905 MEP039 – Safeguarding players’ futures on the pitch: video analysis examining youth soccer warm-ups

AbstractBackground Injury risk in youth soccer has been shown to vary between sex, session type and level of play. Neuromuscular training (NMT) warm-up programs are effective for injury prevention in youth soccer. Objectives To describe current warm-up practices in youth soccer. Design Cross-sectional video-analysis study.Setting Youth elite and non-elite soccer, Canada.Participants A convenience sample of U13-U18 Tier 1–3 youth soccer teams (N=22 teams) from six clubs in Canada during the 2022 (20-weeks) outdoor season.Interventions Ten warm-ups were filmed for each team (one practice and one game) at five timepoints across the season. Main Outcome Time spent performing each NMT component (aerobic, balance, strength, agility, head-on-neck control) was analyzed. Coaches' knowledge of NMT warm-up programs was also collected.Results Total mean time spent in warm-ups (84 games; 87 practices) was 322.4 seconds (s) (95%CI;250.3–394.5), or 5:37 minutes. Total mean time spent in NMT components was 202.2s (95%CI;150.3–254.2), or 3.37 minutes, with substantial time spent in aerobic (156.9s,95%CI;137.3–176.6). Less than one minute total was spent across other NMT components including balance (7.5s,95%CI;0–27.2), strength (28.8s,95%CI;9.1–48.4), and agility (9.1s,95%CI;0–28.7). No head-on-neck control exercise components were observed. Female elite teams spent 335.8s (95%CI;257.8–413.8) less than elite males in practices. There were no differences in game warm-ups or among non-elite groups. Among responding coaches (n=13), 38.5% knew about NMT warm-up programs, while only three (23.1%) reported using NMT warm-up programs with their teams. Teams reporting NMT use spent 26.4s (95%CI;-51.4–104.3) more in NMT components in practices and 12.5s (95%CI;-90.3–65.3) less in NMT components during games compared to those not reporting NMT use.Conclusion Time spent in core NMT components (balance, agility, strength), aside from aerobic, is limited. Head-on-neck control is a new component of NMT that requires further implementation and evaluation. Implementation strategies to increase engagement in all NMT components are essential.