Anthropometric and fitness differences between Soccer and Futsal Youth Players

Aim: Changes in body size, anthropometric parameters and functional capacities are highly individual during puberty, and the performance of a soccer and futsal players is often closely related to their maturity status (Figueiredo et al. 2009). Wong et al. (2009, 2011), in their studies on world-class soccer players, showed that anthropometric data are likely to be good performance predictors. Thus, the aim of the study was to evaluate the difference among anthropometrics, pubertal development and explosive power in Italian young male soccer and futsal players. Methods: Forty-five soccer (age: 15.3 ± 0.5 years) and 61 futsal (age 16.0 ± 0.0 years) Italian youth players were administered anthropometrics (weight, height, body mass index -BMI), Countermovement jump (CMJ), and a Self-Administered Rating Scale for pubertal development (PDS) evaluation. Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to verify statistical differences (p B 0.05) between groups (soccer Vs futsal). Results: Despite both groups were classified in ‘‘Allievi’’ category, statistical differences emerged in age (F(1,104) = 132.5; p.0001), while no significant difference emerged in BMI, weight, height and PDS. In addition, CMJ showed statistical differences between groups (F(1,104) = 20.48; p.0001). Conclusion: The findings of this study highlights the fitness difference between sport and can help coaches to plan physical training and assessments according to the requirements of the performance model of sport played.