ph.D., Assistant Senior Lecturer, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Clinical Physiology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SWE

Correspondence:                     Gregory A Brown, Ph.D.

1410 w 26th st

Department of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences

University of Nebraska at Kearney

Kearney, NE 68849

(308) 865 – 8333

Fax (308) 865-8073

brownga@unk.edu

Key Words:  Transgender women, testosterone suppression, sports performance, physiology, policies and procedures

Background

Transgender women (transwomen) are individuals whose biological sex is male, but their gender identity is that of a woman. In 2003, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) released their initial policy on transgender athletes, in 2011 the NCAA adopted a transgender athlete inclusion policy, and in 2015 the IOC adopted a revised policy on transgender athletes. Starting in 2019 there were several high-profile cases of transwomen competing for championships in women’s sports (for example see these articles on ESPN.com, APNews, and the Washington Times). In response to these situations and concerns from athletes and the public, the International Olympic Committee, the NCAA, FINA, British Cycling, US Rowing, World Boxing, World Athletics and many other sports governing bodies have recently revised their policies regarding transgender athletes, particularly regarding transwomen. These policies vary considerably from the inclusion of transwomen in women’s sports based on self-identification as a woman, participation of transwomen in women’s sports if they meet testosterone suppression requirements, or participation in women’s sports allowed only for those who are recorded as female at birth.

Furthermore, in response to the prominent cases of transwomen competing in women’s sports, many state legislatures in the U.S. have considered bills stating that only members of the female sex can participate in girl’s and women’s sports (37 states in 2021 alone) and by July 6, 2022 eighteen states had passed such laws.  At the time of this writing in February 2023, it is the beginning of legislative sessions in many states and there will likely be more debate and discussion on similar bills with the possibility of more laws being enacted. As described by Gillian R. Brassil and Jeré Longman writing for the New York Times in August 2020, “Sporting Organizations are confronted with ‘two almost irreconcilable positions’ in setting eligibility standards — one relying on an athlete’s declared gender (i.e. inclusion) and the other on biology (i.e. fairness)”. The purpose of this writing is to provide some context to this debate from the view of an exercise physiologist.

The Biological Basis of Sex

From a biological perspective, the first place to look when considering the issue of transwomen participating in women’s sports is the importance of sex as a biological factor. The American Psychological Association defines sex as “the traits that distinguish between males and females. Sex refers especially to physical and biological traits, whereas gender refers especially to social or cultural traits.” As an extremely brief summary, human reproduction requires the male gamete (sperm) to unite with a female gamete (ovum). At fertilization sex is determined by the paired sex chromosomes, 46-XX for female and 46-XY for male. Sex differentiation then occurs as the fetus develops along either the male or female pathway. Humans are sexually dimorphic with male anatomy & physiology centered around the production of sperm and female anatomy & physiology centered around the production of ova (2, 6). Out of 20,000 known human genes, approximately 6,500 are expressed differently in  males and females (16). Therefore, sex is an extremely important factor in regards to health and athletic performance.

Although there are disorders of sex development (DSDs; sometimes called differences of sex development), in which a person does not experience typical sex development, possibly caused by unusual combinations of sex chromosomes or gene expression, these conditions are very rare (approximately 0.017% of all births) and are a separate issue from gender dysphoria (6, 12, 18, 30, 38).  It is important to point out that there is not a known biological underpinning for being transgender and there is no biologically based test to diagnose a person as transgender (6, 12). A more detailed explanation for the possible causes and diagnosis of gender dysphoria are beyond the scope of this article.

As demonstrated in countless research papers, the vast majority of textbooks on Anatomy, Physiology, Exercise Physiology, and Fitness Testing, and as reviewed by Bassett et al. (5) and Hilton and Lundberg (23), the performance differences between males and females are caused by biological sex-based differences. Males are taller, have more lean body mass, less body fat, higher bone mineral density, larger hearts and lungs, higher VO2max, greater circulating hemoglobin levels, and many other anatomical and physiological factors that create in them athletic performance advantages over females. For example, the average height of western men is 5’10” (177.8 cm) with an average weight of 200 lbs. (90.7 kg) while western women average 5’5” (165.1 cm) and 170 lbs. (77.1 kg). An evaluation of 10,894 European men and women between the ages of 18–81 years indicates that, on average, men have 3.5 lbs. (1.6 kg) less body fat and 36.6 lbs. (16.6 kg) more lean body mass than women (34). Another way to look at this is that men have 6% less fat mass and 42% more lean body mass spread across 8% more body height than women. In some sports height is an advantage, and a well known tenet of exercise science is that having more lean body mass is advantageous to sports performance.

Sex Differences in Sports Performance

An important place to start when considering the inclusion of transwomen in women’s sports is the incontrovertible fact that adult males have athletic advantages compared to adult females. Where the performance can be easily and equally quantified for comparison, such as swimming, track and field, powerlifting, weightlifting, speed skating, and cycling, males are faster, jump higher, throw farther, or lift more weight than females.  Overall, by mid-puberty, males outperform comparably aged, gifted, and trained females by 10-60%, depending on the sport, with the smallest differences in running and swimming and the largest differences in weightlifting and baseball pitching (reviewed in (8, 10, 22, 23, 29, 37, 40, 42, 46, 47, 51) and illustrated in Figure 1 from Hilton and Lundberg (23)). In weightlifting and powerlifting, where athletes compete based on body weight, males still outperform females by approximately 30%.

There is much less clear evidence of sex-based differences in sports performance in children before puberty, largely because sports in this age group typically focus on recreation and fundamental skill development.  However, evaluations of fitness testing in children as young as 3 years old shows that boys perform better than girls of the same age on tests of throwing, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and aerobic fitness (9, 13, 28, 45, 48-50).  For example, Tomkinson et al. (49) observed that at age 9 boys are running an average of 3.2% faster than girls of the same age during the last stage of a 20 m shuttle run.  In terms of aerobic endurance capacity, when comparing the maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) in 6–7-year-old girls and boys, the boys have 12% higher absolute VO2max (measured in liters of oxygen per minute), and 2% higher relative VO2max (measured in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body mass per minute) (13). When evaluating muscular strength and endurance, Tomkinson et al. (50) reported that at age 9 boys have a bent arm hang time that is an average of 48.1% longer than girls of the same age.  Records from USA Swimming for the 10 & Under age group indicate that boys are faster than girls in eleven out of twelve individual short course events and eight out of eleven individual long course events. Furthermore, youth records from USA Track & Field in the 8-and-under age group and in the 9-to-10-years-old age group (who can reasonably be assumed to be pre-pubertal) show that boys outperform girls in all events.  The smallest difference in track and field records between boys and girls is 0.94% in the 8-and-under 100 m run, and the largest difference is 38.42% in the 8-and-under javelin throw.

Effects of Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy

Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy (GAHT) refers to a broad variety of hormones and drugs that can be prescribed so a person will develop physical characteristics that align with their gender identity. The use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs (GnRHa) (aka Puberty Blockers), anti-androgens, testosterone suppression, or exogenous estrogens can all be part of GAHT for transwomen. A detailed explanation of GAHT is beyond the scope of the present article, but more information can be found in the reviews by Randolph (35) or T’Sjoen (43).

