Bio-banding in Soccer: A Scoping Review.

Introduction: Bio-banding (BB) is a strategy used in sports to level out the differences in growth, maturation and development in children and youth during training and non-official competition. Instead of grouping athletes based on chronological age, they are grouped based on their biological maturity status. Objectives: Bio-banding in soccer has been proposed to assist in the process of identifying, selecting and developing talents and reduce the risk of injury. The aim of this study was therefore to identify primary research on bio-banding in soccer relating to the; technical/tactical-; physical-; psychological-, social-; and medical-dimension of performance. Study design: A scoping review following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines was used to identify research from the databases of Sport- Discus, Medline and ORIA NORD from its origin to October 2022 using bio-banding as the primary search term. Primary research on BB in soccer, written in English or a Scandinavian language with full text, was included. An additional search was performed in referencelists, Google Scholar and grey literature. Results: The study identified 20 studies from 2018 to 2022 on the use of BB among 9- to 18-year-old soccer players (N=1951), coaches/stakeholders (N=8) and parents (N=80). In terms of outcome measures there were 10 studies related to the technical- and/or tactical dimension; 15 to the physical-, 9 to the psychological-; 5 to the social-; and 4 to the medicaldimension. Conclusion: Players, coaches/stakeholders and parents identified both advantages and disadvantages with the use of BB. The outcome measures support the potential use of BB in soccer through identification, selection, player development and risk of injury. However, the evidence is limited, so further studies are warranted, especially among female soccer players. To facilitate a more holistic and integrated approach to banding in soccer, the study proposes a biopsychosocial model for further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]