Is impaired coordination related to match physical load in footballers with cerebral palsy of different sport classes?

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ABSTRACT

Impaired coordination is a characteristic feature in cerebral palsy (CP) football players. This study aimed to determine the relationships of three coordination tests with match physical load during competition of para-footballers from different sport classes. Records from 259 para-footballers from 25 national teams were obtained in four international competitions held in 2018 and 2019. The three coordination tests were conducted prior to competition (i.e., rapid heel-toe, side-stepping, and split jumps), and physical match load was recorded by GPS devices during the real game: i.e., maximum/mean, total distance, distance covered at different speed zones, number of accelerations/decelerations at different intensities, and player load. FT1 and FT3 players have the lowest and highest performance in all the coordination tests, respectively, but inconclusive between-groups differences were obtained (p=0.022‒0.238). Split jumps and side-stepping tests are associated with the performance of moderate and high accelerations during competition (r = −0.20‒0.71; p<0.01). Significant correlations (r = 0.36‒0.71; p<0.01) were obtained between all the coordination measures. Coordination tests better discriminate those with more severe impairments and some evidence for the validity of the new CP football sport classes is provided. Further research is necessary to identify the portion of the variance in sports performance that coordination explains.

KEYWORDS:

• Soccer
• paralympic sport
• brain impairment
• classification

Acknowledgments

This study is part of the research project entitled ‘Relationships of impairment and technical assessment with performance in competition’, funded by the International Paralympic Committee (i.e., 2017 Classification Grant Scheme) and the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football. The authors would also like to acknowledge the support and cooperation of IFCPF stakeholders, teams’ staff, local organising committees, and, especially, the players of the 25 nations involved in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical standards

This investigation was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (2013), was approved by the Miguel Hernandez University Ethics Committee (reference no. DPS.RRV.03.17), and met the ethical standards in sport and exercise science research (Harriss & Atkinson, 2015).

Additional information

Funding

This research was conducted with financial support from the International Paralympic Committee under their 2017 Classification Research Grant Scheme, and co-founded by the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football.