scholarly journals Relative Age Effect and Long-Term Success in the Spanish Soccer and Basketball National Teams

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina López de Subijana ◽  
Jorge Lorenzo

AbstractThe aims of this study were: i) to analyze whether relative age effect occurs in the athletes of the junior national teams and professional athletes in Spain in general and in soccer and basketball, and ii) to compare the long-term success of the players selected for the junior national team between these sports. The samples for this study were Spanish professional soccer (n = 461) and basketball (n = 250) players in the 2013-2014 premier league and players from the junior Spanish soccer (i.e., n = 273; U-17: n = 107; U-19: n = 166) and basketball (i.e., n = 240; U-18: n = 120, U-16: n = 120) teams that classified to play in the European Championships (from 2004 to 2013). Junior players (42.3%) were more frequently born in the 1st quarter of the year than the professional players (30.7%) (χ2(3) = 30.07; p = .001; Vc = .157). This was found in both basketball (χ2(3) = 12.2.; p = .007; Vc = .158) and soccer (χ2(3) = 20.13; p < .001; Vc = .166). Long-term success is more frequent in soccer, where 59.9% of the juniors selected for the national team played later in the premier league, while in basketball that percentage was 39.6% (χ2(1) = 14.64; p < .001; Vc = .201). On the other hand, 79.4% and 39.8% of the professional soccer and basketball players had been previously selected for junior national teams (χ2(1) = 60.2; p < .001; Vc = .386), respectively. The talent selection process should be reviewed as players born in the second half of the year have fewer opportunities to stand out.

Author(s):  
Zsombor Zilinyi ◽  
Ágoston Nagy ◽  
Tamás Sterbenz

"The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has changed its youth competition system in 2004, and due to this regulation, many players had the chance to compete every year at youth level and later, to elevate to the top. The purpose of our study was to inspect those medal-winning European basketball players who competed in the past 19 senior basketball world events. We analysed the tendencies of selection by dissecting the set-up of successful senior national teams. We investigated each one of the 281 European basketball players who won a medal during the analysed period (2000-2019). We collected data from the archive page of FIBA. Our goal was to see whether there was a relation between the youth competition experience and the minutes spent in senior world events. We used the Cramer Association Coefficient, Relative Age Effect and average age were also inspected. We found that participation in the national youth tournaments is important but not the most exclusive factor of selection. There are opportunities for success in the adult national teams for players who have covered alternative sports careers – the factor of national youth experience is not exclusive. We suppose that head coaches utilize older and more experienced players on the Olympic Games, the average ages of successful Olympic medal-winner teams are higher than other world events’ medallists. Despite the fact that we were not able to find statistically proven and associative relationship between national youth recruitment eligibility and the minutes in game spent by successful adult players, further research could be gap fillers in exploring key factors in adulthood efficiency. Keywords: talent selection, competition experience, FIBA, basketball players, sport career."


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystian Rubajczyk ◽  
Andrzej Rokita

Abstract The relative age effect (RAE) is related to discrimination against youth athletes born in the last quarter of the calendar year. The current study presents research on the RAE in elite youth soccer players in Poland. Players in the Central Junior League (CLJ) finals represent 0.59% of the 25,756 players under 20 years old (U20). This study analyzed the post-game protocols of the CLJ knockout stage from the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons as well as the U17-U21 teams during 2015, including only players who played on the field for at least one minute (n = 395). The results revealed the existence of RAE in the examined groups ( CLJ 2013/2014, χ23 = 15.441, p < 0.01, CLJ 2014/2015, χ23 = 20.891, p < 0.001 U17-U21, χ23 = 25.110, p < 0.001). In addition, the results differed by monthly birth distribution in the Polish population (PP) between 1995 and 1999. This study is the first to examine the RAE in youth soccer in Poland. The occurrence of the RAE with regard to the most promising youth and national team players suggests that a similar effect exists among younger age categories. To reduce the RAE related to identifying soccer talent, tools should be implemented to optimize the player-selection process, such as those that consider the biological development of a player.


Retos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 266-275
Author(s):  
Larissa Fernanda Porto Maciel ◽  
Mônica Cristina Flach ◽  
Raquel Krapp do Nascimento ◽  
Eduardo José Dallegrave ◽  
Juarez Vieira do Nascimento ◽  
...  

