Research Proposal

Applicant Name: Simin Moradi

Research Title
An investigation of the sporting environment for elite female athletes in Iran
Project Description
Background
Professionalism in sport worldwide has increased since the rise in international sporting competitions in the
late 19th century (Van Boutenberg, 2001). The globalization of sport and the creation of international
standards in this industry have contributed to the economic growth of sport and also motivated some of the
countries to concentrate and develop national identity through sport (Stewart et al. 2004). The sport sector
has seen a major shift from being considered as a media for entertainment to its evolution as a global
economic market and this has created bigger aspect for economic and social growth. Some major sport
events such as Olympic, Asian games, FIFA world cup, cricket world cup etc. not only boost the economy
of a nation but it also helps in developing better infrastructure and business opportunities. Organizing such
events helps in increasing tourism, helping people from diverse culture to come closer, and thus creates a lot
of economic opportunities.

On the other hand, the economic growth of sport led to the rapid development of this field and emphasized
the sport of the championship and its professional status (Kay et al., 2004). For example, the growing trend
of sports media marketing in the world (including increased revenue from TV, Internet and media
companies) has had a significant impact on audiences and the tendency to watch sports events, with nearly
2 billion people around the world watching the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals, and more than 350 million
television spectators at Formula One Grand Prix tournament matches (Gilson et al., 2000). China can be
considered as one such country which has utilized the growth opportunity through sports to create national
identity and now it is considered as a major sports superpower in Olympics in which once it was nowhere
close to US and other developed countries. A review of professional sports systems, especially in the past
decade, has shown that the benefits of successful sports programs include political and economic benefits
for countries through the provision of full-time employment opportunities for sports, sales of goods and
services, participation in GDP growth and increasing sport tourism, it has sought to host major sporting
events for countries (Oakley and Green, 2001). Women athletes are delivering remarkably unexpected
performance however, female athlete and women’s sport federations are still facing lesser consideration
and dual standards as compared to men’s sport from authorities, media houses, business organizations as
well as public. And, all the concerned parties need to change their perception and thinking and must come
forward to promote women athletes who has to cover a long way to get treated equally. Observing all such
major significant of sports culture and its globalization, this report is intended to investigate and support
the sports environment among female athletes in Iran.

In addition, the promotion and popularity of the championship sport has led to an increase in competition
for the identification of male and female athletes in the field of sports and, on the other hand, competition
between countries in the global sports arena has been highlighted (Oakley and Green, 2001). For example,
Oakley and Green (2001) reported that the results of World Championships show a dramatic rise in medal
countries from 25 countries in the 1983 World Championships to 42 countries in the 1999 World
Championship, which indicates an increase in competition between athletes in the field There was a two-
field game. Therefore, today rational and focused approaches to the development of heroic or elite sports
are being developed or undertaken in many Western countries. In addition, indicators of successful systems
for the development of elite sports and the roles of sports organizations in relation to this level of sport are
identified and categorized (De Boucher et al., 2009). The success of athletes and national sporting teams,
along with the development of world class sporting facilities has been prioritized by nations, athletes and
sport federations(Williams, 2008).