Currently, research on the sports performance related effects of GAHT in transgender women consists of a total of 19 published peer reviewed research reports. Sixteen of these papers reported on the changes in body composition (1, 3, 4, 14, 15, 17, 19, 24, 26, 27, 31, 44, 52-54, 56), eight papers on changes in handgrip strength (1, 3, 27, 39, 44, 52, 53, 56), one paper on isometric and isokinetic thigh muscle strength (55), one a cross sectional evaluation of VO2max after 14 years of GAHT (1), and two papers on pushup, sit up, and 1.5 mile running performance in U.S. Air Force personnel (11, 36). To summarize all of this briefly, men typically have 40-45% more lean body mass than women, and testosterone suppression reduces lean body mass by ~4-5%.  Men typically have 30-60% higher muscle strength than women, and testosterone suppression reduces muscle strength by 0-9%. For example, Scharff et al. (39) observed that before GAHT transwomen had a mean handgrip strength of 41.8 kg, and after 12 months of GAHT handgrip strength has decreased to a mean of 40.0 kg (it is important to note that this reduced handgrip strength was still in the 95th percentile for comparable females). Wiik et al. (55) observed that 12 months of GAHT reduced thigh muscle volume by ~5%, but knee extension and flexion strength were not reduced.  Roberts et al. (36) observed that before transition transgender women members of the US Air Force completed a 1.5 mile running fitness test 21% faster than comparably aged female members and after 2.5 years of GAHT the transwomen still completed the 1.5 mile running fitness test 12% faster than the female members. Alvares et al. (1) reported that after 14 years of GAHT transwomen still have 14% higher VO2peak than comparable females. Chiccarelli (11) observed that after 4 years GAHT the transwomen still performed 17.7% more pushups and 8.3% more situps in 1 minute than comparable females. A case study of an NCAA Division 1 swimmer who competed in the men’s category, then underwent two years of GAHT (per NCAA guidelines at the time) and subsequently competed in the women’s category “suggest that the transgender woman swimmer had superior performances relative to rank-matched female swimmers” (41).  Collectively, the existing research indicates that while GAHT affects biology, the changes it creates are minimal compared to the initial biological differences between typical males and typical females, which means that both biological attributes and performance differences are retained even after years of GAHT.

Hilton and Lundberg (23), Harper et al. (20), and Heather (21) have published review articles, and World Rugby, the Sporting Councils of the United Kingdom, and FINA (the world governing body for aquatic sports) have also released scientific reviews regarding the present research on the effects of testosterone suppression on muscle strength, body composition, and other factors that can influence athletic performance.  In spite of testosterone suppression in transwomen reducing circulating hemoglobin concentration to the levels of reference women, all of these reviews came to the conclusion that even after 3 years of testosterone suppression there are still lasting male athletic advantages in transwomen. 

Discussion about allowing only members of the female sex to participate in girl’s and women’s sports may lead to questions about the effects of puberty blockers on physical fitness and athletic performance in male children and adolescent who identify as girls (i.e. transgirls). However, there is considerable controversy regarding the quality of evidence supporting the use of puberty blockers (12), and there are sufficient concerns regarding the untoward health consequences of using puberty blockers that some countries prohibit the use of puberty blockers except in clinical research.  Unfortunately, there is limited research on the effects of puberty blockers on factors affecting physical fitness and athletic performance, including no data on the effects of puberty blockers on muscle strength, running speed, or endurance capacity.

Klaver et al. (25) examined the use of puberty blockers on body composition and demonstrated that in Tanner stage 2-3 teenagers body fat was increased and lean body mass was decreased in transgirls, but the use of puberty blockers did not eliminate the differences in body composition between transgirls and comparable female teenagers.  Specifically, before the start of puberty blockers the transgirls had ~75% lean body mass and comparable female teenagers had ~63% lean body mass.  After ~2.5 years of puberty blocker use, the transgirls had ~69% lean body mass while comparable female teenagers had ~61% lean body mass.  By 22 years of age, after ~8 years of puberty blocker and cross sex hormone use, the transgirls had ~66% lean body mass while comparable females had ~59% lean body mass. Two other papers indicate the use of puberty blockers (33) and cross sex hormones (32) in transgender teenagers does not eliminate the male sex based advantages in lean body mass. Another recent study reported that height in adulthood is relatively unaffected by prior treatment with GnRH analogs and estradiol during adolescence, implying that transgirls grow taller than reference females (7). This height advantage could confer athletic advantages in various sports, not least because height in general is also strongly correlated with total lean body mass. Therefore, while there is very limited information on the effects of puberty blockers and GAHT in children, the current evidence suggest that male children retain sex-based advantages in body height and lean body mass which may allow for retained male athletic advantages.

Summary

In summary, there are clear sex-based differences between males and females in physical fitness and athletic performance even before puberty.  Boys run faster, jump farther and higher, and have greater muscle strength than comparable girls. These pre-pubertal sex-based differences are smaller than the differences between post pubertal males and females, which increase significantly with the rise in circulating testosterone in males during puberty, but are likely meaningful in competition. Shortly after the onset of puberty and throughout adulthood, males outperform females by ~10-60% in measures of physical fitness and during athletic performance. Once puberty has occurred, the suppression of testosterone and the administration of estrogen fails to eliminate acquired male biological traits (e.g. greater body mass and height) and minimally reduces measured performance differences (e.g. greater muscle strength and faster running performance), with the likely implication that sporting performance advantages are retained in transwomen despite testosterone suppression.  Currently, there is insufficient evidence to determine what effects puberty blockers have on physical fitness and athletic performance in children, but the limited evidence that exists suggests that male growth is not entirely suppressed which may confer athletic advantages on transgirls.

The question of what constitutes fair competition is challenging. Historically sports have been separated by sex to allow girls and women a level competitive playing field because of the 10-60% advantages provided to boys and men by male biology. Anabolic-Androgenic steroids provide a 5-20% enhancement in strength and are almost universally considered to be unfair. In 2008 non-textile swimsuits were released which were reported to improve swimming performance by 2-4% and were deemed to be unfair and banned in 2010. Research to date indicates that identifying as a transwoman with or without the use of GAHT does not eliminate the male physiological athletic advantages. Whether the male athletic advantage remaining after GAHT is unfair is a question that is currently being debated by scholars, sport governing bodies, and legislators.

References

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Football Hooliganism

Gabrielle Parks, M.S.

Thomas Orr, PhD.

Football Hooliganism

Violence is not a rare occurrence in the sporting realm. In fact, it is mostly unheard of that an instance of verbal abuse does not occur in a single game, independent of level, sport, or age. Violence is not categorised solely by inflicting physical injuries, but is said to be any type of behaviour which causes harm, occurs outside the rules of sport, and is unrelated to the competitive nature of the sport (US Legal Definitions). As well as violent occurrences involved on the playing field or court between players, violence of any kind is often seen between coaches and players, parents and coaches, officials, and fans and spectators. Because of this high incidence rate of violence between opposing spectators, this paper will examine the existence of this type of violence in the form of football hooliganism, and some theories as to why this phenomenon occurs in society.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a fan is described as “an enthusiastic devotee (as of a sport or a performing art) usually as a spectator,” but football fans, particularly in Europe, usually take the term ‘devoted’ and transform the meaning into something drastically different. From this, there is an entirely different sub-category definition of ‘fan’ that lends itself to a particular group in society; football hooligans. Although much of the research concerned with football hooliganism centres around English football clubs, there are many other fans in Europe, and the rest of the world, that exhibit the same types of behaviour. Football hooliganism, whilst a declining event, is still very much a serious issue in today’s society.

Historically, a hooligan is a person who engaged in a type of behaviour that was considered rowdy, or even possibly criminal (Spaaij and Anderson 6). Hooliganism was not pre-meditated and violent fights during matches between rival teams were mostly due to the large crowds in small spaces, and the presence of alcohol at games. However, in 19th century England, a change occurred that was categorised as ‘The English Disease.’ In the simplest terms, Braun and Vliegenthart defined football hooliganism as “…organised groups that try to initiate fights with rival groups…” This change, around the 1960-80’s, coined football hooliganism, was a change that presented acts of violence that were planned and related to person engaging in fighting that did not transmit to the specific match itself. This change also saw the formation of rival gangs called firms. Firms were groups of people that came together through their love of a specific team, with the intent to intimidate and physically attack opposing supporters (Brewin).

