Differences in Anthropometric Characteristics among Junior Soccer and Handball Players

The aim of this study was to obtain the relevant knowledge about signifi cant diff erences in some anthropometric characteristics of junior soccer and handball players. The sample included 40 male subjects divided into two subsamples. The fi rst subsample included 25 subjects, who train in the junior selection in the Football club Vojvodina from Novi Sad, while the other subsample included 15 subjects who train in the junior selection in the Handball club Vrbas, from Vrbas. The variables sample included 20 anthropometric measures that defi ned longitudinal and transversal dimensionality of skeleton, volume and mass of the body, and subcutaneous adipose tissue. The results is analysed in a statistical procedure marked as a signifi cance testing of two arithmetic means of the independent samples, a t-test at the level of signifi cance of p<0.05. Based on the result, it was concluded that signifi cant diff erences occur in wrist diameter, ankle joint diameter, upper arm circumference (min), upper arm circumference (max), lower leg circumference (max), upper arm skinfolf, lower arm skinfold, thigh skinfold, calf skinfold, chest skinfold and abdomen skinfold, while the signifi cant diff erence does not occur in body height, bodyweight, elbow diameter, knee diameter, lower arm circumference (min), lower arm circumference (max), upper leg circumference (min), upper leg circumference (max), and lower leg circumference (min).


Introduction
Athletes, competing in diff erent sports and sports disciplines, diff er in their physical and physiological characteristics (Stojanovic et al., 2016;Morteza Tayebi, Mahmoudi, Shirazi, & Sangi, 2017). All competitive sports practiced at a higher level require that the body performs at the optimal biomechanical and physiological capacity (Saavedra et al., 2018). Logically, a junior athlete competing in the strongest leagues in his age group is expected to have the optimal physique, strength, and endurance for the functional requirements of the sport in question (Masanovic, 2018a). Morphological characteristics are of great importance when it comes to orientation and selection in all sports disciplines since they are present in the equation of the specifi cation of almost every sport (Nikolaidis & Vassilios-Karydis, 2011;Gjonbalaj, Georgiev, & Bjelica, 2018 ). Th e coeffi cients of participation of some morphological dimensions in the equation of the specifi cation a particular sport are constantly changing, primarily due to the development of technique and tactics, therefore for eff ective identifi cation of talents, the continuous participation of sports science and practice is required (Popovic, Bjelica, Jaksic, & Hadzic, 2014).
Body mass can aff ect the speed, durability and physical dominance of athletes, while the composition of the body inevitably aff ects the strength and agility, and for the successful handling of football and handball, each individual requires a high level of athletic abilities and appropriate atropometric characteristics and body composition, beside high level of technical and tactical skills (Popovic, Akpinar, Jaksic, Matic, & Bjelica, 2013).
Soccer is a team sport which is played on an open fi eld of great dimensions, and therefore requires a high standard of physical preparation, it is also based on a large number of movements, and a series of moderate activities that periodically replace high intensity activities, leading to signifi cant metabolic heat production, and an intensity of 75-90% of the maximum heart rate, or 70-80% of the maximum oxygen consumption (Rexhepi & Brestovci, 2010;Saether, 2017;Amani, Sadeghi, & Afsharnezhad, 2018). On the other hand, handball is played in the fi eld of smaller dimensions, however, it is considered as one of the fastest team sports and also requires great durability and strength due to constant contact with the opponent's body and specifi c maneuvers such as jumping, pressurizing, blocking and shooting on goal (Bilge, 2013;Masanovic, Milosevic, & Corluka, 2018).
Th e aim of this research is to describe the morphological profi le of young soccer and handball players, to determine if there is a diff erence in anthropometric dimensions between them, and to defi ne its scale.

