Heart rate and movement pattern in street soccer for homeless women

Street soccer has been shown to be effective in improving cardiovascular and musculoskeletal fitness in homeless men, due to high heart rate (HR) and multiple intense actions. The purpose of this study was to investigate HR, movement pattern, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), flow and worry during street soccer for homeless women. Fifteen homeless women (30.3 ± 5.0 years [± standard deviation, SD], 1.65 ± 0.08 m, 65.1 ± 11.0 kg, 5 ± 4 years football experience) from three countries participated in 4‑a-side street soccer games in Women’s Homeless World Cup 2015. Mean and peak HR were 174 ± 7 and 188 ± 10 beats per minute (bpm), respectively, and >160 bpm 76 ± 23% of the playing time (11.1 ± 2.6 min). Distance covered per minute was 68.6 ± 8.9 m of which 82 ± 14, 15 ± 6 and 3 ± 3% were covered with low- (0–9 km/h), moderate- (9–13 km/h) and high-speed (>13 km/h) running, respectively. The 43 ± 5, 45 ± 3 and 12 ± 3% of the distance were covered running forward, sideways, and backward, respectively. Player Load was 9.2 ± 1.7 arbitrary units (AU) per minute and the number of accelerations >1.5 ms–2 was 15.3 ± 2.7 per minute. The score for flow was high (5.5 ± 0.8), whereas rating of perceived exertion (RPE) values (4.8 ± 2.5) and the score for worry (4.6 ± 1.3) were moderate. Street soccer for homeless women elicits high HR and a movement pattern comparable and for some parameters even higher than street soccer and recreational football for homeless and untrained men. Street soccer may be a suitable training intervention for homeless women, and especially moderate RPE and high flow score speaks in favour of an expectation of high participation and adherence.