Seasonal changes in the physical activity levels of youth Gaelic football players.

This study quantified changes in physical activity (PA) levels attained by adolescents during Gaelic football (GF) participation across two time points in a season and determined if these changes affected their overall daily PA levels. A total of 130 adolescents (65 females;15.3 ± 1.5 years) wore an activPAL accelerometer to determine total moderate PA (MPA), vigorous PA (VPA) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) during a seven-day measurement period, including during GF. The PA measurement was completed at "preseason" (T1) and "in-season" (T2) timepoints. Between T1 and T2, females significantly increased time spent in MVPA daily (p < 0.001, d = 0.95), on Gaelic football days (GFDs) (p = 0.036; d = 0.30), on non-Gaelic football days (NGFDs) (p < 0.001; d = 0.43), and during GF (p < 0.001, d = 0.90). Males did not record any significant changes in PA over time (p > 0.05). At T2, there were no significant differences in time spent in MVPA daily, on GFDs and NGFDs, and during GF between the genders (p > 0.05). The results suggest that the change in daily PA levels by females is a consequence of increased MVPA during GF and reduced PA barriers across the season.

The Contribution of Gaelic Football Participation to Youth Physical Activity Levels.

The primary aim of this study was to describe the contribution of Gaelic football participation to youth physical activity (PA) levels. Secondary aims were to objectively quantify the overall daily PA levels of participants across sex and age, to determine the PA levels achieved during Gaelic football practice sessions and games, and to compare PA levels on days with organized sporting activity (sports days) and days without organized sporting activity (non-sports days). One hundred and sixty adolescents (87 male, 73 female; mean age 14.5 ± 1.8 yrs.) wore an activPAL accelerometer to determine total sitting/lying time, standing time, light intensity physical activity (LIPA), moderate physical activity (MPA), vigorous physical activity (VPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during a seven day measurement period, including during Gaelic football participation. Participants achieved an average of 58.5 ± 23.6 minutes of MVPA daily. Males accumulated significantly more MVPA daily than females (Males=70.8±22.1 min; Females = 45.5 ± 16.5 min; p < 0.001; ηp² = 0.401) and time spent in MVPA daily significantly decreased with age (p < 0.001; ηp² = 0.299). Participants accumulated significantly more MVPA during games (36.0 ± 9.2 min/hr (60%)) than practice sessions (29.0 ± 8.3 min/hr (48%); p < 0.001; d = 0.80). On sports days, participants accumulated significantly more time in MVPA (Sports Days = 70.1 ± 36.0 min; Non-Sports Days = 54.2 ± 34.0; p < 0.001; d = 0.45) and were 2.16 times more likely to achieve 60 minutes of MVPA (OR = 2.16; 95% CI = 1.60-2.92) than on non-sports days. The results reveal that Gaelic football provides an opportunity for adolescents to accumulate PA, however, participants currently spent more than 50% of their practice time inactive or in low intensity activities. An opportunity remains to enhance the contribution of Gaelic football to overall daily PA levels, by replacing time spent inactive with time in MVPA.