Relative Age Effect in Weightlifting: An Evaluation on Athletes’ Age Categories and Performance

Aims: This study investigated the existence of Relative Age Effect (RAE) in the selection process of male and female athletes in the Brazilian national handball teams according to age categories (U-18, U-21, and senior) and playing position (wings, backs, pivots, and goalkeepers). Methods: In order to determine RAE, athletes were divided based on their months of birth; quarters Q1 (January-March), Q2 (April-June), Q3 (July-September), and Q4 (October-December). Data were collected from the official Brazilian Handball Confederation (CBHb) website and included the athletes that participated in training and/or competitions composing the Brazilian national teams from 2014 to 2018. To determine the RAE on playing positions, age categories of male and female groups were pooled. Chi-squared tests were performed to investigate the RAE. Results: An over-representation of players born in Q1 and Q2 in the U-18, U-20, and senior categories of male teams and the U-20, and senior female teams were found. In the male teams, as the age category increased, RAE decreased, but still existed. Such distribution was reversed in the female athletes, with a higher RAE magnitude in the senior category as compared to U-18 and U-21. Additionally, it seems that RAE is dependent on the playing position only for male athletes (wings and backs) whereas RAE was found for all playing positions in female athletes. Conclusion: Overall, RAE was found in Brazilian national handball teams, but its magnitude and form of manifestation seem to be influenced by sex, category, and playing position.

Background: Annual age grouping is a widely used strategy to allocate players to age categories for more equal and fair opportunities considering the developmental differences. Although it is a well-intended strategy, certain (dis)advantages occur because of the subtle age-related differences within the same age groups. Objective: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relative age effect among badminton players reaching the podium in the last three consecutive European U15, U17 and Junior (U19) Badminton Championships. Methods: A total of 288 medal owners from 20 countries were evaluated in the study. Chi-square (χ2) goodness-of-fit tests were used to compare the obtained birth month distributions across the quartiles (Q), and odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated in order to compare quartiles with each other. Results: Statistically significant relative age effects were determined favouring relatively older athletes in the total sample (χ2 = 82.278, p < .001). Statistically significant distribution differences were noted in both singles and doubles categories in total (χ2 = 18.778, p < .001; χ2 = 63.815, p < .001, respectively). Striking findings were determined in Q1-Q4 and Q2-Q4 comparisons as players in Q1 and Q2 were more than five and four times as likely to reach the podium than players in Q4, respectively. Conclusions: Results of this study confirm the presence of relative age effect among award-winning badminton players which goes beyond the classical participation trends findings, and stress the importance of the issue for talent development, selection and success.

Aim: To investigate the existence of relative age effect (RAE) in Brazilian water polo athletes according to sex and age category. Methods: The birthdate of 574 Brazilian water polo athletes were organized according to the athletes’ birthdates into quarters of the year (Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4), and classified according to sex (male and female) and age category (U16, U18, U20, and senior). To verify the existence of RAE, the Chi-Square tests (χ2) were performed, and the effect sizes (ω) were calculated for each of the tests. We also calculated odds ratio (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals, setting the level of significance to 0.05. As post hoc analysis, multiple comparisons between quarters were performed, with Bonferroni's correction (significance level set to 0.0083 in these cases). Results: The results indicated an uneven distribution of birthdates for male water polo athletes (χ2 = 12.257; p = 0.007; ω = 0.173), with an overrepresentation of athletes born in the first (p < 0.006) and second (p < 0.002) quarters. When sex and age category were considered, male athletes presented uneven distributions in U20 (χ2 = 10.747; p = 0.013; ω = 0.345) and senior (χ2 = 12.614; p = 0.006; ω = 0.383) categories. In females, no differences were found. Conclusion: We conclude that there is an uneven distribution of birthdates in male Brazilian water polo athletes, indicating the presence of RAE in this group.

