Birth month distribution and anthropometric measures of U-15 national elite soccer players

Abstract 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