The hydration status of young female elite soccer players during an official tournament.
BACKGROUND
The hydration status of elite female soccer players is a concern, especially during high-volume training periods or tournaments. Furthermore, scientific literature on this topic is scarce to non-existent. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to evaluate the hydration status in elite youth female soccer players during an official tournament. The secondary aim was to identify a possible relationship between pre-training hydration status and fluid intake.


METHODS
Eighteen players were followed during eight consecutive days. Urine specific gravity was used to assess hydration status. Body weight was monitored before and after every training and match, whilst individual fluid intake was only registered during training. The players were informed about their hydration status on day 5.


RESULTS
On days 1 to 4, the percentage of players who were at least minimally hypohydrated ranged between 44% and 78%. On day 5 (rest day), all the players were at least minimally hypohydrated. After the information session on day 5, the relative number of euhydrated players increased to 89% on both day 6 (training day) and day 7 (match day). On the final day (rest day), all players were either minimally hypohydrated or hypohydrated. Furthermore, a moderate and significant negative correlation (r=-0.44; N.=54; P=0.01) was found between fluid intake during and USG value before the training sessions.


CONCLUSIONS
The data illustrates that the hydration status of this population of elite youth female soccer players may be suboptimal and is of substantial concern on rest days during this tournament under temperate conditions. Receiving personal advice about rehydration seems to have a positive effect.
Department of Human Biometrics and Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium - laurent_chapelle@outlook.com.
Laurent
L
Chapelle
Department of Human Biometrics and Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
Bruno
B
Tassignon
Department of Human Biometrics and Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.|Erasmus University College, Brussels, Belgium.
Dirk
D
Aerenhouts
Department of Human Biometrics and Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.|Erasmus University College, Brussels, Belgium.
Patrick
P
Mullie
Department of Human Biometrics and Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.|Erasmus University College, Brussels, Belgium.
Peter
P
Clarys
D000293:Adolescent; D001835:Body Weight; D003681:Dehydration / Q000652:urine*; D004326:Drinking / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012146:Rest; D012916:Soccer / Q000502:physiology*