Optimising Instrumented Mouthguard Data Analysis: Video Synchronisation Using a Cross-correlation Approach.

Purpose: Head acceleration events (HAEs) are a growing concern in contact sports, prompting two rugby governing bodies to mandate instrumented mouthguards (iMGs). This has resulted in an influx of data imposing financial and time constraints. This study presents two computational methods that leverage a dataset of video-coded match events: cross-correlation synchronisation aligns iMG data to a video recording, by providing playback timestamps for each HAE, enabling analysts to locate them in video footage; and post-synchronisation event matching identifies the coded match event (e.

'Mind your head', tackle characteristics associated with concussions in rugby league: A case-control study.

Objectives: Identify tackle characteristics associated with concussions in male professional rugby league.

Design: Case-control study.

Methods: Tackles resulting in 196 clinically diagnosed concussions and 6592 non-concussive tackles were analysed, from the men's rugby league Super League between 2018 and 2022.

Contact load practices and perceptions in elite English rugby league: an evaluation to inform contact load guidelines.

Background: Athlete exposure to contact could be a risk factor for injury. Governing bodies should provide guidelines preventing overexposure to contact.

Objectives: Describe the current contact load practices and perceptions of contact load requirements within men's and women's rugby league to allow the Rugby Football League (RFL) to develop contact load guidelines.

The Development of Fast, Fit, and Fatigue Resistant Youth Field and Court Sport Athletes: A Narrative Review.

Humans are fascinated by the bipedal locomotor capacities at both ends of the athletic spectrum-sprinting speed and endurance. Some of the more popular field (eg, soccer, rugby, and lacrosse) and court (eg, basketball, tennis, and netball) sports utilize mixed energy systems requiring an interplay of both maximal sprinting speed (MSS) and maximal aerobic speed (MAS) to meet the high-intensity running demands of varying frequency, duration, intensity, and recovery. Recently, these locomotor capacities have been considered in combination to produce what is called the anaerobic speed reserve (ASR) as part of the locomotor profile concept (MSS, MAS, and ASR).

Motor Competence, Physical Fitness, Psychosocial, and Physical Activity Characteristics in 9- to 14-Year-Olds: Sex Differences and Age and Maturity Considerations.

Sex, chronological age, and maturity potentially impact multidimensional health-related characteristics (i.e. motor competence, physical fitness, psychosocial, physical activity), which adds to the challenges of reversing current youth health-related concerns.

Non-reporting of sport-related concussion symptoms: a cross-sectional study of community rugby league players in the UK.

Unlabelled: Recognising and removing players with suspected sport-related concussions is crucial for community sports.

Objectives: Quantify rates and factors associated with non-reporting of concussion symptoms in community rugby league.

Methods: Overall, 484 community rugby league players aged ≥18 years and 965 parents of rugby league players aged <18 years completed an online survey, regarding concussion history, knowledge, prevalence and reasons for non-reporting of concussion, long-term implications and perceptions of concussion.

Time to level the playing field between men and women - Given similar injury incidence: A two-season analysis of match injuries in elite men and women's (Super League) rugby league.

Objectives: To compare match injury incidence, severity and burden in men's and women's elite rugby league.

Design: A prospective cohort epidemiological study.

Methods: Time loss match injury data were collected from all men's (11,301 exposure hours) and women's (5,244 exposure hours) Super League clubs.

Training injuries in elite men's senior and academy (Super League) rugby league; an analysis of 224,000 exposure-hours.

Objectives: Report two-years of training injury data in senior and academy professional rugby league.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Match and training time-loss injuries and exposure data were recorded from two-seasons of the European Super League competition.

A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Case Study Investigation of the Academic, Athletic, Psychosocial and Psychological Impacts of Being a Sport School Student Athlete.

Background: Sport schools are popular environments for simultaneously delivering education and sport to young people. Previous research suggests sport school involvement to have impact (i.e.

When to Pull the Trigger: Conceptual Considerations for Approximating Head Acceleration Events Using Instrumented Mouthguards.

Head acceleration events (HAEs) are acceleration responses of the head following external short-duration collisions. The potential risk of brain injury from a single high-magnitude HAE or repeated occurrences makes them a significant concern in sport. Instrumented mouthguards (iMGs) can approximate HAEs.

A Novel Case Study Approach to the Investigation of Leg Strength Asymmetry and Rugby League Player's Multidirectional Speed.

Helme, M, Emmonds, S, Low, C, and Till, K. A novel case study approach to the investigation of leg strength asymmetry and Rugby League player's multidirectional speed. J Strength Cond Res 38(5): 941-947, 2024-Leg strength and multidirectional speed qualities have repeatedly been linked with increased performance during Rugby League (RL) match play and associated with career attainment.

The development of physical characteristics in adolescent team sport athletes: A systematic review.

Background: Physical development during adolescence is crucial for athletes in team sports, as it prepares them for the high sport demands at the senior level. While physical development in non-athletes are well-documented, a comprehensive understanding of adolescent athletes' development, including the potential effects of team sports participation and training load, is lacking.

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the development of physical characteristics in team sport athletes during adolescence (12-20 years) and explore the impact of training load.

What is it like to be a sport school student-athlete? A mixed method evaluation of holistic impacts and experiences.

