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This paper presents a landmark study of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the field of sports analytics. We developed a survey that examined personal and job-related demographics, as well as individual perceptions and experiences about EDI in the workplace. We sent the survey to individuals in the five major North American professional leagues, representatives from the Olympic and Paralympic Committees in Canada and the U.S., the NCAA Division I programs, companies in sports tech/analytics, and university research groups. Our findings indicate the presence of a clear dominant group in sports analytics identifying as: young (72.0 %), White (69.5 %), heterosexual (89.7 %) and male (82.0 %). Within professional sports, males in management positions earned roughly $30,000 (27 %) more on average compared to females. A smaller but equally alarming pay gap of $17,000 (14 %) was found between White and racialized management personnel. Of concern, females were nearly five times as likely to experience discrimination and twice as likely to have considered leaving their job due to isolation or feeling unwelcome. While they had similar levels of agreement regarding fair processes for rewards and compensation, females "strongly agreed" less often than males regarding equitable support, equitable workload, having a voice, and being taken seriously. Over one third (36.3 %) of females indicated that they "strongly agreed" that they must work harder than others to be valued equally, compared to 9.8 % of males. We conclude the paper with concrete recommendations that could be considered to create a more equitable, diverse and inclusive environment for individuals working within the sports analytics sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify the locomotor, heart-rate, and metabolic power characteristics of high-level youth female field hockey matches. Method: Players from the U21 and U17 Canadian women's national teams were monitored during a 4-match test series using Global Positioning System technology. Position (forward, midfielder, defender) and age-group (U21, U17) comparisons were made using 2-way analyses of variance. Results: Forwards played 12 min to 22 min fewer than midfielders and defenders and consequently had lower amounts of total, low-intensity, and moderate-intensity distances. Yet, forwards covered similar amounts of high-intensity running and sprinting distances despite the deficit in playing time. Only 10% to 15% of total distance was characterized by high-intensity running and sprinting, yet the majority of time was spent above 90% maximum heart rate. The distances in high, elevated, and maximal metabolic power categories were greater for U21 than U17 players. Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test performance was related to high-intensity running and maximal metabolic power distance. Conclusions: The current findings highlight positional specificity as well as developmental gaps between age groups for youth female field hockey matches. These match characteristics should be used to assist in establishing appropriate training strategies through the developmental pathway and to assist player achievement to higher standards.

Purpose: Blood lactate concentration, [BLa], after swimming events might be influenced by demographic features and characteristics of the swim race, whereas active recovery enhances blood lactate removal. Our aims were to ( 1 ) examine how sex. age, race distance, and swim stroke influenced [BLa] after competitive swimming events and (2) develop a practical model based on recovery swim distance to optimize blood lactate removal. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed postrace [BLa] from 100 swimmers who competed in the finals at the Canadian Swim Championships. [BLa] was also assessed repeatedly during the active recovery. Generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate the relationship between postrace [BLa] with independent variables. Results: Postrace [BLa] was highest following 100-200 m events and lowest after 50 and 1500 m races. A sex effect for postrace [BLa] was observed only for freestyle events. There was a negligible effect of age on postrace [BLa]. A model was developed to estimate an expected change in [BLa] during active recovery (male = 0; female = 1 ): [BLa] change after active recovery = -3.374 + (1.162 x sex) + (0.789 x postrace [BLa]) + (0.003 x active recovery distance). Conclusions: These findings indicate that swimmers competing at an elite standard display similar postrace [BLa] and that there is little effect of age on postrace [BLa] in competitive swimmers aged 14 to 29 y. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-sectional study characterized the locomotor, heart rate and metabolic power characteristics of women's rugby sevens matches. 4 Canadian teams were monitored during the USA Rugby Sevens event using global positioning system technology with players classified as International (n = 16) or Developmental (n = 13). Dependent variables were compared between these 2 groups using an ANOVA with duration played as a covariate. International players covered greater distances (1468 ±88 m) than Developmental (1252 ± 135 m); mostly from more high-intensity (224±55m vs. 131±44m) and sprint distances (128±67m vs. 57 ±44m). International players also had more distance in high (264±36m vs. 210±54m), elevated (118±17m vs. 76±20m) and maximal (69±17m vs. 30± 15 m) metabolic power categories. Time in various heart rate zones was similar between standards; however peak (187±6bpm vs. 194±5bpm) and mean (172±7bpm vs. 180±9bpm) heart rate values were lower for International players. International players had greater fitness scores (YoYo IRT1-1 160±191m vs. 781±129m) and maximal sprint speed (27.3±0.7 vs. 26.0± 1.5 km ⋅ h-1). The current findings highlight developmental gaps in match demands between standards and show that field-based fitness tests discriminate among levels of play. The external and internal loads should be used by sport organizations to assist in forming appropriate training plans and utilize the performance tests to help monitor player development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several noninvasive diagnostic tools have been developed to aid the early detection of oral cancer and for evaluation before definitive biopsy. Among these, devices evaluating a tissues autofluorescence (AF) are emerging. In particular, the most well known of these is the VELscope system (LED Medical Diagnostics, Inc., Barnaby, Canada), which emits a light of 400-460 nm. This study has been developed to describe the most relevant clinicopathological features associated with AF alterations in a set of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and potentially malignant disorders (PMDs). Materials and methods: Overall, 108 lesions from 60 patients with clinical diagnoses of potentially malignant oral disorders and carcinomas were included in the study. For each case, the following variables were recorded and compared with the AF pattern: (1) clinical appearance (white, red, and white/red); (2) histological diagnosis (no dysplasia, mild/moderate dysplasia, severe dysplasia/in situ carcinoma, invasive carcinoma, and verrucous carcinoma); and (3) clinicopathological diagnosis. Binomial logistic regression was performed to investigate whether clinical appearance and/or histological diagnosis were significant in determining the degree of AF. Results: Among the white lesions, 66% resulted in hyper-fluorescence, whereas the red lesions appeared hypofluorescent in 95.2% of cases. The AF was altered (both hypo-fluorescent and hyper-fluorescent) in 36% of lesions without dysplasia; in 75.9% of lesions with mild or moderate dysplasia and in the totality of the in situ, invasive, and verrucous carcinomas (p < 0.0001). With regard to the binomial logistic regression, variables were separately considered and both were extremely significant in determining the degree of AF. Conclusions: Promising evidence for the use of AF as an adjunctive tool to conventional oral examinations (COEs) has been demonstrated. However, although the sensitivity of AF examination associated with COE is very high, both the literature and this study agree to indicate a low specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]