Fecha de nacimiento y éxito en el baloncesto profesional

The aim of the present study was two-fold; (1) to examine the relative age effect of football players representing their countries and reaching the podium in the FIFA U17 and U20 World Cups between 2009 and 2019, and (2) to analyze the relative age effect according to players’ positions. This study was a retrospective cross-sectional design. A total of 756 male football players were included in the study. Dates of birth of football players were grouped into periods of three months in a quartile year. All data is presented in frequency and percentage. Chi-square was applied to determine differences in the intergroup distributions. The odds ratio, confidence interval (95%) and Cramer’s V were calculated. The findings emphasized the relative age effect in successful national teams participating last six U17 and U20 World Cup. The relative age effect of U17 was higher compared to U20 (χ² = 70.974; p &lt; 0.001, χ² = 39.587; p &lt; 0.001 respectively). As a result of the research, players born in the first quartile of the year have been represented on podium more than those born in the last quartile, significantly. The findings of this study confirm the presence of relative age effect among football players reaching the podium in the last six U17 and U20 World Cup. Coaches and sports scientists are suggested to take the relative age effect into reconsideration to reduce this bias and to improve the system leading to loss of talents as a consequence.

To determine whether youth in Alberta who had completed suicide were more likely to be younger than their classmates on entering grade 1 (that is, showed a relative age effect). Records were obtained for all deaths by suicide by individuals under the age of 20 years in Alberta during the years 1979-1992. The relative age of each of these persons was determined by comparing his or her month of birth to the birth months of the appropriate school-grade cohort. A disproportionate number of the subjects were born in the second half of the "school eligibility year," indicating a higher probability that those who completed suicide were younger than their classmates. Previous research indicates that relative age is strongly related to school performance and success in sports. The present study demonstrates that the relative age effect is also a factor in youth suicide. It is suggested that the higher incidence of youth suicide in the group of relatively younger school children may have resulted from poorer school performance, which in turn led to lowered confidence and self esteem. Past research suggests that these conditions may predispose children to hopelessness and depression, which are often thought to be essential components of suicide. Research aimed at neutralizing the negative effects of relative age should have important personal and social consequences.

The main purpose of this study is to identify the relative effect of age (RAE) according to norm values on the anthropometric performance and physical fitness of children between the ages of 9 and 11 years. The data, namely the percentiles of anthropometric parameters and physical fitness, are relevant for identifying the RAE in relation to gender and the month of birth in children. For the sample in this study, 1185 young people from Kosovo were enrolled, including 626 males and 559 females aged 9-11 years. The gathered data were assessed via the EUROFIT methodology, which takes into account comparisons based on the quartile of birth and the relative age effect (RAE). The results of the data show us that there are significant differences in the RAE among children born in Q2 at the age of 9 years, especially in boys, as well as significant differences in the height variable at the <0.005 significance level. Others factors did not show significant differences, for example, variables that are indicators of physical fitness. For both boys and girls born in Q1, significant differences were mainly found in the indicators of explosive strength, flexibility, static strength, speed, and agility, with a level of significance of p < 0.001, while other indicators did not show significant differences. In addition, there was a significant difference the ratio between genders at the p < 0.001 and p < 0.005 levels, mainly among those born in Q1 and Q2. Similarly, at 10 years of age, children who were born earlier in the year had better scores, although the large disparities were more noticeable between quartiles than between genders, where the significant differences were mainly in the indicators of explosive strength, speed, and strength at the p < 0.001 level, as well as static strength, agility, and speed at the p < 0.005 level. Significant differences were also found for the indicators in terms of gender. At the age of 11, significant percentiles were mainly found in the quartiles at the beginning of the year for both boys and girls, and significant differences were also found at the p < 0.001 level for RAE between quartiles and gender. By using these data, it will be possible to highlight how males, who have demonstrated notable advantages in anthropometric and physical fitness measures, as well as those born in the first few months of the year, exhibit a relative age effect (RAE) in accordance with gender norm values.