Although hooliganism is said to be declining in England, it is still very much alive all across the globe. In the present day, the parametres concerning the act of football hooliganism is far spread, and not always involved with the timing of the game itself. According to Dunning, Murphy, and Williams, there are many situations where hooliganism is evident. For example, there may be hand-to-hand fighting between two people, a group out on the streets, numerous amounts of fans rioting in a stadium, fights between teams travelling to the games, or groups following rival teams after the match has concluded. In an effort to evade police, rival firms may also plan to surprise their counterparts on different days of the week leading up to a specific game. As well as this, there has also been instances where weapons have been used. Although there is clear intent to participate in physical violence, many ‘football hooligans’ state that the intent to harm another is not evident. Leeson, Smith, and Snow state that many fans fight other fans because they believe that this type of behaviour is a part of the game of football, as it always has been.

Even though football hooliganism received widespread media attention only after the 1960’s, there are many examples in history that exhibit violence before this time. Caribella, Marsh, Marsh and McCann listed many incidents that occurred prior to media coverage that showcased the unorganised nature of football rivalry. In 1906, a match between Tottenham and Aston Villa had to be abandoned because spectators invaded the pitch. In 1920, Birmingham fans constructed missiles using bottles from inside the stadium, and deployed them into the rival fan seating areas during the game. As well as these incidents occurring around England, many other parts of Europe were experiencing unorganised football hooliganism. In 1931 in France, policemen were needed to suppress disturbances in a crowd during a Nice and Wolves match, and in 1933 in Germany, Hertha fans invaded the pitch which led to an injury sustained to an opposing team player.

Although incidents increased during after this time, the majority of incidents still occurred inside the stadiums in the 1960-80’s. One particular disaster on May 29, 1985, lays in the minds of every football fan all around Europe: the Heysel Stadium disaster. Liverpool were the defending European Cup champions, and Juventus were champions in numerous other competitions around the globe. For fans on either team, and football fans in general, this match provided an enormous rivalry game for the ages. Although the Heysel Stadium was considered Belgium’s national stadium, it was in dire need of repair before the game, and many parts of the walls surrounding the stadium were crumbling by the time the match was to be played.

The stadium was divided into sections, fans of Juventus allocated one end of the stadium, and Liverpool fans allocated the other. There was a smaller section immediately next to the Liverpool section that was allocated for ‘neutral’ Belgium fans, but could be purchased from any ticketing agency (Vulliamy). Many of the tickets in this section went to Juventus fans, who stood yards away from the rival Liverpool fans, with only a temporary chain-link fence separating the sections. About an hour from kick-off, Liverpool fans started to throw stones from the crumbing walls towards the Juventus fans in the ‘neutral’ area. The intensity of supporters increase and Liverpool fans started to move towards the separated area. The Juventus fans, trying to flee, attempted to jump the wall but already crumbling, the wall could not withstand the extra weight and collapsed. The majority of the thirty nine deaths and over six hundred reported injuries were attributed to this (Vulliamy).

The fighting, however, did not stop there. Juventus fans across the stadium could see the wall crumbling and their ‘comrades’ fleeing the Liverpool rioters. The fans rushed to help, only for police to intervene. The brawling and riots between the police and the Juventus fans lasted for hours, but eventually subsided due to the force of the police (Vulliamy). After the incident, many Liverpool fans were arrested and charged for manslaughter, which led to a five year ban for all English football club teams to participate in European competitions. From this disaster, there has been many changes to the seating areas of stadium, and the amount of police present at every game.

After this disaster, the Football Spectators Act, passed in 1989, banned convicted hooligans from attending international matches, and the Football (Disorder) Act in 1999, sought to make no distinction between domestic and international bans. From the increase in police presence, and the imposing bans, many football hooligans had to find new ways to dominate rival firms, and thus resorted to violence that occurred outside of game day. These newly-formed attacks were an organised and pre-meditated form of violence (Spaaij and Anderson 2). The increase in diversity of violent incidents involving football sparked a media frenzy and the world began to take notice of football hooliganism as a serious social problem.

Even though these acts were in place, rioting did not stop altogether and happened on very large scales occasionally. In 1995, a friendly between England and Ireland sparked a violent frenzy where English fans threw things into the stands below them, and started to destroy the stadium seats and benches. In 2009, West Ham United and Millwall fans set out to invade the pitch and riot in the streets following the game. There were many injuries from the riots, but the most severe was a man with multiple stab wounds (Caribella et al). Although there is research concerning the causes of football hooliganism, these disasters proved that this type of fan violence was not only problematic in society, but also very dangerous.

Scholars from all across the globe concluded the more they understood the reasons football hooliganism existed, the more they could do to counteract the issue. Many researchers disagree about the exact causes of hooliganism, but all come to an understanding that this type of behaviour is a social phenomenon, engrained with psychological factors. Some of the earliest publications on the causes of football hooliganism were courtesy of Ian Taylor and John Clarke (Spaaij “Aspects of Hooligan Violence”). Taylor and Clark both argued that football was a sport that young working-class males identified with. In essence, football hooliganism “…should be interpreted as a kind of working-class resistance movement,” (Taylor 354) that involved a way for these men to resolve conflict in their own lives (Clark). These publications looked at hooliganism as a way for working-class males to blow off steam about the frustrations in other parts of their lives. Both of these researchers were quickly criticised, however, because they lacked any empirical evidence (Spaaij “Understanding Football Hooliganism”).

From these publications, researchers came to recognise football hooliganism as a ‘figurational sociological phenomenon.’ Figurational sociology is defined as “a structure of mutually-orientated and dependent people,” (Aya 223) that have developed a set of values regarded as ‘civilised’ behaviour. These values however, did not integrate into the lower class (Spaaij “Transitional Phenomenon” 212). These forms of civilisation, namely lack of violence in this case, was not valued in the working class society. Dunning, Murphy and Williams state that the working class also did not have as many forms of excitement as the other classes in society, so the men resorted to fighting as a means for entertainment, disregarding the social normality and expectations of the higher-level social classes around them.

These lower-class males developed aggressive behaviours because of their willingness to fight and their adoration of masculine leaders. Both of these factors were the criteria for becoming part of a group. From expressing their behaviours in a lower-class, males were often rewarded and received ‘pleasurable’ feelings, rather than anxiety about violent occurrences. The more that these men were rewarded for violent behaviours, and the more they joined the ranks of a sought-after ‘firm,’ the more the responded to situations with violence.

Although many scholars still discuss figurational sociology in sport today, many of these theories have been disproved because these types of behaviour and civilisation values are not exhibited in other football hooliganism incidents around the world. Ek noted that in West Germany, there was an increase in football hooliganism from the upper and middle class. As well as this, other countries football hooliganism patterns suggest that differences are due to religious beliefs, geographic location, generational variance, and race, rather than a difference in social class (Dunning and Elias).

After this theory was shown to not represent football hooliganism as a world-wide phenomenon, researchers sought to find other causes for this violent behaviour. In 2008, a theory outlined by Braun and Vliegenthart suggested that there are four factors that relate to violent incidents in football matches. These include repression, or “…the number of arrests to the number of violent attacks reported at matches,” media coverage, grievances, or changes in unemployment, and the intensity of aggressiveness during a game. The latter involves the number of cautions and expulsion cards a referee may hand out to the players.

Although this study proved to provide some of the causes for football hooliganism, it was widely considered incomplete. Drawing from all the theories mentioned, Spaaij and Anderson adopted the position that football hooliganism is a form of collective violence that shapes social actions based on social identification (3). As defined by the World Health Organization, collective violence is “the instrumental use of violence by people who identify themselves as members of a group…against another group or set of individuals, in order to achieve political, economic, or social objectives.” From collective violence, Spaaij and Anderson displayed a conceptual model of soccer fan violence that involved macro-level influences such as match specifics, interventions, place, and communication, and mediating influences such as second nature and fan identity (6). These three influences, as shown in the diagram below, lead to the type of behaviour seen as football violence, or hooliganism.

