Last week in our blog, I discussed how the Canadian college and university soccer regular season and play-off schedules are hurting the development and long-term health of players by forcing them to play 2, and sometimes even 3, full 90+ minute matches per week, over a 10-12 week time period.  This post garnered a large response from readers, including some supportive as well as some critical comments.  At Soccer Fitness Gols, we truly value and appreciate all of our readers’ feedback, and since our blog topic last week was so popular, I have decided to follow up by providing a more detailed summary of one of the most recent scientific studies examining the relationship between number of matches played per week, and both physical performance as well as injury rates in soccer.  Hope you like it!

In 2007, a group of researchers from the University of Lille, led by Gerard Dupont, examined data from match results, match-related physical performance, and injuries, of 32 different soccer players competing in the 2007-2008, and 2008-2009 UEFA Champions League seasons.  Participants in the UEFA Champions League were used in this study because this competition, combined with domestic league fixtures, often forces players to participate in more than one full 90+ minute match per week.  The authors were interested in determining whether any differences existed in both physical performance, as well as injury rates, between players who played in one match per week, versus players who played in two matches per week.  Players who did play in 2 matches per week averaged between 72 and 96 hours (3-4 days) of recovery between these matches.  Here is a direct quote/summary of the results from the study by Dupont et. al. (2011):

“Physical performance, as characterized by total distance covered, high-intensity distance, sprint distance, and number of sprints, was not significantly affected by the number of matches per week (1 versus 2), whereas the injury rate was significantly higher when players played 2 matches per week versus 1 match per week (25.6 versus 4.1 injuries per 1000 hours of exposure; P < .001).”

In layman’s terms, these results indicate that while players’ physical performance did not necessarily decline with 2 matches per week, their risk of injury increased by over 600%.  Interestingly, the UEFA Champions League and domestic league schedules with a combined 2 matches per week still afforded players between 3-4 full days in between each match. Unfortunately, in Canadian college and university soccer, the matches played per week typically fall on weekends, and are thus played back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday, with only 24 hours (1 day) of rest between matches. In the college/university post season, as well as in the Canadian Club National Championships and several other amateur youth soccer tournaments in Canada, recovery time between matches can be even less, with 3-4 matches played over the course of 4-5 days, and in some cases even more than one match played in the same day.  Taking this decreased recovery time into account, it may be possible that a greater risk of injury, and even a potential decrease in physical performance, may occur in these environments.  If nothing else, in my opinion this topic should at least warrant further scientific research.

Ultimately, all competitive amateur soccer schedules in Canada, at both the youth (club/academy) and adult (college/university) levels, should be structured in the best interests of the players, with players’ physical health and recovery time being of primary importance.  The science on the subject is clear: playing more than one 90+ minute soccer match per week is simply not healthy for players.  Time will tell if our Canadian amateur soccer and sport organizations will embrace this objective, scientific fact, and adjust their competitive schedules accordingly.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  As always please feel free to post your comments below.

In my present Advanced Exercise Physiology class, we were asked to write a small article discussing head injuries in our sport of choice.  For me, of course, there was no choice of which sport to write about!  Below is my report.  Of note in this report is that the commonly recommended “secondary prevention” method of dealing with head injuries and concussions in sports (including in soccer) is the use of baseline and follow up cognitive testing.  I am presently in the process of arranging for this service to be offered at the Soccer Fitness Training Centre – stay tuned and enjoy the article!

Soccer is a unique sport, in that the unprotected head is used both to control and advance the ball during game play.  Not surprisingly, injuries to the head can be common in soccer, and can include contusions, fractures, eye injuries, and concussions (Kirkendall et. al., 2001).  A recent review by Al-Kashmiri & Delaney (2006) examined several different studies utilizing statistical analysis of head injuries in soccer.  Among their reported findings were:

• Head injuries comprise 4-22% of total injuries in soccer (Powell & Barber-Foss, 1999)
• Rates of skull fracture or internal head injury are roughly 1-2 injuries per 10,000 soccer players per year in the United States (Delaney, 2001)
• Concussion rates among university soccer players in the United States have been reported to be 0.6 concussions/1000-athlete exposure (men) and 0.4 concussions/1000-athlete exposure (women); unfortunately, there is also widespread belief that, because many concussions or head injuries are mild and thus not sufficient enough to warrant emergency room visits, these reported numbers of concussion occurrence are greatly underestimating the true numbers of concussions among athlete populations (Boden et. al., 1998)

Prevention of head injuries in soccer has been recommended to be approached using two strategies: primary prevention, and secondary prevention (Kirkendall et. al., 2001).  Primary prevention generally comprises strategies used to prevent a head injury from occurring at all, and can include advocacy for rule changes, equipment design, supervision and proper fitting of helmets, and training/conditioning exercises.  An example of primary prevention in soccer would be the use of helmets like the “Full90” headgear created in 2005 for soccer and other field sports.  The Full90 helmets have been proven to significantly reduce the forces generated both when heading the ball, and in other head contact injuries in soccer (www.full90.com).

Secondary prevention, on the other hand, typically involves management of head injuries after they have occurred.  In soccer and several other sports, concussion testing such as the “ImPACT” or “Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing” have been used by physicians, athletic therapists, and other health and fitness practitioners.     Currently, more than 10,000 medical professionals have been trained by ImPACT on concussion management and the ImPACT Program, and it is also in use by the majority of teams in many professional sports leagues including Major League Soccer (MLS).  The value of baseline and follow-up tests like the ImPACT test is that they serve to specifically define an athlete’s cognitive abilities, with a standardized set of rules and criteria used to determine the nature, severity, and return-to-play guidelines for athlete’s head injuries.

Of course, participation in any contact sport (including soccer), carries risks of being injured, among them risks of head injuries.  Having a good system and plan including both primary and secondary prevention strategies can help to both minimize the incidence of occurrence and risks of head injuries, and also to properly manage and treat these injuries if and when they do occur.

The anterior cruciate ligament, or “ACL” is a commonly injured area of the knee in soccer, as well as in many other sports.

We were recently contacted by Elara Systems Inc., a full-service design studio based out of California that works with medical and performance specialists.  They have sent us  a recently created a new animation showing the process of an ACL tear. Given that this is one of the most common injuries in soccer and almost always forces a player out for extended recovery times, I thought it would make for an interesting post in our blog.  Below is a link to the video from the http://www.elarasystems.com website:

http://www.elarasystems.com/what-happens-when-the-acl-tears/

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this topic.  Drop me a line here to get the conversation started.