Physical fitness is a crucial component of tennis performance, and improving agility and lateral movement can give young tennis players a competitive edge. By training with plyospecific exercises, which focus on explosive movements and plyometric exercises, junior players can improve their speed, power, and reaction time on the court. The paper aimed to evaluate the effects and benefits of a 10-week physical training program on the agility of junior tennis players, using the results of seven agility tests, applying statistical t-tests for paired and independent samples, and the difference-in-differences approach. In order to achieve this, a sample of 48 U16 male Portuguese tennis junior players was used. The empirical results indicated that the training program had a positive impact on the agility of the tennis players. Specifically, the results showed improvements in the T-test performance on both the right and left sides, as well as improvements in the Edgren test scores on the left and right sides. Additionally, there was an increase in the average number of lateral and forward movements, suggesting enhanced agility among the players. These findings highlight the effectiveness of the training program in improving agility-related skills and performance in tennis. Coaches can incorporate similar training methods and exercises to improve their players’ agility, leading to better performance on the court.

Economic crises cause significant shortages in disposable income and a sharp decline in the living conditions, affecting healthcare sector, hitting the profitability and sustainability of companies leading to raises in unemployment. At micro level, these sharp decreases in earnings associated with unemployment and furthermore with the lack of social protection will impact the quality of life and finally the health of individuals. In time of crisis, it becomes vital to support not only the critical sectors of the economy, the assets, technology, and infrastructure, but to protect jobs and workers. This health crisis has hit hard the jobs dynamics through unemployment and underemployment, the quality of work (through wages, or access to social protection), and through the effects on specific groups, with a higher degree of vulnerability to unfavorable labor market outcomes. In this context, providing forecasts as recent as possible for the unemployment rate, a core indicator of the Romanian labor market that could include the effects of the market shocks it becomes fundamental. Thus, the paper aims to offer valuable forecasts for the Romanian unemployment rate using univariate vs. multivariate time series models for the period 2021–2022, highlighting the main patterns of evolution. Based on the univariate time series models, the paper predict the future values of unemployment rate based on its own past using self-forecasting and implementing ARFIMA and SETAR models using monthly data for the period January 2000–April 2021. From the perspective of multivariate time series models, the paper uses VAR/VECM models, analyzing the temporal interdependencies between variables using quarterly data for the period 2000Q1–2020Q4. The empirical results pointed out that both SETAR and VECM provide very similar results in terms of accuracy replicating very well the pre-pandemic period, 2018Q2–2020Q1, reaching the value of 4.1% at the beginning of 2020, with a decreasing trend reaching the value of 3.9%, respectively, 3.6% at the end of 2022.

This paper considers sport as a driver for politics and economics green incentives. While there are dichotomies in between green politics and economics, sport acts like a catalyst in between the two, by making use of its social dimension. In this respect, a stakeholder perspective is encouraged, especially when considering Corporate Social Responsibility coupled with ESG principles and non financial reporting. Sports is a 1.3 billion dollars industry that can set certain good practices and in this sense its “sport for development and peace” should be understood in broader terms. Social audits should be more extensive in order to capture better the links in between social, environment and governance factors, as reports from sports industry recently showed.

Sustainability issues are a major concern of both private entities and public policies. This paper addresses the topic of indicators reflecting the achievement of sustainability at the business and country levels. Changes occur within companies and national economies as further technological developments are achieved in pursuit of sustainability. Nevertheless, the Gross Domestic Product is still mostly used when assessing economic growth within the European Union. The present study asks whether this indicator is still up to date or if some other indicators should be taken into account. More appropriate indicators reflecting sustainable economic growth exist, but they are not used on a large scale. The aim of this study is to determine why this is the case and to propose possible solutions for a more appropriate assessment of economic growth within the European Union, while considering aspects of sustainability. In this study, an exploratory, conceptual research design that combines a qualitative comparative analysis with a descriptive examination of indicators provided by Eurostat and the European Commission is adopted. The proposed mathematical model is conceptual and illustrative, and its coefficients are not econometrically estimated. Therefore, the study’s findings are presented as conceptual propositions supported by descriptive evidence rather than as empirically validated results. The international comparative perspective and interdisciplinary view, combining microeconomics, macroeconomics, social aspects, environmental aspects, legal aspects, and even cultural and psychological aspects, are novel elements of this study. Thus, this research may have a social impact beyond academia, emphasizing the role of sustainability in our society.