Syfte och frågeställningar Syftet var att undersöka frekvensstegen som träningsmetod för fotbollsspelare i avsikt att öka snabbhet i vändningar och agility då dessa förmågor är mycket viktiga för en spelare under en fotbollsmatch. Frågeställningar: Ökar träning med frekvensstege spelarnas agility? Förbättrar träning med frekvensstege spelarnas förmåga att ändra riktning i hög hastighet? Metod För att besvara frågeställningarna valdes en experimentell, kvantitativ studie med Test-Retest som insamlingsmetod. I studien deltog både en försöksgrupp och en kontrollgrupp. Försöksgruppen var ett damfotbollslag, ålder 18.8±1.9  år och de var 12 deltagare. Kontrollgruppen var ett damfotbollslag, ålder 17.8±0.8 och var 6 deltagare. Undersökningen pågick under 7 veckor och vid totalt 12 tillfällen. Spelarna undersöktes två gånger i T-drill, Pro Shuttle och Z-drill. Vecka 1 var förtesterna (Test). Vecka 2-6 pågick träningen med frekvensstegar, två tillfällen per vecka och 30 minuter per tillfälle (totalt 9 tillfällen och 4,5 timmars träning). Vecka 7 utfördes det andra testtillfället (Retest). Resultat Ingen skillnad fanns mellan grupperna gällande varken agility eller vändnignar i hög hastighet. Gällande agility så förbättrades båda grupperna i Pro Shuttle (-0,234 ±0,194 sek) samt försämrades i Z-drill (0,518±0,393 sek), p<0,000. Båda grupperna förbättrades även i T-drill (-0,49±0,448 sek), p<0.000.  En analys med ANOVA RM visar att grupperna inte skiljdes åt gällande förändring i agility eller vädningar (p<0,451-0,972). Slutsats Studien pekar på att frekvensstegen leder inte till några signifikanta ökningar i agility men tyder också på att de inte hämmar utvecklingen. Därmed kan stegarna vara en del av ett träningsprogram för fotbollsspelare för att eventuellt förbättra andra områden av prestation. / Aim The aim is to evaluate agility ladders as a method for soccer players to increase change of direction-skill and agility, as these skills are very important for a player during a game. Specific aims: Will agility ladder training increase the players’ agility? Will training with agility ladders improve the players’ ability to change direction at high speed? Method An experimental and quantitative study model was chosen, collecting results through Test-Retest measurements. A trial group and a control group took part in the study. The trial group consisted of a women’s soccer team, age 18.8±1.9, with 12 participants. The control group consisted of a women’s soccer team, age 17.8±0.8, with 6 participants. The study lasted 7 weeks and on 12 occasions. The players were tested twice in the T-drill, Pro Shuttle and Z-drill.  In week 1 the first tests were conducted. Through the following five weeks the training took place, thirty minutes - two times a week (a total of 9 workouts and 4,5 hours of training). The final tests were conducted during the seventh week. Results   No difference was found between the groups in the T-drill (change of direction), Z-drill or Pro Shuttle (agility). Both groups improved in the T-drill (-0.49 ± 0.448 sec) and the Pro Shuttle (-0.234 ± 0.194 sec) and deteriorated in the Z-drill (0.518 ± 0.393 sec), p <0.000. Analysis of the results, using ANOVA RM, shows that the groups do not differ regarding change in agility (p<0,451-0,972).   Conclusions   The study indicates that the agility ladders do not produce significant increases in agility, but also suggest that they do not hamper development. This allows agility ladders to be part of a training program for soccer players to possibly improve other areas of performance.

My mom sent me a picture after the last competitive game of soccer I will ever play. The picture is slightly blurry, the kind of blurry that results when the camera focuses on the background rather than the subject. You can make out the figure of a five or six year old, a soccer ball under her right arm, with what looks like a bagel firmly gripped in the other. It’s recognizably me in the picture, as my hairstyle hasn’t changed that much since I was six, maybe a little longer and blonder but otherwise the same. I’m pretty sure the T-shirt I’m wearing is from the first soccer team I ever played on. We were called the Golden Eagles, a majestic name for a group of six year olds. There’s a contorted expression on my face. I can only guess the cause. On one hand, the expression might mean I-don’t-want-my-picture-taken, directed at my Dad, who is probably behind the camera. The other possibility, the more likely one, is that I am trying to hold back tears. If someone else were to see the picture they might not see it. But I know that face too well, primarily because it feels as if my entire soccer career were consumed by trying to hold back those tears.

