ALW Squad Speculation 24/25

The Cove
143

Would that not just be an offseason loan?

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144

Yup. A fair chunk of ALW players have an off season NPL team

145

Yeah, Iā€™d say most donā€™t earn enough to just live off their A-League deal.

146
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147

FFS, these training camps seem to cause a whole lot of carnage.

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148

That is devastating.

I guess the injury couldā€™ve happened anywhere but what the fuck is the purpose of this training camp? Seeing serious injuries from this kind of thing makes me angry.

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149

Fuck this shit

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150

There have been a few articles about this is the last few years, but something like up to 6x more likely than men to get ACL injuries. Crazy.

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151

Hip physiology and leg insertion.

Next.

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152

Stop women playing football immediately

153

Thereā€™s a lot more to the story even if thatā€™s fundamentally true.

So much of our ideas of training for youth football is geared around male physiology. Young women often donā€™t want to start weight training out of fears it will make them look more masculine, because men arenā€™t ā€œsupposedā€ to begin weight training until theyā€™ve reached their full height, even though they have usually finished growing from a younger age and thus should paradoxically be beginning weight training earlier, if at a lower intensity.

That plus there being almost no professional or even semi-pro academies worldwide meaning young pro women often literally donā€™t have the time young pro men do between study and work commitments and training to add weight training to their regime.

154

The men will need to try a lot harder if they are going to catch up with the benchmark the women have set.

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155

Iā€™d say the lack of youth academies for women to slowly work their way up to a ā€œprofessionalā€ stage is the really really telling one. Slowly developing and stepping up each year to a slightly higher level would be definitely assisting your body get used to each harder stage. Jumping straight into professional football, playing against people that have been playing for over a decade is never going to be simple or easy, especially on the body.

I donā€™t 100% agree on the strength training etc. as thereā€™s an entire NRL league thatā€™s fully staffed by women that could probably snap me in half. There may just be a smaller focus on this when it comes to female soccer players? I dare say physiology also definitely takes a big proportion of it and throw in a lack of research. Im assuming ACLs in men have been studied to death and Sports Scientists have developed training regimes to minimise the impact. Different requirements for women may not have been developed? (not sure if im talking out of my arse on that last one)

156

Straight from Northwestern Medicine:

  • Anatomy: Women generally have wider hips compared to men and are often more knocked-kneed, which means their knees tend to tilt inward. This alignment alters the knee joint, increasing the risk of ACL injuries during movements such as jumping, pivoting and landing. The ACL tissue is also typically thinner in women, so it takes a less force to tear.
  • Biomechanics: When women land, itā€™s usually in an upright posture, resulting in straighter knees and less core engagement. This is different from men who usually land with bent knees and with more core engagement.
  • Hormones: Research shows that the elasticity of collagen in the knee is impacted throughout different stages in the menstrual cycle, resulting in a higher risk of ACL injury.
157

We have NPL youth academies. The girls train just as hard as the boys. In fact, until you get to the senior teams a lot of the girls will play in boyā€™s teams. Physiology is the main driver of female ACL injuries but I very much doubt that itā€™s through lack of work up to professional levels.

158

I was talking to my physio just yesterday about sports science, sport specific training and injury reduction and he said its all basically a bit of a guessing game.

159

We do?

As best as I can tell, we have a ā€œFemale Training Programā€ that trains once a week in Macquarie or in Sunderland for U13s, and one ā€œFemale Development Squadā€ for 14-16s to train with the ALW side?

We donā€™t have teams playing in NPL or in the Youth Leagues like the boys.

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160

SAP, NLY and NPL are all pathways to ALW.

Sorry, by ā€œweā€ I wasnā€™t specifically referring to Sydney FC.

161

Would you describe womenā€™s SAP or NPL clubs as pro? Or semi pro? How much are women paid to play in them compared to the equivalent level for men? Do men have to wait tables or sell shoes whilst they are in academies?

162

SAP is the skills acquisition program for kids, both boys and girls. Quite a few girls play in the boys SAP. It ranges from u10 to u13. Then you hit youth league from u14, 15, 16, 18. Up to that stage kids are training three times/week in the top clubs and doing the extras that are expected which might involve anything from drills in the back yard to compulsory private coaching. Thatā€™s your pathway and the parents of the kid pay for the privilege. Other than the physical differences between boys and girls, in my experience, there wasnā€™t much difference in the training levels. And I made my kid wait tables in the holidays anyway.

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