Relative age effects refer to the effects of age differences among individuals who have been grouped together for a performance activity. This study aimed to investigate the relative age effect on Olympic Taekwondo athletes, in several Olympic Games, and in both sexes. The study sample consisted of 291 athletes who had competed in Atlanta, Sydney, and Beijing Olympic Games. The relative age effect was examined for the general distribution of athletes by quartile, for each of the individuals, and for male and female athletes. There were no discernable effects of relative age on Olympic Taekwondo athletes.

IntroduçãoIndivíduos com desempenhos excepcionais são reconhecidos por suas vitórias. No entanto, ao avaliar apenas o resultado final de um atleta, e não a sua trajetória desde o primeiro dia de prática esportiva, pode-se cometer uma interpretação erronia deste desempenho. Dessa forma, compreender os fatores que norteiam atletas experts é de fundamental importância para a compreensão da excelência no esporte. JANELLE, 1999;BAKER et al., 2003). A perspectiva genética afirma que o indivíduo possui uma carga genética que define e destaca as diferenças de uma pessoa da outra, que são fundamentais para se atingir níveis excepcionais de desempenho. Já a perspectiva ambiental argumenta que o ambiente é o principal fornecedor das forças intervenientes para o Motriz, Rio Claro, v.18 n.1, p.130-142, jan./mar. 2012 Artigo Original Nadadores medalhistas olímpicos: contexto do desenvolvimento brasileiro Olympic Medal-winning swimmers: The Brazilian context of developmentAbstract: Expertise as a field is one that studies the authenticity of the expert, meaning the skill or knowledge level he or she has in a certain field, such as athletics. Different models, from the ambient perspective, judge factors that influence the development of the expert. The aim of this study was to verify the context in which Brazilian swimmers develop, specifically those who have won an olympic medal. Eight swimmers who have won at least one medal in any category of the Olympic games were interviewed. The transcripts of the interviews were recorded, after which a qualitative analysis using Meaning -Units (MUs). 218 MUs were classified as follows: when the athlete's career began, the presence of coaches, the influence of family and friends, and deliberated practice. From the results, it can be concluded that the context of development contributed fundamentally to the evolution of the athletes. The diverse realities show that there is not a necessary pattern needed to restrict excellency.

The relative age of athletes has raised the attention of many researchers. The focus of these investigations understands the interference of this parameter in the identification of talents and the training of future elite athletes. Thus, the aim of this paper was to to evaluate and compare the existence of differences between semesters and birth date quartiles in professional soccer participating in the Brazilian Soccer Championship Series A (1 st division) and B (2 nd division) in 2008. Fourty clubs that participated in the Brazilian Soccer Championship Series A and B were evaluated, totalizing 1022 players (483 players in the 1 st division and 539 players in the 2 nd division). The players were grouped per birth date into year quartiles and semesters. The data showed that there was a preference of clubs from the two championship series for hiring athletes born in the 1 st semester. Further, differences were absent only between quartiles 2 and 3 and a clubs` preference for 1 st quartile athletes was also observed. We can conclude that the relative age stands out as a variable in the elite soccer athlete selection and training, as the comparisons show the clubs` preference for athletes born early in the year.

Resumo Este estudo investigou o papel dos pais no desenvolvimento de atletas jovens de futebol. Foram voluntários nesse projeto 20 pais e 12 filhos jogadores, entre as idades de 15 e 18 anos, participantes da temporada 2000 do Campeonato Mineiro. Utilizou-se uma abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa, através de formulários, questionários e entrevistas semi-estruturadas de aprofundamento. Constatou-se que os pais tinham pouco envolvimento nos treinamentos e competições dos atletas, não alteraram a rotina familiar em função dos treinamentos dos mesmos. O relativo apoio dos pais não prejudicou o progresso dos filhos devido os pais permitirem os mesmos praticarem o futebol livremente. Outro aspecto importante foi o progresso dos filhos devido à paixão, à intensidade e freqüência de prática, além do apelo financeiro que o futebol profissional evoca no Brasil. Esses resultados indicam a necessidade de precauções quando se considerar paradigmas de primeiro mundo em outras culturas na qual exista restrição contextual.

IntroduçãoO futsal é um esporte muito praticado no Brasil, e em diversos países do mundo. Estima-se que mais de dez milhões de pessoas praticam esta modalidade ao redor do globo (DACOSTA, 2005). Dentro do contexto escolar, o futsal é ainda mais forte, sendo um dos esportes mais praticados por meninos e meninas (GENEROSI et al., 2008;QUEIROGA et al. 2005). Araújo et al. (1996) descreve que em um jogo de futsal, os esforços são provenientes predominantemente da velocidade agilidade e potência muscular, sendo assim, o jogo é caracterizado pela realização de esforços intensos e de curta duração. Logo, as características antropométricas, bem como a habilidade técnica e tática e o desempenho físico individual são fatores primordiais para o sucesso das equipes (QUEIROGA et al. 2005 Motriz, Rio Claro, v.16 n.3 p.658-663, jul./set. 2010 Artigo Original Efeito relativo da idade em atletas brasileiros de futsal de alto nível The relative age effect in brazilian elite futsal playersAbstract: The Relative Age Effect, which is the advantage gained by those born early in the selection year, is shown to be a factor which influences the development of a talent in several sports, which in its structure has the division of categories into age groups. The aim of the present study is to assess and identify the quartiles in professional players who played the Brazilian Futsal League in 2009. Data of 370 players were collected and analyzed using the chi-square test. Differences were found in the quartile distribution, with the predominance of first and second quartiles, and an under representation of third and fourth quartiles. It was therefore concluded that the relative age effect is a factor that could have an influence in player selection to futsal.