Resumen:
Previous studies have shown that the ability to recover and reproduce the performance in repeated sprints is a specific requirement of football physical fitness. The Repeated Sprint Ability (RSA) test has demonstrated to be a discriminatory variable between professional and amateur footballers. However, few studies have analyzed its effect on different age categories in terms of performance and fatigue. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the influence of age on performance in a repeated sprint test in young soccer players. METHODS: A total of 62 amateur young football players from 3 different age categories (U14, n=21; U16, n=20; and U18, n=21) participated in the study. Subjects were recruited from an elite football academy, with which was signed an agreement for the realization of this study. The RSA test Included 7 repetitive 30-meters long sprints with 20 seconds of recovery between them. Four pairs of photocells (Witty, Microgate, Bolzano, Italy) placed in 0, 5, 25 and 30 m assessed the performance in this test. The best time of sprint (RSABEST), the mean time (RSAMEAN), the total time (RSATT), the percentage of decreasing (RSADEC) and the difference between the best and w...