PEP NHSSAA First Place Winner: Team Sheep

Team Sheep, led by member Yangyang Gao, secured 1st place in the PEP NHSSAA 100 Hour Sports Research Competition with their paper, "Beyond Water Breaks: Evaluating and Improving Soccer Hydration Break Policies." Their study addressed the threat of extreme heat to soccer player health and performance, and studied the hydration policies from governing bodies like FIFA. By observing reports of players from big soccer leagues such as FIFA, they identified that while 0%-1% of body mass loss didn't affect the players, 3%+ had an extreme negative impact on the players, increasing risk of heat stroke and heat related sicknesses.

Team Sheep found out that current hydration policies rely on fixed schedules (ex. mandatory time breaks) that do not adapt to timed weather conditions. Even a little dehydration can impair endurance, performance, and decision making during a match. Even as little as losing 2% of body mass through sweat, can severely and negatively impact players by causing a decline in endurance and forcing the body to use extra energy on dispelling the heat.

To fix the limitations of breaks, Team Sheep recommends adapting a more flexible policy. Their award winning research emphasizes cooling strategies to make sure that the safety and play across sports players remain top priority. They recommend applying more flexible cooling methods before players reach too high levels of dehydration or heat stress. By applying additional cooling strategies (e.g., pre-cooling routines, shade, cold towels), this can help prevent the amount of heat related injuries and allow for the players to focus more on the game itself