Title: The Association Between Air Pollution and Soccer Performance
Supervisor: Dr. Michael Koehle
Committee member: Dr. Edward Kroc, Dr. William Sheel, Dr. Ben Sporer
Abstract: Air pollution, particularly fine particulate matter (PM2.5), is the leading environmental risk factor for death and disease worldwide. Climate change related wildfires have become a major source of PM2.5, amplifying exposure risks during outdoor physical activity. Soccer players are particularly vulnerable due to high ventilatory demand and overlap between competition and wildfire seasons. While the effects of air pollution on men’s performance have been studied, data on women remain limited. This study will examine the association between acute exposure to PM2.5 and ozone and professional soccer performance in North America. A semiparametric generalized additive model will be applied to 4,968 Major League Soccer and 1,175 National Women’s Soccer League matches, incorporating pollutant and meteorological data, spatial smoothers, and autoregressive terms to account for temporal dynamics. Pollution exposure will be estimated using governmental models, and the primary outcomes will be the number of passes and pass completion rates per match. To date, this will be the largest analysis globally on air pollution and soccer performance, the first in North America, and the first to include females.