The present study aimed to investigate motivations for the dual career of European student-athletes living in countries providing different educational services for elite athletes: State-centric regulation-State as sponsor/facilitator (State), National Sporting Federations/Institutes as intermediary (Federation) and Laisser Faire, no formal structures (No Structure). Therefore, the European Student-athletes' Motivation towards Sports and Academics Questionnaire (SAMSAQ-EU) was administered to 524 European student-athletes. Exploratory Factor Analysis, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were applied to test the factor structure, and the reliability and validity of the SAMSAQ-EU, respectively. A multivariate approach was applied to verify subgroup effects (P ≤ 0.05) according to gender (i.e., female and male), age (i.e., ≤ 24 years, > 24 years), type of sport (i.e., individual sport and team sport) and competition level (i.e., national and international). Insufficient confirmatory indexes were reported for the whole European student-athlete group, whereas distinct three factor models [i.e., Student Athletic Motivation (SAM); Academic Motivation (AM); Career Athletic Motivation (CAM)] emerged, with acceptable reliability estimates, for State (SAM = 0.82; AM = 0.75; and CAM = 0.75), Federation (SAM = 0.82; AM = 0.66; and CAM = 0.87) and No Structure (SAM = 0.78; AM = 0.74; and CAM = 0.79) subgroups. Differences between subgroups were found only for competition level (P < 0.001) in relation to SAM (P = 0.001) and CAM (P < 0.001). For SAM, the highest and lowest values emerged for Federation (national, 5.1 ± 0.5; international, 5.4 ± 0.5) and State (national, 4.5 ± 0.9; international, 4.8 ± 0.7). The opposite picture emerged for CAM (Federation: national, 3.3 ± 0.7; international, 3.5 ± 0.9; State: national, 5.0 ± 0.8; international, 5.0 ± 0.9). Therefore, despite SAMSAQ-EU demonstrated to be a useful tool, results showed that European student-athletes' motivation for dual career has to be specifically investigated according to social contexts.

There are well-known biological differences between women and men, especially in technicalcoordinative variations that contribute to sex differences in performance of complex movements like the most important offensive action in volleyball, the spike jump. The aim of this study was to investigate sex-dependent performance and biomechanical characteristics in the volleyball spike jump. Thirty female and male sub-elite volleyball players were analysed while striking a stationary ball with maximal spike jump height. Twelve MX13 Vicon cameras with a cluster marker set, two AMTI force plates, surface EMG, and a Full-Body 3D model in Visual3D were used. Main findings include sex differences (P< .05) in jump height (pη 2 = .73), approach [speed (pη 2 = .61), step length], transition strategy [plant angle, neuromuscular activation (pη 2 = .91), horizontal force maxima and impulses], acceleration distances [centre of mass displacement (pη 2 = .21), minimal knee and hip angles], use of torso and arms [incline, angular velocity (pη 2 = .23)]. Correlations support that the results cannot be explained fully by strength and power differences between sexes but represent the product of technical-coordinative variations. Their relevance is acknowledged for both sexes and numerous performance determinants displayed sex differences. The integration of such attributes into sexspecific training seems promising but its effect requires further investigation.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to validate the properties of the Italian version of the Baller Identity Measurement Scale (i.e., BIMS-IT), a self-report questionnaire based on the athletic and academic identities; and to investigate differences in psychosocial factors such as gender, age, type of sport, and competition level. The dimensionality of the BIMS-IT was explored by means of the exploratory factor analysis, considering the scale’s internal consistency too (Confirmatory Factor Analysis). Results related to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported a model of measurement composed of two correlated factors: the athletic and academic identities and affectivity related to identities. For both factors, differences emerged between age, and competition level sub groups. In particular, higher identity scores emerged for ≤ 24 years old student-athletes with respect to their age counterparts. National sub-elite student-athletes reported lower identity values than those of national elite and international levels. Results suggest that the Italian version of the BIMS-IT is psychometrically robust and could be adopted for empirical uses. The higher identity scores reported by younger and higher competition level participants suggest a correspondent higher involvement into the student-athlete role. However, BIMS-IT represents a distinct model with respect to the original American BIMS, determining the need of further research on the student-athletes’ identity to better clarify any socio-cultural contest effects.

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The present study aimed to investigate motivations for the dual career of Italian student-athletes attending different university courses. For this purpose, the Italian Harmonized version of the Student-athletes' Motivation toward Sports and Academics Questionnaire (SAMSAQ-IT/A) was administered to 760 Italian student-athletes. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Cronbach's alpha coefficients were applied to test the factor structure and the reliability of the SAMSAQ-IT/A, respectively. Furthermore, the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) assessed the fit of the model. A multivariate approach was applied to verify subgroups effects (P B 0.05) in relation to gender (i.e., female, male), competition level (i.e., elite, sub-elite), type of sport (i.e., individual sport, team sport, disciplines performed both as individual and team), educational area (i.e., economical/law, humanistic, mathematics/engineering, medical, movement/sport sciences), and year of attendance (i.e., Bachelor 1st, 2nd, 3rd year, Master degree 1st and 2nd year, off course). EFA highlighted a threefactor model (i.e., Sport Motivation, SM; Academic Motivation, AM; Dual Career Motivation, CM) with acceptable reliability estimates (SM = 0.93; AM = 0.85; CM = 0.90) and good CFA indexes. Furthermore, differences between subgroups were found for gender (SM, P = 0.02; AM, P = 0.007), type of sport (AM, P = 0.039), competition level (SM, P \ 0.001; CM, P = 0.004), educational area (SM, P = 0.003; AM, P = 0.001; CM, P \ 0.001), and year of attendance (AM, P = 0.005; CM, P = 0.002). In conclusion, SAMSAQ-IT/ A demonstrated to be a useful tool and results showed that Italian student-athletes' motivation for dual career has to be specifically investigate according to gender, age, competition level, type of sport, educational area, and year of attendance.