Scientific Programme
Sports and Exercise Medicine and Health
IS-MH10 - Searching for the holy grail: understanding women's soccer for performance and injury prevention
Date: 04.07.2024, Time: 15:15 - 16:30, Lecture room: M1
Description
This session aims to bring together experts working within the developing and increasingly demanding environment of female soccer. The session will adopt a multi-disciplinary approach and will focus on the match play demands of the female player, the influence of menstruation on soccer performance and the development of robust and ready players to perform and reduce injury risk. The speakers have conducted research into women's soccer for both UEFA and FIFA and bring a wealth of applied knowledge having worked for national football federations in women's soccer. Dr Naomi Datson, previously head of sports science for women's soccer at the English Football Association, will talk about developing a holistic model for understanding the physical demands of female soccer match play. Dr Datson is part of the UEFA fitness for football advisory group and is regarded as a leading expert in match demands in womens soccer. Dr Julian will then speak about the effects of the menstrual cycle on female soccer performance. Dr Julian brings applied research experience from having worked as a sports scientist at a FIFA accredited medical centre in Germany. Prof De Ste Croix will finally talk about developing the robust, resilient and readiness of female players, using research funded by FIFA, UEFA and the English FA. Due to the applied research practitioner focus of the speakers this session will be focused on applying scientific research to real world settings.
Chair(s)
Mark De Ste Croix
University Of Gloucestershire, Sport and Exercise Science
United Kingdom
Vish Unnithan
University of the West of Scotland, School of Science & Sport
United Kingdom
Speaker A
Alice Harkness-Armstrong
University of Essex, School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences
United Kingdom
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A holistic approach to understanding match demands in women's soccer
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has described womens football as the leading opportunity for growth in football (FIFA, 2021). Indeed, womens football has witnessed substantial growth in participation, investment, and research in recent years as key stakeholders attempt to develop the sport at both grassroots and elite levels (Harkness-Armstrong et al., 2022). An important area of research activity has been understanding the match demands which players experience as this appears important for informing training practice design. Most research to date has focused on senior match-play with only ~10% of studies considering youth players. Data shows that senior players cover 9-11 km per match, with approximately one quarter of total distance covered at high-speed (Scott et al., 2020). The physical demands of the womens game continue to evolve, with teams covering ~30% more distance in the highest speed zone (> 23 km.h-1) in the 2019 FIFA Womens World Cup compared to the 2015 edition (FIFA, 2019). Whilst there is a growing literature base citing the physical match demands of womens soccer, there is a lack of evidence considering a more holistic approach which also evaluates the tactical and technical demands and their interaction with the physical dimension. Running with the ball requires an additional energy cost (Piras et al., 2017) and consequently an integrated approach to match analysis should be considered.
Speaker B
Ross Julian
University of Münster, Sport and Exercise
Germany
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It's time to play but it's the time of the month - exploring menstrual cycle, performance and injury risk
Over the last few years, research in female football has exponentially increased, primarily, on the physical demands and characteristics of female football. Nevertheless, female specific physiology is often not considered. There are proposed associations between key hormones of the menstrual cycle and physiological function (Constantini et al., 2005). It remains relatively unknown whether the menstrual cycle may affect peak physical performance in football players. Recent studies have investigated the effects of the menstrual cycle in controlled settings. Dos Santos Andrade et al. (2017) found reduced hamstring-to-quadriceps strength ratio during the follicular phase. While, Julian et al. (2017) suggested that intermittent endurance may be influenced during the luteal phase. Football matches are won and lost on the pitch, therefore, understanding potential limitations during competitive matches is of great importance. Recent findings suggest that menstrual cycle phase does not contribute largely to the changes in physical performance, in comparison to the effects of general match variation (Julian et al., under review). Consequently, interventions or other methods of coping with menstrual cycle phase do not seem necessary to maximise competitive physical performance. Taken collectively, this information could help inform scientific practice in the applied setting, whilst also assisting scientific research of the importance of considering female specific physiology.
Speaker C
Mark De Ste Croix
University Of Gloucestershire, Sport and Exercise Science
United Kingdom
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Understanding the injury risk puzzle: building the robust female soccer player
Given the increased relative risk of injury in female players it is important to understand how screening might be able to help in developing appropriate injury risk management and performance related programmes. Given the complex puzzle that underpins injury incidence, risk management strategies need to take into account a range of complex factors in the female soccer player. Machine learning has allowed us to explore this puzzle with greater certainty and provided us with more robust intervention programmes. This talk will focus on work with female soccer players across the age groups looking at identifying risk and exploring the effectiveness of intervention programmes designed to reduce injury risk. Data will be drawn from studies funded by both FIFA and UEFA as well as work funded by the English Football Association. This session will be relevant for anyone working within a multi-disciplinary team with female soccer players, especially those who have a remit for conditioning, and readiness.