RELATIVE AGE IN FEMALE FUTSAL ATHLETES: IMPLICATIONS ON ANTHROPOMETRIC PROFILE AND STARTER STATUS

Introduction: Evidence suggests that a higher distribution of elite athletes have birth dates in the first few months of the year. However, the advantages of birth month on performance related to starter status, structure and body composition in female futsal (5-a-side football played on a hard court, mainly indoors), are unknown. Objective:To determine the effect of relative age (ERA) on competitive female futsal athletes, and its influence on anthropometric profile and starter status. Methods:One hundred and fifteen athletes, participants in the 20th Brazilian Cup of Adult Futsal Clubs, special division, were submitted to measurements of body mass, height, skinfold thickness, body perimeters and bone diameters, in order to characterize the anthropometric profile and determine the body somatotype.The athletes were distributed in semesters and quartiles of the months of theyear, according to their birth dates. Differences in the distribution of expected and observed birth dates were tested using Chi-square tests (chi(2)). Comparisons between semesters and birth quartiles were performed using parametric and non-parametric tests. Results:There was no ERA in distribution (p=0.248), anthropometric profile (p=0.872 to 0.912), or starter status between athletes born from January to June (p=0.352) and those born between July and December (p=0.744). On the other hand, those born in the first months of the year showed longer practice times than those born in the latter months of theyear. Conclusion: Although the ERA in this study reveals longer practice times favoring female futsal athletes born in the first quartile of theyear, it did not influence the starter status, the distribution in the teams, or any advantage in anthropometric profile.