We already know that the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team will always be regarded as one of, if not, the preeminent team in worldwide women’s soccer. Strong, athletic, powerful, technical, tactical—year after year, the U.S. women are vying for world championships at all levels.

However, those championships don’t grow on trees. They take work. Lots of work. And Dawn Scott, the fitness coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team since 2010, makes sure each and every player puts in the work.

“Actually, with this group,” Scott says. “there is no pushing and prodding, they are ready to do the work and they understand the importance of fitness and endurance if you want to win championships.”

Scott will discuss “Aerobic Fitness Development for Soccer Players,” as a presenter at the Summer Symposium in Orlando, Fla., in August.

Scott received her sports science degree from Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom, followed by a master’s in sports nutrition from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Scott went on to work for the English Football Association for nine years, specifically working with the England Women’s National Team. In January 2010, she assumed the role of fitness coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team under then-head coach Pia Sundhage. Scott was part of the coaching staff for the U.S. team during the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, as well as the 2012 Olympics. 

As a fitness coach, her role encompasses all aspects of sports science, including nutrition, hydration, recovery, training prescription and programming, and monitoring of training.

Scott believes it is important for coaches to know and understand the role aerobic fitness plays in the development and success of a team. She knows not every team has a dedicated fitness coach.

“I am always excited to share with coaches the importance of fitness and the NSCAA offers that platform at the Summer Symposium,” Scott said. 

“Two key aspects in fitness are speed and endurance. There’s also a new term called ‘repeated sprint ability,’ or RSA, which refers to speed endurance, or how you repeatedly sprint in a game. You don’t run at one pace for 90 minutes in a game. Rather, you constantly sprint and recover, or run at different speeds and recover. Players want to be able to sprint with the same qualities in the 90^th minute as they do in the first minute. RSA is a measure of this.

“Another fitness aspect that is crucial to soccer, but probably to any sport is strength. Strength is the basis to every other aspect of fitness. If you don’t have strength, you can have a weakness when you try to develop any other type of fitness. Agility and power are also important. They are native to soccer, although they are general fitness components for any type of athlete.”

Scott will also take some time to break down the differences in fitness training between men and women.

“There has been a lot of research on the physical demands of games on men and women and they actually tend to cover a similar amount of total distance in a game,” Scott said. “Men often have more high-intensity running, which is largely because they generally have a bigger heart, a better developed cardiovascular system and greater muscle strength than females. However, I don’t think there are differences in the training methods that you need to use with men and women. Females tend to be not as strong as male players and often start at a lower fitness level. I think as long as you take that in to account, you are still going to use the same methods of fitness training whether you coach a male or female player.

“One of the things with females that research has shown is that you tend to have a higher incidence of ACL injury in female players. With that in mind, I would make sure that female players are doing appropriate strength programs, especially strengthening the areas around the knees, to try to offset the chance of injuries like that. That is one difference, but other than that I would train a male player the same way as I would a female player.”

Knowing what to focus on depending on the age group that you coach is also critical, according to Scott.

“At the younger ages I would be doing specific sessions focused on developing agility, balance, and coordination,” Scott said. “It doesn’t have to be intense but it’s programming the body to move in a certain way and building up basic strength using body weight, fun games and so on. You’re doing age appropriate work at those ages and then as they get older you can develop those programs and add in other components of fitness that are appropriate.

“As the players start to develop and reach the ages of 10- and 11-year-olds, you can start focusing on running mechanics. You want to make a child’s running efficient so that when they go through puberty and develop muscle tone they already have efficient running mechanics. Then you add the intensity of full out sprints.”

As coaches advance to the U16 to U18 level, Scott is quick to point out the importance of recovery.

“Looking at a U16 team, after they play a game, the following day should be a recovery session,” Scott said. “Similarly, the day before their next game should be a light session. You’re probably looking at three or four days in the week when you could do some sort of fitness with the players. It also depends on several other factors such as the phase of the season, if they have to travel, if they have two games in a week and how many minutes of accumulated playing time they have.

“Coaches should do some type of speed work during the week, and could combine this with some of the RSA I mentioned previously. They should also include strength sessions. I think it’s very individual to the team and players you work with.

“A good recovery strategy is very important. I feel this is an area that is often overlooked and can be improved in most players…Then in the session they’re going to get more fatigued and the quality of the session isn’t going to be good, and they’re going to put their body at risk for injury and illness. So recovery is vital.”

Finally, knowing that the NSCAA is about helping the advanced coach, as well as the novice coach, Scott is eager to speak with coaches who do not have backgrounds in exercise science but want to learn more about proper fitness training.

“These days there’s a lot available on the Internet, although you have to make sure it is from a reputable source,” said Scott. “There are also books and other resources for reading around. Reading is a big one. Another important tool is asking questions. Ask coaches you come in contact with how they do fitness training.  Coaches should also speak to the players, get their verbal feedback and visual feedback in terms of how they look and feel. Also don’t be afraid to try new methods, then evaluate if you think they are effective and tweak accordingly.

Scott helps train some of the most successful athletes in the world and she will share those experiences and more at the NSCAA’s Summer Symposium in Orlando.

Join in the conversation with Scott by registering for the Summer Symposium online.

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