scholarly journals The anthropometric, physical, and relative age characteristics of an English Premiership rugby union academy

Author(s):  
Francesco Dimundo ◽  
Matthew Cole ◽  
Richard C. Blagrove ◽  
Alexander B. T. McAuley ◽  
Kevin Till ◽  
...  

Long-term athlete development is a primary focus for the England Rugby Football Union (RFU). The purpose of this study was to explore the anthropometric, physical, and relative age characteristics of rugby union academy players based on age group and playing position. Seventy-eight participants were examined for height, body mass, 10 and 20 m sprint, countermovement jump, reactive strength index, aerobic capacity, isometric hip extension, dominant handgrip strength, and birth quartile (BQ) across three age categories (i.e., under-16, under-18, and under-21) and two positions (forwards and backs). ANOVA and Kruskall–Wallis analysis were used to examine differences across each age category and position. TukeyHSD and Dunn’s test with Bonferroni correction was used for further post-hoc analysis. BQ distributions were compared against national norms using chi-square analysis. Results revealed that both older forwards (P=0.005) and backs (P=0.002) had significantly greater body mass, maximal aerobic capacity, and power compared to younger players. However, older forwards had slower 10 m sprint times compared to younger forwards. Moreover, relatively older players were significantly overrepresented across all age groups when compared to relatively younger players. Findings suggest that: (a) players should aim to develop greater parameters of body mass and aerobic capacity; (b) forwards should aim to develop acceleration and strength; (c) backs should aim to develop power and quickness; (d) players need to develop anthropometric and physical qualities and differences are apparent by age and position; and, (e) coaches should consider relative age when recruiting and developing young players. Key words: Talent identification; Talent development; Expertise; Physical development; Physiological profile; Rugby football

2002 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 743-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen S. Meaney ◽  
Lanie A. Dornier ◽  
Mary S. Owens

This investigation was designed to assess sex-role stereotyping across age groups. Participants ( N = 668) were girls and boys, students from Grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 at local public schools. All participants completed the Sport and Physical Activities Questionnaire on which were displayed pictures of 31 sport and physical activities. Participants were instructed to designate each activity as a boys' activity, a girls' activity, or a boys' and girls' activity. Chi-square analysis showed age-related differences in distribution of stereotyping of the activities. Over age groups there were more discrepancies between boys' and girls' ratings of activities as sex-specific. These findings suggest that sex-role stereotyping of sports and physical activities becomes more predominant across age groups.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Leite ◽  
Jorge Arede ◽  
Ximing Shang ◽  
Julio Calleja-González ◽  
Alberto Lorenzo

The aims of this study were two-fold: (1) to inspect separately for the relative age and birthplace effects for players selected in the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft; (2) to explore the interaction among these factors and analyse this interaction in players' career performance. The database was obtained from the official records of the players (n = 1,738), who were selected during the annual editions of the NBA Draft from 1990 to 2019. The participants' date of birth was analyzed according to the month of birth and divided into four quartiles. The place of birth was compared to the distribution of the general population' places of birth based on different communities' sizes. Chi-square analysis were used to determine if the relative age and birthplace of the players drafted differed in any systematic way from official census population distributions. Cluster analysis and standardized residuals were calculated to analyse the interaction among the contextual factors and the players' career performance. The data revealed that early-born players (Q1 and Q2) were over-represented. Moreover, players born in smaller cities (<100,000) were over-represented. The interaction analysis revealed that the players born in the bigger communities relate mainly with relatively younger players, and clusters that correspond to players born in smaller communities integrated the relatively older players. No differences were found in the players' career performance. Researchers, coaches and practitioners should be aware of the interaction between contextual factors to help nurture the development of sport talent regardless of age-related issues or communities' size.


