ABSTRACT
Soccer research, like the game itself, still appears to be male dominated. In the U.K. participation rates amongst females has grown considerably in recent years. In 1980 the Women's Football Association had 188 registered female clubs and this figure had, by early 1991, grown to 321 registered clubs, representing in excess of 5,000 registered female players. The soccer literature, however, does not mirror this increase in popularity of the female game. This study aimed to extend research by MacLaren et al. (1988), which looked at the physiological strain placed upon male players in smallsided soccer, to the female game. The purpose was to observe the demands placed on novice female soccer whilst playing small-sided soccer.
