Physical and Physiological Demands of Official Beach Soccer Match-Play in Relation to Environmental Temperature

Environmental temperature (T_e) is a main atmospheric parameter that may affect the physical and physiological demands of outdoor sports. Thus, this study aimed to examine the relationship of T_e with the physical and physiological demands of beach soccer match-play. Physical and physiological demands were collected from 60 male players during Portuguese elite beach soccer championship matches using a 10 Hz wearable global positioning system, heart rate, and the rate of perceived exertion (RPE). A bilateral counter-movement jump (CMJ) test assessed lower limb power performance before and immediately after the match. Fluid loss was determined by body mass weighing before and after the end of the match. T_e and wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) parameters were continuously recorded. The matches occurred across T_e ranging from ~20.0 °C to 43.0 °C. Physical demands, CMJ height, peak heart rate (HR_peak), mean heart rate (HR_mean), and RPE were not correlated with T_e. However, a significant correlation was found between fluid loss and T_e (r [95% CIs] = 0.67 [0.43-0.75]; p < 0.001). Beach soccer players maintained physical performance independent of T_e. The specific characteristics of the sport may have promoted adequate thermoregulatory adaptations, helping maintain the players' physical performance, particularly in matches played under high T_e conditions. Elite beach soccer players maintained their physical performance independently of T_e and despite experiencing dehydration (a body mass decrease of more than 2%) when the T_e exceeded 35 °C.