ABSTRACT
The scope of Science and Football includes all football codes-soccer (association football), American football (tackle, touch, flag, Canadian), rugby (Union, League), and Australian Rules and Gaelic football. Soccer is generally conceded as the most popular sport in the world, and this is reflected in the research on football in general and in research on youth participants. This review provides an overview of the extent of youth participation in the different football codes, and then focuses on the growth and maturity status of youth participants primarily in soccer and to a lesser extent in American football.
