An exploration of one former elite UK football academy player’s lived experience of ‘being bio-banded’, through narrative inquiry: A focus on body- self relationships and identity construction.

Abstract

Research on football academies specifically and the development of young players’ development and wellbeing is growing (Adams and Carr 2017; Whatman et al 2018; Goldman et al. 2021). An interest in bio-banding, the process of grouping players based on biological maturation as opposed to chronological age, led the focus of inquiry where early maturing players are chosen to ‘play-up’. To date we know very little about the experience and long-term impact of being ‘bio-banded’ on academy footballers. This research employed narrative inquiry (Sparkes and Smith 2014) to explore the lived experiences, body-self relationships and associated identities of a footballer who had experienced maturity matched practice in academies, and as a coach worked alongside bio-banding interventions. A life history approach was adopted. Two in-depth interviews with one purposively sampled former elite academy footballer who experienced the bio-banding process was conducted following a lengthy sampling and access phase of the research process. Adopting the position of story analyst, a multi-level structural and thematic narrative analysis was employed to interpret the processes and critical moments (Douglas and Carless 2009) within the narrative. In a reflexive methodology, particular attention is paid to the difficulty of accessing the profile of participants that met the study criteria and critical reflection on potential barriers to elite academy voices is given. The research provides an unheard voice that will help us to understand the meaning derived from being bio-banded, as an elite academy footballer, and its effects on long-term development. Recommendations on practices and policy to the benefit of player welfare are considered.