AN EXAMINATION OF THE PHYSICAL AND TECHNICAL GAME PERFORMANCE OF A DIVISION I WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM ACROSS VARYING REST PERIODS

Abstract

Soccer is one of the fastest growing women’s sports in collegiate athletics. Under National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) scheduling of games, players will often play twice per week on either a Thursday - Friday or Friday - Sunday schedule. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the impact of the NCAA Women's Soccer game schedule on performance. In the first study, the physical performance of players was examined and in the second technical performance of teams was examined during both schedule types. Data were collected across the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons from a single Division I team. Physical performance data were collected using the 10 Hz Titan GPS sensors and all games were video recorded and technical performance variables were coded by the Vidswap software program. Physical performance was characterized as total distance, sprint distance, and high-speed running distance. Technical performance was characterized as passing percentage, possessions percentage, and shots on goal percentage. To investigate the differences in physical and technical performance, change variables were created by calculating the mean differences between the Friday - Sunday games (< 48 hours) and the Thursday - Sunday games (> 48 hours). Independent t-tests were run to evaluate for statistically significant differences. However, there were no statistically significant differences (p < .05) in any of the physical or technical variables when games were played with < 48 hours or > 48 hours between them. Overall, there were no negative effects of playing two matches per week, separated by different recovery periods, on either the physical or technical performances of Division I female soccer players. Given the academic responsibilities of student-athletes, there may be benefit to the Friday - Sunday schedule in minimizing athletic absences.