In 2014, Professor Scelles and his colleagues ran a test regarding the determinants of professional soccer team values. This thesis will follow a similar model and estimate the determinants of firm values in professional soccer teams from 2007-2016. It will include Asian ownership, percentage of foreign players and Asian sponsorship as new variables. This paper will also test the determinants on market cap and enterprise value in addition to Forbes’ valuation. The results of this study shows that the new variables have a significant impact depending on the valuation that is being tested on.

Abstract Background: Football is among the world’s most popular sports. It is played all over the world. The sport is an intermittent team sport with demands on technical, tactical, psychological and physical abilities. This study focused on the physical ability and more specifically sprinting and agility. Youth national teams are selected every year from the age of 15 and the Swedish Football Association are funding camps and friendly matches were this selected few youth players are being educated in technique, tactics, psychology and physical training. Due to the selections for the national teams taking place at the age of 15, youth players can be affected on how far they have come in the biological maturation. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare linear speed and non-reactive agility between youth football players selected or not selected for the national team. Method: The study was an observatory cross-sectional study. Twenty-three subjects from an elite club in Sweden were divided into two groups. Eleven subjects had been to a national team gathering (n=11) and twelve players from the same teams had not been invited and was one group (n=12). The subjects performed a linear sprint test and a non-reactive agility test to compare differences between the two groups. The linear sprint test consisted of a 20-meter sprint with split times at 5 and 10 meters. The non-reactive agility test was a zigzag-test over a total of 15 meter. Both tests used timing gates to record time. SPSS was used for the statistical analysis. Results: There was a statistically significantly difference (p<0.050) between the groups in the linear sprint. The national team group ran 6.6% (p=0.003) faster in the 5-meter sprint test, 2.4% (p=0.020) faster in the 5-meter sprint test and 3.4% (p=0.007) faster in the 20-meter sprint test. There were no statistically significant differences (p>0.050) in the non-reactive agility test. Conclusion: This study found a difference in sprinting ability and it could be due to the difference in the maturation phases. The biggest difference was in the shortest distance, indicating that shorter sprints are more important to develop over longer sprints. The non-reactive agility test showed no statistically significant differences. Future studies could investigate speed and agility separate with larger groups of participants and follow them over time to see if the difference in both speed and agility evens out over time, when all participants have gone trough the final stages of maturation.

Title: Verification and optimalization level of load during the soccer small side games Objectives: In this thesis, we discuss the current trend of increasing physical performance in football by specific means, i.e. with a ball, using methodological - organizational forms: small side games. The thesis will include examples of modified small side games that will be used in practice (tested in training sessions). During preparatory games will be monitored (using sporttesters) how are they acting with their load on the body (achieving ANP, SF max, etc.). Then we specify whether these exercises are appropriate for inclusion in the training process and what would be their recommendations for practice (IZ: IO). Methods: Selected (test) group consisted of 11 players aged 18-19 years junior league level. This group attended two training sessions, where they comleted selected preparatory games. In this work it is indirect (mediated) observation, since data were recorded by the devices from which the data was then processed in the result form. For the size of locomotive loads were used Testers' Polar RS800 ". Results: The final section provides information on the effectiveness of selected exercises in relation to fitness abilities of the players. In the evaluation has been found that a very important roles...

