Pre-season Training Loads Of Elite NCAA Division 3 Female Soccer Players: A Descriptive Study

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Field-based sports training traditionally revolves around the “art of coaching”, where coaches use experience and educated guesses as a primary means of conditioning players. With the advent of GPS technology, field sports have the capability to monitor external training loads more accurately thus allowing the coaching staff to design better conditioning programs in order to match sport-specific demands seen during practices and competitions, potentially improving performance. NCAA rule limitations for Division III preseason training accentuates the need to determine the training loads of these practices. PURPOSE: The purpose of the descriptive study was to examine the external training loads of elite NCAA Division III soccer players during preseason training. METHODS: 17 NCAA female Division III soccer players (20.41±1.12 years; 64.44±6.76 kg; 166.06±4.74cm) wore a portable GPS device, operating at 10Hz and incorporated with a 100Hz triaxial accelerometer, prior to every practice (n = 8) and scrimmage (n=1) during the preseason (Aug 19 - Aug 27) in central Virginia. To start the preseason, VO2max was estimated via the YOYO test. GPS collected total distance (km), work rate (m/min), hard running (>4.5 m/s; m), zone 6 running (>6 m/s; m), top speed (km/h), and intensity during practices and scrimmages during the Division III preseason. RESULTS: Estimated VO2max was reported to be 44.90±1.90 ml·kg-1·min-1. During practices, athletes covered 4.35±2.04 km, had a work rate of 42.31±10.05 m/min, covered 157.38±143.38 m of hard running, ran 33.19±56.70m in Zone 6, had a top speed of 24.54±4.59 km/h, and had an intensity of 26.66±14.13. During the scrimmage, athletes covered 6.33±2.24 km, had a work rate of 38.13±13.72 m/min, covered 227.80±194.841 m of hard running, ran 28.47±45.17 m in Zone 6, had a top speed of 25.96±4.15 km/h, and had an intensity of 40.33±17.69. CONCLUSION: The external loads of elite Division III female soccer players were found to be similar to previously reported in-season loads of Division I and Division II athletes. The short preseason training period and high external loads present a number of concerns for Division III athletes as it pertains to preseason conditioning needs and the potential for overload injury risks.