Gender: Disentangling Talent Identification and Development in Women’s and Girls’ Soccer

Despite the increased growth and professionalism of women’s and girls’ soccer in recent years, there is still a paucity of research exploring talent identification and development. It is widely acknowledged that growth and maturation influence the biopsychosocial development of girls and boys differently, which has important implications for talent identification and development in soccer. Therefore, this chapter disentangles gender by providing an overview of existing research in women’s and girls’ soccer as well as offering recommendations for talent identification and development practices. Firstly, the chapter explains how growth and maturation may impact physical development of young female soccer players. Secondly, the chapter considers the psychosocial development of female players. Lastly, the chapter proposes directions for future research and outlines implications for practice.