ANTHROPOMETRIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SRI LANKAN NATIONAL LEVEL FEMALE SOCCER PLAYERS

Abstract

This is focused on anthropometric and Physiological characteristics of Sri Lankan National female soccer players with a view to establishing their roles within talent detection, identification and development programmes. Top-class soccer players have to adapt to the Physiological demands of the game, which are multifactorial. Players may not need to have an extraordinary capacity within any of the areas of Physiological performance but must possess a reasonably high level within all areas. This explains why there are marked individual differences in anthropometric and Physiological characteristics among top players. Various measurements had used to evaluate specific aspects of the Physiological performance of female national soccer players. Seventy female national soccer players (goalkeeper: 10, defender: 20, midfielder: 25, and forward: 15) participated in this study. Players were selected by using a multistage sampling technique. The age of the players ranged from years 20-30 (± 1). The playing ability was selected as the dependent variable and it was assessed by ratings of a judge’s panel. Physiological variables taken were VO2 max, Resting Heart Rate, Breath Hold Time. The anthropometric measurements used were Height, Weight, Wrist Girth of wrist, Chest, Thigh, Calves & Ankle, Length of Arm, hand, leg & foot, Circumferences of upper arm, Forearm, waist & hip. To examine the relationship between performance ability and selected independent variables, a cluster analysis and Pearson correlation was calculated with SPSS 25 software. The findings of the research are mentioned below. Significant correlations were obtained for resting heart rate and Dribbling playing ability. The research concluded that there are significant correlations with the anthropometric variables namely; Height, Weight, Thigh girth and Calves circumference with the Dribbling playing ability of Soccer. This study concludes that there are impacts of anthropometric and Physiological characteristics of Sri Lankan national level female soccer players.