###### Abstract  
The aim of the present study was to describe the morphological and performance characteristics of elite handball players using data collected over the last two decades within the talent evaluation program of the Slovenian Handball Federation. A total of 1066 elite male handball players selected for one of the Slovenian national teams (U17, U19, U21 or senior) were recruited. The data were collected from 2007/8 to the 2021/22 season. The main effects were observed for: body height, body weight, and body mass index (BMI). The muscle mass percentage differed only between different age categories (\(p\) = 0.003; \(\eta\)2 = 0.015), while the fat mass percentage (FM%) differed between playing positions (\(p\) < 0.001; \(\eta\)2 = 0.107). Post-hoc comparisons showed that, within senior handball players, pivot players were 6.46 cm (\(p\) = 0.0009) taller than wing players and heavier than goalkeepers (12.43 kg, \(p\) = 0.004), backcourts (13.30 kg, \(p\) < 0.001) and wings (17.83 kg, \(p\) < 0.001). Moreover, pivots had a greater BMI than goalkeepers (2.3 kg/m\({}^{2}\), \(p\) = 0.003), backcourts (2.62 kg/m\({}^{2}\), \(p\) < 0.001), and wings (3.07 kg/m\({}^{2}\), \(p\) < 0.001), while FM% was significantly higher in pivots compared to wings (4.32%, \(p\) = 0.010). Taking into consideration playing positions and age, the main effects were also observed for squat jump height, countermovement jump height, end-running speed, and VO\({}_{\text{2 max}}\) (all \(p\) < 0.001; \(\eta\)2 = 0.017 to 0.091). Both morphological and performance characteristics clearly differ across playing positions and age categories, which should be a valuable guide for coaches to develop position-specific talent identification programs and training plans. al 2022 2021 November  
distinguishing between different playing positions [3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9]. Vast amounts of studies have shown that wingers are shorter and have lower body weight and size, while possessing the highest aerobic capacity when compared to goalkeepers, backcourt players or pivots [4; 6; 7; 8]. These physical and fitness attributes enable them to cover greater running distances on the court than others. In contrast, pivots have been shown to be amongst the tallest, heaviest and slowest players [2; 6; 7; 8]. However, they are constantly exposed to direct physical contact with the opponents, while often performing high-intensity activities such as jumping and short agility runs compared to wingers [2; 6; 7]. With the rise in popularity on the global level there is also a growing interest of sports practitioners and scientists to build the systems that will help them to identify talents with the greatest potential to become elite players. To become an elite handball player, it is vital that, in addition to technical skills and tactical intelligence, one poses the optimal morphological characteristics and performance-related measures, such as highly-developed muscular power, speed, high-intensity running endurance and ball throwing velocity [5; 10; 11; 12]. For instance, [PERSON] and colleagues [5] found that top elite handball players were taller, heavier, had greater muscle mass and had less fat mass than non-top elite players. In addition, elite players outperformed non-elite players in terms of speed, strength, power, and aerobic endurance. Although the published literature identified the existence of playing position-related differences in several players' domains, such as stature, lower limb explosive power, sprinting speed and aerobic endurance, the majority of studies used a mono-dimensional approach to profiling; that is, investigating a single attribute such as physical, physiological, performance-related or skill-specific characteristics of the players. In addition, some studies designed to investigate the attributes of the elite handball players had not considered different playing positions [5], were lacking at reporting the attributes of goalkeepers [13], or reported a small sample size [7; 13].