Performance tracking in female youth soccer through wearables and subjective assessments

This study investigates performance development and the relationship between subjective and objective training assessments in female youth soccer using wearable sensor technology. The aim of this study was to assess how subjective post-training ratings (intensity and happiness) relate to high-percentile performance outputs, and to identify longitudinal trends in female youth soccer players using IMU-based wearable data. Data were collected over a 14-month period from 46 players (U17 and U20 teams) equipped with foot-mounted inertial measurement units (IMUs) during regular training sessions. Objective performance metrics, including 95th percentile of ball speed, peak speed, and absolute distance, were derived using a multi-stage machine learning pipeline, while subjective metrics (intensity and happiness) were collected via post-session Likert-scale questionnaires using an app. Using the modified Mann-Kendall test, we found 30 significant longitudinal trends, with 14 positive and 16 negative trends across key performance metrics. Peak speed showed the highest number of trends (13), followed by absolute distance (10) and ball speed (7). Correlation analyses based on the Spearman coefficient (with False Discovery Rate correction) revealed meaningful associations between subjective self-assessments and high-percentile performance metrics, with notable differences across player positions and age groups. A robustness check confirmed these patterns also hold when analyzing the 99th percentile of performance outputs. Our findings underscore the value of combining wearable sensor data with subjective evaluations for individualized, role-specific performance monitoring and training optimization in youth soccer. However, as an exploratory study with a single cohort, findings require further validation in broader populations.