DIFFERENCES IN SOME ANTHROPOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN CATEGORIES OF FOOTBALL PLAYERS, PARTICIPANTS IN THE SUPERLEAGUE AND THE AMATEUR LEAGUE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO.

The aim of the research is to determine the differences in the anthropometric characteristics among the young categories of football players from the super league and the amateur league of the Republic of Kosovo. The survey was conducted on 132 respondents of young football players at the age of 14 (±6 months). The sample was divided into two groups, namely 66 young football players who play in the super league and 66 young football players who play in the amateur league of the Republic of Kosovo. The sample of the variables consisted of 10 anthropometric measures that define the longitudinal and transversal dimension of the skeleton, then the volume and mass of the body and subcutaneous fatty tissue. The measurement results were analyzed by statistical procedures marked as a multivariate and univariate analysis of variance. Based on the results it can be concluded that young players competing in higher ranking competitions have lower values of the skin folds on the back - subscapular, skin fold of the triceps and skin fold of the belly. In the other anthropometric measures there are no statistically significant differences between younger football players who are competing in the lower and higher-ranking competitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]