Abstract
The study basically aimed to establish and analyze the morphological characteristics of elite female basketball players aged 14 and 15 playing in Divisions A, B and C of the European Championship as well as to compare these groups of players. For this purpose, a sample was used consisting of 115 female basketball players aged 14.64 (±0.48) of whom 35 played in Division A, 48 in Division B and 32 in Division C of the European Championship. 23 standard morphological measures and 7 morphological indexes were applied to find out the morphological profile of the players (somatotype components, percentages of bone, fat and muscle tissue and body mass index). The results show that the Division A players are the tallest of all three player groups (p<0.05). This applies to the entire sample of subjects and to all three player types (guards, forwards and centers). No major differences were identified between the Division A, B and C players in terms of the somatotype components, except for the mesomorphic component where the Division A players achieved slightly lower values. Fairly equalized values were also established in the percentage of bone, muscle and fat tissue. The results of the study show that body height is the factor in the area of morphological dimensions which most evidently differentiates between the high quality players and those of lower quality in all three playing positions.