AUTHOR=Honório Samuel , Batista Marco , Serrano João , Petrica João , Rebelo Miguel , Vieira Fernando , Lopes André , Santos Jorge TITLE=Analysis of anthropometric and physical performance variables in U-17 soccer players JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sports and Active Living VOLUME=5 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2023.1284411 DOI=10.3389/fspor.2023.1284411 ISSN=2624-9367 ABSTRACT=Introduction

Soccer is considered a multifaceted collective sport, and to reach an elevated level, players must have moderate to high power, good agility, joint flexibility and muscle development. Also, players must be able to generate high torques during fast movements, which implies the development of different capacities, understood as multifactorial preparation. The objective was to analyse the effects of training (aerobic and continuous) on the leg power, fatigue levels, speed, agility, body fat, muscle mass and bone mass of these players.

Methods

Seventy-two soccer players, male and under 17, from 4 teams participated. The teams performed 3 times a week training sessions of about 60–90 min each. Informed consent requests were given to their parents for authorisation to participate in this investigation. Data was collected in two different time points, about ten months apart. Specific tests were performed for each variable: the vertical jump with Bosco System for leg power, the T-Test for agility, the linear sprint test for speed and the RAST test for fatigue levels. A precision Tanita scale was used for the anthropometric tests such as body fat, muscle mass and bone mass. Statistical procedures were applied through the Wilcoxon test to compare the two time points of evaluation.

Results

Improvements were found between evaluations regarding the level of anthropometric and physical fitness variables.

Conclusions

The implemented training improved all the analysed variables with significant statistical values for leg power, speed, bone mass, muscle mass and fat mass.