Chronological age does not equal biological age. In youth sport,...
Jo Clubb@JoClubbSportSci
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Sep 19, 2025
~1 min read
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Chronological age does not equal biological age.
In youth sport, players are grouped by date of birth.
But growth and maturation don’t follow neat categories. Let's dive into it 👇🏼
In youth sport, players are grouped by date of birth.
But growth and maturation don’t follow neat categories. Let's dive into it 👇🏼
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Two athletes, both “U14,” could be up to six years apart biologically. This is important for three reasons:
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Talent ID: Early developers are often over-selected, while late developers can be overlooked in talent identification.
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Athletic development: coordination, speed, and strength fluctuate around peak growth. What looks like poor performance may just reflect rapid change.
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Injury risk: athletes growing rapidly, particularly 7 cm plus per year, are more vulnerable to growth-related injuries.
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The takeaway? We can’t judge young athletes based on their date of birth.
Monitoring maturation helps us support development, adapt training, and make fairer talent decisions.
For more on this, check out our video here 👇
youtube.com/watch?v=telx9A…
Monitoring maturation helps us support development, adapt training, and make fairer talent decisions.
For more on this, check out our video here 👇
youtube.com/watch?v=telx9A…
