Competitive level differences in the activity profile of elite Gaelic football referees

The purpose of this study was to compare the activity profile of elite Gaelic football referees (GFR) between the National Football League (NFL) and the All-Ireland Championship (AIC), and across the four divisions of the NFL and three phases of the AIC. Match activity data was collected during 125 NFL and 201 AIC games using 10-Hz global positioning system technology from 41 elite GFR. Game duration, total distance, very low-speed movement (<0.70 m·s^-1), walking (≥0.70-1.65 m·s^-1), low-speed running (≥1.66-3.27 m·s^-1), moderate-speed running (≥3.28-4.86 m·s^-1), high-speed running (≥4.87-6.48 m·s^-1), very high-speed running (≥6.49 m·s^-1) distance, and peak running speed were compared between competitions. Games in the AIC were longer than in the NFL (ES = 0.59) but the total distance was similar between the NFL (119.6 ± 9.5 m·min^-1) and AIC (122.6 ± 8.4 m·min^-1, ES = 0.11). No other differences were found between the NFL and AIC or across the four divisions of the NFL and three phases of the AIC, except for a higher peak running speed during the All-Ireland Series (6.93 ± 0.52 m·s^-1) than the All-Ireland Qualifiers (6.65 ± 0.46 m·s^-1, ES = 0.35). This information can be used to design specific conditioning programmes to ensure optimal physical development of GFR at all competitive levels.