Stature and Jumping Height Are Required in Female Volleyball, but Motor Coordination Is a Key Factor for Future Elite Success

We report the morphology (height, weight, body fat, body mass index), fitness (strength, speed, agility, flexibility), and soccer-specific (dribbling) and non-specific motor coordination skills (Körper KoordinationsTest für Kinder; KTK) of 78 Belgian international youth soccer players aged 15-16 years with varying biological maturity status. The more mature players (U16 and U17) possessed higher morphological measures and outperformed their later maturing peers (U16 Futures and U17 Futures) on almost all fitness tests. However, soccer-specific and non-specific motor coordination tests did not distinguish the more mature players from the later maturing players in both age groups. When adjusted for the confounder (age at peak height velocity), multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that several morphology- and fitness-related parameters did not differ between selection groups, again in both age groups. These findings indicate that biological maturation affects morphology and fitness more so than motor coordination skills. In conclusion, to prevent the dropout of promising late maturing players, we suggest avoiding one-dimensional approaches and to include measures of biological maturity status as well as maturity independent performance tests during the talent identification and selection process. Show more

Being relatively older and having an advanced biological maturation status have been associated with increased likelihood of selection in young elite soccer players. The aims of the study were to investigate the presence of a relative age effect (RAE) and the influence of birth quarter on anthropometry, biological maturity and anaerobic parameters in 374 elite Belgian youth soccer players. The sample was divided into 3 age groups, each subdivided into 4 birth quarters (BQ). Players had their APHV estimated and height, weight, SBJ, CMJ, sprint 5 and 30 m were assessed. Overall, more players were born in BQ1 (42.3%) compared with players born in BQ4 (13.7%). Further, MANCOVA revealed no differences in all parameters between the 4 BQ's, controlled for age and APHV. These results suggest that relatively youngest players can offset the RAE if they enter puberty earlier. Furthermore, the results demonstrated possible differences between BQ1 and BQ4, suggesting that caution is necessary when estimating differences between players because of large discrepancies between statistical and practical significance. These findings also show that coaches should develop realistic expectations of the physical abilities of younger players and these expectations should be made in the context of biological characteristics rather than chronological age-based standards. Show more