League Competition Research Articles

Reliability and Validity of Maximal Mean and Critical Speed and Metabolic Power in Australian Youth Soccer Players.

The reliability and validity of maximal mean speed (MMS), maximal mean metabolic power (MMPmet), critical speed (CS) and critical metabolic power (CPmet) were examined throughout the 2016-2017 soccer National Youth League competitions. Global positioning system (GPS) data were collected from 20 sub-elite soccer players during a battery of maximal running tests and four home matches. A symmetric moving average algorithm was applied to the instantaneous velocity data using specific time windows (1, 5, 10, 60, 300 and 600 s) and peak values were identified. Additionally, CS and CP¬met values calculated from match data were compared to CS and CPmet values determined from previously validated field tests to assess the validity of match values. Intra-class correlation (one-way random absolute agreement) scores ranged from 0.577 to 0.902 for speed, and from 0.701 to 0.863 for metabolic power values. Coefficients of variation (CV) ranged from good to moderate for speed (4-6%) and metabolic power (4-8%). Only CS and CPmet values were significantly correlated (r = 0.842; 0.700) and not statistically different (p = 0.066; 0.271) to values obtained in a shuttle-running critical test. While the present findings identified match-derived MMS, MMPmet, CS and CPmet to be reliable, only CS and CPmet derived from match play were validated to a CS field test that required changes in speed and direction rather than continuous running. This suggests that both maximal mean and critical speed and metabolic power analyses could be alternatives to absolute distance and speed in the assessment of match running performance during competitive matches.

The impact of video review in karate kumite during a Premier League competition

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to investigate whether a) the option to make video-review appeals influences the match outcome; b) the number of video reviews differs depending on the time period during a match; and the rejected-to-approved-appeal distribution differs depending on the c) time period during the match, d) match status, and e) match category in karate kumite. Video recordings from 555 matches in a Premier League competition were analysed. Point(s) awarded after the video review(s) changed the match outcome for a total of 47 matches, which corresponded to 13.1% of the matches with video review(s). The number of appealed video reviews increased for each 30-s time period in the 3-min matches (P < 0.001). The rejected-to-approved-appeal distribution differed depending on the time period during the match (P = 0.0025) but not depending on match status and match category (both P > 0.05). For karateka who had fewer points than the opponent, the rejected-to-approved-appeal distribution differed between time periods (P = 0.017). The option for coaches to make video-review appeals for techniques that were not awarded point(s) by the judges increased the chance for a fair match outcome in elite karate kumite.

Hematological profiles of football players according to playing positions in Tigray region, Ethiopia

The Objectives study was to compare hematological profiles of different playing position football players in the Tigray region, Ethiopia. The study was conducted in northern parts of Ethiopia, had played in the Ethiopian premier league, super league, and National league competition programs. Descriptive Cross-sectional design and quantitative research methods were employed to compare hematological variables of different position soccer players. To get appropriate data voluntary health soccer players were selected through purposive sampling techniques. Goalkeepers (GK, 15), Defenders (DF, 27), Midfielders (MF, 36) and Strikers (ST, 23) based on player’s position 101 players were selected from a total of 200 Tigray regions. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to conclude the differences between GK, DF, MF, and ST soccer players and Post Hoc test (LSD) applied at p &amp;lt; .05. No significant difference was found between playing positions in WBC, RBC, HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC, PLT, LYM%, NEUT%, LYM#, NEUT#, RDW, PDW, MPV, and PCT (p &amp;gt; .05). Coaches and Medicals might take into consideration positional differences, age, BMI, and training status of players during testing hematological profiles.

The Political Economy of Football: Democracy, Income Inequality, and Men’s National Football Performance

The reasons why some countries outperform others in international football games warrant exploration. In this article, we argue that the synergy of economic development, democratic experience, football association duration, and low income inequality improves the performance of men’s national football teams. Contemporary professional football is a typical “club good” that encourages members to act collectively by watching games, organizing associations, and investing in talent and capital for team success. We hypothesize that economic development sustains professional football, particularly in democratic regimes that allow collective action through football associations. Wealthy democracies most effectively shape institutional incentives that improve the transparency, fairness, and competitiveness of leagues and contribute to their prosperity, benefiting the talent pool for national football teams. In addition, income inequality excludes the talents from the poor and reduces national football performance. We used panel data from 119 countries for the period from 1999 to 2014 as well as fixed-effects models to verify our hypotheses. The result confirms that democracy improves national football performance. During this period, for instance, Panama, a young democracy, got 13.2% increase in estimated ln FIFA scores. By contrast, Thailand, becoming autocracy in 2007, experienced 12.6% decrease in estimated ln FIFA scores. Democracy stock also moderated the effects of a long football association history to improve national football performance. In addition, reduced income inequality increased performance.

