Examining the Relationship Between Sprint and Endurance Performances, Distances Covered During the Season, Positional Roles, and Success in Women's Football Players

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the distances covered by female football players during the season and their sprint and endurance performances, as well as to compare the findings based on match success outcomes and player positions.The study included 10 female football players aged 18–36 (24.5±6.47) competing in the 2021-2022 Women's Football Super League. The performances of the same 10 players, who participated in five matches during the first half of the season, were evaluated. The study measured players' height, weight, IFT (30-15) test results, 0-10 m and 0-40 m sprint tests, and GPS match data. The collected data were analyzed using the statistical software package JAMOVI (The Jamovi Project, 2022; R Core Team, 2021), and mean, percentage, minimum, maximum, and standard deviation values were determined. Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk normality tests were applied, and Independent Sample t-tests were used for comparisons of normally distributed data at a significance level of p<0.05. The Pearson correlation test was used to check the relationships between variables.A significant difference was found in the total distance covered between winning matches (8808.25 ± 834.64 m) and drawn matches (7923.25 ± 883.57 m) at p<0.05. No significant relationship was observed between players’ match performances (high-intensity running, sprinting, total distance covered, and acceleration) and performance test results.When the in-season performances of female football players were examined, it was observed that sprint distance, acceleration count, and total distance covered in winning matches were lower on average compared to drawn matches. It was concluded that increasing sprint distances during matches enhances the likelihood of winning. However, no relationship was found between players' performance test results and the distances covered during matches.