Author(s):  
Juliana Melo Altimari ◽  
Henrique Bortolotti ◽  
Nelson Dos Santos-Junior ◽  
Leandro Ricardo Altimari ◽  
Antonio Carlos de Moraes

The aim of this study was to analyze the birth month distribution and anthropometric measurements of U-15 elite soccer players. The sample consisted of 400 athletes (15.4 ± 0.4 years, 171.0 ± 10.6 cm and 63.0 ± 8.8 kg) participants of the 11th edition of the Brazil U-15 Soccer Cup, who had their birth month information and height and body mass measures obtained from data available on the organization’s website. Athletes were separated according to the categorization of chronological age into four-month periods: 1st quarter (1st QDT), athletes born between January and April; 2nd quarter (2nd QDT), those born between May and August, and 3rd quarter (3rd QDT), those born between September and December. The non-parametric chi-square test (X2) was used to analyze the possible differences between observed and expected birth date distributions in the four-month periods. The significance level was P<0.05. The results show that the number of players born in 1st QDT was higher when compared to 2nd QDT and 3rd QDT (P<0.05), and higher when compared to 2nd QDT with 3rd QDT (P<0.05). For variables height and body mass, it was observed that players born in 1st QDT presented values significantly higher than those born in 2nd QDT and 3rd QDT (P<0.05). In the same way, players born in 2nd QDT presented higher values than those born in 3rd QDT (P<0.05).It could be concluded that the relative age effect exerts an influence on the selection of Brazilian U-15 soccer players because it is associated with differences in the anthropometric characteristics of these young players.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 419-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Daugherty ◽  
Stephen Blakely ◽  
Oleg Shapiro ◽  
Gennady Bratslavsky

419 Background: Renal cell cancer (RCC) incidence is relatively low in younger patients, encompassing 3-5% of all RCC tumors. These tumors tend to be due to hereditary syndromes and genetic mutations that predispose to cancer development. Patients with hereditary renal cancer (HRC) are at a higher risk of multiple tumors and bilateral disease. We hypothesize that there is a difference in histologic distribution in the younger patients and that the younger distribution contains more aggressive histologic subtypes. Methods: SEER 18-registries database was queried for all patients ≥20 years old that were surgically treated for renal cell carcinoma between the years 2001 and 2008. Patients with unknown race, grade, stage, or histology were excluded from the study. Histologies selected were clear cell, papillary, chromophobe, sarcomatoid, and collecting duct. Three cohorts were created with the ages 20-44, 45-64, and ≥65 year olds that contained 3,926, 19,661, and 16,323 patients respectively. Chi-square analysis was used to compare the histologic distributions between the cohorts. Results: There was no difference in the incidence of clear cell RCC between the three cohorts (p = 0.63). The histology distribution was not different in the 45-64 year olds compared to those ≥65 (p = 0.47). The non-clear cell histologies were different between the 3 age groups (p < 0.001). There were a larger percentage of patients in the younger patients that had chromophobe tumors compared to all non-clear cell histologies (p< 0.001). Conclusions: The difference in the non-clear cell histologic distribution between the groups is most likely due to genetic mutations predisposing these patients to chromophobe RCC. There has been limited data on HRCs, due in large part to its low incidence. Although the HRCs are known to have a most common histology, it is likely that this information is incomplete, as younger patients have undiagnosed genetic mutations that led to development of chromophobe tumors. [Table: see text]


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1230-1235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Pereira Borges ◽  
Mauro Felippe Felix Mediano ◽  
Paulo Farinatti ◽  
Marina Pereira Coelho ◽  
Pablo Marino Correa Nascimento ◽  
...  

Background:It remains unclear whether self-regulated exercise is sufficient to maintain the benefits acquired during formal cardiac rehabilitation (CR). This retrospective observational study investigated the effects of a home-based exercise intervention after discharge from CR upon anthropometric and aerobic capacity markers in clinically stable patients.Methods:Fifty patients with cardiovascular disease were discharged after 6 months of CR and encouraged to maintain aerobic exercise without supervision. Subsequent to 6 months of follow-up, patients were assigned to compliant (n = 34) or noncompliant (n = 16) groups according to their compliance to the home-based program. Maximal aerobic capacity (VO2peak) and anthropometric data were assessed before CR, at discharge, and after 6 months of follow-up.Results:No statistical differences between compliant and noncompliant groups were observed at baseline and at discharge from CR. At the end of the follow-up, statistical differences across groups were not found for body mass or body mass index, but increases in VO2peak (+3.6 vs. –0.6 ml/kg·min, P = 0.004) and oxygen pulse (+1.5 vs. +0.2 ml/bpm, P = .03) were greater in compliant than noncompliant group.Conclusions:Self-regulated exercising following CR discharge seems to be effective to maintain gains in exercise capacity acquired during supervised center-based programs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajjad Rostamzadeh ◽  
Mahnaz Saremi ◽  
Alireza Abouhossein ◽  
Shahram Vosoughi ◽  
Johan F. M. Molenbroek

