Some club sports using "bio-banding," measuring physical potential to determine team placement
NEW YORK -- When it comes to team sports for kids, they gain much more than just expertise to play a game. Physical, mental and emotional health are primary benefits, along with a full range of social skills.
But as CBS New York's Chris Wragge reports, ensuring a child is placed on the right team may also be critical to their success. Coaches in some club sports are using a tool called "bio-banding" to make sure they're where they need to be.
The power of a 17-year-old soccer player can hardly be matched by an 11- or 12-year-old. Hector Fuentes is 14, two years older than another player, who is much taller and heavier.
Fuentes plays for the Players Development Academy, or PDA, in New Jersey. Among other skill assessments, this club uses bio-banding as a measurement of a player's physical potential for, ultimately, team placement.
"Bio-banding was an initiative around youth sports that said we should be having players at the same age, like maturity, same maturity level, playing against each other rather than the same chronological age," said Tyler Stakiwicz, the boys director at PDA. "We've all seen that kind of under 14 game where one player is 6-foot-2 and done with puberty and one player is 4-foot-8 and hasn't started puberty."
Stakiwicz said they use a measurement called "peak height velocity," which is the ratio of sitting height to standing height, an indicator of where a child might be in their development.
"There's also a subjective soccer piece, which is the player in the training environment, how are they doing? How do they compare to their peers in terms of speed, in terms of quickness, in terms of strength, in terms of agility?" Stakiwicz said.
To keep players on an equal playing field, that sometimes means kids end up playing with group younger than they are. And in tender teen years, it can be tough for some kids to accept that initially.
"I was like, I kind of like got betrayed, betrayed a little bit. And, but, like, as far as it went on, and the more time I spent, like, with the younger guys, I became more of a leader," Fuentes said.
"One of the things that bio-banding is able to do is it ceases the attrition rates at 14. I think the numbers are 35% of kids quit the sport that they're in. So we're trying to make sure that their experience is right," said Gerry McKeown, PBA boys executive director.
McKeown emphasized that it's ultimately the players' decision, but he explains to them and their parents that the move can mean more playing time on the field, and also result in fewer injuries.
"These guys are thriving, and now, by the time they're 17, 18, they've caught up physically, and now we're having a lot of success, including getting scholarships," McKeown said.
Brian Edelman and Sam Tinoco are both 17, and were bio-banded when they were younger.
"It happened to me at 14. I got brought down. And it was disappointing back then, because I wasn't doing as well. And I started doing way better, started focusing on myself and my ability," Tinoco said.
"Obviously, it reflects how you're doing, but I think once I started looking at it, like more positively and saying like, this is gonna be a good opportunity for me, I can lead this team now," Edelman added.
Tinoco and Edelman are both holding scholarships to play soccer in college.
"I would definitely tell someone, like, if they're getting presented with, like, the bio-band option to take it as like a leadership opportunity, to, like, make the most of it," Edelman said.
"Just created for me to improve and, you know, just be better and hopefully, you know, when I'm their age, I get a scholarship as well and I get to go to grad school or go pro, or whatever the future holds for me," Fuentes added.
There are also occasions when a player needs more of a challenge and will play up a year, but coaches say if a child feels strongly, they are not forced to move at all.
Bio-banding is used in selective club sports right now, not in school athletics.
