Does Age, Experience and Body Fat Have an Influence on the Performance of Handball Referees?

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the correlation of quality of the refereeing in handball with the morphological characteristics of referees, along with their age and experience. Subjects are 16 pairs (N = 32) of top-level handball referees in Croatia (age 34.66 ± 6.44, height 184.02 ± 5.87 cm, body mass 91.14 ± 10.61 kg, body fat 19.20 ± 3.94% and body mass index 26.91 ± 2.47 kg/m²) which have conducted morphological measures and tests for determination of their morphological status in the first part of the study. In the second part of the study, referees were evaluated in top-level handball matches to determine if their morphological status had an influence on the quality of refereeing. The correlation of quality of the refereeing with body fat was tested and there is no significant correlation (p = 0.75). Pearson’s correlation coefficient proves that total experience in refereeing does not have an influence on the quality of refereeing (r = 0.30), and neither does the age of referees (r = 0.23). Experience of refereeing in the highest rank has a statistically significant influence on the quality of refereeing (r = 0.62). Existing elimination criteria (measurement of morphological characteristics and functional abilities at official tests) that referees must satisfy at official seminars before the beginning and in the middle of the season make the selection of referees. Based on these facts, it is concluded that the existing selection of referees is good and there is no great variability among them, considering their morphological characteristics. Experience in refereeing is significant for the quality of refereeing, especially experience in the highest level of competition.