Abstract Background Grip strength is an essential component of physical fitness. The objective of this study was to develop normative handgrip strength data for Iranian healthy boys and girls comparing their handgrip strength with international reference values. Methods Handgrip strength was measured in 2637 healthy children/adolescents (1391 boys and 1246 girls), aged 7–18 years, using a standard adjustable Jamar hand dynamometer (Model 5030 J1, Sammons Preston Rolyan, Bolingbrook, IL, USA). Body mass (kg) and stature (cm) were measured and body mass index was computed in kg/m2. The sample was stratified by gender, age, and hand preference. Results Handgrip strength increased with age and was considerably higher in boys than in girls for all age groups (p < 0.001). Grip strength had a parallel and linear growth for both genders until the age of about 11 years and showed a steeper upward slope in boys than in girls thereafter. The findings of the current investigation were significantly different from those of the previously published normative data, especially for boys over the age of 12 years and girls in the age range of 7–18 years (p < 0.001). This difference was mainly in such a way that the Iranians had lower handgrip strength. Conclusions The differences between present results and those of similar available in the literature in this field emphasize the significant role of using normative data specific to a particular population in research or clinical settings.


2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikoletta Nagy ◽  
Csaba Ökrös ◽  
Csaba Sós

AbstractIn 2017, the 19th World Swimming Championship will be organized in Hungary. Up to now, many people have already been working with swimmers to achieve good results. However, in the next period they must work even harder to ensure that the national swimmers of a country as small as Hungary can achieve the outstanding results of their predecessors. Since high-level competitions in swimming have become more intense, innovations including scientific studies are needed during preparation for the event. The purpose of this paper is to present the major results of an independent study carried out by the authors about the relative age of the best Hungarian swimmers with the aim of contributing to their preparation. The research population consisted of selected age groups of swimmers registered by the Hungarian Swimming Association (N=400). The method for data collection was an analysis of documents. To evaluate the data, the Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used. The results are presented according to the period of the competitor’s date of birth, gender, and age group. The results confirm only partly the hypothesis that people born in the first quarters of the year play a dominant role in Hungarian national swimming teams. In the conclusion, the authors recommend further research on relative age in swimming and in other sports.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cici Enjelia Nata ◽  
Safrizal Rahman ◽  
Sakdiah Sakdiah

