Activity Profiles and Physiological Responses of Tag Football Referees: A Case Study

This study determined the activity profiles and physiological responses of tag football referees during the 2013 Australian National Championships. Portable global positioning systems (GPS) and heart rate (HR) monitors provided data on 28 refereeing performances and Individual HR-VO2 relationships were used to estimate cardiorespiratory involvement and energy expenditure. Referees covered an average of 3688±553 m over ∼40 minutes of playing time equating to a work-rate of 94.3±13.6 m/min. The majority of distance was covered at low-and moderate-intensity running speeds (∼89%) although referees performed a number of high-speed running (HSR) efforts (1 every ∼95 s) over short distances (13-17 m). Referees experienced reductions in HSR effort frequency (-19%; ES=-0.44) and HSR distance (-18%; ES=-0.41) between playing halves. Referees recorded mean HR values of 79.3±8.4% HRmax and spent considerable amounts of time above the ventilatory (45%) and anaerobic (8%) thresholds. Match HR values corresponded to an estimated oxygen uptake of 32.9±7.0 ml. kg-1. min-1 equating to ∼67% of referees maximal oxygen uptake. Collectively, the results of this study suggest tag football refereeing is a physically demanding task that imposes high cardiorespiratory involvement and metabolic demands. The activity profiles identified in this study can be used to guide training strategies for tag football referees.