The first of these influences relate at a macro-level and have been explained by Braun and Vliegenthart, concerning economic, political, social, and cultural features. Factors such as lower working-class individuals, a large crowd, alcohol, rivalries between teams, and the intensity of the match and between the players combine to form a perfect scenario where crowds can start to become violent, and engage in behaviours concurrent with the definition of football hooliganism.

From the combinations, comes a number of other influences that are far more psychological. “Mediating influences explain how cause translates into effect, while moderating influences are those factors which affect the intensity of direction of effects” (Spaaij and Anderson 17). Individuals identify with a collective, in this case a firm, and then learn behaviours that are directed at “…the object of their contention,” such as a rival firm. Each individual has inherent differences and diverse personal experiences, but their second nature is the ability to act the same in similar situations as others in the group. From this, the members of the group can identify with each other, and share common interests, as is the case for fan violence. The identity that comes with being a member of a firm is the result of economic, political, social, and cultural differences that intertwine together to make one collective group with a common goal: dominance over a rival firm (16).

Although these mediating influences explain how cause turns into effect, moderating influences explain why some incidents of football hooliganism are more intense than others. According to Bairner, the hooligan experience is based on excitement and arousal, and involve individuals who want to engage in thrilling behaviours (585). Although many fights occur at rivalry games, and between firms that have well-known rivalries, these fights do not always occur because of their distaste for the other firm, rather from the excitement, or the hype of fighting against a well sought-after rival. Most of society views hooliganism as mindless fighting, but it is rather a very rational and organised form of social control within a sub-culture (Spaaij and Anderson 6). The media also plays an influence in moderating forms of fan violence in football, as the more masculine the headlines seem to the public, the more firms want to start fighting to show their own dominance.

Taylor, Clark, and Braun and Vliegenthart recognised and labelled key macro-level influences in regards to football violence. These influences described first and foremost from crowd size and increasing rivalries between teams, initiate hooligan behaviour in football for working-class males and their need to release the frustrations of their everyday life. Combined with the need to identify with a group, and the notion of dominance and masculinity, these influences highlight the behaviours exhibited by fans that leaders to football hooliganism, or pre-meditated violent attacks on opposing teams.

Violence is not rare in today’s society, nor is it rare to continuously see all types of violence occur at sporting events and games throughout the world. Violence at these types of events are social phenomenons, with football hooliganism paving the way. Hooligans exhibit behaviours that cannot be broken down and labelled by one specific cause, but always display the need for social identity, masculinity, excitement, and dominance over others. Although declining in many parts of the world, football hooliganism is still a very serious issue in sport’s violence, and the work and research of the scholars mentioned in this paper may be a factor to consider when looking at aggressive behaviour in other contact sports.

Works Cited

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National Referee Shortage

Jake Wolf and Thomas Orr

            It is almost time for the big game. Both teams have taken infield and the pitchers are throwing their last warm-up pitches in the bullpens. Both coaches are standing in front of their dugouts anxiously waiting to meet and go over the ground rules. The fans sit in anticipation, some excited to cheer on their son in the championship game, some just excited it is the last of six games of another long summer weekend. The starting pitchers are finished now and are walking back to the dugout. The coaches look at their watches and then they look at each other, it’s game time. There is only one problem, there are no umpires on the field. The coaches talk, they hope the umpires are just running late. Then, the site supervisor appears from behind the backstop and approaches the coaches. They are told one umpire was supposed to be here, but that his game on another field is in extra innings and he will be here when he can. They ask if any other umpires are available. “No,” said the supervisor. The coaches look at each other, then look at the crowd, can anyone help? They look at their players, their innocent faces, they are excited and ready to go. Will the game go on?

            This situation is unfortunately not uncommon in today’s landscape of all youth sports. Whether it’s baseball, softball, basketball, soccer or hockey it does not matter. The shortage of officials for youth and high school sports across this country has hit crisis levels. A recent survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) indicates that approximately 50,000 individuals have stopped officiating since the 2018-2019 season. In Nebraska, the state has seen a decline of 15-20% in high school officials since the 2020 season. New sports in the state like female wrestling are unable to find officials as there is not enough officials for the traditional boys season let alone the many new female teams. The shortage of officials across the nation is due to a number of causes and has resulted in an unstable youth sports landscape. The recruitment and retainment of new officials has never been more important.

            The officiating shortage is not new, the trend has been going on since prior to the 2020 pandemic. As an older generation of officials has slowly begun to retire, the younger generation is not seeing the same numbers of newer officials. In 2020, the average age of an official in the United States was 53 years old (Niehoff, 2020). In the state of Kansas, the average age of a softball umpire is 60 years old (Ohio University, 2018).  The numbers are not sustainable, older officials will undoubtedly retire as the physical demands of officiating catch up to them, and with nobody to take their place the landscape of youth and high school sports is in trouble.

            The Covid 19 pandemic, like so many aspects of our lives, has had a negative impact on the world of sports officiating. In the spring of 2020, the sports world was shut down due to the pandemic. With no sporting events at any level that spring and a drastic decline in the year that followed depending on the state in which you lived, many officials were left without any games to officiate. Now, with restrictions lifted and games coming back and seasons being played in full, we are seeing many officials decide not to come back. According to Dana Pappas, the director of officiating services for the National Federation of State High School Sports, from 2018-2021, an estimated 50,000 high school referees quit.

            One of the major reasons for officials quitting and not coming back after the pandemic is the verbal and sometimes physical abuse they take during contests. A survey conducted by NASO (National Association of Sports Officials) in 2020, the largest survey of its kind in the officiating industry, found that 57% of respondents feel that sportsmanship is getting worse. Those respondents indicated that parents (40%) and coaches (30%) are the ones who cause the most problems with sportsmanship. According to Jon Dolliver of the NSAA (Nebraska School Activities Association), “We’ve noticed a decline in how our officials are treated. Not only in basketball but in all activities that have officials or umpires.” Another survey, this one done by Officially Human, an organization that promotes the respectful treatment of officials, conducted a survey of 19,000 officials in 2019, when asked what would likely make them quit, 60% responded with verbal abuse from parents and fans.

Why such abusive behavior towards officials? Has it really gotten worse over the years? According to Dr. Jerry Reynolds, a Ball State professor of social work, “the problem is that, as parents spend more time and money on children’s sports, families are coming to these events with professional-level expectations.”  A Harris Poll in 2019 found that one in four parents reported spending $500 a month on youth sports. That same poll found that youth sport expenses impacted 74% of parent’s ability to save and invest for retirement. Parents are spending big money and sacrificing a great deal of time for their children to participate in youth sports, so their expectations for everything, including officials, are unrealistic. Reynolds believes this has a negative impact on the retention of officials and has led to a cycle of new referees getting yelled at and quitting. That referee then quits, a new referee comes in and gets yelled at and that official quits as well. It’s a cycle that is unfortunately playing out all across the United States.

So, what are the effects of the nationwide shortage? Around the country games in all sports and at all levels from high school on down are being moved, postponed and even canceled in some cases. You don’t have to look very far to see schools from across the state having to adjust schedules simply so they can have officials. This fall, schools around the state of Nebraska are having to play games on Thursday night, Friday afternoons and even on Saturdays just so they can have officials. Some schools are increasing pay as a way to ensure officials will choose to work their games on Friday nights. “I’m not against paying them what they're worth, but it does cut into our budget,” said Bruning-Davenport-Shickley Activities Director Ruth Kowalski. NSAA Assistant Director Nate Neuhaus summed it up when he said “Who is going to be the victim of all of this? The student athletes in high school who don’t get to play their games on Friday night, or at all, because of the lack of officials.”

