Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011
Coping with too many games Interview by Mike Woitalla The turf war between youth organizations ensures an endless fountain of championships and the tournament industry has made playing three to four games in one weekend a common part of youth soccer. We asked Dr. Dev K. Mishra what coaches can do to when their teams are faced with game overload. Dr. Mishra, the founder of SidelineSportsDoc.com, is an orthopedic surgeon who has served as team doctor at the professional, national team, college and high school level. SOCCER AMERICA: Despite the fact that the U.S. Soccer Federation discourages youth teams from playing multiple games in a weekend, youth coaches continue to send their teams to tournaments that require three of four games in two days. … DR. DEV MISHRA: So much is out of the coaches’ hands. There are certain tournaments that they feel obligated to participate in either to enhance the stature of their team or to expose their players to the best competition, and maybe to college coaches. They are doing what they feel is best for their players and are generally not in control of the tournament schedules. The multiple-game in a short period tournament format doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. SA: Besides the fact that player-development experts say the practice-to-game ratio is out of whack in American youth soccer, what do we know about the perils of squeezing in too many games? DR. MISHRA: There is some good research on injury rates from multiple matches in a short period of time from the professional ranks. “The American Journal of Sports Medicine” recently published a well-conducted study out of Glasgow Celtic over the course of two seasons ("Effect of 2 Soccer Matches in a Week on Physical Performance and Injury Rate"). In a very sophisticated way, they took a look at performance parameters and also at injury rates. The variable was the amount of time between games. Bear in mind these are really high-level professional athletes with access to probably the best medical care that you can find. They found that for the performance parameters there were no significant differences related to time between games. They attributed this to training methods, nutrition, and some other recovery efforts they did between matches. But the injury data was really different. Essentially what they found was a six-fold increase in injuries if the games were played less than four days apart. It’s hard to fully apply those findings to youth sports, but it’s reasonable to assume that if there’s a proven higher injury rate for four days or less apart for professional players than at least to some extent that same rationale would be applicable to youth players playing two games in one day or three games in a weekend. SA: So what can a youth coach do to help ensure the health of his or her players when faced with such a schedule? DR. MISHRA: The coach will need to go into a tournament with the awareness that some players will need to be subbed out more frequently and get some rest. Hopefully, the coach will be able to take as large a roster as possible and be able to have a player rotation – either per game or within games and give certain players rest. The coach would need to take injury complaints seriously and have a really low index of suspicion when a young player says that they’re hurt. Or if they’re just not functioning at their maximum – at that point they probably need a little bit of rest even if they’re not injured -- because the risk of an injury is high if they’re not playing at 100 percent. SA: How about pre- and post-game? DR. MISHRA: The pre-match preparation is going to be important. Some of the things that have been suggested are to modify training and decrease physical intensity going into a multiple-game situation. You want to really pay attention to the pregame nutrition and hydration too, generally emphasizing carbohydrates and minimizing fats. It can make a positive difference even in the young players. And pay attention to the postgame as well. After that first match research shows that the first 20 minutes are the best time to rehydrate and get some carbs and protein back in the body. Also, the team should engage in some form of cool-down.