The Relative Age Effect has been the subject of study by researchers who seek to understand sports performance. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of relative age effect (RAE) in basketball players, verifying whether early-birth players and the features of the place they inserted affect probable recruitment for athletic teams. The sample was comprised 1,455 players within 9 and 19-year-old. Variables included birth semester, gender, sports category, number of recruitments, geographical region. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model. The results found that early-birth players had a better chance to be recruited for state athletic teams u13 than late-birth ones. Players u15 and u17 had similar chances. Further, u13 and u15 players linked to the northern region for Brazil and in cities with very high Human Development Index (HDI) and medium-sized cities had a better recruitment chance for state team. Results may be employed by coaches, recruiters and headhunters, since variables associated to RAE may affect the state team and players´ performance throughout the process of sports formation. Removing the influence of relative age-related differences is predicted to improve the accuracy of identifying skilled players.  Resumen. El efecto de la edad relativa (RAE) ha sido objeto de estudio por parte de investigadores que buscan comprender el desempeño en el deporte. El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar el predominio del efecto de la edad relativa (RAE) en jugadores de baloncesto, verificando si los jugadores de nacimiento temprano y las características del lugar donde estaban insertos inciden en el probable reclutamiento para equipos deportivos. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 1.455 jugadores de entre 9 y 19 años. Las variables incluyeron semestre de nacimiento, género, categoría deportiva, número de reclutamientos, región geográfica. Los datos fueron analizados mediante estadística descriptiva y modelo de regresión logística binaria. Los resultados encontrados demostraron que los jugadores de nacimiento temprano tenían mayores posibilidades de ser reclutados para equipos atléticos estatales sub13 que los de nacimiento tardío. Los jugadores sub15 y sub17 tuvieron oportunidades similares. Además, los jugadores sub13 y sub15 vinculados a la región norte de Brasil y en ciudades com alto Índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH) y ciudades medianas, tuvieron mayores oportunidades de ser reclutados para el equipo estatal. Los resultados pueden ser empleados por entrenadores, reclutadores y cazatalentos, ya que las variables asociadas al RAE pueden afectar el desempeño del equipo estatal y de los jugadores a lo largo del proceso de formación deportiva. Se prevé que al eliminar la influencia de las diferencias relativas relacionadas con la edad mejorará la precisión en la identificación de jugadores habilidosos.


2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Wiium ◽  
Yngrar Ommundsen ◽  
Hege R. Enksen ◽  
Stein Atle Lie

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15) ◽  
pp. 1665-1671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner F. Helsen ◽  
Joseph Baker ◽  
Stijn Michiels ◽  
Joerg Schorer ◽  
Jan Van winckel ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1048-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Fukuda

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate relative age effects (RAEs) in elite youth judo athletes from different chronological age groups, between sexes, and across weight categories. Data from 1542 place winners of the cadet (under 17 y, 2009-2013) and junior judo world championships (under 20/21 y, 1990-2013) were separated by birth month into quarters (Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4). The observed values were compared with expected annual age distributions using χ2 analyses, and odd ratios (OR) were used to evaluate effect sizes between quarters. The observed frequency of place winners was significantly different from the expected frequency for the age-group and sex comparisons and all body-mass groups (P < .05) with the exception of the extra-light categories (P = .572). When comparing Q1 with Q4 (OR, 95% confidence interval), small effect sizes were observed for cadets (1.72, 1.12-2.66), juniors (1.54, 1.23-1.94), males (1.75, 1.32-2.33), females (1.39, 1.03-1.87), and the light- (1.79, 1.21-2.64) and middle-weight (1.80, 1.20-2.70) categories. RAEs are apparent in cadet and junior judo athletes. Thus, coaches and administrators should consider the potential for physical and/or competitive advantages while adopting strategies that encourage long-term participation in youth judo athletes.


Author(s):  
Florentino Huertas ◽  
Rafael Ballester ◽  
Honorato José Gines ◽  
Abdel Karim Hamidi ◽  
Consuelo Moratal ◽  
...  

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.


1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen Musch ◽  
Roy Hay

Previous findings of skewed birth date distributions among sports professionals have been interpreted as evidence for a systematic discrimination against children born shortly before the cut-off date for each age grouping. Alternative explanations for these findings exist, however. This research therefore attempted to replicate the effect in a cross-cultural comparison. A strong relative age effect in professional soccer was found in Germany, Japan, Brazil, and Australia, showing that the effect is independent of different cut-off dates and a variety of climatic and sociocultural factors. A shifted peak in the birth date distribution of Australian soccer professionals paralleling a corresponding change in the cut-off date in Australian soccer in 1989 was also established. This pattern of results provides strong evidence for the cut-off date in youth soccer as the main cause for the relative age effect in professional soccer.


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