Morphological Characteristics and Body Composition of Elite Soccer Players in Montenegro

Abstract

The aim of this research was to determine the differences among the soccer players of three the most successful clubs in Montenegro, FC Buducnost, FC Mladost and FC Sutjeska in a terms of morphological characteristics and body composition. A sample of 70 subjects was divided into three sub-samples. The first sub-sample of the subjects consisted of 30 players of FC Bu ducnost of the average age 22.73 ±4.33, the champions of Montenegro in the season 2016/17, the other sub-sample consisted of 17 players of FC Mladost of the average age of 24.59 ±4.66, the vice champions of the Montenegrin Championship in the season 2016/17, and the last subsample of the examinees consisted of 23 players of FC Sutjeska of the average age 21.69 ±4.30, the champions of the Cup of Montenegro in the season 2016/17. Soccer players were tested immediately after the end of the competition season 2016/17. Morphological characteristics in the body composition were evaluated by a battery of 11 variables: body height, body weight, body mass index, f t percentage, muscle mass, bone mass, waist circumference, triceps skinfold, biceps skinfold, skinfold of the back and abdominal skinf ld. Data were analyzed using SPSS and the descriptive statistics were expressed as a mean (SD) for each variable. The significance of the differences between the players of the three the most successful soccer clubs in the morphological characteristics and variable s for assessing body composition were determined by ANOVA and LSD Post Hoc test. ANOVA test found that the soccer players of the thre e mentioned clubs have statistically significant differences by the two variables that estimate the fat percentage and skinfold o f the back. LSD Post Hoc test found that the soccer players of FC Sutjeska are significantly better in these variables than other players.