During adolescence, performance of males shows, on average, marked improvements in motor performance tests, while performance of females shows a slight improvement in some motor performance tests and a plateau in others. Research interest lies on the issue of sex differences in performance in the context of training protocols with same frequency and training load, for young male and female athletes, who have similar performance demands and training experience. This study aimed at comparing the motor abilities of 214 male and 238 female handball players from four age groups (12-12.9, 13-13.9, 14-14.9, and 15-15.9 years). Five motor abilities tests were administered: a) ball throwing velocity, b) standing long jump, c) 30-m running speed, d) 20-m shuttle run and e) sit-and-reach flexibility. ANCOVA was used to test for sex differences by age group with age, height and weight as covariates. Results showed that in the 12-12.9 age group males and females had similar performances in standing long jump and aerobic capacity. In the older age groups, and besides having the same performance demands and training experience, males performed better than females in motor abilities that are important for handball. It appears that sport-specific training is not sufficient to attenuate sex differences in motor performance of young handball players.
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