Which Geographical Areas Are More Potential for Wrestling Based on the Somatotypic Profile of Iranian Boys?

The evaluation and comparison of somatotype with elite athletes is a method to predict the chances of success in sports particularly in the Olympic sport of wrestling. The aim of the present study was to describe the somatotypic profile of 9-13-year-old boys in northern, mountainous and desert areas with a territorial planning approach and an emphasis on the geographical areas potential for wrestling. The present study was descriptive and field study. The statistical population consisted of those volunteer boys aged between 9 and 13 who participated in summer leisure programs of Basij Sport Organization. The sample included 717 boys (206 subjects from northern areas, 241 subjects from mountainous areas and 270 subjects from desert areas) who were selected from Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Lorestan, Mazandaran, Gilan, Gorgan, Markazi, Qom and Kerman provinces. According to the guidelines on ISAK, selected anthropometric variables were measured and somatotypes were calculated by Heath-Carter method. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and x2 tests. Results of ANOVA showed significant differences in all three components of endomorph (F=33.99, P<0.001), ectomorph (F=4.18, P=0.016) and mesomorph (F=15.06, P<0.001) among three geographical areas of northern (wet), west (mountain), central and southern (desert). The most frequent somatotype was endomorphic-mesomorph in northern areas (x2=176.2, P<0.001, n=60), mesomorph-ectomorph in mountainous areas (x2=117.9, P<0.001, n=50) and endomorphic-mesomorph in the desert areas (x2=202.8, P<0.001). The finding of the present study showed that the northern and desert areas may be more talented in heavier categories of wrestling because of their higher percentage of endomorphic-mesomorph somatotype