Growth and maturation

Individual differences in growth and maturation impact physical and psycho-behavioural development. These consequences are especially salient in sports such as soccer where greater size, strength, speed, and power are considered desirable attributes. Measures of height and weight, combined with assessments of skeletal age or mid-height of the biological parents, can be used to predict the adult height of a player. Skeletal age is the most objective index of maturity and can be estimated from birth to adulthood. Non-invasive estimates of maturity status and timing based on anthropometry, labelled somatic maturation, are increasingly popular. Common methods include predicted maturity offset and percentage of predicted adult height. Youth soccer programmes should establish systematic policies and procedures for monitoring the growth and maturation in youth players. Player heights and weights should be measured every 3-4 months and the heights of their biological parents should be assessed or self-reported and adjusted to the tendency for overestimation.