Key Takeaways
- The NWSL will work with the WSL and Fifpro for three years to study why women tear ACLs far more often than men.
- Experts will look at pitches, boots, travel loads and gym access, not just biology.
- Players in all 16 NWSL clubs will log data so leagues can create new injury-prevention rules.
America’s top flight has signed on to Project ACL, a study that began in England last year between the Women’s Super League, Fifpro, the PFA, Nike and Leeds Beckett University.
Research shows female players face two to six times the risk of an anterior-cruciate-ligament rupture. Past work blamed hip width and knee shape, but the new drive will also test how poor surfaces, tight schedules and boots built for men add danger.
Tori Huster, deputy boss of the NWSL Players Association, said the union wants “player-centred evidence” so leagues can change daily training and match conditions.
High-profile cases keep mounting. Leah Williamson, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Catarina Macario all missed the 2023 World Cup with ACL tears, while Sam Kerr and Lena Oberdorf sat out the 2024 Olympics. Seven of the United States’ 20 gold-medal winners in Paris had already suffered the injury.
Recovery can drag on. Kerr needed 20 months; Oberdorf returned last summer only to damage the same knee eight games later.
Less than ten percent of sports-science papers focus on women, and most study amateurs. Project ACL will interview NWSL footballers and survey every club, then feed travel, rest and workload data into Fifpro’s tracking app.
Sarah Gregorius, NWSL vice-president of sporting, said the league wants to “lead” on player welfare. If the work finds clear risk factors, leagues could write new rules on turf, boot standards and rest periods, similar to existing concussion protocols.
