Gender differences in anthropometric parameters and technical performance of youth soccer players

AbstractConsidering that the popularity and professionalism of females soccer has increased markedly, the aims of this study were to evaluate the eventual (1) technical differences between the young male and female soccer players, and (2) relationship among anthropometrics characteristic (weight, height and Body Mass Index), soccer experiences, and soccer performances (juggling, speed dribbling, long and short passing, shooting from dead ball and from a pass; heading) in 16 female and 32 male soccer players (n: 48; age: 16  ± 1 years; BMI 20.8 ± 2.0 kg/m2). Unpaired studentt test was applied to assess differences between groups (male vs female) to variables with normal distribution (age, height, weight, BMI, speed dribbling without ball, short pass), while Mann –WhitneyU test was applied to the other non-parametric variables. Spearman Rho correlation was used to analyse relationships among variables considering all subjects, male, and female categories. Results showed differences (p <  0.05) between groups for height (p <  0.0001), weight (p = 0.0002), juggling foot–chest–head (p = 0.03), speed dribbling with (p = 0.01), and without (p <  0.05) ball. Correlations between variables were found in all subjects, female and male groups. Female soccer players showed better values than males in juggling test but worse in speed dribbling with ball and in shooting. Considering gender differences in soccer performance, cut-off used for...
Source: Sport Sciences for Health - Category: Sports Medicine Source Type: research