So, what can we do to help solve this problem? To start, think about this stat for a moment. According to the NFHS, an average of only two of every ten officials return for their third year of officiating (USA Today, 2017). This means that the sports world is having a very difficult time retaining officials. Yes, large numbers of older officials are retiring, but we are losing way too many younger or newer officials who only have a year or two of experience and decide not to continue officiating. If we want to keep with the ever-growing landscape of youth sports in this country, we must focus on the recruitment and retainment of officials in all sports.

The NFHS started a campaign a few years ago called the #BecomeAnOfficial program. Its goal is to help recruit and retain sports officials in an effort to help keep the pipeline for high school officials strong. The program has seen some positive results on the recruiting side as about 70,000 individuals have expressed interest in officiating in the last four years. Dana Pappas, the NFHS director of officiating services said this past April the NFHS helped orchestrate the first ever National Officials Consortium Summit in Indianapolis. In attendance were 60 leaders from 30 national level sports organizations that included youth, high school, college and professional sports organizations. Leaders spoke and shared ideas on ways to combat the declining numbers of officials. One key theme emerged from the summit and that is the treatment and respect for officials must improve if we are to reverse the current referee shortage. More specifically, most at the summit expressed concerns that unsporting behavior by fans at all levels of sports is becoming normalized. What used to be good-natured heckling has turned personal, vulgar and in many cases violent.

Do a quick google or YouTube search and you can find dozens of recent physical attacks towards officials by coaches, fans and players. Surveys have shown that nearly one of every two officials have been threatened after a game. The plan coming out of the summit is a broad-scale campaign that addresses behavior and respect towards officials. It is vital that everyone involved including players, coaches, parents, administrators and the media do their part in changing the normalized negative behavior directed at officials. This change will not happen overnight, but stakeholders are confident that change can happen and that positive and respectful behavior towards officials can become the norm once again.

            The shortage of officials across the nation has many causes and has resulted in an unstable youth sports landscape, the recruitment and retainment of new officials has never been more important that right now. This shortage has been happening for years and the pandemic only accelerated the problem. Couple that with the increased amount of verbal and physical abuse directed at officials and it is easy to see why we are in crisis mode at the moment. In every state across the country games at all levels and in all sports are being moved, postponed and even canceled due to the shortage of officials. Now, more than ever we must recruit and retain new officials. We need parents, teachers, coaches and athletes who are finished with their playing careers. Anyone with a passion for sports and a desire to give back to our youth will make a great candidate to be an official. The time is now, the game must go on.

Works Cited

“Cost of Youth Sports Delaying Retirement for Parents.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 15 May 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2019-05-15/cost-of-youth-sports-delaying-retirement-for-parents.

Fawcett, Dave. “Referee Shortage Disrupts High School Friday Night Football Schedules for Local Teams.” INSIDENOVA.COM, 24 June 2022, https://www.insidenova.com/sports/prince_william/referee-shortage-disrupts-high-school-friday-night-football-schedules-for-local-teams/article_90262a84-f18d-11ec-af25-dfba1e97e73b.html.

Hegarty, Aaron. “Omaha NCAA Basketball Ref: Youth Sports Fan, Coach Behavior Drives Referee Shortage.” KMTV, KMTV, 23 May 2022, https://www.3newsnow.com/news/investigations/omaha-ncaa-basketball-ref-youth-sports-fan-coach-behavior-drives-referee-shortage.

Karissa, Niehoff. “Behavior Campaign Planned in High School Sports as Many States Report Increase in Officials.” NFHS, https://www.nfhs.org/articles/behavior-campaign-planned-in-high-school-sports-as-many-states-report-increase-in-officials/.

Karissa, Niehoff. “With Loss of 50,000 Officials, NFHS Organizes Consortium to Find Solutions.” NFHS, https://www.nfhs.org/articles/with-loss-of-50-000-officials-nfhs-organizes-consortium-to-find-solutions/.

Medina, Eduardo. “Bad Behavior Drove a Referee Shortage. Covid Made It Worse.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Apr. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/21/sports/referee-shortage-youth-sports.html.

“Our Data - Officially Human: Behind the Stripes -.” Officially Human | Behind The Stripes -, 11 July 2022, https://officiallyhuman.com/our-data/.

Referee. “The Largest Officiating Survey Ever.” Referee.com, 23 Mar. 2020, https://www.referee.com/17487-officials-something-say/.

Skiba, Jeremy. “Nebraska Faces Referee Shortage.” NORTHEAST, https://northeast.newschannelnebraska.com/story/45404595/nebraska-faces-referee-shortage.

USA TODAY High School Sports. “Shrinking Pay, Age, Abuse among Factors Driving Referees Away in Public High Schools.” USA TODAY High School Sports, USA TODAY High School Sports, 10 May 2017, https://usatodayhss.com/2017/shrinking-pay-age-abuse-among-factors-driving-referees-away-in-public-high-schools.

“Who Wants to Ref? Schools Dealing with Shortage Concerns.” McCook Gazette, 11 Aug. 2022, https://www.mccookgazette.com/story/2960446.html.

A note about Transgender Participation in Sport

While the world is swirling around the potential for participation of transgender athletes in competition, many debates are entering into every aspect of the sports world to provide clarification and fairness all athletes.  In reviewing the requirements being applied to those who have entered competition in sport as a transgender athlete, there have been several policies that have developed and are currently being implemented by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The policies, though in their incipient stage, will influence much decision making as eligible trans and non-binary athletes enter sport competition with competitors according to their validated gender designation.

Myron Genel, M. D. refers to the difficulties in enacting policy by noting that “clinicians and politicians have struggled with how to integrate transgender individuals”. (1) However, in 2003 initial recommendation were a start to addressing the issue through the development of clinical criteria that can be verified.

Further, guidance regarding the right of a trans/non-binary athlete to participation was provided by 12 years of policy by the National College Athletic Association and its more recent policy clarifications in 2022.  The original “2010 NCAA Policy on Transgender Student-Athlete Participation” included the following:

“The following policies clarify participation of trans student-athletes* undergoing hormonal treatment for gender transition: 1. A trans male (FTM) student-athlete who has received a medical exception for treatment with testosterone for diagnosed gender dysphoria for purposes of NCAA competition may compete on a men’s team but is no longer eligible to compete on a women’s team without changing that team status to a mixed team. 2. A trans female (MTF) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication for gender dysphoria for the purposes of NCAA competition may continue to compete on a men’s team but may not compete on a women’s team without changing it to a mixed team status until completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment. Trans student-athletes who are not taking hormone treatment related to gender transition may participate in sex-separated sports activities in accordance with their sex assigned at birth. • A trans male (FTM) student-athlete who is not taking testosterone related to gender transition may participate on a men’s or women’s team. • A trans female (MTF) student-athlete who is not taking hormone treatments related to gender transition may not compete on a women’s team. *

(*This policy may also apply to student-athletes who identify as non-binary. The same policy requirements apply to student-athletes who identify as non-binary and wish to compete on a men’s or women’s team.)” (2)

The current policy was updated in 2022 to align with Olympic Movement policy and specify three phases as follows:

“Phase One – 2022 winter and spring championships

For participation in 2022 winter and spring championships, transgender student-athletes must provide documentation to the CSMAS within four weeks before the selections date for their championship. 

The documentation must demonstrate compliance with the 2010 NCAA policy (PDF), which calls for one year of testosterone suppression treatment. It should also document a one-time serum testosterone level that falls below the maximum allowable level for the sport in which the student-athlete is competing within four weeks of championship selections for that sport. This means that student-athletes who have already fulfilled the 2010 NCAA policy need only provide one validated serum testosterone level in this time frame.

Transgender student-athletes who are participating in regular season competition (including conference championships) for the remainder of academic year 2022 remain subject to the 2010 NCAA policy only.

