Injuries in Japanese Collegiate Women’s Soccer Players during Games and Practices

Objective: Despite the increase in soccer injuries as the population of women’s soccer grows, few sports injury studies of women’s soccer have been conducted in Japan. The purpose was to prospectively examine the incidence, sites, types, and situations of injuries in Japanese collegiate women’s soccer players during games and practices for three seasons. Methods: Eighty-nine players participated in this study. Data on all game and practice injuries were collected using an injury sheet. Injury Rates (IRs) were calculated by month, position, injury site, injury type, and injury situation. Results: The overall IR (3.20/1000 Athlete-Hours AHs]) was low, and the game IR (6.58/1000 AHs) per was 4.11 times higher than the practice IR (1.60/1000 AHs) (p<0.05). The game IR was highest in March (1.35/1000 AHs) of the preseason, with that in May (1.06/1000 AHs) and October (0.58/1000 AHs) of the inseason being higher than the practice IRs (p<0.05). The midfielders (game IR: 3.19/1000 AHs, practice IR: 0.73/1000 AHs) were most injured during games and practices. Lower limb injuries (game IR: 4.93/1000 AHs, practice IR: 1.23/1000 AHs) were highest during games and practices, with sprains (3.87/1000 AHs) and contusions (1.16/1000 AHs) more common during games. The rate of injuries caused by body contact (game IR: 4.06/1000 AHs, practice IR: 0.73/1000 AHs) was highest during games and practices. Conclusion: The game IR was higher than the practice IR. A future task is to reduce the game IRs in the pre-season and the early and late in-seasons