Assessing the holistic impact of student-athletes within sport schools is important due to the increasing popularity of sport school programmes, the likelihood that most youth athletes do not ultimately succeed in their sport and the multiple and wide ranging positive and negative impacts associated with intensified youth sport. Therefore, this study, using a mixed method design, aimed to evaluate the 'in-time' holistic impacts and experiences of being a sport school student-athlete. Five data collection methods (i.

Talent identification and development in an English Premiership rugby union club: the perspectives of players and coaches.

The pathway towards senior professional status in sport is affected by a multitude of factors. An abductive examination of the talent identification and development processes at an English Premiership rugby union (RU) club was undertaken for the present study. examined the perspectives on the selection and development processes of senior academy male players (= 8), whereas explored the perceptions of male coaches (= 7).

Influence of match status and possession status on the physical and technical characteristics of elite youth female soccer match-play.

This study compared the influence of match status (drawing, losing, or winning) and possession status (in-possession, out-of-possession, or ball-out-of-play) on the physical and technical characteristics of U14 and U16 elite youth female soccer match-play. Data were collected from 189 female academy players during 45 competitive matches, resulting in 387 match observations. Linear mixed models estimated relative; total distance, high-speed running (≥3.

I won't let you down; why 20% of Men's and Women's Super League players underreported suspected concussions.

Objectives: Quantify and identify factors associated with concussion underreporting in Super League rugby league players.

Design: Cross sectional survey.

Methods: During the 2022 season preseason, 422 Men's and Women's Super League players completed an online survey quantifying player demographics, rugby playing history, concussion history, prevalence of, and reasons for underreporting concussion, concussion knowledge and long-term implications and perceptions of concussion.

Incidence of concussion in men's Super League, Championship, and Academy rugby league matches between 2016 and 2022.

Objectives: To quantify the incidence of concussion and compare between playing levels in male rugby league.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Methods: Between 2016 and 2022, medically diagnosed concussions in Super League, Championship, and Academy competitions were reported to the Rugby Football League via club medical staff.

Associations Between Motor Competence and Physical Activity, Physical Fitness and Psychosocial Characteristics in Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Motor competence is an integral component of the health and performance of youth. Numerous studies support the hypothesis that motor competence interacts with perceived motor competence and physical fitness during childhood to induce positive (e.g.

Methods of Monitoring Internal and External Loads and Their Relationships with Physical Qualities, Injury, or Illness in Adolescent Athletes: A Systematic Review and Best-Evidence Synthesis.

Background: With the increasing professionalisation of youth sports, training load monitoring is increasingly common in adolescent athletes. However, the research examining the relationship between training load and changes in physical qualities, injury, or illness in adolescent athletes is yet to be synthesised in a systematic review.

Objective: The aim of this review was to systematically examine the research assessing internal and external methods of monitoring training load and physical qualities, injury, or illness in adolescent athletes.

Right and left liver lobe biopsies by minilaparoscopy reveal clinically significant sampling error in staging and grading of autoimmune hepatitis.

Backgrounds/aims: Liver diseases may affect the liver heterogeneously, especially in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Hence, the aim of this study was to assess the added benefit of double biopsy of both liver lobes during minilaparoscopy in guiding treatment decisions in patients with AIH.

Methods: We identified all patients with AIH or variant syndromes (AIH/PBC and AIH/PSC) at our center, who underwent a double biopsy of both liver lobes via minilaparoscopy between 01/2016 and 12/2020.

Roles of PI3Kγ and PI3Kδ in mantle cell lymphoma proliferation and migration contributing to efficacy of the PI3Kγ/δ inhibitor duvelisib.

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma that is incurable with existing therapies, and therefore presents a significant unmet clinical need. The ability of this disease to overcome therapy, including those that target the B cell receptor pathway which has a pathogenic role in MCL, highlights the need to develop new treatment strategies. Herein, we demonstrate that a distinguishing feature of lymph node resident MCL cells is the expression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase γ (PI3Kγ), a PI3K isoform that is not highly expressed in other B cells or B-cell malignancies.

A global perspective on collision and non-collision match characteristics in male rugby union: Comparisons by age and playing standard.

This study quantified and compared the collision and non-collision match characteristics across age categories (i.e. U12, U14, U16, U18, Senior) for both amateur and elite playing standards from Tier 1 rugby union nations (i.

Examining European Talent Development Environments: Athlete, Parent and Coach Perceptions.

Talent Development Environments (TDEs) aim to provide the appropriate conditions for youth athletes to realise their full sporting potential. How TDEs are designed and operated is therefore of great importance for the development of elite athletes. Stakeholders are vital in this process, yet their perspectives are poorly understood.

Youth Sport Participation Trends Across Europe: Implications for Policy and Practice.

Despite the known health and wellbeing benefits of taking part in sport for children and adolescents, it is reported that sports participation declines during adolescence. The purpose of this study was to explore current organized youth sport participation rates across Europe for both males and females and update current understanding. Sport participation registration data was collected for 18 sports from 27 countries.

Determining age-specific velocity thresholds for elite youth female soccer players.

This study aimed to establish age-specific velocity thresholds for Under (U)14 and U16 elite youth female soccer players. Data was collected using 10 Hz GPS units during 50 matches from 187 players (U14 n = 89; U16 n = 98). Spectral clustering identified velocity thresholds for high-speed running (HSR), very high-speed running (VHSR), and sprinting (SPR), for 699 half-match observations (U14 n = 369; U16 n = 330).