Gender Differences In Physiological And Skills Characteristics Between Basketball Referees During International Basketball Tournaments

Abstract

PURPOSE: To describe anthropometric- and performance-related characteristics of basketball referees during international tournaments. METHODS: Fifty-three, (males: 36, females: 17 mean ages = 36.1 ± 5.0 years) referees from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), wore a heart rate monitor which integrates multiple sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope, digital compass, sampling at 200 Hz) coupled with in-built HR monitoring and proprietary software during two international tournaments games. Anthropometrics variables included height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (%fat). Performance variables included total numbers of games, maximal speed, time spent on heart rate frequency zones by percentages of predicted maximal heart rate (PMHR). Heart frequency zones one, two, three, four, and five were defined in the following way: 50%-59% of PMHR, 60%-69% of PMHR, 70%-79% of PMHR, 80%-89% of PMHR and 90%-99% of PMHR, respectively during officiated games at the 2018 FIBA’s U17 world championship and Women World Cup. Descriptive statistics were performed on continuous variables. An independent sample t-test was used to explore differences between males and females referees. RESULTS: On anthropometric variables, significant differences between males and females were found for height (181.2 ± 6.7 vs. 171.4 ± 6.3 cm, respectively, p < 0.001), weight (80.2 ± 7.8 vs. 65.4 ± 5.5 kg, respectively, p < 0.001), BMI (24.4 ± 1.3 vs. 22.3 ± 1.6 kg.m-2, respectively, p < 0.001) and %fat (21.5 ± 3.8 vs. 28.1 ± 3.5 %, respectively, p < 0.001). On performance variables significant differences were found on total games officiated (6.14 ± 2.0 vs. 4.8 ± 2.2 games, respectively, p = 0.03), total distance covered while officiating (4332.4 ± 412.5 vs. 4624.1 ± 466.7 meters, respectively, p = 0.03) and maximal speed (24.8 ± 1.8 vs. 23.3 ± 2.9 km/h, respectively, p = 0.02). On heart rate frequency zone values during the game, no significant differences were found between the two genders. CONCLUSIONS: Males referees officiated more games than females, but the females covered more ground while officiating. This could be explained by either positioning on the court or the pace of the games. Males developed more speed than females; this could be explained by the biological advantage in muscle mass males has over females.