Aerobic and anaerobic fitness indicators in under 20 and elite Qatari soccer players

OBJECTIVE Qatari National age-group soccer teams success have not been carried on at the Olympic and Full Inter-national levels. While objective assessment tools that measure tactical and technical competence would provide valu-able insight into player development, the majority of soccer research has focused upon different skill related fitness attributes. A plateau in jump and sprinting performance plateau in Qatari National soccer player's late teens was re-cently reported. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to quantify and compare the aerobic and anaerobic fitness indicators in soccer players at different competitive levels, specifically at Qatar Under 20 (U20), and Elite (NAT) level.METHODS Twenty-nine (16 U-20, 13 NAT) male athletes (aged 17-34 y) completed a test battery that included counter movement jumps, with (WAMJ) and without (CMJ) arm swing, six repetitive reactivity calf jumps (6J), a 20 m sprint test, and a Level 1 Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery test. An independent t-test analysed differences between groups. Data was expressed as mean ± SD with significance set at p<0.05.RESULTS There were no differences in height, weight or body mass index. CMJ (U20, 37.8 (4.5); NAT, 40.0 (5.4) cm), WAMJ and 6J performance was similar between groups. No differences in sprinting performance were noted at 2.5, 5, 10, and 20 m. The final stage and total distance (U20, 1762.5 (522.2); NAT, 1769.2 (342.2) m) completed in the YYIRTL1 test did not differ between the groups.DISCUSSION Results revealed the aerobic and anaerobic fitness indicators in the Qatari players between the two com-petitive levels. Both groups had similar results in performing high intense intermittent exercise indicating similar high rate of aerobic and anaerobic turnover.CONCLUSION In conclusion, the U20 players were in similar fitness category as their NAT counterparts.