Associations among Maturity, Accumulated Workload, Physiological, and Body Composition Factors in Youth Soccer Players: A Comparison between Playing Positions

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Considering the importance of the biological statuses of young soccer players, maturity offset could be essential for better physiological and body composition characterization of young athletes, and consequently, better load adjustment. Moreover, the knowledge about playing position differences and maturity statuses would increase the knowledge available to prescribe the proper intensity in training. Therefore, the present study examined the relationship among maturation variables such as peak height velocity, maturity offset, body composition, sprint ability, heart rate, and maximal oxygen consumption measures with variations in accumulated training loads in elite young soccer players. The main findings revealed that playing position did not influence any body composition measures, but there were differences in sprinting where central midfielders showed higher abilities. In addition, the maturity statuses and maximal oxygen consumptions were not positively associated with accumulated loads across the season. In opposition to previous research, the present study did not confirm the expected results, which suggests that the research could be influenced by the characteristics and environments of the soccer teams. ABSTRACT: The purposes of this study were: (i) to analyze the correlation between accumulated workload (AW)—based on season periods—with maturity, linear sprints, maximum oxygen uptake (VO(2max)), maximum heart rate, and body composition; and (ii) to compare the playing positions based on the mentioned parameters. Twenty-one elite soccer players under the age of 14 participated in the study. They were divided into five groups based on playing positions. The in-season weekly AW was recorded for 26 weeks into two separated periods of 13 weeks (AW-1 and AW-2). Similarly, the following parameters were assessed: body mass, standing and sitting height, body mass index, body fat percentage, maturity offset, age at peak height velocity (PHV), sprinting ability (10 m and 30 m), and VO(2max). The main significant differences between playing positions were found for weight, height, sitting height, and sprinting at 10 m and 30 m. No correlation was observed between AW (based on periods) and maturity or between VO(2max) and AW-2. AW-1 denoted a large positive correlation with AW-2. AW-1 had a moderate negative correlation with VO(2max), whereas PHV and maturity presented a strong negative correlation. Young soccer players’ maturity statuses and fitness levels do not imply differences between AW-1 and AW-2. However, the higher the AW in the first half of the season, the higher the AW in the second half. The absence of significant differences between player positions could be associated with the similar training regardless of the playing position. Moreover, soccer positively influences performance in short sprints (10 m), midfielders being the fastest.