Premier League academy soccer players’ experiences of competing in a tournament bio-banded for biological maturation

Abstract

Individual differences in the growth and maturation have been shown to impact player performance and development in youth soccer. This study investigated Premier League academy players' experiences of participating in a tournament bio-banded for biological maturation. Players (N = 66) from four professional soccer clubs aged 11 and 14 years and between 85-90% of adult stature participated in a tournament. Players competed in three 11 vs 11 games on a full size pitch with 25-min halves. Sixteen players participated in four 15-min focus groups and were asked to describe their experiences of participating in the bio-banded tournament in comparison to age group competition. All players described their experience as positive and recommended the Premier League integrate bio-banding into the existing games programme. In comparison to age-group competitions, early maturing players described the bio-banded games more physically challenging, and found that they had to adapt their style of play placing a greater emphasis on technique and tactics. Late maturing players considered the games to be less physically challenging, yet appreciated the having more opportunity to use, develop and demonstrate their technical, physical, and psychological competencies. Bio-banding strategies appear to contribute positively towards the holistic development of young soccer players.

The influence of birth quartile, maturation, anthropometry and physical performances on player retention: Observations from an elite football academy

“…In terms of future directions, the implementation of suggested approaches such as a 'Futures' team 72 and/or 'bio-banding' 73 may enable talented youth players demonstrating inferior maturity and/or physical attributes an opportunity to continue development in an elite environment as opposed to premature dropout. With regards to the latter, this has recently been investigated from a player development perspective, where both early and late maturing players reported positive experiences 74 . This observation would appear to have implications for early maturers in particular, given that the additional challenge provided by bio-banding may facilitate greater developmental opportunities for these players 75 .…”

Match Running Performance in Young Soccer Players: A Systematic Review

“…Goto et al [78] reported similar results in U13/U14 players. Recently, Cumming et al [79] analyzed the effects of a BioBanded soccer tournament (i.e., games played by youth [U12-U15] players having 85-90% of predicted adult stature) and reported that players had a positive perception toward such practice compared with usual age group competitions. Early and late maturing players deemed the matches as more and less physically challenging, respectively.…”

Physical growth in young Chilean football players: Proposal of percentiles based on chronological and biological age

“…18 Therefore, the main contributing factors for success among football players lie in controlling growth and biological maturation. 18,27 Consequently, the assessment of these parameters is essential during the sensitive phases of young football players.…”