Hill on a mountaintop: A longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of the relative age effect in competitive youth football

The aims of this study were firstly to examine whether there was an observed relative age effect in the cardiorespiratory fitness scores of 9-10 and 11-12 year old children, and secondly whether any observed effect was maintained after controlling for somatic maturity. Cardiorespiratory fitness data from 11,404 children aged 9-10 years and 3,911 children aged 11-12 years were obtained from a large cross-sectional field-based fitness testing program. A one-way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant relative age effect (p < .01) existed in the 20mSRT scores across all the age groups. Furthermore, ANCOVA analyses identified a statistically significant relative age effect was maintained after controlling for somatic maturation (p < .05). From a public health perspective these results confirm the existence of relative age effects for the first time and consequently may hold implications for relatively younger children in the accurate assessment of their cardiorespiratory fitness scores.

Download Full-text

Relative Age Effect in the Sport Environment. Role of Physical Fitness and Cognitive Function in Youth Soccer Players

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16162837 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (16) ◽

pp. 2837 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Florentino Huertas ◽

Rafael Ballester ◽

Honorato José Gines ◽

Abdel Karim Hamidi ◽

Consuelo Moratal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Fitness ◽

Selection Process ◽

Age Effect ◽

Anthropometric Measures ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Youth Soccer ◽

Relative Age ◽

Relative Age Effect ◽

Attentional Functioning ◽

Age Related

The need to achieve short-term competitive outcomes in sports may influence the emergence of talent selection strategies, which could bias individuals’ opportunities. The present study aimed to further explore the relative age effect (RAE), a phenomenon that strongly influences youth sport development. The RAE refers to a disproportionately high percentage in sport teams of athletes born early in the selection year. Our primary focus was to explore whether the RAE is supported by behavioral evidence in favor of better fitness—and especially cognitive-attentional functioning—of early as compared to late-born players. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 105 young athletes (u10, n = 52; 9.8 ± 0.3 years old, and u12, n = 53; 11.8 ± 0.2 years old) attending two youth elite soccer academies. Attentional functioning, anthropometrics, physical fitness, and game intelligence were compared across two Age Groups (u10 vs. u12) and four Birth Quarters (BQ1–BQ4). The RAE was statistically significant (p < 0.001), showing that about 50% of participants were born in the first quarter and 75% were born in the first half of the year. More importantly, U12 players outperformed u10 players in measures that were related to sustained attention (with faster and less variable responses; p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively), and in all anthropometric measures (p < 0.001), physical-fitness capacities (p < 0.05). Crucially, neither the attentional measures, game intelligence, anthropometrics, nor physical fitness were affected by BQ (all ps > 0.1 and BF10 between 0.08 and 0.6, showing strong evidence for the null hypothesis). The present findings suggest that the early selection process that occurs during scouting in youth soccer academies offsets the age-related differences that could be anticipated in cognitive skills, anthropometrics, and physical abilities, due to growth and maturation. These birth asymmetries could lead teams to disregard later maturation athletes and athletes born later in the year inducing a larger dropout of those players with the consequent reduction in the talent pool.

Download Full-text

Association between relative age effect and organisational practices of American youth football

Journal of Sports Sciences ◽

10.1080/02640414.2018.1546545 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 37 (10) ◽

pp. 1146-1153 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ciera Jones ◽

Amanda J. Visek ◽

Mary J. Barron ◽

Mark Hyman ◽

Avinash Chandran

Keyword(s):

Age Effect ◽

Relative Age ◽

Relative Age Effect ◽

Youth Football

Download Full-text

Revisiting the Relative Age Effect From a Multidisciplinary Perspective in Youth Basketball: A Bayesian Analysis

Frontiers in Sports and Active Living ◽

10.3389/fspor.2020.581845 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Carlos Eduardo Gonçalves ◽

Humberto Moreira Carvalho

Keyword(s):

Achievement Goals ◽

Age Groups ◽

Age Effect ◽

Multilevel Regression ◽

Young Athletes ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Psychological Constructs ◽

Relative Age ◽

Relative Age Effect ◽

Multidisciplinary Perspective

Relative age effect (RAE) is considered to bias the selection of young athletes and a cause of exclusion of many participants. The goal of the study was to unveil the effects of the birth quarter on physical performances and a set of psychological constructs in the age groups corresponding to the specialization years. A set of surveys with cross-sectional data collected from 2015 to 2019 in youth basketball was used. Three hundred and twenty-seven Brazilian players (127 females, 100 males), mean age 14.0 years, participated in the study. Counter-movement jump, line-drill, yoyo intermittent test, achievement goals, motivation for deliberate practice, and enjoyment were measured. Bayesian multilevel regression was performed. RAE was observed but its advantages did not persist and did not differentiate the players in the variables under scrutiny. The only predictor of athletic and psychological outcomes was chronological age. The initial advantage that triggered the coaches' decision to select individual players disappears during the specialization years. Coaches must overcome the superficial observation of young athletes based only on age groups and actual performances, avoiding hasty decisions that, unlike RAE, last in time and cannot be reversed.

