Seasonal Variation in Sport Performance Variables for Varsity Male Hockey Players.

Hockey is a sport that is described as intermittent. Players need to remain fit and ready for the sport’s demands that are constantly changing as the expectations increase. Currently, we have testing protocols in place to analyze the athletes on the team at an individual level, however we lacked the knowledge on how the athletes react to those testing protocols throughout the season. We tested the athletes during their pre-season in a similar way as previously done, with the same testing methods such as pullups, Bench press, squats, 300m shuttles, flying 10m sprints, broad jumps and BODPOD testing to measure %BF. We performed the same tests again in the middle of the season with the same standardized procedures and then using repeated measures ANOVA compared the results of their tests from the pre-season to the midseason. While we currently do not have the post-season tests, the current tests have shown that there is a significant decline in performance in terms of aerobic endurance. These results will help our current ISTs to modify the training schedules to better fit the needs of the players, so that instead of seeing one player as the problem, it shows that the entire system of exercises needs improvement, specifically adding the conditioning aspect. With that the aim is to improve the team as a whole by addressing the issue as a collective issue rather than individual.