Master of Science / Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Todd Easton / Heuristics are often implemented to find better solutions to computationally challenging problems. Heuristics use varying techniques to search for quality solutions. Several optimization heuristics have drawn inspiration from real world practices. Ant colony optimization mimics ants in search of food. Genetic algorithms emulate traits being passed from a parent to a child. Simulated annealing imitates annealing metal. This thesis presents a new variable neighborhood search optimization heuristic, fútbol Strategies applied to Optimize Combinatorial problems to Create Efficient Results, which is called the SOCCER heuristic. This heuristic mimics fútbol and the closest player to the ball performs his neighborhood search and players are assigned different neighborhoods. The SOCCER heuristic is the first application of variable neighborhood search heuristic that uses a complex structure to select neighborhoods. The SOCCER heuristic can be applied to a variety of optimization problems. This research implemented the SOCCER heuristic for job shop scheduling problems. This implementation focused on creating a quality schedule for a local limestone company. A small computational study shows that the SOCCER heuristic can quickly solve complex job shop scheduling problems with most instances finishing in under an half an hour. The optimized schedules reduced the average production time by 7.27%. This is roughly a 2 day decrease in the number of days required to produce a month’s worth of orders. Thus, the SOCCER heuristic is a new optimization tool that can aid companies and researchers find better solutions to complex problems.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Hamstrings muscle injury is the most frequent soccer-related injury in amateur and professional soccer players. Despite various interventions, the risk of hamstrings re-injury remains high. Several scientific studies examined the potential risk factors and their contribution to the occurrence of hamstrings injuries in male soccer players. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between selected physical characteristics, such as time-to-peak torque, hip abduction peak torque, hamstrings-to-quadriceps strength ratio, and hamstrings flexibility and the occurrence of hamstrings injuries in amateur male soccer players. A prospective, quantitative cross-sectional study design was utilized in this study. A total of 89 amateur male soccer players aged 18-35 years were recruited from the Cape Town Football District to perform functional assessments before injury occurred, which included anthropometric measurements, an evaluation of lower extremity isokinetic muscle strength (both knee and hip) and hamstrings flexibility tests. Instruments used to measure the anthropometric data were a calibrated Seca balance beam scale and stadiometer, a skinfold caliper, a sliding caliper, an anthropometer (All Harpenden, UK) and a metal tape measure. The Biodex Pro System 4 isokinetic dynamometer was used to measure lower extremity isokinetic muscle strength and a goniometer to measure hamstrings flexibility. Descriptive statistics included means and standard deviations, and inferential statistics included Pearson product-moment correlation to determine the relationship between selected physical characteristics and the occurrence of hamstrings injuries. Multivariate logistic regression via the forward stepwise method was utilised to predict potential physical characteristics (risk factors) for hamstrings injury in amateur male soccer players. Statistical significance was a p value of below 0.05. The prevalence of hamstrings injury was 4.3 %, with the multivariate logistic regression analysis indicating that time-to-peak torque was a significant predictor of the occurrence of hamstrings injury (OR = 1; p = 0.027). In conclusion, time-to-peak torque was a significant predictor of the occurrence of hamstrings injury. The players with hamstrings injuries produced a significantly slower time-to-peak torque, which has relevance for soccer players and coaches in addressing this common injury at all levels of competition.

A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of arts of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (Research Psychology). / This study sought to investigate the incidence and severity of disruptions of cognitive functioning in children following exposure to soccer play. (Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2019

Training stress in the absence of adequate recovery has been associated with a decrease in well-being and performance. Thus, there is potential for the high training and competition loads that elite English youth football players experience to have a negative effect on wellbeing and performance. The aim of the thesis was to assess the utility of well-being and physical performance assessments in managing the development of elite English youth football players. The first study (Chapter 4) examined the sensitivity of a subjective well-being questionnaire (WQ; developed ‘in-house’ by sport science practitioners at a category two academy and only taking < 30 s to complete), by comparing the player’s next day responses between two acute training bouts of varied duration; 15 mins (low load) compared to 90 mins (high load) high intensity intermittent exercise (Loughborough intermittent shuttle test, LIST). WQ items showed small to large deteriorations following the high load compared to low load (d=0.4-1.5, P=0.03-0.57). The ability of the WQ to differentiate between responses to high and low training loads indicated that this questionnaire could be used to detect training induced stress prior to training on a daily basis throughout the season. Other modes of monitoring assessment evaluated were either not sensitive to differentiate between high and low loads (countermovement jump; CMJ) or detected differences between high and low training load responses (HR indices) but lacked utility in detecting individual changes. The second study (Chapter 5) applied well-being and physical performance assessments to elite English youth football players during a high intensity, low volume pre-season training period. Trivial changes in perception of WQ items of sleep, recovery, appetite, fatigue, stress and muscle soreness were observed across weeks (P=0.35-0.93, 2 P  =0.02-0.08) with no negative WQ responses evident. Internal training load was lower to a large extent in week 1 (P= < 0.001, 2P  =0.54) yet no differences in internal training load were evident across weeks two, three, four and five. Trivial to small associations (r=-0.21 to 0.19) between internal training load and WQ responses were observed. Small to moderate improvements in aerobic performance were evident post training in comparison with pre training (P < 0.001-0.53, d= 0.33 – 0.94) with a large to moderate improvement in submaximal HR measures (P < 0.001 – 0.09; 2 P  = 0.34 - 0.74) observed across the training weeks. Trivial to moderate impairments in neuromuscular performance were evident post training in comparison with pre training (P < 0.001 – 0.21; d=0.17 – 1.00). Collectively, the preservation of well-being prior to each training session during a pre-season period and improvements in aspects of physical performance were indicative of a balance between stress and recovery. The third study (Chapter 6) examined player perceptions of well-being and physical performance across a season in Elite English youth football players. Increases in training exposure (P < 0.05; 2 P  =0.52) and moderate to large deteriorations in perceptions of well-being (motivation, sleep quality, recovery, appetite, fatigue, stress, muscle soreness P < 0.05; 2 P  =0.30-0.53) were evident as the season progressed. A large improvement in Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test performance (Yo-Yo IRT; P < 0.05; 2 P  =0.93) and a small to moderate impairment in neuromuscular performance (P > 0.05; 2 P  =0.18 - 0.48) was observed as the season progressed. These findings show an imbalance between stress and recovery in English elite youth football players even when players experienced lower training exposure than stipulated by the elite player performance plan (EPPP). In summary, this thesis highlights the potential utility of subjective well-being assessments to inform the management English elite youth football player development. Furthermore, it highlights the high training volumes that English elite youth players are exposed can potentially lead to an imbalance between stress and recovery.

