Meha Rina, Obërtinca Rilind, Aus der Fünten Karen, Leisge Kai, Schaefer Sabine
Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany; Faculty of Social and Psychological Sciences, Heimerer College, Prishtina, Kosovo.
Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany; Department of Physiotherapy, University of Gjakova "Fehmi Agani", Gjakova, Kosovo.
Psychol Sport Exerc. 2025 Jan;76:102743. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102743. Epub 2024 Sep 19.
The youth football injury prevention program 'FUNBALL' contains exercises requiring high cognitive demands, which are performed concurrently to the training of the respective motor task. This study evaluates whether the program increases cognitive performances of young football players. 1253 football players (aged 13-19 years old) were randomly assigned to either a control (CON) or an intervention (INT) group. The INT group performed the 'FUNBALL' program at least twice per week in their training sessions for one season (9 months). The CON group continued their training routine. From the total sample, the cognitive performance of 304 players (n = 135 CON; n = 169 INT) was assessed at the beginning and the end of the season using the Cogstate® Brief Battery, with the following subtests: One Back test (accuracy), Two Back test (accuracy), One Card Learning test (accuracy), Chase Test (correct moves per second), Set Shifting (accuracy), Identification test (speed), Detection test (speed), Groton Maze Learning Test (accuracy), and Groton Maze Learning Test Delayed Recall (accuracy). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) on the cognitive performance improvements from pre-to posttest showed that the INT group improved their performances more strongly than the CON group for all cognitive tests, namely for working memory, visual learning, visual motor control, attention, psychomotor function, memory, and executive function. The present study indicates that the exercise-based injury prevention program 'FUNBALL' may improve the cognitive performance of young football players. Future research should include an active control group, and should investigate whether the improvement in cognition also has beneficial effects on in-game performance. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: AsPredicted (https://aspredicted.org/2kb3b.pdf).
青少年足球损伤预防项目“趣味足球”包含需要较高认知要求的练习，这些练习与各自运动任务的训练同时进行。本研究评估该项目是否能提高年轻足球运动员的认知表现。1253名足球运动员（年龄在13 - 19岁之间）被随机分为对照组（CON）或干预组（INT）。干预组在一个赛季（9个月）的训练中每周至少进行两次“趣味足球”项目。对照组继续他们的常规训练。从总样本中，在赛季开始和结束时使用Cogstate®简易电池组对304名球员（n = 135名对照组；n = 169名干预组）的认知表现进行评估，包括以下子测试：单回溯测试（准确性）、双回溯测试（准确性）、单卡片学习测试（准确性）、追逐测试（每秒正确动作数）、定势转换（准确性）、识别测试（速度）、检测测试（速度）、格罗顿迷宫学习测试（准确性）和格罗顿迷宫学习测试延迟回忆（准确性）。对测试前到测试后的认知表现改善进行的多变量方差分析（MANOVA）表明，在所有认知测试中，干预组的表现比对照组改善得更明显，即工作记忆、视觉学习、视觉运动控制、注意力、心理运动功能、记忆和执行功能方面。本研究表明，基于运动的损伤预防项目“趣味足球”可能会提高年轻足球运动员的认知表现。未来的研究应包括一个积极对照组，并应调查认知能力的提高是否也对比赛表现有有益影响。试验注册号：AsPredicted（https://aspredicted.org/2kb3b.pdf）。