The effect of match fatigue in elite badminton players using plantar pressure measurements and the implications to injury mechanisms

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in plantar pressure under the lead and trail foot between two lunge tasks to the net in the dominant (LD) and non-dominant (LND) directions, and to explore how fatigue affects the plantar pressure patterns whilst performing movements before and after a competitive match. Peak and mean pressure were measured with the Biofoot-IBV in-shoe system from five repetitions of each task, with sensors positioned under the calcaneus, midfoot and phalanges on the lead and trail foot. Data were collected pre and immediately post-playing an official first national league competition match. The study was conducted with a sample of thirteen first league badminton players. A 2 × 2 repeated ANOVA found significant differences between the two tasks and between pre- and post-match (fatigued state). Players also had different foot pressure distributions for the LD and LND tasks, which indicated a difference in loading strategy. In a fatigued state, the plantar pressure shifted to the medial aspect of the midfoot in the trail limb, indicating a reduction in control and a higher injury risk during non-dominant lunge tasks.

Using Clustering via Soccer League Competition Algorithm for Optimizing Power Consumption in WSNs (Wireless Sensor Networks)

Using Clustering via Soccer League Competition Algorithm for Optimizing Power Consumption in WSNs (Wireless Sensor Networks)

Effects of muscular injuries on the technical and physical performance of professional soccer players

ABSTRACT Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of muscular injuries in the lower limbs on the technical and physical performance of professional soccer players when they return to the league competition. Methods: Seventy-six muscular injuries incurred by Spanish male professional soccer players (Age: 27.5 ± 3.5 years) were analyzed during two consecutive competitive seasons: 2014–2015 and 2015–2016. The players’ performance was studied during Spanish First Division competitive matches using a multi-camera computerized tracking system (Mediacoach Desktop). Results: After muscular injury relative total distance covered in sprints decreased by 8.6 ± 30.2% (P = 0.013) in the first half and 7.7 ± 36.6% (P = 0.038) in the second half. Similarly, maximal running speed decreased by 2.78 ± 6.91 km.h−1 (pre: 27.3 ± 6.4 km.h−1 vs. post: 24.5 ± 6.6 km.h−1, P = 0.013) in the first half, and 1.50 ± 5.68 km.h−1 (29.1 ± 3.9 km.h−1 vs. 27.6 ± 5.3 km.h−1, P = 0.043) in the second half. Muscle injury also affected technical performance significantly decreasing successful passes (P = 0.045). There were no differences in the number of possession gains (P = 0.277), and possession losses (P = 0.178). Conclusions: After a moderate or severe muscular injury (causing >8 days lay off), player performance is significantly lower in high-intensity efforts and technical skills such as sprints, maximal running speed, or successful passes.

Physical characteristics and match performances in women’s international versus domestic-level football players: a 2-year, league-wide study

ABSTRACT Objective This study examined the role of physical qualities and physical match performances in distinguishing between elite performance levels in women’s football. Methods Over a two-season period (2016–2017), a league-wide study was conducted in which physical qualities and match external loads were collected in all players (n = 220) competing in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the USA. During the first week of each pre-season, the standing broad jump, 30 m sprint, and the 30–15 intermittent fitness test were conducted under standardized conditions. In each competitive league fixture (3,268 individual match observations), 10 Hz GPS data were collected in all players who completed full matches and playing position was categorized. Total distance, and the distances covered above high (≥12.5 km h–1), very-high(≥19.0 km h–1), and sprinting velocities (≥22.5 km h–1) were used to quantity match physical performances. Players were further categorized as international (INT) or domestic-level (DOM) players according to their country’s squad selections during each season. Results There were few meaningful differences between INT and DOM players for either physical qualities or physical match performances. Conclusion Whilst physical qualities and match performances may impact upon performance outcomes, they generally do not distinguish between performance levels in elite women’s football.

