Sport officiating recruitment, development, and retention:  A call to action

The global COVID-19 pandemic left few facets of our lives unchanged, including the possibility to play organised sports. Many gyms and sports clubs had to shut down due to social distancing measures, which resulted in reduced physical activity. Co-located group sports that promote social interaction and fun became almost impossible. This lack of physical interaction combined with social isolation and confinement have shown negative impacts on physical and mental well-being of people (for example, lack of motivation, anxiety, low immunity, low academic performance, negative mood and feelings) especially in children and young adults. Recent research therefore recommends exploring more creative approaches that allow physical activities during a pandemic, especially the ones that increase social interaction and engagement and allow users to share the same physical space. Towards this, we developed SixFeet, a novel digital-physical sports platform that allows its participants to play rigorous, collaborative sports -at a six feet distance. SixFeet ensures that the players are 1.5m away from each other at all times without them noticing it or without them having to worry about the social distancing measures. We developed a prototypical implementation of SixFeet and conducted a pilot study to evaluate its technical feasibility and practicality as well as obtain a first insight into user experience with the platform. Results show that participants never came within 1.5 meters of one another, felt connected nevertheless and were physically exerted. This paper presents the design and architecture of SixFeet, results of the preliminary user study, and a discussion on the versatility of SixFeet in accommodating training for different sports in times of a pandemic. CCS Concepts• Human-centered computing → Ubiquitous and mobile computing systems and tools; Human computer interaction (HCI); Systems and tools for interaction design.

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“…basketball, soccer, field hockey and rugby), the physical playing space is contested. Players 'share' the space dynamically [31].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

SixFeet: An Interactive, Corona-Safe, Multiplayer Sports Platform

Postma

Ruiter

Reidsma

et al. 2022

Sixteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction

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“…According to the relevant role sports referees play within the sports system, recruitment, retention, decision-making, and experiences deserve a prominent space in the investigation of sports sciences and management studies (Mascarenhas and Smith, 2011;Livingston et al, 2017;Morillo et al, 2017). In fact, there is an increase interest in researching these issues in the last decade (Pina et al, 2018;Livingston et al, 2020). However, there is still a necessity of more research that especially focuses on issues of aggression, violence, and coping, particularly in football fields.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“The Referee Plays to Be Insulted!”: An Exploratory Qualitative Study on the Spanish Football Referees’ Experiences of Aggression, Violence, and Coping

2021

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Referees are essential participants in the sport of football. They are responsible for enforcing the rules and achieving the necessary impartiality for the matches. Referees are often target of hostile reactions from fans, players, and coaches. However, few studies have focused on these experiences and the strategies they use to manage them. In order to fill this gap, a qualitative interview-based study was developed to explore the experiences of a group of football referees (four males and four females) on aggression, violence, and coping. A thematic analysis was developed combining inductive and deductive processes. Results indicated that the most frequent aggressions experienced were verbal abuse. Most of the aggressions from spectators were of a sexist nature. When aggressions were considered normal by referees, symbolic violence emerged. Racist aggressions were directed to the two Moroccan participants. Problem and emotional-focused coping strategies were identified. The two most common referee responses to coaches’ and players’ verbal abuse were penalties and send-off calls. Smiling and not considering insults as a personal matter were two emotional-focused coping strategies used toward spectator aggressions. Implications for the referees’ job and well-being as well as the quality of football competitions were highlighted to reduce aggressions and violence and to help referees to cope with hostile behaviors.

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“…The sport development system has two main objectives: increasing the number of people actively involved in sports and improving sport achievement quality [7,8]. Sport is sometimes narrowly defined as a competitive and regulatory play, which involves multiple physical activity levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sport for All in Indonesia: A Review of Sport Development Concept

Rustandi¹,

Suherman²,

Ma’mun³

et al. 2021

saj

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Background: The development of appropriate and comprehensive sports for all levels of society is essential in every regional development step in sports. Various approaches have been made to study the development of sports, but the primary system is sport development and development through sport. At the same time, both systems relate to facilitating sport participation. Methods: The method used was a systematic literature review (SLR). The literature search was limited to articles published from 2012-2019 in the research database, including in Elsevier and Taylor and France online. Result: This review provides a comprehensive and systematic view of sport for all and sport development from previous research to assess community participation through several sport programs to create a healthy active lifestyle. Conclusion:This review shows a shift in the concept paradigm from sport development to Sport for Development. Sport is not only to create a healthy active lifestyle, but also a medium for maintaining and enhancing social relationships and stimulating and increasing sensitivity to mental, emotional, and character building aspects.

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Sport officiating recruitment, development, and retention: A call to action

Cited by 16 publications

References 44 publications

SixFeet: An Interactive, Corona-Safe, Multiplayer Sports Platform

SixFeet: An Interactive, Corona-Safe, Multiplayer Sports Platform

“The Referee Plays to Be Insulted!”: An Exploratory Qualitative Study on the Spanish Football Referees’ Experiences of Aggression, Violence, and Coping

Sport for All in Indonesia: A Review of Sport Development Concept

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