Participation In Soccer Research Articles

The Applied Sport Science of Soccer.

In brief: Participation in soccer is increasing, possibly because many people believe that anyone can play the game. This article reviews the nature and demands of soccer and the physiological characteristics of the players, including aerobic power, anaerobic power, muscle strength, flexibility, agility, glycogen use, and fiber types. Soccer players must perform short sprints as well as cover long distances during a game. Soccer players fall in the middle of the ranges for athletes in all of the measured variables. The author concludes that soccer players are unique in their ability to repeatedly perform difficult motor skills during constantly changing tactical situations.

Fear of Failure, Fear of Evaluation, Perceived Competence, and Self-esteem In Competitive-Trait-Anxious Children

The competitive trait anxiety of 316 male youth soccer participants was assessed prior to the start of a season. Players' performance expectancies, anticipated affective reactions to success-failure, expectations of criticism for failure, performance- and evaluation-related worries, perceived competence, and self-esteem also were recorded. The responses of players in the upper (n = 79) and lower (n = 84) competitive trait-anxiety quartiles indicated that, as predicted, high-anxious players expected to play less well and experience greater shame, upset, and more frequent criticism from parents and coaches in the event of poor performance. Even when these expectancies were controlled, high-anxious players worried more frequently than low-anxious players about not playing well, losing, and being evaluated by parents, coaches, and teammates. No between-group differences existed in players' self-perceived athletic competence or in their ability as rated by coaches. Competitive trait anxiety was weakly related to self-esteem. The findings support the general hypothesis that fear of failure and fear of evaluation are significant sources of threat in competitive-trait-anxious children.

Acute cardiac damage in healthy individuals following athletics: Schleicher, I.: Ztschr. f. Kreislaufforsch. 31: 105, 1939

The commotio cordis literature has largely focused on events occurring in the United States. However, with enhanced public awareness, commotio cordis has been increasingly recognized internationally as a cause of cardiac arrest and sudden death due to blunt nonpenetrating chest blows.This study sought to characterize the demographics of commotio cordis globally in comparison to the U.S. experience.This study used interrogation of the Commotio Cordis Registry (Minneapolis, Minnesota).We report 60 cases of commotio cordis occurring outside the United States from 19 countries (most commonly the United Kingdom and Canada) on 5 continents and compared these events to 2:3 occuring in the U.S. In the 2 groups, events were largely similar demographically, including frequency of survival (26% in U.S. vs 25%; P = .84), and the striking male predominance evident in both groups (i.e., 95%), although non-U.S. victims were somewhat older (19 ± 13 vs 15 ± 9; P = .002). Not unexpectedly, the groups differed with baseball/softball and football predominant in the United States (55% of events) and soccer, cricket, and hockey most common internationally (47% of events). Notably, the frequency with which soccer participation caused commotio cordis was much more common than expected, particularly in non-U.S. athletes (20% vs 3% U.S.; P < .001).Commotio cordis demonstrates a global occurrence, very similar demographically in the United States and internationally. However, the frequency with which chest blows from soccer balls caused commotio cordis events (particularly during sports played internationally) seems to contradict the prevailing notion that air-filled projectiles convey less risk for ventricular fibrillation than do those with solid cores (e.g., baseball or lacrosse balls).