Diversity Teams in Soccer League Competition Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Network Deployment Problem

The drawback of several metaheuristic algorithms is the dropped local optimal trap in the solution to complicated problems. The diversity team is one of the promising ways to enhance the exploration of searching solutions in algorithm to avoid the local optimum trap. This paper proposes a diversity-team soccer league competition algorithm (DSLC) based on updating team member strategies for global optimization and its applied optimization of Wireless sensor network (WSN) deployment. The updating team consists of trading, drafting, and combining strategies. The trading strategy considers player transactions between groups after the ending season. The drafting strategy takes advantage of draft principles in real leagues to bring new players to the association. The combining strategy is a hybrid policy of trading and drafting one. Twenty-one benchmark functions of CEC2017 are used to test the performance of the proposed algorithm. The experimental results of the proposed algorithm compared with the other algorithms in the literature show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the competitors in terms of having an excellent ability to achieve global optimization. Moreover, the proposed DSLC algorithm is applied to solve the problem of WSN deployment and achieved excellent results.

Selected Aspects of the Pre- and Post-Match Rituals of Female Football Players

Rituals are an interdisciplinary subject. They can carry many meanings and have different values for the person who performs them or believes in super­stitions associated with them. Rituals are mysterious and intriguing, and thus more interesting as an area of scientific study. Observation of the sports com­munity shows that ritualization applies not only to the ceremony itself, but also to the behavior and performance of individual players, especially dur­ing the pre-match period. This awareness prompted research and discussion on the place/role of rituals in the mental and physical preparation of athletes.&#x0D; The study included 62 female football players playing in Polish league competitions. They completed a questionnaire called “Rituals in Sport.” The aim of the study was to learn about the ritualized practices of players and their teams. The survey questions also concerned the subjectively felt relationship between rituals and the expected outcome of the match, among other things. The analysis of our findings confirmed that the female footballers’ pre-and post-match practices are ritualized. The scope, diversity, and multiplicity of meanings of the rituals performed by individual players reveal the significance of this interdisciplinary phenomenon.

An analysis of in-game feedback provided by coaches in an Australian Football League competition

ABSTRACT Background: Coach observation studies have been a mainstay of coaching science research for decades, with a major focus on the use of instruction and feedback by coaches. However, relatively few studies have investigated feedback provided in a live competition setting, with a majority focussing on the training environment. As such, little is known about the way that feedback changes as a result of the intensity of a competitive setting. Additionally, feedback variables of interest are featured inconsistently between studies. Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the quantity and nature of feedback from coach to player in an Australian rules football context, specifically the elite-level Australian Football League (AFL) competition. An entire season's worth of coach-player feedback was recorded and coded against a wide range of feedback variables most commonly found in the literature. A secondary aim of the study was to examine changes in feedback against various game metrics (winning/losing quarter, margin). Method: Five coaches from one AFL team, all with several years of experience at the elite level, were recorded across 21 regular-season games from the 2018 season. Feedback quantity, along with several feedback variables of interest (valence, autonomy-support, descriptive/prescriptive, individual/group, etc.), were coded during each quarter of play. Game information (game outcome, quarter outcome, margin at the start of the quarter, point differential for the quarter) was also recorded. Results: Across 84 quarters of football, 1301 coach-player feedback instances were observed. Mean values across all quarters revealed more negative (20%) than positive (13%) feedback, more prescriptive (81%) than descriptive (19%) feedback, more controlling (58%) than autonomy-supportive (8%), and more individual (70%) than group (30%) feedback was provided. Task-related feedback (60%) was more common than process-related (37%), self-regulation feedback (3%) or self-level feedback i.e. praise (2%). More positive feedback was provided in winning quarters than in losing quarters, while more controlling feedback was present during losing quarters than during winning quarters. Coaches provided significantly more feedback overall when the game was in the balance than quarters where the team was 95% or more likely to win or lose. Conclusions: The paper presents novel findings about feedback use in an elite competitive team sport setting. Areas where the use of feedback does not align with current theory and evidence are highlighted, particularly regarding feedback valence and autonomy support. Feedback variables more commonly associated with improved learning and performance in the literature appear to generally be provided more frequently during winning quarters, but a causal relationship is yet to be determined.

