Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Bohan, Amy

Second Advisor

Roy, Tania

Area of Concentration

Liberal Arts

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between strength and conditioning and injury risk in competitive sport, with a focus on collegiate soccer. The motivation for this study grew from four years of personal experience as a student-athlete, during which multiple injuries and a growing engagement with structured strength training led to a deeper understanding of how physical preparation influences the body's ability to handle the demands of competitive sport. The Literature Review covers nine key areas, including neuromuscular and biomechanical factors, strength training and injury prevention, training load management, previous injury as a risk factor, specificity of training, energy availability and recovery, specific injury prevention programs in soccer, the multifactorial nature of injury, and the gap between research findings and real world sport environments. The evidence consistently shows that structured strength and conditioning improve muscular strength, tendon resilience, and neuromuscular control, all of which reduce injury risk in competitive athletes. However, injury prevention is never the result of a single factor, and effective strategies must account for the complex interaction of multiple elements including training load, recovery, nutrition, and individual injury history. A proposed observational prospective study is outlined to investigate the relationship between strength and conditioning participation and injury outcomes in Division I collegiate male soccer players over one full competitive season. The findings of this thesis support the argument that strength and conditioning, when properly structured and consistently maintained, represents one of the most evidence-based and practically accessible strategies for reducing injury risk and improving athletic longevity in competitive sport.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

Download

Share

COinS