Objectiveː our purpose was a) to describe the Relative Age Effect occurrence in Brazilian elite youth soccer players; b) to identify the association between Relative Age Effect and technical skills and c) to examine how Relative Age Effect can affect Physical Fitness.&#x0D; Method: Eighty-one Brazilian elite soccer players from three age-group teams (U-15, U-17 and U-20) were classified by birth quartiles according to their date of birth. Relative Age Effect was determined when there was a statistically significant difference between players who were born in BQ1 (January through March) to the other birth quartiles (Chi-Square). The association between Relative Age Effect and Technical Rankings was verified by the correlation. The partial correlation controlled for date of birth and for maturity offset was also performed. Relative Age Effect on Physical Fitness was verified by the variance (ANOVA) of its components on each team’s birth quartiles.&#x0D; Results: Players born in BQ1 were the most selected in U-15 (60%) and U-17 (35%) teams, but not in U-20 (25%). A low to moderate (Rho = 0.04 to 0.53) correlation was found between birth quartiles and Technical Rankings, while date of birth and maturation (partial correlation) effects were identified in the U-15 team. Although birth quartiles do not affect Physical Fitness (ANOVA), it may favour some Physical Fitness components (p &lt; 0.05).&#x0D; Conclusions: The greater risk of Relative Age Effect in younger teams is due to the greater emphasis on technical skills. When date of birth and maturation are controlled for, the association between Technical Rankings and birth quartiles is reduced. There was no evidence that Relative Age Effect affected the players’ game performance.

This study estimates the impact of relative age (i.e., the difference in classmates’ ages) on both the speed and quality of individuals’ transition from education to the labour market, and investigates whether and how this impact passes through characteristics of students’ educational careers—topics that have been largely overlooked in prior work. We use rich data pertaining to schooling and to labour market outcomes one year after graduation to conduct instrumental variables analyses. We find that a one-year increase in relative age increases the likelihood of (i) being employed then by 3.5 percentage points (baseline 91.2%), (ii) having a permanent contract by 5.1 percentage points (baseline 42.6%), and (iii) having full-time employment by 6.5 percentage points (baseline 79.5%). These relative age effects are partly mediated by intermediate outcomes such as having had a schooling delay at the age of sixteen or taking on student jobs. The final mediator is particularly notable as no earlier studies examined relative age effects on student employment.

The theory called the Relative Age Effect (RAE) has been discussed in many sports for decades. It is based on the assumption that athletes born in the early months of the year have an advantage over the athletes born later in that particular year. The influence of earlier birthdate was proved particularly during adolescence, relatively younger individuals are often more advanced mentally and physically as well as in terms of fitness. Therefore, they are usually labelled as sports talents. This benefit can significantly affect the probability of being selected into elite group of athletes or national teams. In the present research we investigated whether the effect of RAE can be proven in the players in the European Football Championship 2016. The research sample included players from all 24 participating teams (n = 552), the research data were obtained from http://www.eurofotbal.cz/euro-20/ and were analysed based on selected criteria (player position, date of birth, ranking in the groups). Statistical analysis of the research data showed that the influence of RAE is statistically significant in all players in the championship (χ2 = 69,82, p = 0.00). The analysis of the influence of RAE on rank in the group showed that the influence of the RAE. When considering the influence of the RAE on individual player positions, the effect was nonsignificant only in forward position players (χ2 = 6,37, p = 0.09). The above results showed a similar degree of influence of RAE on adult footballers (participants of ME 2016), then it is in youth age categories. RAE issues in sport can be considered as significant and especially coaches in youth categories should be familiar with it.

The aim of this study is to test the presence of the relative age effect (RAE) and to examine height in an overall population of the young French basketball players from 7 to 18 years old, male (n=151 259) and female (n=107 101). For the boys as for the girls, the results show a statistically significant RAE in all age categories. The effect seems more pronounced during puberty. As far as the height is concerned, players born during quarters 1 and 2 are always significantly taller than those born during quarter 4, apart from the 17-year-old female players. These results require a new look at the methodology in the statistical calculation and the interpretation of RAE. A study wanting to give a precise measurement of this effect will have to take as the expected theoretical distribution the whole population of licensed players in the corresponding years, rather than one on the global population of the country. This will avoid the hasty conclusion that an asymmetric distribution of dates of birth of professional players would be due to RAE, whereas in reality it would be representative of one existing in the population of licensed players.

BackgroundOwing to the separation into age groups at the first winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), athletes differed in age by up to two years, leading to a potential relative age...

