Thoughts and Science Behind Our League Rules
It's no secret we're focused on reducing injuries in our sports formats. We want to design competitive football that brings speed but leaves no one injured. Women's football still has 6x more injuries than men's football. We need to eliminate that.
WHY WE PLAY 20-MINUTE GAMES × 3 MATCHES
Standard 90-minute games keep heart rates elevated (95%+ max) for too long—this is where most injuries occur. Halftime breaks disrupt flow and impair both physical and cognitive performance when play resumes, with increased injury risk in the early second half.
Our format: 3 games of 20 minutes with 20-minute breaks in between. 20 minutes delivers optimal intensity without exhaustion. The 20-minute recovery maintains athletic mental energy—which accounts for 66% of flow state in football players—while allowing physiological reset without cooling down completely.
NO HALFTIME. RUNNING CLOCK. Flow state—the brain's optimal performance zone—requires continuous engagement. The prefrontal cortex quiets, allowing expert-like execution.
7v7 Smaller field, players touches the ball more, makes more decisions, navigates tighter spaces. 7v7 develops positional awareness, spatial intelligence, and technical skills faster than 11v11. This constant engagement builds neural pathways for decision-making under pressure.
PLAYING WITH A FASTER, LIGHTER BALL: SIZE 4.5 (380g vs 450g, 67cm vs 68-70cm) Standard size-5 balls show:
Leg strain: 5.2 vs 3.7. Head acceleration at concussion-threshold levels
Excessive knee stress vs. hip-knee distribution
Our game ball: 17% lower head impact (below concussion threshold), 6% faster, 13% longer passes. Faster performance, lower injury risk.
JOY AS PERFORMANCE FUEL Dopamine drives motivation, focus, and resilience. Positive emotions during sport increase dopamine, creating reinforcing loops that enhance both performance and long-term commitment. That's why we give players agency over the game and test playing without coaches. We allow all celebrations and acrobatic volleys, start games with fan throw-ins, and eliminate yellow and red cards. Joy is the perfect neurological fuel.
THE REST No offside. No slide tackles. Unlimited subs. 10-second throw-ins. Goalkeeper can't pick up back-passes.
Performance. Safety. Joy. These are our three rules for making rules :)
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Bettina KupermanBettina FalkTheresa EslundRikke Laentver SeveckeNicoline Haugård CaspersenNina Frausing Pedersen, PhDCecilie Pilkær SchmeichelLine Røddik HansenAdam BroonsAngel GambinoJosefine HasboJackie BachtelerMollie Maria Gilmartin