MONITORING OF LOADS AND RECOVERY PERCEIVED DURING WEEKS WITH DIFFERENT SCHEDULE IN YOUNG SOCCER PLAYERS

In soccer, to prescribe tailored training and recovery programs requires coaches to be aware of how both internal and external training loads affect individual players’ perfor-mances. This study aimed to collect players’ session rating of perceived exertion (RPE) responses, recovery scores, and training log during four weeks planned with two condi-tions [one match (W1match) and two matches (W2 match)] to investigate differences, if any, between the conditions and play roles. Twenty two players from a youth team of a Ko-sovan elite soccer club (age: 14.5 ± 0.3 yrs, height: 174 ± 7.9 cm, body mass: 60.1 ± 7.9 kg) participated in this study. Individual session-RPE and recovery data were collected by means of an Albanian version of the RPE Borg’s CR10 and a modified total quality recovery (TQR) scale. The weekly match conditions showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher mean session-RPE values for W1match compared to W2 match (866 ± 91 and 774 ± 88, respectively), while no differences were found for recovery scores (6.50 ± 0.9 and 6.19 ± 1.0, respectively). Furthermore, no differences (p = 0.76) between roles (defenders: 810 ± 81; midfielders: 789 ± 59; forwards: 815 ± 57, AU) were found. The Albanian version of Borg’s CR10 scale showed to be a useful tool to depict players’ ITLs and recovery status during (W1match and W2 match) conditions. Consequently, their use can be suggested to Albanian speaking youth soccer coaches.