External and Internal Load of International Matches According to Age Categories and Positions: A Case of Women's National Team

Objective: To evaluate and compare the external and internal load of international matches between age categories and playing positions in a women's national team. Methods: 40 players from 3 age categories of the Chilean national teams. 14 players belonged to the U-17, 14 to the U-20 and 12 to the Senior National Team. The players were categorized according to the following playing positions: full-back (FB), central defender (CD), midfielders (MF), wide attacker (WA) and Striker (ST). The following variables were recorded: total distance (TD); distance in high-speed running >18 km/h (HSR); number of sprints at >18 km/h (NS); maximum velocity (MV), player load (PL) and rate of perceived effort (RPE). All variables were normalized by time except MV. An ANOVA two way was performed to make the comparison. Results: Medium differences were found in NS (p<0.01 and η²p=0.10) and large differences in MV (p<0.01 and η²p=0.17) and in RPE (p<0.01 and η²p=0.19). There were large interaction effects (p<0.05 and η²p>0.15) in TD, HSR, PL, and MV. There were large differences in all variables of external load according to playing position (p<0.01 and η²p>0.15). Conclusion: There are differences in external load based on age categories, playing positions and the interaction between both factors. The results can help coaching staff to program and monitor training microcycles according to the factors analyzed.