Kim (2007) believes that the success of an athlete or a sports team depends heavily on the performance
of the championship sports system and its ability to make effective use of available resources for the
development of the championship sport. Unfortunately, increasing global competition for success in elite
sporting competitions, economization and professionalization of sport has resulted in increased
expectations and pressures on elite athletes to improve performance and win medals in international
competitions. For example, the monopoly of commercialization and commercialization of elite sports has
caused stress and pressure on elite athletes to win medals, and on the other hand, to meet the expectations
of governments, the media, sponsors, spectators and sports organizations (Shilbury 2008). And this
creates unnecessary pressure on the players which affects their normal living. And in some cases it has
also been observed that if any player fails to win or secure medals for their country then the same media
and people who has once made them hero started to criticize them and their family members too, which
causes a bad influence on their mentality.
Challenges to modern sports systems have had important implications for the identification and
development of elite athletes. For example, with the increasing expectations of the community, the media
and sponsors, elite athletes will find that it is very difficult to confront and combat factors such as
financial, occupational, family, social, etc. that may affect their exercise performance. Higher expectation
sometime help in improving the performance but has some negative impacts too. Under-performance,
anxieties, not able to move away from the past mistakes and failures, reduced confidence are some of the
major issues faced by athletes due to higher expectation. On the other hand, despite the positive
expectations of the community of elite athletes in the championship sport, pressures for continued
improvement in performance and medal gain will create a lot of physical, mental, social and emotional
exhaustion (De Boucher 2009). Smith (1986) has suggested that the inability to correctly deal with stress
in sports competitions will result in ineffective mental processes, energy analysis, loss of performance
and poor results for athletes or sports teams.
Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate the sporting environment for elite female athletes
in Iran where a lot of cultural practices and age old traditions are imposed on women. Thus, finding a wat
to promote elite female athletes of this nation is one of the main concern of this analysis.

Review of literature and relevant topics

Various studies have been conducted in the field of sports development with an emphasis on sports or
elite sport, most of which have considered elite sports systems, and a small number focused on the needs
and processes of the growth and development of elite athletes. The most important new research in this
area is the following:
Efforts have been made in sport management to identify the characteristics and methods to promote elite
athlete women. A review by Green (2005) based on designing sports programs to attract, maintain, and
transfer athletes of these efforts shows that, in general, three main attributes include underlying factors
(such as full-time athlete support programs), process factors such as creating competitive opportunities at
different levels, focusing on preparation for international events (De Weboscher et al. 2006).
On the other hand, past research on the structure and management of elite sports development systems has
focused on key indicators of success, namely the provision of sports services for the development of
cultures, the allocation of resources to specific sports and strategic planning in line with the needs of
sports disciplines. Green, 2005; Green and Oakley, 2001). Although past research has put emphasis on the
development of elite sports systems, few researches have explored how these sports systems are involved
in the development of female elite athlete by providing resources (financial, training centers, Leading
trainers and ...) and eliminating discriminations based on gender and on the name of tradition should also
be abolished to promote an enhancing environment for women athletes (Ringot, 2006). While much
research has been done on the management and organization of sports development systems (Green &
Oakley 2001, Green 2005, Shilbery et al. 2008, and De Buster et al. 2009) and athlete development.
Nevertheless, most of these studies have neglected the aspect of non-sports life and the provision of
resources for the elaborate development of elite athlete women.
Insufficient attention is paid to the distribution of resources to meet the needs of elite athlete women for a
variety of reasons, as an important research gap (Sweet et al. 2008). These reasons include: The influence
of the elite sport environment on the physical, mental, social, and emotional health of elite athlete
women, and sports organizations must have an adequate understanding of their responsibility for the
welfare of women elite athletes as social duties and the obligation to fulfill their obligations under HRM
operations (Hodge et al. 2009).
Understanding the individual needs of elite athlete women, sports organizations may have a special focus
on the development of women athlete and the proper distribution of available resources (Fletcher &
Wagastheff 2009). To achieve these goals, the present study will identify the needs and resources of elite
athlete women in order to develop and meet their needs. Therefore, this research specifically examines the
needs of elite athlete women in the championship sport environment by examining the attitudes of
athletes and other people, including the members of the National Olympic Committee, the Ministry of
Sports and Youth and the sports federations that participate in the sport of championship activities and
participation they will pay.
Considering that all the necessary investments in championship sport focus on the performance of elite
athletes in national and international squads, their performance has important consequences such as
national pride, national identity, national cohesion, development of sport culture and economic growth
of the society (Setoardo et al. 2009).
Therefore, the importance of the attention of the sports management bodies such as the National Olympic
Committee, the Ministry of Sports and sports federations to the non-sporting aspects of athletes' sport is
important in addition to providing training and sports facilities. Given that elite athletes in our country
have a lot of personal concerns and stress outside the practice and competition environment, this study
seeks to identify and elitist the needs of elite athlete women (De Boucher et al. 2009). Buster et al. (2006)
argue that elitism in sports requires 10 years of practice and 10,000 hours of training, costing AUD $ 37
million per person for each gold medal (De Boucher et al., 2009). Therefore, elite athletes are
increasingly the product of a long
term strategic planning process. Nevertheless, in our country, we see that despite long-term capital
investments and high costs from sports organizations for the growth of elite athletes, many of them
due to financial and livelihood problems, lack of jobs and other problems without the necessary
returns from the championship sports fields, they will step down or be set aside (De Boucher et al.
2011). Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the identification and prioritization of the needs
and services of elite athlete women and the presentation of the model can be provided to the sports
champions of the country so that, taking into account the amount of money available to solve the
problems of elite athlete women, the other side will take major steps in addressing these long-term,
medium-term and short-term plans. Louise and Fadal (2010) concluded that the analysis of
economic factors on the sporting success of African countries came to a conclusion, although
research has shown that the economic and social contexts are factors influencing the success of the
championship.