Designing sustainable concrete mixture by developing a new machine learning technique

Concrete is the most used materials in the construction industry known as an environmental pollutant, posing enormous challenges for sustainability regarding resource depletion, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emission. Therefore, efforts need to be focused on the reduction of environmental impacts of concrete to boost its sustainability. To develop eco-friendly concrete mixtures, this study aimed to investigate the mixture design of sustainable concrete. To this end, six machine learning techniques, including water cycle algorithm, soccer league competition algorithm, genetic algorithm, artificial neural network, support vector machine, and regression, are applied in order to predict the compressive strength of concrete. The accuracy of these methods is compared based upon performance indicators (e.g., mean absolute error), and the equation generated by the most precision model is utilized for mixture proportioning. Consequently, compressive strength, cost, environmental impacts, including embodied CO2 emission, and energy and resource consumptions are taken into account as sustainability criteria. To integrate these criteria, six types of objective functions are defined and applied and the most efficient sustainable objective function is used to estimate the mixture design of sustainable concrete. Ultimately, the estimated mixtures are compared based on the sustainability index defined by previous studies. The results indicate that water cycle algorithm is the most accurate model with the mean absolute error of 2.86 MPa. Besides, the quadratic distance to the ideal level is the most effective sustainable objective function. Furthermore, increasing the content of cement and super-plasticizer in mixture design deteriorate the sustainability index. Eventually, 16 sustainable mixture proportions are designed, and the most sustainable, the most economical, the eco-friendliest, and the least material-consuming mixtures are presented and compared based on their sustainability indices.

Seçilmiş Avrupa Futbol Kulüplerinin Etkinliğinin Ölçülmesi: VZA ve Panel Tobit Modeli

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Avrupa futboluna yön veren 10 Avrupa ülkesine ait 50 büyük futbol kulübünün sportif ve finansal verilerinin birleştirilerek performanslarının araştırılması ve kulüplerin performansını etkileyen faktörlerin incelenmesidir. Kulüplerin etkinliği iki aşamada araştırılmıştır. İlk aşamada kulüplerin teknik etkinlik skorları 2007/2008 - 2017/2018 sezonları arası veri zarflama analizi yardımıyla hesaplanmıştır. İkinci aşamada ise kulüplerin performans farklılıklarının arkasındaki nedenler rassal etki panel Tobit modeli kullanılarak araştırılmıştır. Bulgulara göre, kulüplerin kazanma oranları, altyapıdaki oyuncu sayısı ve ulusal ligin daha rekabetçi olması performansını olumlu yönde etkilerken, Avrupa kupalarına katılım, sezon içerisinde antrenör değişikliği yapılması takımların performansını olumsuz yönde etkilemektedir.

A Team of Our Own: The Role of Local and Regional Identities in Spanish Sport

To validate the field, early sports historians often delved into topics with overt connections to politics and class on the national level. However, sub-national groups also use sport and this paper attempts to identify how they have done so in Spain throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries and across multiple competitive activities. On the regional level, Catalonia and the Basque Country have long used sports organizations to define themselves in opposition to the national core. Beyond this, numerous regions include sporting endeavors as part of their unique culture, including long-term Catalan promotion of physical education and the Basques and Valencians each claiming different forms of pelota. Similarly, numerous regions have used cycling heroes, professional teams, and regional tours to foster identity. Local and civic governments have also long seen sport as a useful tool. Before and after the Spanish Civil War, local competitions offered opportunities for non-political community building. Later, newer sports like basketball offered opportunities for smaller cities to find success through specialization, while others recognized that hosting larger events offered national and international branding opportunities. Lastly, the structure of league competition offers cities exposure through regular competition, rivalries, and weekly quiniela choices.

Deep Learning for on-board AUV Automatic Target Recognition for Optical and Acoustic imagery

In the widespread field of underwater robotics applications, the demand for increasingly intelligent vehicles is leading to the development of Autonomous Underwater Vehi-cles(AUVs) with the capability of understanding and engaging the surrounding environment. Consequently, to push the boundaries of cutting-edge smart AUVs, the automatic recognition of targets is becoming one of the most investigated topics and Deep Learning-based strategies have shown astonishing results. In the context of this work, two different neural network architectures, based on the Single Shot Multibox Detector (SSD) and on the Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (Faster R-CNN), have been trained and validated, respectively, on optical and acoustic datasets. In particular, the models have been trained with the images acquired by FeelHippo AUV during the European Robotics League (ERL) competition, which took place in La Spezia, Italy, in July 2018. The proposed ATR strategy has then been validated with FeelHippo AUV in an on-board post-processing stage by exploiting the images provided by both a 2D Forward Looking Sonar (FLS) as well as an IP camera mounted on-board on the vehicle.

