Hansen AP Research Project
Road To Research
Process
The numbers of female soccer players tearing their ACL is alarming and begins at the youth level. I know many players personally who have torn their ACL in the past two years and are out for over a year. It completely changes the outcome of an athlete's year since the injury takes out the athlete for at least half a year, sometimes up to two years. I researched and learned about all the variables that may impact the athletes' chances of tearing their ACL and their significance. At first, I was looking at the connection between the type of cleat worn and the surface of ground played on when the injury took place. But then, I wanted to observe the relationship between all of the variables I found and their impact to determine any next steps for the future generation.
Janine Becky, a well-known name in the women's professional soccer world demands help in conducting research due to the unknown rise in ACL tears of the women's game. Becky thinks that if the same issue was occurring on the men's side, it would have already been figured out by now (Ewing). So far, the only research that has begun is in Europe, more specifically, the Women's Super League. "Project ACL", a brand new study that began this year is the first actions taken to figure out this phenomenon (Harpur). The research is very similar to my study; however, these analysts will be granted more resources as they have compliance with all the clubs in the WSL that allows them to access more variables to study.
There has been no discussion whatsoever about the NWSL or explanation as to why no research is being considered for any women’s professional league in the United States. The gap I will be tackling lies within the NWSL, as no one has done this type of research on the clubs within this league before.
Development
A study conducted by the ONS Foundation, dealing with cleat stud type, mainly focusing on lacrosse players who have torn their ACL is what initially generated my interest in the type of research I am conducting. They reviewed 256 female athletes: 128 female soccer and lacrosse athletes who had torn their ACLs and 128 age and sport matched athletes who had never torn their ACL. The variables they measured include: Sports, level of competition, mechanism of injury, type of shoe, type of stud in shoe, and playing surface were identified (Cleats are a risk factor for ACL tears in female lacrosse and soccer players - ONSF). I then began to find more studies that analyzed individual variables which led to my research of comparing all the variables to one another.
An article in the Washington Post emphasizes how ACL tears are a multifactorial issue. I was able to understand how this problem has anatomical, environmental, hormonal, and biomechanics layers that all may affect the risk factors for non-contact ACL injuries. This recent flood of professionals tearing their ACL, is not an anomaly but instead proof that this issue has many sides which requires a multifactorial solution (Brockway).
​"Project ACL", a research study that is performing very similar research methods to my study is what confirmed my interest in this type of research. While "Project ACL" plans to conduct research on many of the same variables that I am with the same resources, I am analyzing the players from within the NWSL, located in the United States, while "Project ACL" plans to take their data from player in the WSL, located in the United Kingdom. This project confirmed my interest since I already had the idea and came across "Project ACL" afterwards which ultimately helped establish that I was on the right track since others had relatable ideas. It also helped me feel more confident that my research was going to produce reliable results that could truly help people.
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Methodology
In April of 2024, FIFPRO released a statement regarding the female professional soccer player epidemic and how FIFPRO, the Professional Footballers Association, Nike and Leeds Beckett University are launching “Project ACL”. They have the goal to “better understand their current working environment, identify best practice and provide solutions” in order to reduce ACL injuries. This is taking place specifically within the Women's Super League (WSL). They plan to review existing academic research that is related to professional women’s football, ACL injuries and existing injury reduction programs. Project ACL plans to grow the understanding around necessary resources and increase access to facilities, define clear strategies in order to support clubs and players, and implement the best practices for player success. They are using the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring Tool to help carry out real-time tracking of the major appearances, travel and workload of WSL players over the course of three years (Professional Footballers Association, & Leeds Beckett University). Other studies I have found only focus on one specific variable to assess the impact on an athletes chances of tearing their ACL. Looking at these studies helped me widen my range of characteristics to measure.
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I plan to do a simple google search of each NWSL team who had any players who tore their ACL, searching every year, dating back to when the league began in 2012. I have found that the normal databases with athlete information continue to update the most recent information so it has been difficult to find substantial data from NWSL injury reports. Performing a google search each year for each NWSL team has proven more effective as there are news articles of a player if they had the unfortunate fate of tearing their ACL and significant information on the event. I plan to use FIFPRO’s method of using a player monitoring tool for part of my research. After identifying players, I can go to the FBREF, an European "football" statistics and history easy to use website that has information on a player, team, and league stats. While using a database could work, it seems to be more time consuming as a regular google search helps find specific players and their names, the date, and NWSL team they played for much faster which is where I could then narrow down my search and find more specific information on that player (Fb Ref).
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Professional women soccer players are constantly trying to grow their social media platforms and connect to the fans on a personal level. Players post pictures at practice, games, and the behind the scenes of their everyday life on social media, especially Instagram. Finding the brand of soccer cleat and the date or the time of the year that the injury occurred is where I am planning to use mostly Instagram. If a player tears their ACL in practice, very little information is released that elaborates on what occurred so it would be very helpful to see what cleat brand and stud type the athletes were wearing when the injury occurred. Most of the time, players wear the same cleats for a few months and since NWSL players are constantly posting pictures of them playing in games and practices, the information should be relatively simple to find. The struggle would involve how far back I can find this information from social media since social media platforms were not as common just a few years ago. So, instead of being able to date back all the way to 2012 which is when the league started, I may only be able to go back six or so years.
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I have a list of factors that I plan to analyze and compare to each other in order to answer my research question. My measurable variables include: Weather (field conditions), date (time period to analyze the impact of fatigue levels, possible overload or linkage to long time off and short pre-season right into intense play), Brand of soccer cleat, Type of cleat stud (AG=Artificial grass, FG=Firm ground), Type of soccer field (surface=grass/turf and note if it is rubber or sand if turf), Home VS Away game, Age, Exposure setting (practice/game), minutes played up to injury (if applicable), Position, Time (if in game) it occurred, previous (recent) injuries and mechanism of injury (contact or noncontact), team (in the NWSL that the player is on), number of games played (in that season before the injury occurred). There are also things that I will not be able to measure due to the more personal aspect it brings since I do not have any close connection to these players. My Unmeasurable variables include: menstrual cycle, undocumented injuries/strain on body that were not reported, mental health/mindset going into match/training. All of my “measurable variables” are different potential impacts that can answer: what is the relationship between NWSL players and ACL tears, based on patterns using measurable variables. Identifying trends or patterns from these possible factors would achieve my research goal.​
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Relevance
Many women's professional soccer players around the globe are being impacted every day. Close to 100 of the best “footballers” in the world are having to take to the sidelines for a full year's worth of recovery due to the ACL epidemic (Brockway). My proposed research will hopefully help spur the women's soccer world into action, especially in the United States. While this research will be conducted from professional women’s players, they are not the only group affected. Collegiate women's players tear their ACL all the time. Youth players are even more at risk. Many coaches have drilled me about the fact that female athletes are at the highest risk of tearing their ACL between the ages 12-16. This major issue impacts all levels of the game. It not only affects soccer players, but all athletes from every background. It is a massive problem that needs more attention than it is currently getting. Many families and athletes' mental and physical health can be protected with the findings of my research project. As a result, hopefully more attention to weight training programs and ACL prevention exercises can be implemented, beginning at the youth level. Different strategies at the collegiate and pro level can be determined in order to reduce the risk of ACL injury. A change in the current demand of games in such a short window of a season, along with the smoother transition into the regular season from the off-season could help as well. If any of the variables I measure display obvious signs of gender differences, then more preventative strategies may need to be put into place.