Download Full-text

Unge fodboldtalenters veje mod toppen - evolutionær eller strategisk talentudvikling?

Forum for Idræt ◽

10.7146/ffi.v24i1.31659 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mette Krogh Christensen ◽

Michael Sorgenfri Pedersen ◽

Christian Stilling Mortensen

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Talent Development ◽

Age Effect ◽

Optimal Conditions ◽

National Team ◽

Relative Age ◽

Relative Age Effect ◽

Youth Football ◽

Modes Of Thought ◽

Evolutionary Mode

Med udgangspunkt i en kvantitativ undersøgelse af fodboldspilleres vej mod toppen diskuterer artiklen tendenser i dansk elitefodbolds talentudvikling. Der kigges nærmer på den relative alderseffekt blandt spillerne og på den evolutionære og strategiske udviklingstankegangen. Mette Krogh Christensen: Young Football Talents’ Ways to the Top – Evolutionary or Strategic Talent Development? During the next four years the Danish government intends to spend 40 million Dkr. on talent development within Danish top-level sport. Like many other countries Denmark has chosen to use many resources on talent development in top-level sport expecting that the investment will »strengthen the exposure and increase the knowledge of Denmark« (The Danish Ministry of Culture, 2007). For that reason questions concerning how talent development in Denmark is managed and which modes of thought form the basis of talent development in top-level sport are highly topical. In this paper we will explore two modes of thought in Danish top-level football talent development: an evolutionary and a strategic mode of thought. An evolutionary mode of thought about talent development is characterized by giving a high priority to broad groups of talents as long as possible. The idea is that young football talents have the opportunity to develop in their own pace, to move in their well-known environments and to find their own peak compe186 tence (or qualification) after which experienced coaches select the footballers that they find appropriate. A strategic mode of thought about talent development is concerned with selecting and thinning out the broad group of talent at a much earlier stage. The selection is carried out on the basis of precise and distinct criteria and principles with the purpose of narrowing down the number of talents to a strategically selected group who are then given optimal conditions of development. The paper presents a retrospective, quantitative cohort study of 635 Danish youth football talents’ ways to the top (i.e. the national teams) from 1991-2006. The results showed among other things that relatively few talents from U/16 and U/17 national teams make their debut on the All-Denmark team, and that there is a massive flow of talents on the U/17 and U/18 national teams, which indicates an evolutionary mode of thought among the youth national team coaches. The results also showed a relative age effect among the younger talents, which might indicate a strategic mode of thought based on maturation as a performance determinant. On the background of the results from the study a pivotal dilemma in the investment in talent development in top-level sport is discussed: the dilemma between evolutionary and strategic talent development.

Download Full-text

Relative Age Effect of Sport Academy Adolescents, a Physiological Evaluation

Sports ◽

10.3390/sports8010005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 5

Author(s):

Staffan Ek ◽

Per Wollmer ◽

Magnus K. Karlsson ◽

Tomas Peterson ◽

Ola Thorsson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Selection Process ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Age Effect ◽

Physiological Characteristics ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significant Group ◽

Relative Age ◽

Relative Age Effect ◽

Fitness Parameters ◽

Lower Body Power

The relationship between birth quarter distribution and physiological characteristics related to athletic skills, in adolescent sport academy students has not been fully investigated. In a cross-sectional study, we recruited 86 boys and 52 girls aged 12–14 years during their first term at a sport academy school. We measured body size, cardiac size, pulmonary function, body composition, lower body power, cardiorespiratory fitness parameters, and running endurance by standard methods and analyzed these estimates in relation to birth quarter by ANOVA. Birth quarter distribution in our cohort was compared with birth quarter distribution in the same ages in the whole of Sweden and analyzed by logistic regression. The academy had an overrepresentation of students born in the first quartile of the year compared to those born in the last quartile (odds ratio 2.3 (95% CI: 1.1–4.7)). When comparing the physiological characteristics between birth quarters, uniformity is prominent since out of 26 performed physiological and anthropometric tests only four showed statistically significant group differences. We thus believe that the selection process to the sport academy favours athletes with higher chronological age, i.e., a so-called relative age effect is present.

Download Full-text