Analysis of the Polish Highest Football League Competition System

The paper is focused on analysing the competition system of the highest Polish football league, in particular the championship part after the main competition, introduced in the season 2013/2014 and modified in the season 2017/2018. It is a study of the changes in the rankings after the regular part of the season, both in the group playing for the title and in the relegation group. It simulates a hypothetical situation as if the system had not been changed for the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons and the situation as if the current system had been played since the 2013/2014 season. In both cases, the results do not show huge variations, which so far challenges the needs for the 2017 modifications. In the long term, we can see a trend of higher variation of standings in the championship part after the main competition rather than in the relegation group. However, there are no major variations regarding the last two positions meaning relegation. In the six analysed seasons, the standings varied only in the seasons 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 – when only one team moved regarding the relegation positions in both cases. The standing of the championship group teams varies much less; although only in two out of six analysed seasons, the regular season winning team have kept their positions and became the final champions.

대한민국 얼티미트 리그와 학교스포츠클럽 얼티미트 대회를 위한 실시간 문자 중계와 경기 분석 시스템 개발

대한민국 얼티미트 리그와 학교스포츠클럽 얼티미트 대회를 위한 실시간 문자 중계와 경기 분석 시스템 개발

Evaluation of the Roller Arrangements for the Ball-Dribbling Mechanisms Adopted by RoboCup Teams

The middle-size league soccer competition is an important RoboCup event designed to promote advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics. In recent years, soccer robots using a dribbling mechanism, through which the ball is controlled using two driving rollers, have been adopted by teams worldwide. A survey conducted during the 2017 World Cup in Nagoya revealed that the teams determined their roller arrangements heuristically without the use of a formal mathematical process. In this study, we focus on sphere slip speed to develop a mathematical model for sphere rotational motion, allowing for slip. Using this framework, we derived the relationship between the sphere slip and mobile speeds and evaluated the roller arrangements used by the participating teams.

Training Of Hand Ling Of Psychological Disorders For West Sumatera Soccer Referee

The All Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) is a body that takes care of soccer in Indonesia. PSSI is an extension of the parent International organizations namely FIFA and AFC. PSSI has the duty to supervise, develop players and carry out Indonesian league competitions. A lot of efforts have been made by PSSI so that Indonesian football develops towards a better direction. These efforts include improving sports facilities and infrastructure, running tiered competitions, socializing game rules to the public and improving the quality of arbitration. One of the concerns of PSSI is improving the quality of referees. In general, the duties and responsibilities of soccer referees are to apply all the rules of the game when leading the match. If the referee can carry out their duties properly then it is expected that the match can run safely, smoothly, and in control. The partner's problems include: 1) Low referees knowledge of the types of psychological disorders and their remedies, 2) Referees do not really understand the use of media in the psychological handling of matches. The target of this activity is the referees of West Sumatra who have C2 (regional) and C1 (National) licenses of 100 people. The training model that can be given to referees to overcome the psychological problems of referees is given the following solutions: 1) The training and workshops to handle referees 'psychological disorders, 2) The training and workshops on the use of media in psychological referees' disorders. The purpose of this ac tivity is to increase the knowledge of West Sumatra football referees about the types of psychological disorders and how to overcome them, increase the knowledge of West Sumatra football referees about the use of media in handling psychological disorders in referees. The results of these activities concluded: 1) Increased knowledge and understanding of handling psychological disorders in referees, 2) Increased knowledge and understanding of the use of media in improving psychology before the match. This activity also produced articles that were published in the journal IS ISN.

Competitive balance within CONCACAF: a longitudinal and comparative descriptive review of the seasons 2002/2003–2017/2018

ABSTRACTRationale/Purpose: This article examines the trend in competitive balance and its association with end-of-year FIFA rankings among CONCACAF football associates.Design/methodology/approach: Secondary data were collected from the football domestic league tables for the seasons 2002/2003–2017/2018 of Costa Rica, Mexico, USA, Panama, Jamaica, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago and Canada. Competitive balance was assessed using the Five-Club Concentration Ratio Index of Competitive Balance (C5ICB), Herfindahl Index of Competitive Balance (HICB) and Lorenz Seasonal Balance Curve. Linear regression modeling was used to assess the relationship between end-of-year FIFA ranking and competitive balance.Findings: The most competitive league was the USA, Honduras and Mexico, while the least competitive leagues were Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and Panama. For the 2017/2018 season within CONCACAF it was seen that the football leagues of the Jamaica, USA, Mexico and Panama were the most competitive balance leagues. The HICB and C5ICB were both significant predictors of a change in CONCACAF countries end-of-year FIFA rankings.Practical Implications: Competitive balance continues to be a vital component in assessing the viability and competitiveness of a football league which may have direct impacts on league authorities, marketing revenue streams and spectator attractions.Research Contribution: This is the first study to describe competitive balance in CONCACAF.