Upcoming Final Biological Maturation Testing Evening

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Football NSW will host one final Biological Maturation testing evening on Wednesday 20th November 2019, which will be the last opportunity for players to be eligible for this certification at Valentine Sports Park. 

As part of Football NSW youth competitions policy, players that are potentially disadvantaged from a physical perspective, due to later biological maturity, may be eligible to play in a lower age-category.  Although players may be similar in terms of chronological age, their biological age can vary substantially, by as much as 5 years, due to the timing of their adolescent growth spurt.   Late developers can be significantly disadvantaged from a physical stand-point (height, weight, speed, strength).  To identify those players who may be late-developing players, Football NSW has developed a two-step process.

Firstly, clubs and/or parents can self-assess a player’s maturity classification using the resources on this web-page.  Should the player be deemed a late-developer, they can be registered for the second step of the process, which is a verification assessment conducted by Football NSW.

 

Who is Eligible?

The following information seeks to clarify the eligibility of players for the 2020 Season in relation to Biological Maturation Approved Players:

Players assessed as Late Developers:

  • Any player that is assessed as a “late developer” will be given approval to play down an age grade at their club provided that the club has a position(s) available in the team that the player is seeking to register with.

Players Assessed as “on time developers” or “early developers”

  • Any player that is assessed as a “on-time developer” or “early developer” will NOT be permitted to play down an age grade at their club.

Please Note: All players will be required to attend one of the advertised FNSW assessment dates. No Player will retain their 2019 status.

Team Eligibility for 2020

Further to the above, the following is the process for clubs to manage the number of Biological Maturation players per team throughout the registration window for the 2020 Football season:

The age groups below for which the Biological Maturation principle will apply for the 2020 season:

  • Boys: NPL NSW Youth, NPL NSW 2 Youth & Association Youth League – U13, U14, U15, U16; and
  • Girls: NPL NSW Youth, NPL NSW 2 Youth & Girls Conference League – U14, U15

Current Squad Numbers:

  • No club/team will be able to register a Player to play in an age grade below the player’s birth year if that player has been assessed as a “on time developer” or “early developer”;
  • Each club will be permitted to register a maximum of one (1) approved “late developer” per team/age grade;

For More Information about Biological Maturation, and process involved in being assessed please click here