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Background: Previous studies have shown that most professional head and orthopaedic team physicians are men, and most orthopaedic team physicians are fellowship-trained. It is unknown whether this holds true for primary care team physicians., Purpose: To evaluate the residency and fellowship training background as well as the demographic characteristics of primary care team physicians in professional sports., Study Design: Cross-sectional study., Methods: Publicly available information was used to determine the lead and supporting primary care team physicians for every US-based team in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League, National Women's Soccer League, and Women's National Basketball Association. Data regarding training background and sex were obtained using internet-based sources., Results: We identified 310 primary care team physicians from all 165 US-based teams in the 7 leagues included in the study. Female physicians comprised 11.5% (19/165) of the lead primary care team physicians and 14.2% (44/310) of all primary care team physicians. Overall, 66.7% (110/165) of lead primary care team physicians and 75.5% (234/310) of all primary care team physicians were sports medicine fellowship-trained. There was a higher proportion of female (37.5%) and fellowship-trained (93.8%) physicians in women's professional sports leagues. Most primary care team physicians (244/310 [78.7%]) were trained in family medicine or internal medicine., Conclusion: Women constituted a small minority of primary care team physicians in professional sports. Most primary care team physicians were residency trained in family medicine or internal medicine and were sports medicine fellowship-trained. The proportion of female and fellowship-trained primary care team physicians was highest in the National Women's Soccer League and the Women's National Basketball Association., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that there are no conflicts of interest in the authorship and publication of this contribution. AOSSM checks author disclosures against the Open Payments Database (OPD). AOSSM has not conducted an independent investigation on the OPD and disclaims any liability or responsibility relating thereto. Ethical approval was not sought for the present study., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Background: Both natural grass (NG) and artificial turf (AT) are popular playing surfaces for soccer. Biomechanical studies have found increased frictional forces on AT that may lead to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The increased risk of ACL injury during soccer in female participants may amplify this effect., Purpose: To systematically review the literature for studies comparing ACL injury risk in soccer players on AT versus NG and to specifically determine whether there were differences in injury risk in male versus female players when considering the playing surface., Study Design: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 3., Methods: A systematic review was performed using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Three databases were searched for studies with evidence level 1 to 3 that compared the incidence of ACL injuries on AT versus NG in soccer players. Data recorded included study characteristics, sex, competition level, exposure setting (games or practices), turf type, and ACL injury information. Study methodological quality was analyzed using the methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS) score, and incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were calculated., Results: Included were 7 articles (3 studying professional soccer, 3 collegiate soccer, 1 youth-level soccer; 4 male cohorts, 2 female cohorts, and 1 male and female cohort; mean MINORS score, 20 ± 0.8). Pooled ACL injury IRRs demonstrated no significant differences in overall ACL injury risk when playing soccer on AT compared with NG (IRR = 0.57 [95% CI, 0.21-1.53]; P = .31). A significantly increased risk of ACL injury in games played on AT compared with NG was detected for female (IRR = 1.18 [95% CI, 1.05-1.31]; P = .004) but not for male players (IRR = 1.18 [95% CI, 0.97-1.42]; P = .09). Subgroup analyses showed no significant differences in injury risk for games (IRR = 1.07 [95% CI, 0.97-1.18]; P = .20) or practices (IRR = 0.21 [95% CI, 0.04-1.23]; P = .09)., Conclusion: Findings indicated that female soccer players had a significantly higher risk of ACL injury when playing games on AT versus NG, whereas no significant difference was seen in male players. No differences were found for the combined male/female cohort or for soccer games or training sessions played on AT compared with NG., Competing Interests: One or more of the authors has declared the following potential conflict of interest or source of funding: S.L.S. has received research support from Arthrex and DJO; education payments from Elite Orthopedics and Evolution Surgical; consulting fees from Arthrex, Bioventus, Ceterix, ConMed Linvatec, Flexion Therapeutics, GLG Consulting, JRF Ortho, Moximed, Olympus America, Smith & Nephew, and Vericel; speaking fees from Arthrex, Smith & Nephew, and Vericel; and honoraria from Flexion Therapeutics and Vericel. M.R.S. has received research support from Smith & Nephew; consulting fees from Anika Therapeutics, Medacta, and Smith & Nephew; speaking fees from Medacta and Smith & Nephew; royalties from DJO, Saunders/Mosby-Elsevier, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, and Wolters Kluwer Health-Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; honoraria from Medacta; and stock/stock options from Biomimedica. G.D.A. has received education payments from Evolution Surgical; consulting fees from Cytonics, Fidia Pharma, RubiconMD, and Sideline Sports Doc; nonconsulting fees from Arthrex and Stryker; royalties from Orthofix; and stock/stock options from Cytonics. AOSSM checks author disclosures against the Open Payments Database (OPD). AOSSM has not conducted an independent investigation on the OPD and disclaims any liability or responsibility relating thereto., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Background: There is limited research regarding the impact of workload on injury risk specific to women's soccer. Wearable global positioning system (GPS) units can track workload metrics such as total distance traveled and player load during games and training sessions. These metrics can be useful in predicting injury risk., Purpose: To examine the relationship between injury risk and player workload as collected from wearable GPS units in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's soccer players., Study Design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3., Methods: Lower extremity injury incidence and GPS workload data (player load, total distance, and high-speed distance) for 65 NCAA Division I women's soccer players were collected over 3 seasons. Accumulated 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-week loads and acute-to-chronic workload ratios (ACWR) were classified into discrete ranges by z -scores. ACWR was calculated using rolling averages and exponentially weighted moving averages (EWMA) models. Binary logistic regression models were used to compare the 7:28 rolling average and EWMA ACWRs between injured and noninjured players for all GPS/accelerometer variables. The prior 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-week accumulated loads for all GPS/accelerometer variables were compared between the injured and uninjured cohorts using 2-sample t tests., Results: There were a total of 53 lower extremity injuries that resulted in lost time recorded (5.76/1000 hours "on-legs" exposure time; 34 noncontact and 19 contact injuries). The prior 2-week (7242 vs 6613 m/s 2 ; P = .02), 3-week (10,533 vs 9718 m/s 2 ; P = .02), and 4-week (13,819 vs 12,892 m/s 2 ; P = .04) accumulated player loads and 2-week (62.40 vs 57.25 km; P = .04), 3-week (90.97 vs 84.10 km; P = .03), and 4-week (119.31 vs 111.38 km; P = .05) accumulated total distances were significantly higher for injured players compared with noninjured players during the same time frames. There were no significant differences in player load, total distance, or high-speed distance ACWR between injured and noninjured players for both the rolling averages and EWMA calculations., Conclusion: Higher accumulated player load and total distance, but not ACWR, were associated with injury in women's soccer players., Competing Interests: One or more of the authors has declared the following potential conflict of interest or source of funding: C.E.H. has received consulting fees from Sideline Sports Doc. G.D.A. has received research support from OrthoFix; education payments from Evolution Surgical; consulting fees from Cytonics, Fidia Pharma, RubiconMD, and Sideline Sports Doc; and other financial/material support from Arthrex and Stryker; and has stock/stock options in Cytonics. AOSSM checks author disclosures against the Open Payments Database (OPD). AOSSM has not conducted an independent investigation on the OPD and disclaims any liability or responsibility relating thereto., (© The Author(s) 2021.)