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This study aimed to evaluate youth-to-senior transition and the relative age effect in Italian female football national teams. Birthdate data of 774 female players selected for Under 17 (N = 416), 19 (N = 265) and National Senior team (N = 93) were analysed. The youth-to-senior transition rate was determined by the number of youth players competing in the Senior National team (and vice versa), whilst birth quarter (Q) distributions with a chi-square goodness-of-fit test. Only 17.4% of youth players were able to be selected for the Senior National team, whereas 31.2% of the players reached the high-senior level without being selected for youth age groups. Data revealed a skewed birth date distribution in Under 17 and 19 teams (on average, Q1 = 35.6% vs Q4 = 18.5%) but not in the Senior National team. Youth players born in Q1 were two times more likely to be selected than in Q4. In Under 17, goalkeepers, defenders, and midfielders of Q1 players were overrepresented. However, Q4 players recorded higher conversion rates than Q1 (Q1 = 16.4% vs. Q4 = 25.0%). National youth experience may not be a prerequisite for being selected at the senior level. Moreover, this confers a higher probability of playing in the National Senior team than players not selected in youth rosters., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Brustio et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Women's participation in sports has recently grown worldwide, including in sports typically associated with men (e.g., rugby and football). Similarly, literature on female athletes has increased, but how they cope with premenstrual (PM) physical and affective symptoms remains a poorly studied topic. Our study aimed to explain which coping strategies elite female rugby and football players use during their PM period to maintain perceived physical ability (PPA) and well-being. A mediation model analysis considering coping strategies (i.e., avoiding harm, awareness and acceptance, adjusting energy, self-care, and communicating) as independent variables, PPA and well-being as dependent variables, and PM physical and affective symptoms and PM cognitive resources as mediators was run on the data collected via an anonymous online survey. A dysfunctional impact of avoiding harm (indirect) and adjusting energy (both direct and indirect) and a functional indirect influence of awareness and acceptance, self-care, and communicating as coping strategies were found on PPA and well-being during the PM period. As predicted, PM physical and affective symptoms as mediators reduced PPA and well-being, while PM cognitive resources enhanced them. These results may inform practitioners on how to support elite female athletes' PPA and well-being by knowing and reinforcing the most functional PM coping strategies for them.

To assess the real-life magnitude of the heading incidence in children's and youth' football in eight European countries with different "football cultures," a cross-sectional observational design, in which one match per team in 480 different teams from eight European countries (2017/18-2018/19), was recorded by video. One training session was recorded in 312 teams. Clubs with Under-10, Under-12 (female/male/mixed), and Under-16 female and male teams were eligible to participate. Heading frequencies and types were analyzed. Results are presented as headers per match/training and per team. Incidence rates (IR) per 1000 match/training hours were calculated. Under-10 teams carried out the lowest average number of headers per match (8.8), followed by Under-16 female (17.7), Under-12 (18.4), and Under-16 male (35.5). Total number of headers per match and team varied between countries. 80% of the total number of headers were single intentional headers, 12% heading duels, 3% unintentional headers by getting hit, and 5% others (trends apparent in all age groups). Three head injuries occurred during match play corresponding to an IR of 0.70 (95% CI, 0.23-2.16). The lowest number of headers per training and team was found in Under-10 (21.3), followed by Under-16 females (34.1), Under-12 (35.8), and Under-16 males (45.0). In conclusion, this large-scale study presents novel data about the number and type of headers in youth' football throughout Europe. A more precise understanding of the heading incidence, specifically in young players, is mandatory for the debate of restrictions on heading in youth football., (© 2020 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science In Sports published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: To examine the construct validity of the session rating perceived exertion (s-RPE) assessed with the Borg CR100 scale to measure training loads in elite soccer and to examine if the CR100 is interchangeable and can provide more-accurate ratings than the CR10 scale., Methods: Two studies were conducted. The validity of the CR100 was determined in 19 elite soccer players (age 28 ± 6 y, height 180 ± 7 cm, body mass 77 ± 6 kg) during training sessions through correlations with the Edwards heart-rate method (study 1). The interchangeability with CR10 was assessed in 78 soccer players (age 19.3 ± 4.1 y, height 178 ± 5.9 cm, body mass 71.4 ± 6.1 kg) through the Bland-Altman method and correlations between change scores in different sessions. To examine whether the CR100 is more finely graded than the CR10, the proportions of responses corresponding to the verbal expressions were calculated (study 2)., Results: Individual correlations between the Edwards method and s-RPE were large to very large (.52-.85). The mean difference between the 2 scales was -0.3 ± 0.33 AU (90% CI -0.41 to -0.29) with 95% limits of agreements (0.31 to -0.96 AU). Correlations between scales and between-changes scores were nearly perfect (.95 and .91-.98). Ratings corresponding to the verbal anchors were 49% in CR10 and 26% in CR100., Conclusions: The CR100 is valid for assessing the training load in elite soccer players. It can be used interchangeably with the CR10 and may provide more-precise measures of exercise intensity.

