Neither home nor away
- Authors: Ponsford, Megan
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sport in Society Vol. 22, no. 1 (2019), p. 97-112
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- Description: This article critiques the symbolism of the journey as a team of Australian cricketers voyaged to India in 1935 embarking on the first Australia cricket tour to the subcontinent. Travel and tourism theories explicate the reactions of the cricketers to the ambivalence of being neither home nor away. This article asks: what did the Australians learn about themselves, their home and their destination whilst in transit? The theme of transition, both physical and emotional, is the central focus of this study. The journey on the ship signifies the team’s last immersion (for the duration of the tour) within exclusively English structures and customs. The cricketers’ insecurity when faced with the looming unknown upon descending the gangplank into India is extrapolated from available sources. The influence of Frank Tarrant as leader and educator intensified in the artificial hermetic vacuum of the ship’s environment. The unceremonious departure scenes in Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle are described and contrasted with the formality of the arrival in Bombay; such contrasts epitomize and underpin the cultural differences encountered throughout the tour.
The atmosphere vibrated with triumphant joy
- Authors: Ponsford, Megan
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sport in Society Vol. 22, no. 1 (2019), p. 185-196
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- Description: This article critiques the Indian material culture located in present-day Pakistan pertaining to the inaugural Australian cricket tour to colonial India in 1935/36. The historical voice of the Indians is evident in the images and it is over the shoulders of the hosts of the tour that new perspectives emerge. It is culturally inappropriate to assume and evaluate how the locals felt about the visit of the Australian cricketers and the raison d’être of the tour. However, archives located in Pakistan provide a deeply subjective perspective. Goodwill and amicability reverberate through the photographs challenging conventional scholarship, which argues that Australian-Indian cricket is based on acrimony. The article concludes that despite the obvious and significant differences between the competing teams the tour experience minimized the racial divide between the Australian and the Indian cricketers.
A review of the anthropometric characteristics, grading and dispensation of junior and youth rugby union players in Australia
- Authors: Patton, Declan , McIntosh, Andrew , Denny, Greg
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Sports Medicine Vol. 46, no. 8 (2016), p. 1067-1081
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- Description: The grading of Australian junior and youth rugby union players has received substantial media attention in recent years. Media reports have focussed on size mismatches observed between players, especially players with Polynesian heritage, and the concerned parents who fear for the safety of their child owing to perceived mismatches. Although such concerns are well meaning, few media reports recognise the need for substantial evidence to determine the best grading system for junior and youth rugby union players. The current study reviewed relevant literature pertinent to the grading and dispensation of junior and youth rugby union players. Using primary and secondary search strategies, a total of 33 articles reporting the anthropometric characteristics of junior and youth rugby players were identified. Anthropometric data from the literature were compared with normative population data and currently used dispensation criteria. Junior and youth rugby players were found to be taller and heavier than normative population data. Current dispensation criteria, in terms of body mass, were found to vary and it is suggested that criteria be revised and standardised across rugby unions throughout Australia. Although it is acknowledged that other factors are important for grading players, anthropometric characteristics should be considered as potential dispensation criteria to supplement current age-based grading for junior and youth rugby union players. Measuring the body mass and stature of each junior player upon pre-season registration is suggested, which would provide data to establish valid dispensation criteria for the following season.
Frank and Bhupinder : the odd couple of Indian cricket
- Authors: Ponsford, Megan
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sport in Society Vol. 18, no. 5 (2015), p. 565-576
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- Description: In 1935-1936, a non-sanctioned group of cricketers embarked on the inaugural tour of India with the ambitious, unorthodox, professional Frank Tarrant employed as team manager. Maharaja Bhupinder Singh lavishly financed the tour motivated by his love of cricket, his political and economic aspirations, its recognition as a symbol of allegiance to the British and by the prospect of leaving a legacy as the guardian of the game. Primary source material reveals that xenophobic prejudice and discrimination were endemic during the 1930s and the relationship between Tarrant and the Maharaja challenged the imperial paradigm. This article interrogates the mutually advantageous relationship and the tour through Orientalist theory discourse. The role of Tarrant will be examined, specifically regarding the ethnographic discrepancy between his representation in India and the British World. The article assesses the mutually beneficial, amiable relationship between Tarrant and the Maharaja as a metonym for wider Australia-India transactions. © 2014, Taylor & Francis.
