The CEEAF, or how to innovate by undertaking applied and creative research in the field of sport

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  • In five years, the Physical Activity and Sports Studies Centre has carried out 28 projects, 10 of which are ongoing, has obtained 150,000 Euros and published 41 articles in indexed journals
  • The Centre has a distinctive research profile, with young researchers and involvement by many areas from UVic-UCC and elsewhere, and above all in the international sphere

The UVic-UCC Physical Activity and Sports Studies Centre (CEEAF) was established in 2015 with the primary aim of creating and disseminating knowledge that improves the practice of sport, making it more efficient and healthier. The centre is directed by Dr Javier Peña, and has become a broad-based interdisciplinary unit that brings together and coordinates research and knowledge transfer in the field of sport and physical exercise. “Thanks to the work done at the CEEAF we have been able to put the UVic-UCC in its rightful place, not only as a benchmark for the bachelor's degree in Physical Education and Sports Sciences, but also in terms of its ability to undertake research, innovation and knowledge transfer,” says the director of the Centre, who adds that “completing the implementation of sport, an important and strategic area for UVic-UCC, has been the final piece of the puzzle.”

Research, knowledge transfer, lifelong learning and internationalisation are the focal points of the CEEAF, which has 12 core researchers and many collaborators, both at the University and elsewhere.

Its distinctive research profile: applied, creative and based on the needs of athletes

One of the main strengths of the research carried out at the CEEAF is the profile and level of knowledge of its researchers and teaching staff, most of whom have backgrounds in competitive sport. They are young, dynamic people, with a commitment to training, to the institution, and concerned about events outside the University's walls, “so everyone who comes here does so with a clear and well-defined role and objectives.”

One of the main strengths of the research carried out at the CEEAF is the profile and level of knowledge of its researchers and teaching staff, most of whom have backgrounds in competitive sport

That is one of the secrets of the centre's own particular research style: “highly applied research, based on the needs of sport and athletes, which aims to be very creative in order to compete in the areas where it can stand out with the means at its disposal,” says Peña. That is why it has surrounded itself with partners such as the Mexican Football Federation and Portugal's Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development, which have made it possible to carry out high-level research. “In addition to working with many members of our own teaching staff, we have tried to create a network that is as international as possible, as a way to position ourselves,” says the director of the centre, which is currently working with institutions and universities in Mexico, Australia, Canada and Portugal, among other countries.

Since its inception, the CEEAF has carried out 28 projects (10 of which are ongoing), 3 of which are in competitive research, 17 are related to knowledge transfer and 8 to training, which represent funds obtained amounting to more than 150,000 Euros. Meanwhile, its scientific output can be measured by the 41 articles in indexed journals that have been published by the centre's researchers since its creation.

The CEEAF works closely with the Technology Research and Transfer Unit (OTRI), which this year has assigned a person on its team to overseeing all competitive research and knowledge transfer projects, and supervises all organisational procedures and helps to find new projects. “This has been crucial for being able to look towards the future with guarantees and a lot more ambition,” says Peña.

Four areas of expertise

The Physical Activity and Sports Studies Centre is organised in four areas of expertise, which are the result of a definition process that lasted just under 2 years, and involved creating a working team, deciding upon the areas in which the centre wanted to position itself, based on each researcher's expertise. Not all the areas are at the same stage of development. The integration of movement in schools, for example, is at a very early stage.

Albert Altarriba

Athletes' health

Directed by Albert Altarriba, it undertakes research and projects related to improving athletes' performance and managing injuries, with an emphasis on young athletes. The main objectives of this area are to develop and evaluate new training methodologies; design injury prevention programmes and protocols; evaluate the athlete's effective recovery, and monitor training and competition loads.

Martí Casals

Sports performance analysis

With the researcher Martí Casals at the helm, this area carries out projects for practical applications of sports analysis, focusing on team owners, general managers, coaches, fans and academics. The main objectives involve measuring and evaluating the performance of teams, players and leagues; applying innovative thinking to difficult challenges in sports contexts; evaluating sports performance and preventing sports injuries and training professionals in the area of sports analysis.

Javier Peña

Sports technology

Led by Javier Peña, this area focuses on the use and validation of technology for assessing sports performance; preventing injuries, improving technical and tactical skills, and studying sports biomechanics. This area places special emphasis on knowledge transfer related to the use of technological devices in specific training and competition contexts.

Anna M. Señé

Integration of movement in schools

The researcher Anna M. Señé leads this area, which carries out research and projects focused on the effects of physical exercise in the classroom on academic performance, levels of physical activity, and executive functions. It designs projects for physical exercise in the classroom, teacher training and assessment methods.

TEO and SONAR - two spearheads of knowledge transfer

Two of the ten projects that the Centre is currently working on have become renowned. One is the Osona Sports Talent (TEO) programme, which aims to improve athletes' fitness and prevent injuries, using tools and working methods that young people do not have at their disposal in their clubs. “It is an important project because it is rooted in the territory, it allows us to apply our knowledge, do research and gives us the opportunity to work not only with athletes but also with coaches,” says Javier Peña. Every year, several athletes are selected from various towns in Osona (currently more than fifteen), and do two weekly 45-minute training sessions with UVic-UCC professionals led by Jordi Merino, aimed at improving their fitness and preventing injury.

The other major project is SONAR, which is supported by the Physical Activity Professionals Association of Catalonia (COPLEFC), which is developing an application compatible with various devices that can monitor and log sports injuries, and gathers data on the epidemiology of injuries among young athletes (aged between 11 and 20 years old) in Catalonia, in order to understand the risk factors related to injuries. The project is led by Bea Gil, and plans to apply for European funding.

Other large-scale projects that the Centre has undertaken include the training programme for specialists run by the Osona Sports Council Foundation, focusing on training for coaches without any specific prior training, and the Vic Sports Plan, which is directed by the centre and gathers ideas and fosters dynamics with clubs, schools and health centres to define how sport should be structured in the city of Vic.

The CEEAF building - a technologically advanced facility that aims to expand

The first stone of the new CAFE building, the headquarters of what is now the current CEEAF, was laid on 7 October 2013, on a plot of land leased by Vic City Council to the city's sports area, right next to the athletics tracks. At the time, the architect Joan Forgas said that the building “aimed to provide a response to the needs of resistance economy” and that for this reason he had designed it “with a flexible format, to optimise resources and time.”

The building has an area of 472 square metres and its budget, funded by UVic, amounted to 473,000 Euros. In addition to two classrooms and spaces for meetings and tutorials, it has two research laboratories: one for Performance Analysis and the other for Training and Functional Assessment, which are technologically equipped to for the activities carried out there. In addition, thanks to a recent reclassification in the urban planning of the adjacent areas, the centre now has direct access to the athletics tracks and the gymnasium, and is about to build a multi-purpose outdoor track with artificial turf.

“I think we can be very happy with the space we have and how the centre works. The University has made a major effort to maintain this infrastructure at an optimum level, but I also believe that it will need to expand in the future and we hope that the second phase, which has already been planned, will be carried out, as this would give us three more classrooms and a laboratory specifically for medical assessments,” concludes Peña.

In addition to the projects already underway at the centre, at the beginning of September the CEEAF, with Vic City Council, made a commitment to create the Vic Sports Technology Centre. Under the terms of the agreement signed, the centre will provide athletes with physical preparation, physiotherapy, sports medicine and even psychology and tutoring services, while carrying out research into the work done with high-level athletes so that the results are transferred to society to benefit health and quality of life and encourage people to become involved in amateur sport.