Methods
Th e sample included 40 male subjects divided into two subsamples. Th e fi rst subsample included 25 soccer players (16.64±0.49 yrs), who trained in the junior selection in the Soccer club "Vojvodina" from Novi Sad, which competed in Serbian Junior League, while the other subsample included 15 handball players (16.93±0.59 yrs), who trained in the junior selection in the Handball club "Vrbas" from Vrbas, which also competed also in Serbian Junior League. Criteria for selection of subjects for the sample were as follows: they have been members of the fi rst team squad for at least one year and that they are in good health.
Anthropometric research technique is used for data collection. A total of 20 anthropometric measures were evaluated, that defi ned the longitudinal and transversal dimensionality of skeleton, body volume and body mass, and subcutaneous adipose tissue: body height, body weight, elbow diameter, wrist diameter, knee diameter, ankle joint diameter, minimum circumference of the upper arm, maximum circumference of the upper arm, minimum circumference of the forearm, maximum circumference of the forearm, minimum circumference of the upper leg, maximum circumference of the upper leg, minimum circumference of the lower leg, maximum circumference of the lower leg, skinfold thickness of the upper arm, skinfold thickness of the forearm, skinfold thickness of the thigh, skinfold thickness of the calf, skinfold thickness of the chest and skinfold thickness of the abdomen.
Anthropometric research was conducted according to IBP standards, while respecting the basic rules and principles related to the selection of parameters, standard conditions and measuring techniques, as well as the standard measuring instruments calibrated before measuring.
Th e measuring was carried out in the middle of the competitive season. Th e data obtained in the research were analyzed with the statistical program SPSS 20.0, adapted for use on personal computers. Th e arithmetic mean, standard deviation and standard errors of the arithmetic mean of the anthropometric characteristics were calculated for respondents who are professional soccer players and professional handball players, by testing the diff erences of arithmetic means of independent samples at a signifi cance level of p<0.05. Th is analysis gave answer to the question whether there is a diff erence, and the scope of it, between the anthropometric characteristics of the soccer and handball players, regulars who compete in union divisions.

Results
Th is section presents the results of central tendency and dispersion parameters, as well as the results of t-test for independent samples, classifi ed into tables. Observing the results of the central tendency and dispersion parameters of longithudinal and transversal skeletal dimensionality, body volume and body mass of the soccer and handball players, we immediately notice that handball players have higher value in 18 variables, while soccer players have higher values in only 2 parameters (Table 1).
Legend: N -number of Subjects, AM -arithmetic mean, S -standard deviation On the basis of the results presented it was determined that the subsamples are signifi cantly diff erent in 11 out of 20 anthropometric characteristics (level of signifi cance p<0.05). Based on results, it was concluded that signifi cant diff erences occur in wrist diameter, ankle joint diameter, upper arm circumference (min), upper arm circumference (max), lower leg circumference (max), upper arm skinfolf, lower arm skinfold, thigh skinfold, calf skinfold, chest skinfold and abdomen skin-fold, while the signifi cant diff erence does not occur in body height, bodyweight, elbow diameter, knee diameter, lower arm circumference (min), lower arm circumference (max), upper leg circumference (min), upper leg circumference (max), and lower leg circumference (min). For each of the parameters in which a signifi cant diff erence has been found, higher values can be seen in handball players (Table 2).

