Search results for " soccer."

Managerial Ability, Players’ Cultural Diversity, and Sporting and Economic Performance in English Soccer

2012

We use a large homemade database on professional soccer in England to estimate the relevance of managerial ability on performance and the managerial skills in keeping up cultural diversity. The team manager faces a set of very complex tasks. Not only he is the head coach of the soccer team, thus influencing sporting performance, but he can also have an impact on performance, by improving economic efficiency or by limiting the organization innovation in order to foster the creation of organizational routines. The sporting competitive advantage translates into economic and financial performance; therefore the manager is a dominant voice in the financial viability of the club, too. We also mea…

The analysis of endurance, speed and explosive strength in young football players

2011

Introduction Endurance, speed and explosive strength are determinant factors of sporting performance for football players (Hoff & Helgerud, 2004). An evaluation of these abilities is fundamental in young subjects, who have still not completed their maturation, to plan an individualised and effective training program (Fernandez-Gonzalo et al., 2010). The aim of this study was to examine the level of variability in endurance, speed and explosive strength of lower limbs among young football players. Methods Sixteen male players with 5 years of experience playing football and participating in the “Giovanissimi Regionali” amateur championship (14.00 years old ± 7 months; 57.5 ± 6.66 kg weight, 1…

Identification of Defensive Performance Factors in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

2016

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of defensive play in elite football, to identify variables associated with the direct recovery of ball possession, and to propose a model for predicting the success of defensive transitions. We analyzed 804 transitions in the final stages of the Fedération Internationale Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2010, and investigated the following variables using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses: duration of defensive transition, possession loss zone, position of players at the start and end of the defensive transitions, defensive organization, general defensive approach, time of the match, position of defense, zone in which t…

Effects of specific training on hormone levels in female athletes.

2008

Comparing self-reported leisure-time physical activity, subjective health, and life satisfaction among youth soccer players and adolescents in a refe…

2013

The aim of the study was to examine to what extent young people who play organised soccer rate their leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, life satisfaction, and health more positively and higher than a same-aged population-based reference group (including some adolescents who also played organised soccer). Data from two samples of five countries (England, France, Greece, Norway, and Spain) were included: a sample of soccer players aged 10-14 years who participated in the Promoting Adolescent Physical Activity project [Duda, J.L., Quested, E., Haug, E., Samdal, O., Wold, B., Balaguer, I., …  Cruz, J. (2013). Promoting Adolescent health through an intervention aimed at improvi…

Relationship between heart rate variability and repeated sprint exercise in young soccer players

2014

Aim: The sport of soccer is characterized by neuromuscular performance resulting in short bursts interspersed by brief recovery periods over an extended period of time. Several studies suggest that the cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS) assessed by heart rate variability (HRV) may provide useful information regarding the functional adaptations to training stimulus. Although HRV has often been associated with aerobic power and cardiovascular fitness, the influence of sympathovagal balance on neuromuscular performance in young athletes is not well assessed. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the autonomic system on the performance of repeated sprints, involving predomina…

The Quest for Twelfth Man: Evidence from Italian Professional Soccer

2008

INJURY PREVENTION IN YOUNG SOCCER PLAYERS: RESULTS OF A PILOT STUDY

2012

Risk factors for soccer injuries and prevention have been discussed by several authors, but only few have investigated the effectiveness of preventive interventions, in particular in the last few years. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a prevention program on the incidence of soccer-related injuries in three different categories of younger players (Allievi, Giovanissimi e Primavera). The soccer teams took part in a prevention program to decrease injury risk, for two agonistic seasons (2005-06, 2006-07). Before identifying training programs, we valued the younger fitness status: each youth soccer players (aged 13 to 19) performed exercise tests of functional capaci…

Influences of baseline heart rate variability on repeated sprint performance in young soccer players

2015

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the autonomic system on the performance of repeated sprints, involving predominantly neuromuscular power, in young soccer players. METHODS: Twelve young soccer players, selected for the Sicilian Regional Football Representative, mean age 15 years, were recruited. Baseline heart rate variability (HRV) was measured and indices of power spectral analysis (LF, HF, and ratio LF/HF) were calculated to evaluate the sympathovagal balance. The athletes performed 10 maximal 6--sec cycling sprints (RS), interspersed with 30--sec of recovery, to measure the peak power output (PP) represented by the highest power value recorded during a 6--sec sp…

Association of Monocarboxylate Transporter-1 (MCT1) A1470T Polymorphism (rs1049434) with Forward Football Player Status.

2018

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the association between the MCT1 (monocarboxylate transporter 1) A1470T polymorphism and positional roles in a large cohort of professional football players from five different countries. We compared genotype distributions of the MCT1 A1470T polymorphism between football players (n=694) and non-athlete controls (n=781) from Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Malta, and we analyzed the MCT1 genotype distributions with respect to the players’ positions in the field (e. g. forwards, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers). Genomic DNA was extracted from either buccal epithelium or peripheral blood using a standard protocol. In the pooled coho…