Phase Two – 2022-23 regular season and championships

Beginning Aug. 1, 2022, participation in NCAA sports requires transgender student-athletes to provide documentation that meets the above criteria for the 2010 NCAA policy (PDF), plus meet the sport standard for documented testosterone levels at the beginning of their competition season and again six months later. This means that student-athletes who have already been competing do not need to demonstrate the newly adapted sport-specific testosterone levels for the entire prior year if they are not available.

For participation in NCAA championships, transgender athletes must additionally provide documentation of testosterone levels to the CSMAS with laboratory work completed within four weeks of the championship selections.

Phase Three – 2023-24 full implementation

Beginning Aug. 1, 2023, participation in NCAA sports requires transgender student-athletes to provide documentation that meets the sport-specific standard submitted twice annually (once at the beginning of competition season and the second six months following) for one year. This process will continue annually for eligible student-athletes.

For participation in NCAA championships, transgender athletes must additionally provide documentation of testosterone levels to the CSMAS with laboratory work completed within four weeks of the championship selections.”

Now with guidance from international and national policies that affect sport federations and universities, other entities are providing new decision making in the form of either recognizing gender issues or banning participation altogether. (2)

In studying the issue of transgender/non-binary athletic participation, the position expressed in this article is as follows:

Rachel McKinnon

1.     Student athletes, regardless of their gender orientation, have a right to participate in competition that best represents an accurate definition of their physicality through medical descriptions such as those already presented in current policy.  It is important to note, however, that a standard for sport-specific testosterone levels may not eventually be the only evidence that one is indeed female or male.  Other factors may be required as scientific methods show more accurate testing.

2.     While there is great concern over a perceived unfair advantage that male to female transitioned athletes may have over cisgender female athletes, and evidence, indeed, shows that newly entered athletes have broken many records above other athletes, it is suggested that there will not be a great number of athletes who will make transitions for the purpose of breaking records. These athletes deserve to compete in the proper environment related to their gender.

3.     Given the over 20 years of attention to this topic, it is suggested that sport organizations give due time and patience in addressing these rights and responsibilities to ensure fairness and ultimate benefit to all athletes and avoid a knee-jerk reaction to banning athletes from entering a sport area as a trans/binary athlete.

It has taken a long time for policy to begin to develop to accommodate trans and binary athletes, and there needs to be time for the newer policies to be evaluated and modified.  Simply banning these athletes from competition is not a solution, it is a delaying tactic that will continue to deny participation from a group of athletes who have already made the hard decisions about how they wish to live their lives.

Of course, while policy development has been helpful in directing transgender athletes into their inclusion with appropriate opportunities for competition, this author believes that much more needs to be done on the part of parents and policymakers to ensure that gender transforming methods are carefully and appropriately applied in the first place, and that policies that develop to support a widening class of competitors be accomplished with due consideration of the ultimate safety and risk factors associated with potential misidentification of athletes. 

 References:

1.     Genbel, M. (2017).  Transgender athletes: How can they be accommodated? Current Sports Medicine Reports, 17(1), p 12-13.

2.     National Collegiate Athletic Association (2022). Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy. Retrieved August 19, 2022, at https://www.ncaa.org/Transgender%20Student-Athlete%20Participation%20Policy%20-%20NCAA.org.html.

Chasing Dr. Banks: The “Story Behind the Story”

Stepping back from academia during a time of immense personal loss, I decided to channel my energies in a positive direction and fulfill a lifelong dream – writing and publishing a fiction novel. My book, Chasing Dr. Banks, a year-and-a-half in the making, is about a young college professor, who, driven to learn the hidden truth behind suspicious activities in his college, and the dark secrets that haunt his university, pushes too far, and finds his life turned upside-down. Alone, and on the run from sinister forces that seek to silence him, he must rely on his wits and intuition, a lost love, and a few friends and unexpected allies, to save not only his reputation and career, but his very life.

Chasing Dr. Banks, at its heart, is about the consequences that good people might face when confronting unethical or scandalous behavior in higher education.

I have worked at two amazing universities over the course of my career – Texas A&M University and the University of Florida. I respect Texas A&M for its commitment to honor and integrity, and the University of Florida is very near and dear to my heart. I have worked as faculty and in administrative capacities at both universities and count it an honor to have served them. I also have great respect and appreciation for those universities where I received my degrees. I’ve had an amazing career and known and worked with some of the best people on the planet. Sadly, however, over a lifetime in academia, in conducting research for the book, and in speaking with university faculty, staff, and administrators, I am aware of those in higher education whose dishonorable behavior casts a dark shadow over the universities they inhabit.

Having worked as a graduate student assistant, and up through the ranks from assistant to full professor in the fields of sport, recreation, and public health, and later as an administrator who interacted with the highest reaches of the university, my lens is at once both penetrating and expansive. I have learned that scandal and bad behavior are not inherent to a university in a holistic sense (there are no inherently corrupt universities), but are rooted in the pockets and folds of the institution - not unlike what one might find in certain large corporations or bureaucracies. This can be due to compartmentalization, where individual units lack accountability or, as happens in Chasing Dr. Banks, where the university turns a blind eye to the behavior of certain powerful and corrupt faculty who generate large sums of money through various endeavors.

So, at this point I’ll stop lecturing – a habit for us in academia – and dig a bit deeper into some of the ideas and inspiration behind the book. To some of my former colleagues and supervisors, fear not - there is no need to run to the liquor cabinet for a stiff drink before reading further. What I am about to say comes from one place or another, and is not attributable to any specific person or place. Also, ideas for the plots and sub-plots are akin to seeds - ones that I watered and fertilized with my imagination for the sake of fiction, with the intent to grow in a way that would foster enjoyment and entertainment – the primary purpose of my book.

Friends and colleagues who have read Chasing Dr. Banks have made assumptions, and I’m often asked the origin of my ideas. Some have assigned a “real life” identity to certain characters. To that end, I can assure you that all characters in the book are solely a product of my imagination. Certain characters may be imbued with some of the worst human qualities that I have encountered during my life and career, but these qualities do not serve to depict an actual person.  One colleague went so far as to say that he knew the exact circumstances about which I was writing, while still others have said that the book sounds like an autobiography. I assure you that this is not an autobiography. I have never had malicious files planted on my computer, nor have I ever been accused of anything like what Noah endured. I have also never been threatened with termination, nor have I had to run for my life. Despite a meaningful and purposeful career and spotless record, however, I do feel a certain kinship with Noah in that we both have experienced cruelty and subterfuge that goes beyond the pale.

Those of us in academia can be a paranoid bunch, and for good reason. Many of us have seen or experienced some very bad behavior in the work environment. As a good friend and colleague was fond of saying, “This profession is not for the faint of spirit or weak of heart.” I would tend to agree, as I’ve seen my fair share of things I would have preferred to have not known. In conducting research for the book, and in speaking with university faculty, staff, and administrators, I’ve “seen” even more. It is from this perspective that I will share some of the “sparks” that set my imagination afire. 

I thought that it would be fun to take the fears and concerns of my colleagues - some of which have marinated in my subconscious over the course of my education and career - and put them to a story. What if, for example, we in higher education were actually under constant surveillance without our knowledge. Taking that a step further, what if the “watchers” and “listeners” were intent on doing us harm should we say or do the wrong thing in their eyes. I can say that in the real world, faculty and students have had serious suspicions. They have spoken in whispers in offices and meeting rooms, bought and used noise-canceling devices, or left the building so that those whom they believed were spying on them would not learn of matters they sought to keep in confidence.  Also, fueled by suspicion, faculty have gone so far as to consider hiring private investigators to sweep their offices for hidden listening devices. I know that computers are sometimes monitored directly, but as for covert listening devices, it was fun to play with the idea of what if we really were spied upon while we naively went about our daily business in our offices and meeting spaces.   

