The Impact of Two Games in One Weekend on Soccer Performance in DI Female College Athletes: 2098 Board #111 June 1 3

PURPOSE: Women’s college soccer requires athletes to play two games in one weekend. Insufficient recovery due to the close proximity of the games may lead to an increased risk of injury, fatigue and decreased performance. To date, no study has investigated the effects of playing two games within a 48 hour period on measures of performance in women’s college soccer. The purpose of this project was to investigate changes in performance parameters from Friday to Sunday games during a competitive playing season. METHODS: 12 NCAA Division I female soccer players (19.3 ± 1.6 yrs, 167 ± 3.0 cm, 62.4 ± 4.9 kg) were included based on playing time criteria (>60%). Global positioning system (GPS) data was collected for Friday (Game 1; (G1)) and Sunday (Game 2; (G2)) games over 5 weekends during the competitive season. Total distance (TD), high speed distance (HSD; 15.5km-19.9 km/h), sprint distance (SD; >20 km/h), meters per minute (m/min), high speed distance per minute (HSD/min), sprint distance per minute (SD/min), percentage HSD (%HSD), percentage SD (%SD), high-intensity efforts/min (HIE/min) and bodyload per minute were analyzed. RESULTS: : There was a significant decrease (p<0.05) in m/min from G1 to G2 for weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4. A significant decrease was observed for TD, HSD and HSD/min from G1 to G2 for weeks 1 and 2. There was also a significant decrease in SD and SD/min from G1 to G2 in week 2. SD/min and %SD were significantly greater during G2 compared to G1 in week 5. There were no significant differences between G1 performance parameters across the five weeks. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant decrease in a number of performance parameters during the second game when two games were played in one weekend. There were no changes in performances during G1, played one week apart over the five weeks.