Assessment of Playing Actions in Women’s international soccer to determine injury risk/potential

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to assess the playing actions within women’s soccer to determine injury risk/potential throughout various time periods of match play. It was hypothesised that player-to-player contact actions would show a significant difference to all other playing actions as well as predicting that the last fifteen minute period of each half would possess the high risk of injury to the participant. 16 women’s international soccer matches were observed and coded for the basis of analysis using Studio Code v5 software package (Sportstec, Australia). Information coded from the matches was exported into an Excel sheet and expressed as percentages for each playing action and time period. Results found that a total of 17 injuries occurred throughout the series of matches with tackling (35.3%) and receiving a tackle (23.5%) being major contributors of injuries. Significant differences between playing actions involving contact with the opposition and those that did not are shown throughout (p<0.05). The present study showed that the last fifteen minutes of each playing half possessed the highest injury risk (44.6% and 46.5%) with the second half of play showing a larger injury potential than that of the first. The results of the investigation present new information on injury risk within women’s soccer providing a rationale for future research on injury in women’s soccer based on the type and severity of injuries that occur.