2.1. Search Strategy: Databases and Inclusion Criteria

A systematic search was conducted on the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and Scopus, according to the recommendations from the preferred reporting items for systematic and integrative reviews and meta-analysis statement (PRISMA) [15,16]. A searched by relevant publications between the 1 January 2000 and 31 January 2020 using the keywords “roller hockey” and “rink hockey” both associated with “elite”, “ethnicity”, “heart”, “ice hockey”, “internal and external load”, “physiology”, “sports sciences” and “youth” were performed. The publications that were retrieved had to follow the following specific criteria: the publications (1) contained relevant data regarding athletes´ morphological or physiological demands, or anthropometry or body composition characteristics; (2) were related to rink/roller hockey performers; and (3) were written in the English language. Exclusion criteria applied if they (1) contained other sports performers; (2) included females; (3) did not contain relevant data about athletes morphological and physiological demands, anthropometry, and body composition characteristics.

To increase research accuracy, two reviewers (António Ferraz, João Valente-Dos-Santos) separately screened citations and abstracts to identify the articles which would potentially combine the inclusions criteria, having registered the characteristics of each study, including the name of the authors, sample, procedure and results or main outcomes. In case of disagreement regarding the eligibility of the article, a third reviewer (Hugo Sarmento) was included in order to reach a final decision. After all the articles were screened, the categories of the studies were organized into specific topics according to their main research topic.