Performing more than 20 purposeful gameplay headers in a soccer season may alter autonomic function in female youth soccer players

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the effects of cumulative purposeful soccer heading on autonomic nervous system function in 22 female youth soccer players (13.3 ± 0.9 years). A 10 minute electrocardiogram recording was collected at baseline and following the 20 game season (post-season) to calculate measures of heart rate variability (HRV), including standard deviation of the normal-normal intervals, total power, high frequency (HF), low frequency (LF), LF:HF, normalized HF and normalized LF. Participants were categorized into low- (<20 headers per season; n = 13) and high- (>20 headers per season; n = 9) exposure groups. Mann–Whitney U tests demonstrated no significant differences between groups for any HRV metric. However, the increased normalized LF power (low exposure 8.67 and high exposure −31.17, respectively; r = 0.35) and LF:HF power (−6.39 and 15.80, respectively; r = 0.35), between groups had moderate practical significance. Therefore, female youth players who perform more than 20 purposeful headers during a soccer season may exhibit altered autonomic function.

KEYWORDS:

• Heart rate variability
• female
• soccer
• heading
• youth

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Ontario Soccer Association and Burlington Bayhawks for supporting this study.

Disclosure statement

Dr. James Thompson is the Chief Innovation Officer for Evoke Neuroscience. Evoke Neuroscience donated the eVox EEG systems for this research, and the corresponding analyses.