Individual Performance in Women's Grassroots Football: A Physical and Emotional Perspective

Abstract

It is essential to monitor and follow up with athletes, both from the point of view of physical and emotional well-being. This allows optimizing the strategy to be followed to achieve full individual and collective development, thus resulting in an improvement in performance, which helps in the prevention of injuries, and better collective work. This is especially important in the early stages of an athlete's career. The present study is based on a follow-up survey consisting of 117 female football players ranging from 10 and 20 years old, making it one of the first studies amongst this age group. A low-cost electronic performance and tracking system was developed to gather data on the players. During the training sessions, objective data (position, distances, etc.) and subjective parameters were collected using forms based on the rate of perceived exertion. This article deals with the evolution of the player's performance from both a physical and mental point of view. An emotional evaluation, based on well-being forms, is carried out and its possible influence on training. Finally, analysis is conducted on the level of health risk. It was found that the performance of female footballers improves with age and in competition-like situations. It has also been concluded that sporting activity leads to healthy lifestyle habits, which translates into a lower risk to their health.