Some faculty have feared that their supervisors, or perhaps even powerful faculty colleagues with IT connections, would plant malicious files such as child pornography on their computers either while they were out of the office, or when they turned in their old computers for new ones. In conducting research for the book, I learned that some faculty take their laptops and hard drives home with them every night to keep them safe, and plant hidden cameras in their offices out of fear that someone who means them harm might plant malicious files on their computer and frame them for it. Faculty have even taken special precautions, much like Noah did in the book, when returning computers in fear their supervisors would plant malicious files to frame them. What if this fear was justified? The book engages this paranoia in a sub-plot that sets the stage for the twists and turns of the story that follows.

What if, I thought, the bad behavior of those in authority, when left unchecked, morphed into something even worse than the sum of its parts. In Chasing Dr. Banks, people in positions of authority do some very bad things. This is not unlike what I have learned happens in academia. The bad behavior to which I have been privy through my research, and over my career, is of a such a nature as to be both unconscionable and nearly unmentionable. Faculty and administrators having sexual relations with students under their control, administrators belittling and demeaning subordinates with lies they pass off as “jokes,” faculty and administrators engaging in the use of illegal narcotics, powerful faculty creating “cancel culture” by engaging in persuasive misinformation campaigns, administrators and powerful faculty engaged in fraud and misuse of funds, administrators engaged in intimate relations with peers within the university that creates bias in their decision-making, faculty sexualizing female students in the classroom, administrators basing pay raises and promotions on personal favors and selfish motives – are just a few examples. Chasing Dr. Banks draws upon these reprehensible behaviors, and others beyond this list, to form a plot that sets up and reveals the wicked master plan of Noah’s colleagues.  

Although Chasing Dr. Banks is a work of fiction, designed to provide entertainment and a sense of escape, it is hoped that the reader will take from this book a bit more - that bad things do happen to good people, and our institutions of higher learning, much like certain aspects of our society, are on the brink. We are at an inflection point where the qualities of faith, empathy, and integrity are needed now more than ever in higher education leadership. It will take courageous people willing to step forward when the bad behavior of their colleagues and supervisors is known to them, and leadership that is willing to listen and act in a reasoned and selfless manner, to move the needle in the proper direction. This can be summed up in one of my favorite quotes, “Evil prevails when good people do nothing.” I think that Dr. Noah Banks would agree.   

Chasing Dr. Banks can be purchased online from most major book sellers.

NIL deals- the good and the bad

By: JON WILLIS

            After many arguments, it seemed like, last year, the NCAA decreed that athlete could make money from marketing deals. These NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals have already completely changed the game for student-athletes. Less than a year in, athletes in total have made more than 500 million dollars throughout the United States. After athletes were just used to being paid by having free education, this new law by the NCAA has completely changed the game.

            So, the way I look at it, is that there are both positives and negatives to this new era of funding college athletes. The positive aspect is that the athletes, who are the reason that these colleges have millions of dollars flowing into their school, are finally getting compensation for all the work they put into what they are doing. There are some negatives to this as well. Some players are going to do a lot, while others might not make much of anything, and some athletes might start to think that that is unfair, and they deserve similar compensation. These players might start to get egotistical, which can affect their relationship with their team and affect where a player might decide to go for college for a better chance to get a marketing deal. Further, monetary rewards may prove to be a distraction. The universities usually have nothing to do with athletes and their NIL deals, and it could be a distraction to the student athletes with already so much going on in their lives.

            “There’s a lot of concerns I have as this goes forward,” said Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost in a press conference last July. “I am a fan of it because the players deserve it and I think Nebraska football players are in a position to thrive under the new NIL rules.”

            There is obviously a lot of uncertainty about the future of this and how athletes will handle it, but most of the coaches around the country have had similar concerns as Frost. There will be challenges with how students handle this, and we must be ready, but the players deserve it so, of course, it is a good thing. Frost also mentioned more recently that he has almost nothing to do with those NIL deals, as they are a whole separate entity from the football team. To me, the coach's job is to just make sure a player is responsible for these and make sure they have the correct help to help them make the right decisions about how to move forward with this.

            “One negative effect that could come from NIL deals is if students do not meet with their compliance officers first and make sure the deal, they are making is legit, it could mess with their eligibility for their sport,” said Shiloh McCool, a student athlete. “One other negative effect would simply be a time-management issue. Student athletes are already typically busy between classes, practices, games, etc. Adding more work on their plate by making NIL deals could affect their school or sport if they do not manage their time and energy well.”  

            I think this will also continue to impact the transfer portal. We are increasingly seeing the college game, football, looking more like free agency. Players feel they can just go wherever they feel like it after already committing to another college. That is the one negative that I do not think has a chance of being fixed because of how prominent it already is. Athletes will start looking to colleges that have better chances for marketing deals and would only look to those big colleges that would have a chance to make a lot of money. The transfer portal is something I have already thought that the NCAA needs to look at, and these NIL rules have been added to the question marks around the portal.

            Also, this is not just a thing that is affecting players at the DI level, but also the levels below. The opportunities are not as plentiful at the levels below, but even at the DII level, we can see the impact that it is having on student athletes. Shiloh McCool, a redshirt sophomore women’s basketball student athlete, has taken advantage of the new rules along with a few of her fellow teammates by partnering with a clothing store called Still Waters Clothing.

            “So far it has not made an enormous difference in my life personally, but it is cool knowing we have the freedom to make deals and such if we have the opportunity,” McCool said. “The athletic department talked to all the student athletes about the opportunity for NIL deals when it first passed. Then, whenever you can utilize your NIL, we are required to talk to our associate athletic director, Rachael Page, just to make sure everything falls within the rules of NIL usage and to ensure that it will not mess up your athletic eligibility.”

            So even at the DII level, student athletes are having these opportunities to make money and having the proper counseling to make sure they are making smart choices. McCool also mentioned that she and her teammates are donating all the proceeds from their NIL deals to the local elementary schools. So not only is this a good thing for the student athletes to have the ability to make money, but in cases like this, it can lead to the betterment of a community.  

            Now, while there still to this day are a lot of concerns about this, the main point is that this is the right thing to do for athletes. It has been a long time coming, and it gives athletes the ability to build their brand and get ready to try to move forward with their careers, hopefully into professional sports. Universities just must make sure these student athletes have the proper help and instruction from a counselor or someone of that nature, so they know how to do things like their taxes and how to be smart with this.

            I think overall, this is a good thing and will impact colleges and their athletes in a positive way. The big key will just be for both players, coaches, and university staff to continue to be smart about this. It seems that in the first year or so, things are going well, students are still competing hard, and a lot of money and deals have been made. It will be fascinating to see how this will progress just in the next couple of years.

Sources:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-03-18/ncaa-nil-deals-help-college-athletes-get-paid

On Thin Ice; The Inequality Between Men and Women’s Hockey in the NCAA.

By: JON WILLIS and THOMAS ORR

            Throughout Division I (DI) athletics, not just hockey, we see vast differences between the treatment, funding, and support of men’s sports compared to women’s sports. The sports you see on TV for the most part, at least on the big networks, heavily favor men’s sports over women’s sports. In this article, we are going to specifically go over the issue with the fact that there are countless colleges that have men’s hockey, but either do not have a women’s team, or the one they do have is a club team that makes the women have to pay an excessive amount of money to be able to compete at a lesser level, separate but not equal.

            An article came out on March 31 by the Michigan Daily about the absence of varsity status by the Michigan Club women’s hockey team. The article reveals that the club team must raise all the money by themselves and must pay the college to use the ice, even though they are at the level of any other DI college women’s hockey team. Michigan is a state that even though it has a strong hockey presence, does not have a single DI women’s hockey team. This season the Men’s team were favorites for the NCAA National Championship with a roster that featured countless NHL prospects on scholarship enjoying the privileges of a fully supported varsity athlete.