By implementing this plan, the needs of elite athlete women will be identified and prioritized. Therefore,
the results of this application are available to managers and practitioners of the sports federations, the
National Olympic Committee, and the Ministry of Sports and Youth, in order to be able to take the
necessary steps to support elite athlete women and to meet their sporting and non-sporting needs. To
address the concerns of these athletes, their areas of success will be provided on national, regional and
international levels. On the other hand, the results of this study can help champions in sport to address
these issues in long-term plans for the development of female athlete's elite.

Methodology
1. Cross-sectional research: investigation using both qualitative and quantitative research methods
involving. elite female athletes from Iran in both individual and team sports (fencing, shooting,
table tennis, gymnastics, diving, taekwondo, handball, badminton, tennis, hockey, basketball, trio,
judo, boxing, volleyball, Kano / Kayak, weightlifting, sailing, cycling, wrestling, sailing and
horseback riding) and coaches and staff of the Ministry of Sports and Youth, the National Olympic
Committee and sports federations of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Participants: The statistical
population of the study will be elite athlete women and Olympic sport coaches, ministers of sports
and youth, the National Olympic Committee and sports federations of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
2. Sampling methodology and design: Due to the large volume of research samples, the number of
samples in the factor analysis method is determined at least 2 and maximum 10 times the number
of exploratory variables. Therefore, the research samples will include elite athlete athletes from the
team and individual Olympic teams at the youth and adult levels and those involved in the
championship sport, selected randomly from the target.
3. Sample size and calculation method: In the first phase, with the coordination of the Physical
Education Institute, a written letter is issued on the
4. Licensing of information: from women of the elite athlete and the main sports organizations of
the country, namely the Ministry of Sport, the National Olympic Committee and sports federations.
Then, through an interview with elite athlete women and sports practitioners working in the
championship, an elaborate list of sports and non-sports needs of elite athletes is developed. Then,
the stages of the preparation of the questionnaire are carried out and after the validity and validity of
the questionnaire through the guideline study, the final questionnaire will be distributed after the
validation between the samples. After the data are collected, the data will be analyzed and the final
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 report will be compiled and written.
5. Measurement tool: In this research, due to the lack of a standard questionnaire that can be adapted
to the conditions and characteristics of the country, the researchers first examined the resources,
books and articles related to the subject of research, using similar questionnaires and semi-guided
interviews with a small volume of Elite athlete women, coaches and sports champions will
complete a list of the needs of elite athletes, identification and classification, and a preliminary
questionnaire. At the next stage, the questionnaire will be provided to the sports management
professors and sports psychologists for the confirmation of face and content validity. After
applying the comments and suggestions, in order to determine the validity of the instrument, a
guideline questionnaire will be provided to a number of elite athlete women and sports managers.
After this stage, by obtaining permission from the sports federations and explaining the importance
of the research, the license will be distributed and the information collected through a
questionnaire of the samples. In this research, women are meant to be elite athletes and coaches,
athletes and coaches of team and individual who have a history of attending the national team in
the field of sport at the level of the adult.

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