International comparison of motor abilities and floorball skills in U-11 to U-14 teams from the Czech Republic and Australia

Abstract

Floorball is a young and rapidly developing team game. At the world floorball championships, the considerable disparity in performance can be seen between the individual countries. The aim of this study was to compare the level of floorball skills and motor abilities of children in the U-11 - U-14 age category at floorball clubs in the Czech Republic and Australia. The players from FBŠ Slavia Pilsen clubs (Czech Republic) (n=18; 12.1y±1.0; 155.4cm±10.6; 44.7kg±12.1) and Peninsula Floorball club (Australia) (n=18; 12.7y±1.0; 160.7cm±12.0; 53.2kg±11.6) participated in this study. To compare the tested groups, 6 items (3 motor abilities, 3 floorball skills) were used from the test battery prepared by the Czech Floorball Association for the given age category. In motor abilities, a statistically and substantially significant difference was found only for one item (Illinois agility test without stick). In floorball skills, a statistically and substantially significant difference was found for all of the tested items. Only for one criterion of the Shooting test, namely the time required for performing the task, the difference was not statistically significant, and substantial significance reached only a medium effect. The presented results clearly indicate the different level of floorball skills between the Czech and Australian floorball players in the age category tested by us.