430 Int. J. Morphol., 39(2):430-435, 2021. Differences in Body Composition between Water Polo Players (U18) of the Southeast Europe Top Clubs Diferencias en la Composición Corporal entre los Jugadores de Waterpolo (U18) de los Mejores Clubes del Sudeste de Europa Jovan Gardasevic 1 ; Dusko Bjelica 1 ; Izet Bajramovic 2 ; Bojan Masanovic 1 & Almir Popo 3 GARDASEVIC, J.; BJELICA, D.; BAJRAMOVIC, I.; MASANOVIC, B. & POPO, A. Differences in body composition between water polo players (u18) of the southeast europe top clubs. Int. J. Morphol., 39(2):430-435, 2021. SUMMARY: This research aimed to determine the differences between the junior (U18) water polo players of five Croatian and one Montenegrin clubs in the anthropometric characteristics and body composition. The first sample of the subjects consisted of 14 players of the water polo club Mladost average age 17.57±0.65, the second sample consisted of 11 players of the water polo club Sibenik (17.82±0.65), the third sample consisted of 13 players of the water polo club Primorje (17.23±1.01), the fourth sample consisted of 15 players of the water polo club Mornar (17.13±0.64), the fifth sample consisted of 13 players of the water polo club Medvescak (17.92±0.76) and the sixth sample consisted of 10 players of the water polo club Jadran Herceg Novi (Montenegro) (17.70±1.34). In the 2010–11 season, these clubs participated in Regional Water Polo League, commonly known as the Regional League or Adriatic League in Southeast Europe. The measurements was conducted in the competition season in the period September-December 2010, at sports centers and swimming pools of water polo clubs that participated in the research. Anthropometric characteristics and body composition were evaluated using a battery of 12 variables: body height, body weight, arm length, arm span, leg length, foot length, chest skinfold, triceps skinfold, back skinfold, abdominal skinfold, upper leg skinfold and body mass index. The standard central and dispersion parameters of all variables were calculated. The significance of the differences between the water polo players of six teams in the variables for assessing anthropometric characteristics and body composition were determined using ANOVA and an LSD Post Hoc test.Based on the central and dispersion parameters, it can be stated that the values of all the variables are highly similar to all of the water polo players of these six clubs. The ANOVA test found that the water polo players of the six international clubs do not have statistically significant differences in the variables for assessing anthropometric characteristics and body composition. KEY WORDS: Junior water polo players; Anthropometric characteristics; Body mass index of water polo players. INTRODUCTION Water polo is a popular sport worldwide. It is a highly dynamic and fast team game that, with its richness of movement, belongs to the category of polystructural sport games. Water polo is a sport characterized by numerous and various complex and dynamic kinesiological activities, which are then characterized by either cyclical or acyclical movement. It is contact sport characterized by different swimming intensities, duelling, acceleration and deceleration (Gardasevic et al., 2019b). In water polo, top scores can be achieved only under conditions of a well- programmed training process. High quality management of the training process depends on knowing the structure of certain anthropological capabilities and water polo players’ characteristics, as well as their development. Various studies have been carried out to establish certain principles and norms for the transformational processes of the anthropological characteristics necessary for water polo, with anthropometric characteristics and body composition among them, as expected. Findings regarding anthropometric characteristics and body composition are of crucial importance for complex sports, such as water polo.The anthropometric space is defined by the longitudinal dimension of the skeleton, the transversal dimensionality of the skeleton, and the mass and volume of the body. The purpose of knowing anthropometric characteristics is to improve skills in many sports (Masanovic et al., 2018). The anthropometric status of top- level athletes is relatively homogeneous, depending on the 1 Faculty for Sport and Physical Education, University of Montenegro, Niksic, Montenegro. 2 Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 3 Faculty of Education, Dzemal Bijedic University of Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.