Anthropometric and motor performance characteristics of futsal athletes in different categories

Resumen

The objective of this study was to analyze the anthropometric characteristics of young futsal (fi ve-a-side soccer) players and to make comparisons between different competitive categories. To this end, 232 male athletes aged 8 to 18 years, playing in the following categories: under-9 (8-9 years; n = 56), under-11 (10-11 years; n = 62), under-13 (12-13 years; n = 36), under-15 (14-15 years; n = 29), under-17 (16-17 years; n = 35) and under-19 (18 years; n = 14), underwent anthropometric measurement to obtain body mass (MB), height, middle-upper arm circumference and skin fold thicknesses (triceps and subscapular). Based on these measurements, body mass index (BMI), sum of skin folds thickness (?SF), relative body fat (%fat) and muscular area of the arm (MAB) were all calculated. Motor performance was analyzed based on the results of the following tests: modifi ed 1-minute abdominal (ABD), horizontal impulse (HI), 9/12 minute walk/run (9/12 min) and medicine ball throw (MB). Categories were compared using one-way ANOVA, followed by Scheffé’s post hoc test when p<0.05. Canonical discriminant functions were used to analyze groupings across different ages in terms of specifi c characteristics (BMI, ?SF, % fat; ABD, HI and MB). The MB results increased signifi cantly in all categories, reaching a plateau in the under-17 and under- 19 categories. The under-9 and under-11 categories were different from all others in terms of MAB and the under-13s and under-15s were different from the under-17s and under-19s for the same measure. The % fat reduced as age increased, differing significantly form the under-11 category onwards. Test results for ABD and MB were signifi cantly lower in the under-9 and under-11 categories than in all others. Under-15, under-17 and under-19 categories had better HI and 9/12 min results than the remaining categories. It was concluded that young futsal players can be classifi ed as within the normal profi le of the population with the same age, both in terms of anthropometric characteristics and motor performance.