Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport / SCIENCE, MOVEMENT AND HEALTH Vol. XI, ISSUE 2 Supplement, 2011, Romania The JOURNAL is nationally acknowledged by C.N.C.S.I.S., being included in the B+ category publications, 2008-2011. The journal is indexed in: Ebsco, SPORTDiscus, INDEX COPERNICUS JOURNAL MASTER LIST, DOAJ DIRECTORY OF OPEN ACCES JOURNALS, Caby, Gale Cengace Learning 364 PERFORMANCE PROFILES OF NATIONAL AMERICAN FOOTBALL PLAYERS OF TURKEY İLHAN TOKSÖZ 1 , CEM KURT 1 , İMRAN KURT ÖMÜRLÜ 2 , M.DENİZ DİNDAR 1 , GÜNGÖR ULUÇAY 1 , KEREM ATEŞ 3 Abstract Objective: This study was done to assess the current performance of American Football Team of Turkey which was established for the first time in our country and to follow the improvement in their performance. Method: Participants in this study were American Football players who have been training 3 times a week, have the average body mass, height and age of 95.84±18.02 kg, 180.62±5.93 cm, 24,6±3.8 years respectively. To assess the performance of these athletes; BMI, %fat percentage, 1RM Bench Press, vertical jump height, anaerobic power, 20 and 40 yard speed test and pro shuttle tests were applied. Results:The results for Bench Press 1RM, vertical jump, anaerobic power, 20 yard and 40 yard speed test and pro shuttle test were: 95.18±19.99 kg. (Offense 94.39±21.63 kg, defense 96.02±18.40 kg), 51.43±8.38 cm (offense 52.41±9.76 cm, defense 50.44±6.72 cm), 150.52±24.00 kg.m/s (offense 149.60±24.87 kg.m/s, defense 151.43±23.43 kg.m/s), 3.25±0.28 sec. (Offense 3.21±0.34 sec., defense 3.28±0.19 sec.), 5.59±0.41 sec. (Offense 5.54±0.45 sec., defense 5.65±0.37 sec.) and 5.33±0.33 sec. (Offense 5.31±0.35 sec., defense 5.34±0.32 sec.) respectively. Discussion and Conclusion: There was not a statistically significant difference between defense and offense players in terms of variables (p>0.05) but values for Bench Press 1RM, vertical jump and 40 yard speed tests were much lower than the values of NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) athletes. It has been recommended to increase the number of training days per week to obtain a desirable level of success and performance enhancement. Keywords; American football, National Team of Turkey, Performance status 1. Introduction American Football has the highest number of spectators in the United States. In our country, especially University students are interested in this sport. This game requires fast pace, intensity and contact which makes this unique sport appealing. Studies on the psycosocial status of American football players in our country have been shown that university students are interested in this sport to socialize in the society. A team is made up of 46 players and students who got accepted in the team becomes popular. Also, wearing the team’s t-shirts and jackets becomes a tool to send messages of popularity (T. Alparslan, E. Kılcıgil, 2005). In American football, a team is made up of three sub-teams all of which have different specialties. These sub-teams are named as offensive team, defensive team and special team. The defensive team is made up of noise tackle, defensive end, defensive tackle, linebackers, corner backers and safety players. The offensive team is made up of; quarter back, center, tight end, running back and wide receiver (R. Thomas, N. Sescher, P. Snell, C. Williams, 1990) Speed, strength, power, agility and quickness are the coordinative and conditional characteristics which have major effects on success in the American Football. Although a game lasts 3 hours, energy metabolism used in American Football is alactic-anaerobic (J.R. Hoffman, 2008; R. Thomas, N. Sescher, P. Snell, C. Williams, 1990). Unfortunately, there are no sufficient number of studies which examines the American Football in our country. The data which we obtained from the first camp of our National team will contribute to the development of this sport. Because of the position of National American Football team in Turkey, assessing the performance and contributing to the follow up of the improvement of performance is the aim of our study. 2. Methods 2.1. Subjects Sixty-eight American footballers, with a 1 Kırkpınar School of Physical Education and Sports, Trakya University, Balkan Campus, Edirne, TURKEY 2 Adnan Menderes University Medical Faculty, Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Aydın, TURKEY 3 Turkish American Football Federation G.S.G.M. Ulus, Ankara, TURKEY Received 14.05.2011 / Accepted 22.07.2011