Effect of a congested match schedule on immune-endocrine responses, technical performance and session-RPE in elite youth soccer players

• Published in: Journal of sports sciences 2016-12, Vol.34 (24), p.2255-2261
• Main Authors: Moreira, Alexandre, Bradley, Paul, Carling, Christopher, Arruda, Ademir Felipe Schultz, Spigolon, Leandro M. P., Franciscon, Clovis, Aoki, Marcelo Saldanha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Athletic Performance; Body fluids; Children & youth; cortisol; Endocrine system; Fatigue - etiology; Fatigue - metabolism; Football; Humans; Hydrocortisone - metabolism; Immunoglobulin A; Immunoglobulin A - metabolism; Immunoglobulins; Movement; Perception; Physical Endurance; Physical Exertion; saliva; Saliva - metabolism; Soccer; Soccer - physiology; Testosterone; Testosterone - metabolism
• ISSN: 0264-0414; 1466-447X
• DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2016.1205753

This study investigated the effects of a congested match schedule (7 matches played in 7 days) on steroid hormone concentrations, mucosal immunity, session rating of perceived exertion (S-RPE) and technical performance in 16 elite youth soccer players (14.8 ± 0.4 years; 170.6 ± 9.4 cm; 64.9 ± 7 kg). No change was observed for salivary cortisol concentration across match time points (P = 0.33; effect size [ES] = 0.13-0.48). In contrast, there was a decrease in salivary testosterone and salivary IgA (SIgA) concentrations from the 1st compared with the last time point (P = 0.01 and 0.001, ES = 0.42 and 0.67, respectively). The SIgA concentration varied across time points (P  0.05). A higher number of tackles and interceptions were observed during the 4th match vs 1st and 7th matches (P