Field-based Physical and Functional Assessment in Amateur Team Sport: Anthropometry, Performance, and Preparticipation Screening as a Basis for Injury Prevention and Training Guidance. A Scoping Review
Abstract
Amateur team sports impose repeated physical and neuromuscular demands on athletes who differ in age, sex, training history, playing position, competitive level, and exposure. Nevertheless, assessment in resource-limited settings is often fragmented, standardized inconsistently, or restricted to isolated indicators. This scoping review mapped evidence on field-based anthropometric, functional, performance, and preparticipation assessment in amateur and non-elite team-sport populations and examined how these domains are associated with physical performance, musculoskeletal injury history, and preventive decision-making. The review followed PRISMA-ScR and the Arksey and O’Malley framework. PubMed/MEDLINE was searched for publications from 2021 to July 2026 using a title-anchored strategy restricted to English, Spanish, and Chinese. Of 145 records identified, 119 were retained after title and abstract screening for full-text eligibility assessment; therefore, the synthesis remains provisional until full-text confirmation is completed. Evidence was organized into three components: anthropometry and body composition; functional and field performance; and preparticipation screening, injury epidemiology, and prevention. The emerging evidence indicates that body mass index has limited value as a standalone indicator and should be complemented by measures of central adiposity and body composition. Intermittent endurance, sprinting, change of direction, explosive performance, mobility, and balance represent related but nonredundant dimensions whose associations with body profile vary across sex, age, sport, position, and competitive level. Injury evidence supports multifactorial interpretation, systematic recording of previous injury, and multicomponent prevention, while cautioning against using any single test to predict injury. The review proposes an integrative framework and a resource-proportional assessment pathway prioritizing safety, standardization, measurement error, and contextual interpretation.