Discussion
On the basis of the data obtained in this study, it was found that there are signifi cant diff erences in certain anthropometric characteristics between soccer players and handball players who compete in the best junior leagues in Serbia. When it comes to longitudinal dimensionality, signifi cant diff erences have not been found at body height, which is not supported by previous research (Taborsky, 2007;Popovic, Bjelica, Petkovic, & Muratovic, 2012). Th e body height of handball players obtained by this study raises doubt that the selection process has been carried out correctly especially due to the fact that offi cial statistical data proved that Serbian handball players are shorter than the most successful teams which participated in the IHF Men's Youth World Championship played in Russia 2015. For example, the average body height of the players of the French National team, the winning team, was 191.8 centimeters, while the 13th Korea had an average of 183.4 centimeters and 19th Poland had an average 190.1 centimeters. Th is insight may suggest the coaches from Serbia to follow the recent selection process methods and to be more careful during the talent identifi cation as they have a very tall population in general Milasinovic, Popovic, Matic, Gardasevic, & Bjelica, 2016;Popovic, 2017;Masanovic, 2018b). Th e absence of a signifi cant body mass diff erence is also a surprise, as the previous literature indicates a signifi cantly higher body weight of the handball players (Sedeaud et al., 2014), which again points to gaps in the selection of the examined group of players.
Results related to measures of the skeleton transversal and body volume showed signifi cantly higher values for handball players. Subcutaneous adipose tissue showed signifi cantly higher values for handball players for all 6 variables (upper arm skinfolf, lower arm skinfold, thigh skinfold, calf skinfold, chest skinfold, abdomen skinfold). Th ese results are in line with previous research (Muratovic, Vujovic, & Hadzic, 2014;Gusic, Popovic, Molnar, Masanovic, & Radakovic, 2017;Vukotic, Corluka, Vasiljevic, & Bubanja, 2018) which is also logical because in research, soccer is recognized as an aerobic sport in which activity lasts longer and running distance is greater (Popovic et al., 2013;Popovic, Masanovic, Molnar, & Smajic, 2009;Gardasevic, Bjelica, & Popovic, 2015). On the other hand, handball is played on a smaller pitch, the running distance during the match is less which justifi es somewhat higher value of the thickness of the skin folds. Considering the movement patterns in handball, bigger diameters of hand wrist diameter and ankle joint diameter, and higher values of upper arm circumference (max) and lower arm circumference (min), are expected primarily for the reason that handball is a sport that requires a lot of power, constant contact with hands and body with an opponent, as well as specifi c maneuvers such as shooting, blocking and jumping, and the strength of the arm, shoulder band and ankle joint gives advantage DIFFERENCES AMONG JUNIOR SOCCER AND HANDBALL PLAYERS | F. ARIFI ET AL.
in defense and attack because players who have that ability can gain easier an advantage in the mentioned elements of the game (Vila Suarez, Ferragut, Alcaraz, Rodriguez Suarez, & Cruz Martinez, 2008;Masanovic et al., 2018).
Being a professional athlete requires a high level of preparation which, in addition to motor and functional abilities, must be supported by morphological characteristics that should correspond, through the perfect harmony, based on sport structure, to the rank of the competition and the specifi cs of the player position, which diff er within almost every sport branch (Vukasevic, Spaic, Masanovic, 2018).
Th e aim of this research was to determine whether there is a diff erence, and the scope of it, in anthropometric characteristics between the junior soccer and handball players, and to characterize, as acurately as possible, the morphological characteristics of subjects by measuring the individual body parts.
Considering the movement patterns in handball, slightly greater body height and body mass, are expected primarily for the reason that handball is a sport in which body height gives advantage in defence and attack because taller players have the ability to easily shot through the opponent's defense and set a strong defensive goal in front of their goal through which opposing attackers have less chance of hitting (Muratovic et al., 2014;Gusic et al., 2017), while bigger diameters of the most joints, and higher values of al extremities' circumferences are expected because these features allow players to gain an advantage during the performance of defensive elements that contain the grit and capture, and also give an edge in the performance of the shot that is the most important element of the game (Popovic et al., 2014). Movement patterns in soccer are the reason for lower subcutaneous adipose tissue values for soccer players because in research, soccer is recognized as an aerobic sport in which activity lasts longer and running distance is greater (Popovic et al., 2013). On the other hand, handball is played on a smaller pitch, the running distance during the match is shorter, and the players on certain positions are capable (thanks to their heawier) topush out the opponent and get better position for a shot (Massuca & Fragoso, 2011), which justifi es somewhat higher value of the thickness of the skin folds. However, smallest diff erence is the seen in the arm skinfolf variables and bigger in the thigh an abdomen skinfold. Th e reason for that can be found in the fact that handbal players use both upper and lower extremities during the game, which is not the case in soccer.
Morphological characteristics of topclass soccer and handball players appear to be of great interest for some authors (Krespi, Sporis, & Popovic, 2019;Barraza et al., 2015) with the interest of fi nding the best morphology somatotype for particular sports, competition levels and player positions as well. Comparison of anthropometrics should support coaches with better understanding of specifi c demands of certain sport, where particular morphology profi le of athlete, combined with motor and functional abilities, should express its full potential (Gusic et al. 2017).