I think the total accumulated time from games and practice adds up over the years. I don’t think wearing pads has much if any affect but all those reps in peewee/junior high/high scool/camps/neighborhood games constantly staying low for cutting and taking hits really adds up. Tough to get tall after all that time being low.
On a related note I was watching womens college volleyball a few months ago and noticed for taller than average girls quite a few had serious anterior pelvic tilt. My guess is all that time spent in the “athletic ready” position i.e. quarter squat over the years has had an effect on them. I’m even starting to see this in high school with the constant year round club play, I figured some girls are getting 200+ days a year in, lots of them are chronically injured too.