Dr F Cavallerio, Dr M Ferrandino, Dr M Dowling, Dr M Timmis
No more applications being accepted
Self-Funded PhD Students Only
About the Project
Research Group: Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences
https://www.anglia.ac.uk/science-and-technology/research/our-research-institutes-and-groups/cambridge-centre-for-sport-and-exercise-sciences
Proposed supervisory team: Dr Francesca Cavallerio, [Email Address Removed]
https://www.anglia.ac.uk/science-and-technology/about/sport-exercise-sciences/our-staff/francesca-cavallerio
Michael Ferrandino, [Email Address Removed]
Dr Mathew Dowling, [Email Address Removed]
https://www.anglia.ac.uk/science-and-technology/about/sport-exercise-sciences/our-staff/mathew-dowling
Dr Matthew Timmis [Email Address Removed]
https://www.anglia.ac.uk/science-and-technology/about/sport-exercise-sciences/our-staff/matthew-timmis
Theme: Coaching and Management, Sport Psychology
https://www.anglia.ac.uk/science-and-technology/research/our-research-institutes-and-groups/cambridge-centre-for-sport-and-exercise-sciences/coaching-and-management
Summary of the research project:
In 2008 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) published a consensus statement on ‘Training the Elite Athlete’ that highlighted the need to support elite child athletes offering “appropriate training, coaching and competition that ensure a safe and healthy athletic career and promote future well-being” (Mountjoy et al. 2008, p. 122). Seven years later, in a subsequent consensus statement focusing on youth athletic development, Mountjoy and Bergeron (2015) agree progress has been made, but there is still work to do before the goal is completely fulfilled. Research on talent identification and development systems (TIDS) highlighted how these environments can be extremely competitive, pressurised, and stressful for youth athletes (Rongen et al. 2015), compromising health and well-being. Furthermore, scholars investigating emotional abuse described it as a practice that is recognised as a required part of developing top performance athletes (Gervis and Dunn 2004), which can result in negative consequences on young athletes during and after their athletic careers (Kerr and Stirling 2012). Adding to the possible negative psychological consequences of elite youth sport, physical issues have also been identified in the literature on young high performance athletes (e.g., Cavallerio et al. 2016, DiFiori et al. 2014).
Given these premises, researchers have recently started creating a scholarship that looks at developing more sustainable high performance environments (Barker et al. 2014) in order to answer the IOC’s call for a youth sport environment which is healthy, balanced and fun, and not just challenging (Mountjoy and Bergeron 2015).
The aim of the current project is to investigate how TIDS and other high performance youth sport environments can generate opportunities for positive growth, emotional health, and well-being in young elite athletes. The research will adopt a range of different approaches and methodologies, tailored to better address the specific research questions, including systematic observation, qualitative inquiry, ethnographic or narrative approaches.
Where you'll study: Cambridge
https://www.anglia.ac.uk/student-life/life-on-campus/cambridge-campus
Funding:
This project is self-funded. Details of studentships for which funding is available are selected by a competitive process and are advertised on our jobs website as they become available.
https://www24.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_angliaruskin01.asp
Next steps:
If you wish to be considered for this project, you will need to apply for our Sport and Exercise Sciences MPhil, PhD. In the section of the application form entitled 'Outline research proposal', please quote the above title and include a research proposal.