Skeletal Age in Youth Soccer Players: Implication for Age Verification

Abstract

Among adolescent soccer player, boys advanced in SA for CA are overrepresented and those later in SA for CA are underrepresented with increasing CA. If Fels SA was used to verify CA in this sample of youth for under-17 competition, 36 skeletally mature players aged 15 to 17 years (16%) would be disqualified. The results for this sample of male soccer players question the utility of SA or magnetic resonance imaging as a valid estimate of CA in youth sport competitions.

Relationship of chronological age and sexual maturity with skeletal maturity by magnetic resonance imaging of the distal radial epiphysis in adolescent football players

“…7 The evaluation of SM has been a research topic for many years and has been correlated with CA in children and adolescents. 19 However, traditional methods for the evaluation of skeletal age can underestimate or overestimate CA by up to 5 years. 19 These techniques are based on common sequential maturation of the carpal bones during stages of biological development.…”

“…19 However, traditional methods for the evaluation of skeletal age can underestimate or overestimate CA by up to 5 years. 19 These techniques are based on common sequential maturation of the carpal bones during stages of biological development. Studies have shown that between 15 and 17 years of age, the carpus, metacarpals, and phalanges are completely developed.…”

Examination of ossification of the distal radial epiphysis using magnetic resonance imaging. New insights for age estimation in young footballers in FIFA tournaments

“…The key point in the counterargument is the statement that a tendency towards acceleration in skeletal age can be observed in sub-elite and elite groups of football players, particularly after the 13th to 14th year of life [30,31]. The discrepancies ascertained among professional teams were seen as a consequence of a selection of particularly high-powered early developers from the overall pool of all football players developing in accordance with their age [31]. However, the extent to which the ages given by the participants in the study by Malina et al were reliable remains unclear.…”

“…In their view, this is at present not a reliable method of determining skeletal age, as verification of exact age is impossible due to the considerable scatter range of the developmental processes [31]. This argument fails to recognise that the individual scatter ranges of the most common methods of determining hand skeleton age have meanwhile been identified [32][33][34][35][36][37].…”

Descriptive study of the youth male judoka aged 10-14 years by competitive age group and maturity status

“…It is common during this period we find young athletes of the same age and sports category at different levels of growth and maturation, which may result in inequities related to body size and functional capabilities (Malina, et al, 2010). In combat sports, specifically in judo, where performance can be determine by physical, technical, tactical and psychological abilities (Detanico, Dal Pupo, Franchini, & Giovana dos Santos, 2012), with extensive physical contact, it becomes even more pertinent to assess how the processes of growth and maturation affect the performance of young athletes in order to instrument the physical education teachers and coaches with relevant pedagogical and methodological training information, in order to protect these athletes, to gain in physical and sports performance and to contribute to the practice for the long term.…”