Football, as the most popular sport amongst other sports, is a household name in the world and South Africa particularly. This study examines the use of marketing in improving competitive advantage among potential and professional football clubs in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Several sponsorship opportunities that could serve as an impetus to disseminate various club projects are noted to be undermined. Arguably, some of the clubs’ activities are seasonal, and the applicability of marketing by football clubs in the KZN province could not be tactically emphasized. Therefore, the amount of marketing activities in clubs’ seasonal operations is unidentified which poses a challenge in achieving club objectives. This paper argues that it is of importance for the club marketing managers to consider features of each specific season and corporate marketing activities for the development of appropriate marketing actions that could serve as competitive advantages. This study adopts a mixed-method research approach, and a convenient sampling technique with responses from 80 questionnaires were retrieved. Five (5) coaches, 5 club owners, 5 managers, 5 supporters, and 5 players from five football clubs each located in KwaZulu-Natal province were interviewed to extract their understanding of the use of marketing to gain competitive advantage. Findings from the study state that using marketing correctly could improve the chances of potential professional football clubs’ popularity and increase financial gains. Most respondents emphasized that when clubs use a proper marketing strategy with appropriate use of marketing mix, it could position the clubs in the hearts of their supporters and public.
Participation in physical exercise is regarded as a healthy behaviour that promotes both physical and mental health among students. It is a preventive and therapeutic measure for mental health illness. However, despite the positive relationship between participation in physical exercise and mental health, many students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria still engage in sedentary life style which increases their vulnerability to mental health issues. Several studies have been carried out on students and mental health, behavioural health risks such as substance use, unsafe sexual behaviour, violence and increased risk of communicable and non-communicable diseases, injury and mortality and anxiety as the most prevalent disorder found in men and women but little research effort has been directed towards the influence of exercise participation on these selected indices of mental health between student athletes and non-athletes of Obafemi Awolowo University. Correlation survey research design was used for this study. Data obtained were coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency count, simple percentage, mean, standard deviation and bar chart for the demographic variables and research questions. Chi square (CRAMMER V) and multiple regression were used to test hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The population for this study comprises of male and female student athletes and non-athletes of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, as participants. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select Two hundred (200) respondents from five (5) faculties. A standardised questionnaire on depression and anxiety scale was used as instrument for data collection with reliability co-efficient (r) of 0.71. Two research questions were answered and five hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. Findings from this study showed significance on depression between student athletes and non-athletes (X2=58.791, df=12, p<0.05), anxiety disorder (X2=50.974, df=12, p<0.05), gender difference (F=12.67, df=198, p< 0.05), joint contribution of exercise, gender and course of study (F(3,195)= 19.877) and independent contributions of Exercise 55.5% (ß=.555, t=29.452, p<0.05), gender 30.8% (ß=.308, t=15.616, p<0.05) and study 19.9% (ß=.199, t=14.519, p<0.05). It was concluded that those students who participate in exercise (athletes) show better mental health in terms of depression and anxiety disorder than non-athletes. Also, it was recommended that the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife must see it as a point of importance to give students ample opportunity to engage in physical exercise. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0780/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>
Several studies have attempted to identify adequate recovery strategies for athletes. But only paucity or none of such studies has been accessed which investigated long term effects of whole body vibration (WBV) as a recovery technique regimen before, during and after performance. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of whole body vibration training on selected performance-related physical fitness components of players in the University of Ibadan football team, Ibadan, Nigeria. The study was carried out using pretest/posttest/control group experimental research design. The sample size for this study was twenty participants. The participants were placed into experimental groups, who undertook eight weeks of whole body vibration training, and a control group who involved in their normal daily training regimen without the use of WBV for eight weeks. Two research questions were answered while four hypotheses were tested. Descriptive statistics of mean, percentages, chats and inferential statistics of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to test all hypotheses at 0.05 alpha levels of significance. The results of the study showed a significant difference in the pretest and posttest scores of players in leg power (F(1, 18) =10.047; p<0.05; ƞ2=.137) and balance (F(1, 18) =19.317; p<0.05; ƞ2=.327) but no significant difference in agility(F(1, 18) =1.3923; p>0.05; ƞ2=.031) and speed (F(1, 18) =1.006; p>0.05; ƞ2=.062). Two hypotheses were rejected and two were not rejected. The results of this study help to conclude that whole body vibration training significantly improved the leg power and balance recovery of the participants but did not significantly improve agility and speed of the participants. It was therefore recommended that football coaches should incorporate whole body vibration training into their training programme as leg power and balance are essential fitness components needed to play the game of football. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0720/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>
This study contributes by informing on the strategies that faculty uses to internationalize and integrate their curriculum to foster student glocal competence. Phenomenological processes such as epoche, phenomenological reduction, imaginative variation, and synthesis were developed to recognize, appreciate, and derive meaning from the perceptions faculty hold while internationalizing their curriculum. We expound on classroom activities and diverse curriculum contents that are utilized to internationalize in classroom settings. Purposive sampling and snowballing were used, and the sample size is based on the largeness of the sample while the selection of participants included a purposeful selection of 16 faculty members. Also, the “open coding” technique was used to identify instances of interviewees’ perceptions of faculty internationalizing their curriculum at the glocal level. The study adopts a phenomenological qualitative single case study that used individual interviews using open-ended questionnaires and document analysis for data collection. The sample focused on tenured track and instructional faculty only in internationalizing their curriculum. Findings revealed that most of the faculty mentioned the importance of involving students in the internationalization of the curriculum. Participants also state that student involvement cannot be taken away because student background, and previous and current experience from their different locals around the globe, will enrich internationalization.
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