What is bio-banding and what does it mean for soccer in the USA?

On this week’s episode of The SoccerWire Podcast, we discussed U.S. Soccer’s upcoming bio-banding event featuring Boys and Girls Development Academy clubs in Southern California. 

The bio-banding event is being held Jan. 11-12, with the U.S. Soccer High Performance Department collaborating with six DA clubs to re-arrange their team rosters in the U14-U17 age groups by biological age, rather than chronological age.

SoccerWire founder Chris Hummer, resident analyst Charles Boehm and managing editor Quinn Casteel discussed this weekend’s event, along with the overall topic of bio-banding, and what it could mean for the future of soccer in the United States. Listen to the full clip below:

Here’s how U.S. Soccer describes the concept of bio-banding: 

Bio-banding allows players to be grouped based on their individual maturity and biological age rather than chronological age alone. This process removes the massive swings in maturity that can be seen with normal chronological age-groupings in youth sports. By putting players together based on maturity, the physical advantages that early-maturing players have in comparison to less-mature players are reduced and allow for optimal development for both early- and later-developing players.

• READ: Bio-Banding FAQ
• WATCH: Bio-Banding Explained