The Hydration Status of Female Collegiate Soccer Players Over Consecutive Training and Match Days

Purpose: Hydration has been shown to play a pivotal role in sport. Soccer is a team sport in which the integrity of all players is vital for team performance; thus, individual player hydration status is important. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the hydration status of female collegiate soccer players during regular season. Methods: Sixteen collegiate female soccer players (age: 20.4 +/- 0.8 years; height: 163.6 +/- 6.9 cm; weight: 65.3 +/- 12 kg) provided urine over 9 days to monitor their hydration status. Hydration was determined by urine specific gravity (U-sg). U-sg was analyzed in the morning (AM) and in the afternoon before practice/game (PM). Results: All 16 players were at least minimally hypohydrated (U-sg > 1.010) in the AM on 5 of the 9 days tested. Players had significantly higher U-sg values in the AM as compared to PM (F(1,250) = 23.09; . < 0.0001); however, there was no significant time*day interaction (F(1,250) = 1.98; . = 0.16). Conclusion: Data show a high prevalence of hypohydration occurring in this specific population. This sub-optimal hydration status could be a cause for concern in terms of overall performance. Efforts should be made to integrate hydration interventions and daily monitoring to minimize hypohydration in players.\