Identifying targets for behavior change interventions to integrate biological maturation in German football...

This study examines enablers and barriers to integrating biological maturation into talent identification and development processes within German football academies. Biological maturation significantly influences physical performance, selection decisions, and injury risk in youth football. Early maturing players are often favoured during talent identification, leading to premature deselection of talented late-maturing athletes. Using the COM-B framework (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation - Behaviour), we investigated stakeholders perceived barriers and enablers to implementing maturation strategies. An adapted COM-B-Qv1 questionnaire was distributed to 990 stakeholders across 56 elite academies and 344 regional training centres (June - July 2025), yielding 142 complete responses (14.3% completion rate). Internal consistency of the adapted scales was acceptable to good (Cronbach's α = 0.67-0.84). Results showed that 78% of participants conduct maturation assessments, while 24% rarely or never considered it in player development and 51% did so only occasionally. Regional-affiliated stakeholders reported significantly higher barriers than league-affiliated participants (p < 0.05). Opportunity, expressed through the perceived lack of tools, time, and incentives, emerged as the strongest barrier (mean = 3.38 ± 1.30). These findings suggest that targeted training, enablement, and environmental restructuring may be particularly effective for improving the systematic integration of biological maturation in German football academies, especially in regional settings.