Section One is comprised of practical application, Within Section One the reader will find contributions pertaining to applied practice with Olympic and professional athletes based upon the first hand experiences of elite practitioners from several continents. The intent through section one is to propose strategies, reflecting several national perspectives that applied practitioners might employ as they enter the field or seek positions with elite sport organizations in the global sport community.

Contemporary Sport Management, Eighth Edition, examines core functions, career opportunities, and current trends in sport management conveyed by a diverse team of contributors. Reflecting the latest information and examples from the field, the text covers the essentials for entering the profession.

I welcome you to the 2014 accepted writings of Athletic Insight. The ordering of papers does not match with the sequence in which they were released. Rather, I chose to do something a little different in this, my final year as Editor and Chief of Athletic Insight. What the reader finds in this most recent compendium of Athletic Insight writings is nineteen papers, beginning with the most recently accepted as parts of the Autumn, 2014 edition of the journal. Afterward, I reordered the remaining accepted papers so that they made the whole of the book more coherent to the readership. Briefly, there were a significant number of papers submitted to Athletic Insight from India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Sweden, Norway, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Several of these papers were screened out even before they were sent out to editorial board members or guest reviewers for a thorough peer evaluation. Those that were deemed acceptable were then farmed out to scholars well versed in the various topics submitted to the journal. The topics submitted spanned coaching, motor learning and sport psychology intersections, youth sport, elite amateur sport, professional sport, cultural sport psychology, and various aspects relating to exercise psychology. This diversity in subject matter confirms what I have always known that Athletic Insight is inclusive and open to a breadth of topics, critical scholarship, and emerging and contentious issues pertinent today within the sphere of sport and exercise psychology.

Can a better understanding of group dynamics raise individual and team athletic performance or improve the outcomes of exercise interventions? Much human behaviour in sport and exercise settings is embedded within groups where individuals’ cognitions, emotions, and behaviours influence and are influenced by other group members. Group Dynamics in Exercise and Sports Psychology: Contemporary Themes explores the unique psychological dynamics that emerge in sport and exercise groups. It provides a clear and thorough guide to contemporary theory and research. Recommendations are also presented to inform applied psychology ‘best practice’. Drawing together the expertise of international specialists from sports and exercise psychology, the text covers core themes as well as emerging issues in group dynamics. The text is organised into four sections: Part 1: The Self in Groups Part 2: Leadership in Groups Part 3: Group Environment Part 4: Motivation in Groups Group Dynamics in Exercise and Sports Psychology: Contemporary Themes will be of interest to psychology, kinesiology, sport and exercise science students and researchers, as well as to consultants and coaches.

This third edition presents a thorough review of the literature and terminilogy in key topic areas. The clear explanation of potential research directions and the list of contributors make this a must-have book for students of sport psychology.