            A shocking statistic refers to 60 DI schools that have men’s hockey, while astoundingly only 36 DI schools have women’s hockey. This represents a tremendous inequity. Schools are putting millions of dollars into equipment, video boards, stadiums, football, and other support, but somehow cannot fund a women’s hockey team. They could share these resources with their female counterparts to offset imbalance issues. When schools like current Men’s National Champions, Denver place a substantial portion of their otherwise lesser sport programs into a flagship DI sport like Men’s hockey and do not even field a Women’s team it is hard to imagine how these could meet the balance required by Title IX for opportunities and resources.

            There was another incident other than the Michigan story on just how pervasive the problem is. North Dakota cut their women’s hockey program while Lauren Hennessey, a phenomenal hockey player, was on campus ready to go for the hockey season. It came out of nowhere and was a shock to even the coach who was hosting recruits during the announcement. The program had developed Olympic Athletes and was on the rise after being created to suffice demands of an earlier lawsuit threat. North Dakota went from a program that was using the resources of their incredibly successful Men’s hockey team to support the opportunity for Women’s hockey in a way that was compliant with the spirit of Title IX.

            With North Dakota joining the Michigan Schools and others who are not fielding Women’s hockey the limited scholarships for Women to play NCAA hockey took another blow. Talented women are already limited in playing hockey, because unlike the men, there are no opportunities to play junior hockey in women’s sports. So not only are there 24 less schools available for women’s hockey, but they do not have that option as well. It is shocking to see stories like this, because women deserve the right to have the same opportunities in athletics as men do, yet this is very clearly not equal.

            Schools have found ways to avoid inequality between sports at colleges. Schools have also found ways to circumvent Title IX or used it less ethically to create some sense of perceived balance, usually at the expense of all sexes. Title IX which started to be effective June 23, 1972, was a law passed to prohibit sex-based discrimination in any school that receives federal funding. The law has many distinct aspects on how it is trying to prevent that discrimination, but for clarity, the law says that schools are required to have the same amount of women athletes as men athletes or they are working to become more equal. Schools like the University of Nebraska at Kearney and Northern State University handled the issue by getting rid of Men’s teams to create perceived equity. UNK baseball team was cut to even out the athletes between men and women while NSU cut Men’s golf. With numbers, the inflated rosters of football teams always create issues with numbers. So, if a school has a football program, which takes up significantly more athletes than any other sport, they must have a lot more women’s sports and roster spots made available. This leaves less opportunities for males who do not play varsity football as the largest portion of scholarships would typically be allocated towards football.

            If Title IX was enacted to create equal opportunities for both men and women in sports, then why do we see what we see like we do in hockey? The excuse that people always produce is “money.” While hockey is an expensive sport to support, compared to some others that colleges normally do, it still does not answer the question of how they can support a men’s hockey team, but not a women’s. If a school like Michigan or Denver can chase a championship, they should have the money to pay the luxury tax of supporting female hockey in their state and beyond. When we are breaking down D1 hockey specifically, these colleges can make money, however college athletics lacks agreed upon accounting and reporting practices, so it is simple to show revenue and loss in different manners.

            D1 women’s sports are continuing to become increasingly popular. Nebraska women’s basketball and volleyball sold out every game they held. Every NCAA D1 volleyball and basketball tournament game was broadcasted on an ESPN platform. It is obvious that around the country, the support for women’s athletics is continuing to grow and grow. Nebraska has one D1 Men’s hockey team located at the Omaha campus; however, UNO does not field a Women’s team. Without a doubt we can say, especially in Michigan, which is a hockey state, that they could support a women’s hockey team and draw in a significant amount of money or at least afford to cover it. Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, and other states are not sending the right message to young ladies in their states when they provide a division one experience only for the boys.

            Ohio State is one of the D1 schools that have a women’s hockey team and men’s team at the top level. We guarantee, with the hatred between Michigan and Ohio State, if those two every played a hockey game together if Michigan ends up getting an actual women’s team, that game would be sold out and provide hope for a new generation of female athletes. The 24 schools not offering women’s hockey are missing opportunities for women, and it continues to show that while there have been improvements between men’s and women’s sports, that this is still an issue and still something we as a country still need to continue to work on with the leadership of the NCAA.

Sources:

https://www.michigandaily.com/sports/as-womens-hockey-grows-michigans-absence-is-glaring/?fbclid=IwAR1s1A9I9ljPD4YN-J277bddisuKcxnjlLXbNdBM73dYEnSJsf6pOjjl5Vs

https://www.ncsasports.org/mens-hockey/colleges#:~:text=Colleges%20with%20Division%201%20hockey,Hockey%20East%2C%20NCHC%20and%20WCHA.

https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html

The Spectacle of the NFL Draft

By GRANT TIGHE

tighegd@lopers.unk.edu

The NFL Draft is arguably the biggest non-game sporting event of the year in American sports. It was always held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City until 2014, but now the NFL rotates it between host cities which have hauled in $500 million in economic impact since this change. The seven-round event is broadcasted on multiple stations including ESPN, ABC, and the NFL Network. There is always a spectacle made of the top players in the green room and cameras in the in-house draft parties for them.

            The NFL Draft is clearly superior to the three other major sports in basketball, baseball, and hockey. Why is that?

            In the NFL, there is no minor league associated with it that players may go to develop. It’s NFL or bust. The MLB has Minor League Baseball, the NBA has the G League, and the NHL has the American Hockey League.

            In the MLB, there are 40 rounds, and every player starts off in the minor leagues to develop before getting to the majors. Only 66% of first-round picks make it to play for a major league team and from 1981-2020 17.6% of drafted players made the major league.

            Due to the smaller rosters, the NBA Draft only has two rounds. Many top players start and play significant minutes for their teams immediately, but a portion of the players sign two-way contracts that make them play for both their G-league affiliate and NBA team. Due to the shorter draft and fewer players drafted, the NBA Draft can be less exciting than the NFL Draft.

            The seven-round NHL Draft is probably the closest thing to the NFL as many of the first-round selections can be on the team right away. It also differs from the NFL as many players selected in the later rounds may opt to stay where they are currently playing. If they don’t like where they are drafted, they don’t have to sign a contract. The American Hockey League can also take in some of the players and develop them as well.

NFL teams don’t have a minor league they can send players to, they either make their team or they cut them. This can make drafting players more exciting since most of them will be on the team for at least their first year. The later rounds can also mean something in the NFL Draft, as there are many examples of players drafted in the later rounds being all-stars such as George Kittle, Tom Brady, Tyreek Hill, etc.

Hutchinson with Michigan in 2021

The NFL Draft also comes at a time of the year when there are not a whole lot of major sporting events on television. It comes a month after the major college sporting season ends with March Madness. The NBA Playoffs are just getting started, the MLB season is in its early stages and it’s the end of the NHL season when people are getting ready for the playoffs. It also comes at the midway point of the NFL offseason at 105 days into the 238-day offseason between the Super Bowl and Opening Night.

Lastly, football is the highest viewed and most popular American sport. Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 was one of the highest viewed sporting events ever with 114.4 million viewers. For comparison, Game Six of the Bulls vs Jazz in 1998 drew 35.9 million viewers, MLB is at recording some of its lowest ratings ever in the history of the sport and the highest-rated NHL game drew 8.72 million viewers in the 2019 Stanley Cup final between the Blues and the Bruins.

Football is dominant for viewership in America right now and it is clear in the extravagant NFL Draft. It generates months of buzz and creates many jobs for insiders and experts like Mel Kiper, Todd McShay and Daniel Jeremiah who constantly scout players and create mock drafts. There is no other sport that can compare to it and it is evident when people watch that the NFL Draft is different than all the other American sports drafts.