Differences in Basic Morphological Characteristics and Sport Specific Abilities of the Best U14 Croatian Water Polo Players : Undergraduate Thesis

Praćenje sportskih rezultata i efekata treninga, a sve u cilju kvalitetne selekcije sportaša je jedan od osnovnih zadataka trenera i sportskih organizacija u današnje vrijeme. Temeljem toga je i cilj ovoga rada bio utvrditi osnovna antropološka obilježja i sportsko specifične sposobnosti mladih vaterpolista koji su sudjelovali na vaterpolo kampu organiziranog od strane Hrvatskog vaterpolo saveza. U istraživanju su sudjelovala 88 vaterpolista starosti 14,34±0,25 god kroz tri godine kampa. Za procjenu antropoloških karakteristika korišteno je šest testova, a za sportsko specifične sposobnosti je također korišteno šest testova. Metode rada su uključivale izračun osnovnih deskriptivnih parametara, te utvrđivanje razlike s ttestom između osnovnih antropološki osobina i sportsko specifičnih karakteristika između dvije skupine mladih vaterpolista. Rezultati ukazuju kako su tjelesno viši igrači (178.66±6.47) i dalje poželjniji, te da su plivačke sposobnosti na zavidnom nivou uspoređujući vršnjake. Također, odabrani vaterpolisti za nastup za nacionalnu vrstu su tjelesno viši i u svim plivačkim testovima postižu bolje rezultate od onih koji nisu odabrani za nacionalnu vrstu. Utvrđeno je kako sportsko specifični testovi korišteni u ovoj studiji već u ovom starosnom uzrastu mogu kvalitetno razlikovati mlade vaterpolo igrače po kvaliteti.Monitoring sport results and practice efects, all in goal of quality athlete selection, is one of the main tasks of coaches and sport organizations. According to that goal of this work was to determine basic anthropological features and sport specific abilities of young waterpolo players who were participating in waterpolo camp organized by Croatian waterpolo association. There were 88 waterpolo players in research aged 14,34±0,25 through three years of camp. Six tests were used for evaluation of anthropological characteristics, and also six for sport specific abilities. Methods of work included the calculation of basic descriptive parameters, and determining the difference with t-test between basic anthropological features and sport specific characteristics among two groups of young waterpolo players. Results show that taller players (178.66±6.47) are still more welcomed and swimming abilities are on higher level comparing the kids of same age. As well, selected players for national team are taller and in all swimming tests are making better results comparing to those who are not selected. It is confirmed that sport specific tests used in this study can already make worthy differences between quality of young waterpolo players