A pilot study indicates that a FIFA-designed warm-up programme may narrow injury prevention gaps for girls aged 8 to 11, highlighting the need for female-specific approaches in youth football training.
A small pilot study suggests that a FIFA-designed warm-up could help narrow a long-standing gap in injury prevention for young female footballers. Researchers at Houston Methodist and colleagues tested the FIFA 11+ Kids routine in girls aged 8 to 11 and found gains in strength and balance, two areas closely linked with lower-limb injury risk. The work adds to growing evidence that girls may need prevention programmes built around their own movement patterns rather than approaches developed mainly with boys in mind.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, randomly assigned 26 players to either the warm-up programme or standard training. The girls in the intervention group trained twice a week for eight weeks. Before and after the trial, both groups were assessed for strength, balance, hopping ability, agility and jump performance. The researchers reported that the FIFA 11+ Kids group improved its glute-to-quadriceps strength ratio and showed better posteromedial and posterolateral balance scores than the control group.
The findings fit with earlier research on youth players. A randomised trial in preadolescent girls, published in Children, found that FIFA 11+ Kids improved landing mechanics associated with anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, injury risk. Another randomised study in under-15 girls, published in BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, reported better agility and vertical jump performance after the FIFA warm-up, although it did not improve 30-metre sprint speed. In boys, a clustered randomised trial in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy found the same programme reduced injury rates, strengthening the case for wider use in youth football.
The new study also showed that age mattered. Older girls tended to perform better on several strength, hopping and agility measures at baseline, underscoring how quickly physical demands change across childhood and early adolescence. For parents and coaches, the message is straightforward: injury prevention for young female players should not be treated as an afterthought. Programmes such as FIFA 11+ Kids appear promising, but the evidence still points to the need for more female-specific research before they are adopted as a universal solution.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
