Evidence and Application of Athlete Monitoring Programs in National Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Soccer: A Narrative Review

Abstract

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women's soccer players spend 2–3 weeks in preseason, followed by 12–14 weeks in the competitive season. Because of a short, intense preseason followed by the long competitive season, athlete monitoring programs would play an important role in maximizing physical preparation and match performance while minimizing unfavorable adaptations and fatigue during the NCAA Division I collegiate women's soccer competitive season. Athlete monitoring measures can be used to assess training load (TL), the response to TL, and a player's physical and psychological readiness to train or play during the competitive season. Session rating of perceived exertion and global navigation satellite system measures are common load monitoring measures, whereas subjective recovery and stress questionnaires, heart rate measures, performance tests, and biochemical measures are monitoring measures to estimate the response to TL. This article aims to review the roles of these athlete monitoring measures and provide the physical performance demands of women's soccer match play and athlete monitoring strategies. Furthermore, this article provides practitioner examples of athlete monitoring programs based on NCAA Division I women's soccer match schedules and limitations.

Player Position Affects Relationship Between Internal and External Training Loads During Division I Collegiate Female Soccer Season

“…The benefits of ETL are (a) the quantification of match performance (8,22,41) and (b) the manipulation of ETL to a matchplay (7,21). In addition to ITL and ETL measures, competitive soccer teams incorporate response assessments including subjective wellness and isometric and dynamic neuromuscular performance measured by force plates (6,11,17,18,44). These measures provide practitioners (e.g., strength and conditioning coaches, sports scientists, and sports medicine staff) assessments of player's subjective and objective physical readiness to train or play.…”

Seasonal Changes and Relationships in Training Loads, Neuromuscular Performance, and Recovery and Stress State in Competitive Female Soccer Players

“…Integration of an athlete monitoring program would be useful to develop physical and psychological preparation of the player in NCAA soccer. Athlete monitoring programs primarily aim to maximize sports performance and improve program efficacy while minimize fatigue during the competitive season (Ishida et al, 2021b). Specifically, one aspect of an athlete monitoring program is aimed at quantifying dose-response relationships in order to manage fatigue and to improve training efficacy during the competitive season (Halson, 2014;Gabbett et al, 2017).…”

“…The GNSS devices have been used to quantify external TL, including the TL of soccer match play, which have been associated with acute muscle damage and the alterations in neuromuscular performance (de Hoyo et al, 2016;Russell et al, 2016;Coppalle et al, 2019;Wiig et al, 2019;Ishida et al, 2021a). Ishida et al (2021b) reported the strong negative correlations between the changes in loaded CMJ, peak power (PP), and total running distance (p = 0.02, r = 0.65) at 12 h post-match in the NCAA female soccer players. Therefore, the assessment and manipulation of TL using GNSS can be beneficial for maximizing neuromuscular performance.…”

“…Measures of subjective recovery and stress state and CMJ are common monitoring tools to quantify the response to TL. The combined use of these measures with GNSS allows for quantifying a dose-response relationship (Halson, 2014;Impellizzeri et al, 2019;Draper et al, 2021;Ishida et al, 2021b). The Short Recovery and Stress Scale (SRSS) is a reliable questionnaire (Kellmann and Kölling, 2019) and consists of eight subscales including physical performance capability (PPC), mental performance capability (MPC), emotional balance (EB), overall recovery (OR), muscular stress (MS), lack of activation (LA), negative emotional state (NES), and overall stress (OS).…”

“…With respect to the NCAA female soccer season, athlete monitoring measures may be incorporated to appropriately guide physical preparation of the player from the pre-season to the end of the competitive season (Ishida et al, 2021b). Although the seasonal variations in TL and neuromuscular performance in the soccer players would occur (Dragijsky et al, 2017;Sams et al, 2018;Walker et al, 2019;Emmonds et al, 2020), few investigations have been performed as to how measures of neuromuscular performance, subjective recovery, and stress state will change across the competitive season.…”