The relationship between the date of birth and expertise in various sports among both elite and youth level athletes is well established, and known as the relative age effect (RAE). However, new results in for example Canadian Hockey and British cricket and rugby have indicated a reversal of RAE among selected talents where the youngest athletes are more likely to remain selected than their older peers. As such, RAE may therefore depend on the age and the level of competition. The purpose of this study was therefore to analyse RAE from the youth to senior national level in a sample of successful Danish male national teams. The sample included 244 players from Danish under-19, under-21 and senior national levels. These players have been part of successful teams, winning 18 medals at 24 youth European and World championships and 8 medals during 12 years at the senior level. The results showed a significant RAE on both youth and national levels. However, RAE was less marked from the under-19 to under-21 and further to the senior national level. Results show that at the national youth level talent selection favours the relatively older players, of whom a larger proportion fails to be re-selected to the senior level compared to their younger peers. RAE appears to play a central and reversing role in the identification and re-selection in Danish male handball. The results also show that the presence of both a constant and constituent year structure affects RAE, even when introduced at late adolescence.

Athletes born earlier in the year may experience developmental advantages owing to eligibility cutoff dates in youth sports, typically January 1. Known as relative age effects (RAE), this phenomenon has been described in numerous athletic contexts; however, the proportional contributions of physical development and skill acquisition remain unknown. PURPOSE: To investigate the occurrence and anthropometric characteristics of RAE in collegiate athletes. METHODS: We tested 114 athletes (82 men, 32 women) representing 13 sports in a Division 1 athletics program in Northern California. Each subject was tested using the InBody 770 analyzer. We recorded height, weight, BMI, lean body mass, skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, body fat percentage, lean leg mass, arm circumference, and estimated basal metabolic rate. We tabulated birth months and assigned subjects to their designated quarters (January-March as the first quarter). Multivariate tests including sex as a between-subjects factor were used to identify differences in InBody outcomes based on birth month for the entire sample. Coarsened exact matching was conducted to create subset containing two groups; consisting of subjects born in first three (n = 21) and last three (n = 21) months, matched by sex and age. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to examine differences in anthropometric measurements between the two groups in the subset. RESULTS: Across the total sample, 30.7% of athletes were born between January and March; there was a significant difference between sports (p = 0.027) and a trending difference between sexes (p = 0.071). Males and females exhibited differences (p < 0.001) in every anthropometric outcome except BMI (p = 0.123). There were no differences observed in any variable by birth quarter (p > 0.100), but peak physical characteristics appeared to exist in the middle months. Independent samples t-tests on the matched subset identified no difference between athletes born in the first three months and those born in the last three months for all anthropometric measures (p > 0.300). CONCLUSIONS: Among a diverse set of collegiate sports, our results suggest the existence of RAE corresponding to a January 1 eligibility cutoff may be related more to additional skill acquisition than physical maturation.

To verify whether relative age effects (RAEs) occur among young male and female Swiss Alpine skiers of different age groups and performance levels. In addition, the efficacy of normalizing performance in physical tests to height and body mass to attenuate RAEs eventually present was tested. The Swiss Ski Power Test consists of anthropometric measures and physical tests for coordination and speed, endurance, and strength and has been used since 2004 to evaluate 11- to 19-y-old Swiss competitive Alpine skiers. The authors analyzed the distribution of 6996 tests performed by 1438 male and 1031 female Alpine skiers between 2004 and 2011 according to the athletes' respective relative age quartiles. Differences in anthropometric measures and performance in physical tests according to quartile were assessed, and the possibility of attenuating eventual RAEs on performance by normalization of results to height and body mass was tested. RAEs were found among all female and male age groups, with no differences between age groups. While performance level did not affect RAE for male skiers, it influenced RAE among female skiers. RAEs also influenced results in all physical tests except upper-limb strength. Normalization of results to body mass attenuated most RAEs identified. Small RAEs are present among young Swiss competitive Alpine skiers and should be taken into account in training and selection settings to prevent the waste of possible future talents. When ranking junior athletes according to their performance in physical tests, normalization of results to body mass decreases the bias caused by RAEs.