Fabiana Parreira Bonito

This review highlights the relationship between maturity status, body composition and fitness performance in women's football. The scoping review protocol was registered on the Open Science Framework (osf.io/6wvm5).The literature on growth and maturation in female football players was scoped on PubMed, SCOPUS and Web of Science between February 2023 to April 2025. Studies were considered if they were on, or if they included female football players less than 17 years and included indicators of biological maturation. Two reviewers (FB and BK) selected studies and extracted data. Forty-six studies met the criteria. Regarding maturation the mean age at peak height velocity (APHV) ranged between 12.5 and 12.4 years and the mean age at menarche between 13 and 12.8 years. Body composition varied according to maturation status. Early maturing players are heavier and have greater fat mass than the late maturing ones. Concerning physical performance it was observed that, countermovement jump improved after the PHV, as did change-of-direction ability; for pre-PHV players greatest improvements were observed in sprinting performance and anaerobic endurance. Coaches should consider maturity status while programming their training sessions, not only to adapt their training load more rigorously but also to prevent injuries. However, scientific research on the growth and maturation of female football players is still limited and most of the studies carried out did not consider the players’ training age.

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the presence of relative age effect (RAE) in the World Fencing Championships of the 2022–2023 season across three age categories.Methods: Data from the participants of the World Fencing Championships were collected from the International Fencing Federation, resulting in a total of 2,791 participants distributed according to the age categories: 713 cadets, 1,048 juniors, and 1,030 senior athletes. The data collected included the athletes’ birthdate, birth quartile, sex, weapon, age category, country, continental area, and world championship result. An athlete’s relative classification was computed using their competition classification and the total number of participants in the event. The chi-square goodness-of-fit test was performed to assess the presence of RAE, examining differences in birth quarter distribution across the total sample, for each sex, and for the 18 events. Follow-up analyses included standardized residuals, Cramér's V effect size, and odds ratios. In events where RAE was detected, the Kruskal–Wallis and Quade's non-parametric ANCOVA tests were used to compare athletes’ relative classification across birth quarters.Results: RAE was present, in the overall sample [χ²(3) = 16.142, p < 0.001, V = 0.044], according to sex [female: χ²(3) = 10.349, p = 0.016, V = 0.053; male: χ²(3) = 7.987, p = 0.046, V = 0.041], and was inconclusive when focusing on each event.Discussion: The complexity of results in individual sports and the lack of research in fencing makes it difficult to understand the relevance of RAE in this sport. Despite the lack and inconsistency of results in fencing, coaches should be aware of this effect.

Background: This cross-sectional study aims to clarify the relationship between coaches’ decisions and players’ relative age, biological maturation, and experience when identifying Under-14 (U14) players for the District and National Teams. Methods: A total of 360 male soccer players participating in the U14 national inter-association tournament, Lopes da Silva, were assessed. Birth dates were recorded, and players were categorized by birth quarter. Anthropometric measurements, fitness level (handgrip strength), and success indicators (performance evaluated by the coach, minutes played, and selection for the National Team) were documented, Maturation status was determined using bone age. Results: The majority of the sample was born in the 1st and 2nd quartiles regardless of maturation status. Morphological and functional differences between players born in different quartiles were no longer significant after controlling the effect of bone age. Late-maturing athletes played significantly fewer minutes. Among the players selected for the National Team, 89.9% were early or on-time maturers, and 92.9% were born in the first or second quartile of the year. While previous studies have shown reduced variability between bone and decimal age in the third and fourth quartiles, our findings indicate greater variability across all birth quartiles. Conclusions: Maturation status and relative age effect are crucial factors influencing coaches’ selection decisions. These findings highlight the need for a more equitable approach to talent identification, which should include track maturation bias avoiding the pursuit of short-term success and promoting long-term development programs for young soccer players. Undoubtedly, maturation status and relative age effect (RAE) play a significant role in a coach’s decision-making process.