Introduction
Based in Torres Vedras, Sport Clube União Torreense has established itself as a major force in Portuguese women's football. The club recently secured qualification for the UEFA Women's Champions League after finishing among the top teams in the Portuguese women's league and has collected domestic silverware in recent seasons, including the Taça da Liga and Supertaça. For Vitória Antunes, success starts with understanding the individual behind the athlete.
Building Stronger Athletes Throughout the Season
She joined S.C.U. Torreense three years ago and has since been responsible for balancing strength development, speed work, recovery, and injury prevention throughout a long and demanding season. Training priorities shift as the season progresses. Pre-season focuses heavily on building strength and physical capacity, while in-season work emphasises maintaining strength levels and developing speed and agility on the pitch. "Every player is unique," says Antunes. "You cannot treat everybody the same way. In elite sport, every detail counts." This philosophy extends beyond team sessions. While players complete general strength programs together, each athlete also receives an individualised plan based on assessments, injury history, and performance needs.
Turning Data Into Action
Managing workload is one of the most important challenges in elite football. To monitor player readiness and recovery, Antunes combines GPS data with wellness questionnaires. One feature Antunes particularly appreciates is the ability to monitor players live during training. "The live tracking helps a lot. Sometimes coaches want more and more from a session, but when I can show the data in real time, we can adjust the load and make better decisions." This immediate feedback not only supports performance but also helps reduce unnecessary fatigue and injury risk.
Keeping Players Engaged
The benefits of performance tracking extend beyond the coaching staff. Players at Torreense actively engage with their data and regularly review reports after training sessions. "They're always asking about their maximum speed and looking at the reports afterwards. The players are genuinely curious about their performance."
Looking Ahead
As S.C.U. Torreense continues to grow and compete among Portugal's top clubs, for Antunes, success in elite sport comes down to one principle: every detail matters. By combining expertise with reliable performance data, she helps ensure that Torreense's players are prepared to perform at their best when it matters most.
Over the past three years, Antunes has consistently refined her approach by using medical and scientific evidence with practical experience gained. Rather than relying exclusively on generalised benchmarks, she focuses on individual player profiles and workload data. "I don't restrict metrics to the percentages described in literature. Instead, I establish personal targets according to each player's individual acute loads.”
Looking ahead, Antunes believes the addition of heart rate monitoring will provide another valuable layer of insight into player readiness and recovery. "Heart rate will be a strong addition to our reports and analysis, as it provides another important internal measure of the player. It gives additional information on how prepared the body, and particularly the cardiovascular system, is."
“In elite sport, there is always room to improve,” she says.