The aim of the study was to examine the post-exercise effects of the "FIFA 11+" on various physical performance and physiological variables, to understand whether this programme is an appropriate warm-up for football players. Results were compared with the literature using a meta-analytical approach. Twenty amateur male football players [mean age 25.5 (s ± 5.1) years, body mass 75(8) kg, height 181(6) cm] participated in the study. They were tested twice before (control period) and once after the "FIFA 11+" for: 20-m sprints, agility, vertical jump, stiffness, isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), rate of force development (RFD), and star excursion balance test. Oxygen uptake, lactate and core temperature were also measured. Pre-post warm-up differences were found for all the performance variables (from 1.0 to 6.2%; 0.015 < P < 0.001) with the exclusion of MVC (-13%; P = 0.426) and RFD (-10%; P = 0.205). After the warm-up there was an increase (0.004

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of recreational football performed once (LOW) vs. twice (MOD) a week on cardiovascular risk factors in healthy, sedentary men. Body composition, resting blood pressure, blood lipid profile and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) were measured at baseline, after a 12-week control and training period, using an interrupted time-series study (study 1, n = 18: n = 8, LOW and n = 10, MOD) nested in a randomized parallel trial (study 2, n = 34: n = 18 LOW and n = 16 MOD). After the intervention in study 1, LDL-cholesterol (−12.3 mg·dLˉ1 [−22.7 to −2.0]) and VO2max (4.5 ml·kgˉ1·minˉ1 [1.2–7.8 ]) changed in LOW whereas differences were found in weight (−2.1 kg [−3.7 to −0.4]), BMI (−0.7 kg·m−2 [−1.2 to −0.1]), total cholesterol (−22.2 mg·dLˉ1 [−36.0 to −8.4]), no-HDL-cholesterol (−17.5 mg·dLˉ1 [−30.5 to −4.5]), LDL-cholesterol (−14.9 mg·dLˉ1 [−23.6 to −6.2]) and VO2max (5.7 ml·kgˉ1·minˉ1 [2.8–8.6]) in MOD. Study 2 showed no evidence of differences between groups. Our results therefore suggest positive health effects of recreational football even when performed at low frequency as it can happen in real context. Highlights Moderate and high amount of recreational football practice (i.e. 2 or 3 h a week) have been shown to be effective to improve health-related factors in both healthy and unhealthy people. Scarce data are present regarding the effect of a low frequency of recreational football practice (i.e. 1 h a week) that is often usual in a real context. Our results showed the practice of recreational football, once a week, is effective for improving some cardiovascular risk factors (maximal oxygen consumption and LDL-cholesterol) in sedentary, healthy middle-aged men. Moreover, practising recreational football once or twice a week seems to lead to similar positive health adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine the construct validity of the session rating perceived exertion (s-RPE) assessed with the Borg CR100 scale to measure training loads in elite soccer and to examine if the CR100 is interchangeable and can provide more-accurate ratings than the CR10 scale. Methods: Two studies were conducted. The validity of the CR100 was determined in 19 elite soccer players (age 28 ± 6 y, height 180 ± 7 cm, body mass 77 + 6 kg) during training sessions through correlations with the Edwards heart-rate method (study 1). The interchangeability with CR10 was assessed in 78 soccer players (age 19.3 ±4.1 y, height 178 ± 5.9 cm, body mass 71.4 + 6.1 kg) through the Bland-Altman method and correlations between change scores in different sessions. To examine whether the CR100 is more finely graded than the CR10, the proportions of responses corresponding to the verbal expressions were calculated (study 2). Results: Individual correlations between the Edwards method and s-RPE were large to very large (.52-85). The mean difference between the 2 scales was-0.3 ± 0.33 AU (90% CI -0.41 to -0.29) with 95% limits of agreements (0.31 to -0.96 AU), Correlations between scales and between-changes scores were nearly perfect (.95 and .91-.98). Ratings corresponding to the verbal anchors were 49% in CR10 and 26% in CR100. Conclusions: The CR100 is valid for assessing the training load in elite soccer players. It can be used interchangeably with the CR10 and may provide more-precise measures of exercise intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]