Discussion
MP, U12 soccer
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relationship between the performance variables obtained during the RAST and the WAnT in female U12 soccer players and to assess the usefulness of the RAST in evaluating anaerobic performance in young girls. The main finding of this research is that the RAST can be used in place of the WAnT to evaluate the anaerobic power of young female, despite the differences in power values obtained in the two tests. It was also established that an 8-week specific soccer training significantly targeted the anaerobic performance of the young soccer player girls which can be seen in the improved results of both applied tests. An additional value of the conducted research is the confirmation of the usefulness of the RAST test in monitoring the level of anaerobic capacity in untrained girls.The results showed significant intergroup differences in power parameters of WAnT and RAST measured before and after the 8-weeks period conditions, what indices that activity level in childhood has an impact on physical fitness. Those differences may be related to the improvement of anaerobic metabolism, increased substrates utilization, and enhanced glycolytic activity in young trained individualsThe relative power obtained in WAnT by examined girls both FSP (8.41–8.91 W/kg) and UNT (7.02 W/kg) is higher than reported by Falgairette et al.Both tests used in the research showed an improvement in anaerobic performance (Fig. The RAST is an adopted form of the WAnT designed for running and requires a similar amount of time: ≈ 33 s in 16-year-old boysA significant difference was observed between the total time of six sprints in this study compared to studies in which males aged 16–19 years were examinedThe present study also indicated that the RAST can be used in place of the WAnT to evaluate the anaerobic power of young female soccer players, despite the differences in power values obtained in the two tests. A strong and significant correlation was found between the RAST and WAnT power parameters—PP, Pmin, and MP (0.50 < r < 0.69)—for both pre- and post-training measurements. The results correspond with correlation values for peak and mean power reported by Burgess et al.The advantage of the RAST is its simple procedure (35 m of running with 10 s of rest, which may seem ideal for assessing the repeated sprint ability (RSA) in athletes of field-based team sports). Because the RAST can be used to measure powerThe main limitations of the present study are its small sample size. Unfortunately, we did not have access to a larger group of female soccer players. The tiny female soccer players group did not allow the division into two subgroups in relation to the training carried out. Also, the completing control group wasn’t an easy. Enrolling untrained children in this experiment seemed unethical, as children aged 11–12 years are not prepared for such a strenuous effort as the WAnT. Nevertheless, we got permission from 16 parents for competing the tests, however, after completing of the first WAnT, four guardians withdrew their consent.