Orientador: José Carlos Marques / Banca: Marcos Americo / Banca: Flávio de Campos / Resumo: A presente dissertação analisa as possibilidades comunicacionais da camisa de futebol como parte do processo midiático esportivo. Nos anos 2011, 2012 e 2013 a equipe de futebol Sport Club Corinthians Paulista utilizou constantemente em sua camisa de jogo mensagens com diferentes temáticas, como problemas sociais, catástrofes naturais, logotipos de campanhas, homenagens diversas, entre outras. O uso da camisa como forma de comunicação realizada pelo time transcende a barreira do estético e visual, na medida em que funciona como portadora e distribuidora da informação dentro e fora dos gramados, quando a mensagem é legitimada com a repercussão da mídia, em especial nos seguintes sites esportivos: Globo Esporte, ESPN e Lance Net. Os estudos culturais da terceira geração concentram autores na pesquisa das intenções da mídia, colaboraram para elucidar o processo de construção midiática acerca do fenômeno, desde a criação das mensagens pelo departamento de marketing do time até a aceitação e prolongamento das matérias nos sites esportivos. Para investigar os interesses do clube em produzir as mensagens e da mídia em repercutir o fenômeno foi necessário coletar os releases postados no site oficial do time e construir quadros de análise com as postagens repercutidas nos três sites observados. Para tanto foram utilizados a teoria da notícia, com os estudos de Newsmaking de Mauro Wolf e os conceitos de noticiabilidade de Nelson Traquina. A pesquisa também contou com a técnica de observação e coleta; o uso de método de análise de conteúdo possibilitou quantificar e categorizar as ações, que permitiu posteriormente realizar a triangularização dos dados para compreender as intenções do Corinthians na produção das mensagens e os supostos motivos da mídia em repercuti-las / Abstract: This dissertation analyzes the communicative possibilities of football shhirt as part of the sports media process. In the years 2011, 2012 and 2013, the football team Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, used constantly in thsi shirt messagining game with different themes, from social problems, natural disasters, logos and various NGOs among other honors. The use of the shirt as communication performed by the team transcends the barrier of aesthetic and visual, using his shirt as a carrier and distributor of information within and off the pitch, when the message is legitimized with the impact of the media, especially in sites sports: Globe sports, ESPN and Lance Net. Cultural studies of the third generation, the authours focus on the research of the intentions of the media, helped to elucidate the process of building media about media phenomenon, since the creation of the message by the marketing department of the team until the acceptance and continuation of materials in sports websites. To investigate the interests of the team in producing the messages and media pass on the phenomenon, it was necessary to collect the releases posted on the official website of the team an build bulletin analyzes the posts passed on 3 sites observed, were used for both studies newsmaking Mauro Wolf and the concepts of newsworthiness Nelson Teasing. The survey also included the technique of observation and collection, using the method of content analysis allowed to quantify and categorize the actions that allowed later perform the triangluation of data to understand the intentions of the Corinthians in the production of messages and the alleged reasons for media reflect them / Mestre