Sleep patterns of elite youth team-sport athletes prior to and during international competition

Objective: To examine the effects of international competition on sleep patterns of elite youth team-sport athletes from two national squads compared to a baseline period. Methods: Fifty elite male youth rugby players from two squads were assessed two weeks before (HOME) and throughout two match-day cycles (matchday−1, matchday, matchday+1) of an international competition (COMP). Players were selected to represent their nation during the Six Nations Festival and completed daily self-reported sleep diaries before and during a competitive period. Linear mixed models were used to examine differences between HOME and COMP, and within camp days. Effect sizes±90% confidence intervals (ES±90%CI) were calculated to quantify the magnitude of pairwise differences. Results: Participants spent more time in bed (34.6±13.9 min; ES=0.26±0.19), slept for longer (35.4±12.7 min; ES=0.30±0.19), and woke up later (36.5±9.5 min; ES=0.41±0.20) in COMP compared to HOME, but maintained their regular bedtime (−1.8±11.2 min; ES=0.02±0.19), sleep onset latency (4.1±3.2 min; ES=0.17±0.25) and rating of sleep quality (0.30±0.17; ES=0.17±0.19). Conclusions: Elite youth team-sport athletes sleep for longer during a competition camp compared to home resulting from a delay in wake-up times. This highlights the opportunity for implementing interventions to improve sleep patterns in international-level team sport athletes in their daily environment.