Season-long match external loads in starters vs. non-starters in Brazilian professional women’s soccer

Abstract

This study aimed to compare match external loads between starters and non-starters in Brazilian professional women’s soccer. Methods: In this prospective cohort, seventy outfield players (60.93 ± 6.10 kg; 166.39 ± 6.17 cm) from three teams competing in Brazil’s top division (Série A1) were monitored during one competitive season using 10-Hz GNSS across all official matches and classified as starters ( n = 31) or non-starters ( n = 39) according to match line-ups. Results: Starters covered greater total distance per minute than non-starters (85.95 ± 15.13 vs. 63.69 ± 28.45 m/min; p < 0.001) and greater total distance per match than non-starters (9.52 ± 1.30 vs. 4.03 ± 2.01 km; p < 0.001), with greater distance covered per match at ≤ 7 km/h (4.20 ± 0.92 vs. 2.06 ± 0.85 km; p < 0.001), 7–13 km/h (3.28 ± 0.47 vs. 1.16 ± 0.77 km; p < 0.001), 13–19 km/h (1.58 ± 0.34 vs. 0.62 ± 0.49 km; p < 0.001), 19–23 km/h (0.32 ± 0.11 vs. 0.16 ± 0.11 km; p < 0.001) and > 23 km/h (0.11 ± 0.07 vs. 0.05 ± 0.06 km; p < 0.001), and attained higher maximum speed (26.69 ± 1.43 vs. 24.83 ± 2.40 km/h; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Starters experienced consistently greater match external loads than non-starters across all speed zones and peak speed, suggesting that tailored top-up sessions for non-starters may help reduce load discrepancies. However, the observational design and single-division sample warrant cautious generalisation and confirmation in other contexts.