Anthropometric and Physical Performance Reference Values in Young Handball Players Aged 9-15 Years: A Cross-Sectional...

Background: Reference values may assist practitioners in interpreting anthropometric and physical performance profiles in youth handball players within comparable sporting contexts. This study aimed to establish sex- and competitive-age-specific anthropometric and physical performance reference values for Tunisian youth handball players aged 9-15 years and to examine differences by sex and competitive age category. Methods: A total of 370 competitive youth handball players participated in this cross-sectional study (182 boys and 188 girls; U11, n = 130; U13, n = 158; U15, n = 82). Participants had at least two years of structured handball training. Assessment included body size, body composition, flexibility, squat jump, countermovement jump, 3 kg medicine ball throw, horizontal jumps, and handgrip strength. Sex, competitive age category, and sex × age category effects were examined using two-way ANOVA, with Bonferroni-adjusted post-hoc comparisons applied when appropriate. Effect sizes were reported as partial eta squared. Percentile values were calculated. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: Boys demonstrated higher values than girls in squat jump, (η_p² = 0.099), countermovement jump (η_p² = 0.097), medicine ball throw (η_p² = 0.202), and both dominant (η_p² = 0.073) and non-dominant handgrip strength (η_p² = 0.048, p < 0.001). Additionally, older age categories showed higher scores on all these tests (p < 0.001). Sex- and competitive-age-category-specific percentile values were established. Conclusions: The established reference values may support descriptive benchmarking and training/monitoring among comparable Tunisian youth handball players. However, these values should not be interpreted as maturity-adjusted standards or general population norms.