Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyze the variance of betweenness centrality measured by network analysis between playing positions, regions of the court and type of attack in futsal. A total 11,832 passes between teammates were recorded, treated and converted in to weighted digraphs. One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences of %BC between playing positions (p = 0.001; ES = 0.281; minimum effect). Significant differences between regions were found (p = 0.001; ES = 0.324, moderate effect). No significant differences of %BC were found between type of attack (p = 0.063; ES = 0.048, minimum effect). Significant differences were found (p = 0.041; ES = 0.072, minimum effect). This study found that wing position are the most prominent in to link teammates and the first half of the court is the most common to build both ball possession and counter-attack in futsal.
Keywords: graph theory; network analysis; applied mathematics; cooperation; team sports.