Scheduled for Free Communication: Assessment of Stride and Walking Patterns in Activity, Thursday, April 10, 2008, 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM, Convention Center: 202D


Pedometer Steps Taken While Officiating High School Football Games

Albert Ruiz, Texas A&M UniversityKingsville, Kingsville, TX and Nestor W. Sherman, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX

Little information is available as to how much physical activity is involved while officiating high school football games. As a result, the purpose of this research was to examine pedometer measured step count differences between an officiating crew during non-conference, conference, and playoff games. The study was approved by the University Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects prior to data collection. Each participant signed an informed consent prior to data collection. Participants (N=5) were the referee, umpire, linesman, line judge, and back judge. Total testing took place over one season in which there were 4 non-conference, 7 conference, and 3 play-off games. During each testing session, participants wore a New Lifestyle NL-2000 pedometer for the duration of the game and step counts were recorded immediately following the game. Mean steps for non-conference, conference, and play-off games were calculated and served as the dependent variable in this study. Physical characteristics of the male participants were (mean±sd): age(yrs)= 45.2±9.0; height(in)=70.0±3.5; weight(kg)= 88.6±12.0; BMI= 28.0±3.7; experience(yrs)=11.6±6.9; steps/game = 7709.5±1110.5, respectively. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze the relationship between steps taken during non-conference, conference, and play-off games. The Bonferroni method (.05/# of comparisons) was used to was to determine statistical significance for post-hoc testing (.05/3= .0167). Results of the repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant difference among steps taken during high school football non-conference, conference, and play-off games (p<.001). Follow up paired t-tests revealed there was a significant difference between steps taken during conference and non-conference games (8343 vs. 6773 steps, p=.001) and steps taken during conference and play-off games (8343 vs. 7397 steps, p=.010), respectively. There was no statistical difference between steps taken during non-conference and play-off games (6773 vs. 7397 steps, p= .019). Officials who took the most steps (mean±sd) in order from most to least was as follows: back judge= 9925.6±1120.2; linesman= 8505.1±1268.5; umpire= 6997.0±987.3; line judge= 6845.4±1165.6; and referee= 6274.6±928.1. In conclusion, results of this study revealed that officials took significantly more steps in conference games than either non-conference or play-off games. Step counts for the officials were not significantly different during non-conference and play-off games. These findings reveal that football officials may take more or less steps based upon their position and type of game being played. Further research with larger sample sizes is warranted to evaluate step counts of football officials to help us better understand the physical activity requirements for football officiating.


Keyword(s): adult physical activity/fitness, exercise/fitness/physical activity, high school issues

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