Cardiac emergency preparedness in health/fitness facilities in Australia
- Authors: Sekendiz, Betul , Gass, Gregory , Norton, Kevin , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: The Physician and sportsmedicine Vol. 42, no. 4 (November 2014), p. 14-19
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1058737
- Full Text: false
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- Description: BACKGROUND: Health/fitness facilities are popular venues for physical activity, where increasingly more individuals at risk of cardiovascular events exercise to achieve positive health outcomes. The aim of our study was to analyze cardiac emergency preparedness in health/fitness facilities in Queensland, Australia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of health/fitness facilities in Queensland. METHODS: A risk management questionnaire was administered over 7 months, July 2009 to January 2010, using an online or paper-based version. The data are presented as the proportion of survey respondents giving specific responses to questionnaire items related to cardiac emergency preparedness, especially the provision of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). RESULTS: Fifty-two health/fitness facility managers responded to the survey. Most of the surveyed facilities conducted pre-activity screening (92%). Of those with a written emergency plan (79%), only 37% physically rehearsed their emergency response systems at regular intervals. Ninety-five percent of the facilities had fitness employees with a current first aid/cardiopulmonary resuscitation certificate and training. Of the 10 (19%) facilities with an on-site AED, only 6 had staff qualified to use the AED in an emergency, and only 6 had the AED as part of a public access defibrillator program. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to report that cardiac emergency preparedness is not optimal in the health/fitness facilities in Australia. Development of policies and procedures for training health/fitness professionals in emergency procedures is needed to minimize the risk when exercise-induced cardiac events occur at health/fitness facilities.
Observations of caregiver supervision of children at beaches : Identification of factors associated with high supervision
- Authors: Petrass, Lauren , Blitvich, Jennifer , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Injury Prevention Vol. 17, no. 4 (2011), p. 244-249
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565904
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Objective: To identify independent factors associated with caregiver supervision levels at beaches. Methods: Children (aged 1-14 years) engaged in beach play and their caregivers were observed at Australian beaches during September-April, 2008/09. Caregiver, child, and environmental factor data were collected and recorded on a validated observation instrument. The main outcome of interest was a continuous measure of supervision. After adjusting for potential clustering by beach/state, multivariable linear regression was used to identify independent factors associated with caregiver supervision. Results: Four independent predictors of supervision and one interaction effect (child age by the caregiver and child position on beach) were identified. Caregivers who were supervising from a different position to where the child was playing were less likely to provide high supervision, as were older caregivers (>35 years) compared to younger caregivers (≤34 years). Compared to children playing alone, children playing with one, or two or more others were less likely to receive high supervision, and children aged 1-4 years were likely to receive higher supervision than older children. Conclusion: This study provides new knowledge about underlying factors associated with the level of caregiver supervision in beach settings. Future studies should continue to explore independent predictors of supervision so that effective programmes, which focus on caregiver supervision, can be targeted to address poor supervision practices.
Why Australia needs an effective national campaign to reduce coastal drowning
- Authors: Sherker, Shauna , Brander, Rob , Finch, Caroline , Hatfield, Julie
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 11, no. 2 (2008), p. 81-83
- Full Text: false
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- Description: 2003006677
Heat injury risk of simulated march and urban patrol infantry tasks
- Authors: Payne, Warren , Ham, Daniel , Harvey, Jack , Lee, Craig , Sinclair, Wade , McNaughton, Lars , Rudzki, Stephan
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Vol. 38, no. 5 (2006), p. S270-S271
- Full Text: false
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- Description: 2003005927