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i Running head: AFL PLAYER OFF-FIELD ACTIVITY AND ATHLETE ENGAGEMENT Relationships between AFL Player Off-field Activity, Player Characteristics, the Club Environment, and On-field Engagement Matthew Andrew Pink Bachelor of Exercise and Health Science (Hons I) A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Exercise Science Faculty of Health Sciences Australian Catholic University Research Services Locked bag 4115 Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 Australia November 2015 ii Running head: AFL PLAYER OFF-FIELD ACTIVITY AND ATHLETE ENGAGEMENT This page has been left intentionally blank iii Running head: AFL PLAYER OFF-FIELD ACTIVITY AND ATHLETE ENGAGEMENT Statement of Authorship This thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No parts of this thesis have been submitted towards the award of any other degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgment in the main text of the thesis. All research reported in the thesis received the approval of the relevant ethics/safety committees (where required). The work presented in this thesis is that of the author and use or presentation of the ideas or work of other academics is referenced throughout. ___________________________ _________________ Matthew Andrew Pink Date iv Running head: AFL PLAYER OFF-FIELD ACTIVITY AND ATHLETE ENGAGEMENT Acknowledgments There are a number of people that I would like to thank for supporting me through the development and completion of this thesis. To my mother and father, I would like to thank you both for instilling values into me during my formative years that have served me well as I have gone on in life. Mum, your countless examples of remaining brave during difficult times, of showing compassion, and thinking deeply about the struggles of others has helped me to remain tough during the past few years without sacrificing a level of insight needed for my research. To my father, thank you for showing me the importance of sticking by your principles even when this is a difficult task. To my brother and sister and their lovely partners and son and daughters, thank you for welcoming me back into your regular lives since returning to Brisbane and for being a welcome distraction from the ‘you know what’ (PhD). I would also like to thank my parents in law, Michael and Rhona Saunders, and my sister in law Clare and her partner Aaron for their support throughout the thesis. Thank you to all of my very special friends who have put up with my ‘madness’ during the last three and a half years. In what is a very rough chronological order. Thank you to Joseph and Angie for giving me the belief that I was good enough to go to university in the first place. Thank you to Tristan for all the hard study, laughter, and good times during my undergraduate years. Thank you to Ryan, Tink, A.B, Scott, and Drew for all of the good times that have helped me retain perspective. To my friends and colleagues Mark, Jen, Mick, Rich, Tim, Andrew, Matt, and Gert-Jan I thank you for all of your support and belief. I am certain that there are friends that I have missed and I apologise for this. v Running head: AFL PLAYER OFF-FIELD ACTIVITY AND ATHLETE ENGAGEMENT Abraham Lincoln proposed that the better part of one’s life consists of one’s friendships (or something similar), and I can add to that they are also essential for navigating a PhD. I have also had the benefit of having several mentors beyond my parents who have all contributed to the person that I am. In no particular order, Frank Bugeja, Darren Bray, Gerald Georgeos, Ken Huxley, Marie Walklate, Jason Collins, and Sue Ward. Thank you all for recognising something in me and nurturing my skills and abilities at various stages throughout my life. In recent years I have also had academic mentors who have helped me greatly in my time at university. To Jude Butcher, thank you for your friendship, our work together, your encouragement to think deeply, good humour, and also all of your tips on writing and structure. To Lainie Cameron, thank you for your friendship and for your lessons concerning grammar and various other academic conventions. To Peter Le Rossignol, thank you for taking a special interest in me and your friendship when life in general was really getting to me. I would really like to thank my supervisors. To John Saunders, thank you very much for your patience, belief, calm nature, and guidance throughout this process. We definitely are different in personality and work in different ways however in the end it has become a strength of the partnership, has made me a better person, and I am very appreciative of the friendship and collegiality we have developed in recent years. It has been a pleasure to work with you. To Justine Stynes, thank you for being a friendly ear during the trials and tribulations, a source of second opinion, your suggested edits, and also for your belief. Special thanks also need to go to David Parkin for his kindness, mentorship, enthusiasm, and friendship throughout the development of this thesis. I would also like to thank Brett Johnson for his support and enthusiasm for the research conducted vi Running head: AFL PLAYER OFF-FIELD ACTIVITY AND ATHLETE ENGAGEMENT in his thesis. Without David and Brett’s support this work would have been extremely difficult to complete. I would also like to thank all of the AFL players and their clubs who agreed to be a part of this research. Thank you for an opportunity to gain and insight into your worlds as a contribution to an attempt to better understand the industry you work in. Finally, and most importantly I would like to thank my wife, Kate Pink. Thank you very much for all of your support and love during these three and a half years. I love you dearly. Thank you for your belief in me and your understanding when I needed to devote time to my PhD. When you were diagnosed with cancer I did not think that this pursuit had anywhere near the importance of supporting you throughout your battle (and it did not and still does not). The thing I am most proud of during this thesis is that I was able to put you first and support you back when you really needed it. We have stuck together through what have been our struggles and we are both better people for it. Thank you for your love and understanding. As a final reflection on my acknowledgements, there are many people here who I have thanked and who have provided me support throughout my life. I am by no means a ‘self-made man’ and it is in fact the people in my environment that have had the greatest influence on me rather than my own individual attributes. Any human potential has to be nurtured and supported. The importance of an individual’s surrounding developmental environment and the significance of those within it also became an important part of this thesis and it is only now when I look back at my own story that I can see the parallels. Thus, I can add another ‘qualitative example’ to what is becoming a more general thesis of my own life and the importance of environmental support in human flourishing. Further, as I look through the previous paragraphs there is a constant theme of taking space from the vii Running head: AFL PLAYER OFF-FIELD ACTIVITY AND ATHLETE ENGAGEMENT PhD and gaining suitable re-creation so that I could continue to ‘perform’. As I reflect back on the journey, this has been pivotal and could not have been achieved without a workplace culture and life away from work that enabled me to do this. There is perhaps more in common between the PhD student and the elite AFL player than was originally thought. Despite the struggles, I am grateful for the opportunity and to my reviewers I submit. viii Running head: AFL PLAYER OFF-FIELD ACTIVITY AND ATHLETE ENGAGEMENT Dedication For Sandra Bray, my mother, who knows how to keep going! ix Running head: AFL PLAYER OFF-FIELD ACTIVITY AND ATHLETE ENGAGEMENT Table of Contents Statement of Authorship .............................................................................................. iii Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................... iv Dedication .................................................................................................................. vii Table of Contents ...................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ............................................................................................................. xv List of Figures .......................................................................................................... xvii List of Appendices .................................................................................................... xix Abstract ...................................................................................................................... xx Publications ............................................................................................................. xxiv Chapter One: Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 The modern professional athlete ............................................................................... 3 The welfare of the athlete .........................................................................................

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