Abstrak. Indeks Massa Tubuh (IMT) merupakan parameter yang digunakan untuk menilai komposisi tubuh dengan menggunakan klasifikasi Asia Pasifik. IMT menjadi salah satu faktor risiko terjadinya osteoartritis lutut. Osteoartritis lutut merupakan penyakit degeneratif yang terjadi pada sendi lutut. Berdasarkan RISKESDAS tahun 2018, Provinsi Aceh menduduki peringkat pertama sebagai provinsi dengan angka penyakit sendi terbanyak yang termasuk osteoartritis lutut yaitu 13.3%. Prevalensi indeks massa tubuh berlebih di Indonesia pada tahun 2018  meningkat dari 26.3% menjadi 34.4% sehingga kemungkinan terjadinya osteoartritis lutut juga meningkat. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode observasional analitik dengan desain cross-sectional dilakukan dengan cara mengukur berat badan dan tinggi badan responden yang memenuhi kriteria penelitian berdasarkan pedoman American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Sampel dikumpulkan berdasarkan rekam medis di Rumah Sakit Umum Zainoel Abidin kota Banda Aceh sejak september hingga oktober 2019 yang melibatkan tujuh puluh responden sebagai sampel penelitian yang dimana 51 responden (72.9%) memiliki indeks massa tubuh berlebih dan 43 responden (61.4%) didiagnosis dengan Osteoartritis lutut. Berdasarkan hasil analisis uji Chi Square, nilai p value yang diperoleh adalah 0.021 (p value ≤ 0,05). Dengan demikian, penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa terdapat hubungan antara indeks massa tubuh dengan kejadian osteoartritis lutut di Rumah Sakit Umum Zainoel Abidin di kota Banda Aceh.Kata Kunci: Indeks massa tubuh; berat badan lebih, osteoartritis lutut;               Abstract. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a parameter to measure body composition which is classified into underweight, normal and overweight. Overweight has been known to potentially cause knee osteoarthritis. Knee osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease happening on the knee. Based on RISKESDAS 2018, Aceh led Indonesia as a province with the highest number of knee arthritis (13.3%). In the same year, the prevalence of overweight in Indonesia has also increased from 26.3% to 34.4% and is expected to rise annually. This research is an analytic observational using cross sectional design. The method used in this research is body weight and body length measurement of samples fulfilling the criteria based on American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Data were collected based on medicalr record at Zainoel Abidin General Hospital, Banda Aceh, from September to October 2019. We examined 70 respondents, 51 of them (72.9%) had overweight IMT and 43 of them (61.4%) were diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis. Chi Square analysis showed p value 0,021 (p value ≤ 0.05). We concluded that there is a correlation between body mass index with knee osteoarthritis in Zainoel Abidin General Hospital, Banda Aceh.Keyword: Body Mass Index; overweight; knee osteoarthritis;


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Conrad Le Roux ◽  
Andrew Green ◽  
Adrian Lombard

Background: The purpose of the on-field referee is to implement the laws of the game. For the referee to do this successfully, he is required to keep up with the pace of play. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the physical attributes of sub-elite rugby union referees of inland provinces in South Africa. Methods: A total of 82 referees (age: 26.5 ± 6.4 years; stature: 177.3 ± 6.8 cm; body mass: 79.1 ± 14.7 kg) were assessed with a reliable testing battery. Results: The participants showed a refined aerobic capacity (VO2max: 61.8 ± 11.0 mL·min-1·kg-1) and good agility (Illinois Agility Test: 17.2 ± 3.8 s). A two-way unbalanced ANOVA was performed for all referees’ attributes between qualification levels (levels 1-4) and union affiliations (three unions) at a significance level of p<0.05. The results yielded significant differences across the three unions in age (p=0.002), Yo-Yo distance (p=0.0001), aerobic capacity (p=0.0001), plank time (p=0.0001) and agility (p=0.027). Similarly, differences were reported across the four qualifications in aerobic capacity (p=0.0001) and agility (p=0.037). Conclusion: These differences may be due to the diverse training programmes offered by the various unions. Additionally, an increased level of physical fitness may occur when progressing up the qualification levels.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Kukic ◽  
Jay Dawes ◽  
Jillian Joyce ◽  
Aleksandar Čvorović ◽  
Milivoj Dopsaj

This study evaluated the accuracy and predictive value of body mass index (BMI) in evaluation of obesity and body fatness. Data on BMI and percent body fat (PBF) were collected on 953 male police officers who were allocated into age groups: 20-29 years, 30-39 years, and 40-49 years. BMI > 30.0 kg/m2 and PBF > 25% were classified as obese, and those with lower values were classified as non-obese. Chi-square was used to evaluate the accuracy in classification in obese and non-obese when officers’ BMI was matched to PBF. Pearson’s correlation and linear regression analyses determined the prediction value of BMI. Chi-square revealed significant difference in obesity prevalence when evaluated by BMI and PBF, with classification accuracy of 44.5%-71.8%, depending on age. BMI had moderate prediction value of body fatness. If the assessment of PBF is not attainable, BMI needs to be used carefully as it is likely to underestimate obesity among police officers.


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