ABSTRACT
Soccer is one of the world’s most popular sports and is played across all seven continents, resulting in highly variable environmental conditions across competitions. In this chapter, the authors examine the influence of high external temperatures on different components of soccer performance. Performance in soccer tends to be divided into tactical aspects and physical elements, with power, speed, and endurance being instrumental to success. Performance in team sport is dictated by the ability to produce skilful actions consistently across a prolonged period, whilst under significant physical stress. Due to the hormonal changes that occur during the menstrual cycle and with oral contraceptive use, deep body temperature fluctuates across an approximately monthly cycle. Young players thermoregulate differently to their adult counterparts, having lower sweat rates and are therefore less able to use evaporative heat loss, however, they have an increased skin blood flow and a higher surface area to mass ratio.
