Darwinian Selection Discriminates Young Athletes: the Relative Age Effect in Relation to Sporting Performance

Jakobsson, Johan; Julin, A. Lennart; Persson, G.; Malm, Christer

doi:10.1186/s40798-021-00300-2

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Therefore, it is important that organisational structures in cricket attempt to create the most appropriate settings for every young player in order for them to achieve their full potential [ 14 ]. Moreover, Jakobsson and colleagues [ 40 ] suggest another possible issue of selecting based on (bi)annual-age grouping is the violation of the guiding principles by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) [ 41 ], which was ratified by the UK in 1991 and is referred to in the UK courts in relation to the Human Rights Act 1998 [ 42 ]. Here, Article 3 in the CRC states how all decisions regarding a child should be made in the best interest of the child.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative Age Effects in Male Cricket: A Personal Assets Approach to Explain Immediate, Short-Term, and Long-Term Developmental Outcomes

Kelly

Brown

Reed³

et al. 2022

Sports

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The purpose of this study was to adopt the Personal Assets Framework (PAF) to examine the immediate, short-term, and long-term developmental outcomes associated with relative age effects (RAEs) in male cricket. As such, this study was comprised of three aims: (a) examine the birth quarter (BQ) distribution of players throughout the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) national talent pathway (i.e., Regional U15, Regional U17, England U19, England Lions, England T20, England ODI, and England Test; n = 1800; immediate timescale), (b) explore the youth-to-senior transitions based on BQ and skill-set (i.e., batters and bowlers; short-term timescale), and (c) analyse the average number of games played at senior levels based on BQ and skill-set (i.e., long-term timescale). A chi-square goodness of fit test, Cramer’s V, odds ratios, and 95% confidence intervals were used to compare the BQ distributions of each cohort against the expected BQ distributions. In the immediate timescale, results showed that relatively older players were overrepresented throughout all the youth levels (p < 0.05, V = 0.16–0.30), whereas there were no differences at senior levels (p > 0.05, V = 0.05–0.15). In the short-term timescale, when the senior cohorts were compared to the expected BQ distributions based on the Regional U15 cohort, relatively younger players were more likely to transition from youth to senior levels (p < 0.05, V = 0.22–0.37). In the long-term timescale, relatively older batters were selected for more games (p < 0.05, V = 0.18–0.51), whereas relatively younger bowlers were selected for more games (p < 0.05, V = 0.17–0.39). Moving forward, it is important for researchers and practitioners to better understand how (bi)annual-age grouping shapes developmental outcomes in across different timescales (i.e., immediate, short-term, and long-term), as well as consider alternative grouping strategies and RAE solutions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative Age Effects in Male Cricket: A Personal Assets Approach to Explain Immediate, Short-Term, and Long-Term Developmental Outcomes

Kelly

Brown

Reed³

et al. 2022

Sports

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“…At this age, it is possible that chronologically older children have both physical and cognitive advantages. In older age group athletes (15 to 18 years old) in these sports, it is widely reported that the RAE is most significant in elite male athletes [ 1 , 16 ]. The prevalence of the RAE in elite adolescent athletes in these sports may be due to chronologically older peers that are more likely to reach puberty earlier and, therefore, acquire advantages in strength, speed, endurance, and bone strength due to the influence of testosterone [ 17 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relative Age Effect in the Best Track and Field Athletes Aged 10 to 15 Years Old

Bezuglov

Shoshorina

Emanov³

et al. 2022

Sports

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(1) The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of the relative age effect (RAE) in the best young (10 to 15 years old) track and field athletes. (2) Hypothesis: The prevalence of the RAE in the best young track and field athletes of both genders will be evident in all age groups from 10 to 15 years old, which may be associated with the significant relationship between biological maturity, chronological age, and the development of physical qualities. (3) Materials and methods: In total, 1778 athletes volunteered for this study. The sample was based on the results of the best young athletes who participated in the final tournaments of the national competition “Shipovka Yunykh”(“Running spikes for young athletes”), which have been held since 1981. The sample group consisted of male and female athletes classified into specific age groups: 10 to 11 years old (n = 579), 12 to 13 years old (n = 600), and 14 to 15 years old (n = 599). Analysis was performed using Jamovi 1.8.1. The Chi-square test was used to compare the RAE between different groups. (4) Results: A wide distribution of the RAE was revealed both in the general sample and in boys and girls. The percentage of “early-born” athletes was 37.6% while only 12.3% were “late-born” athletes. The difference in the severity of the RAE may reflect the small sample of athletes from the fourth quartile, which was significantly less than the sample of boys from the fourth quartile (p = 0.04, OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.02–2.78). The RAE was also evident in all age groups of boys and girls, without any statistically significant differences in the severity (p > 0.05, Chi = 2.135, V = 0.02). In the 14- to 15-year-old male athletes group, the number of early-born compared to late-born athletes peaked. The RAE was most common amongst the most successful track and field athletes. Among the competition medalists during the analyzed time period, more than 50% of athletes were born in the first quarter and no athletes were born in the fourth quarter.

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“…In other words, it is a theory that if a grade is composed of people born from January to December, students born in January will inevitable have better physical, cognitive, and mental development than students born in December (Minsoo, Jiwun, Hyo-Jun, 2021;Sedano, Vaeyens, Redondo, 2015). Today, RAE is a well-known and worldwide phenomenon, influencing the acquisition of young athletes for future elite performance (Jakobsson et al, 2021;Musch, Grondin, 2001), but children with elite-level ambition and potential, born late in the season, have an unjustified lower chance of sport participation past puberty (Jakobsson et al 2021;Baxter-Jones, Helms, 1994). Processes of initiation, identification, and selection are very important but the hazardous procedures, if not made correctly, can lead to talent dispersal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative Age Effect and Gender Differentiation Within Sport- A Systematic Review

Babič¹,

Macan²,

Bešlija³

et al. 2022

Acta kinesiol.

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Success in sports depends on several factors. One of those factors is a psychological and physical advantage, or in other words psycho-physical maturity. Relative age effect (RAE) is one of the phenomenons which can give advantages or disadvantages in sports competitions. Because of this particular effect, many children and young people experience unfair competition conditions. The goal of this study was to detect the difference in RAE existence between genders in sports by analyzing research about RAE in sports, published between 2017 and 2021. Accordingly, scientific databases „Google Scholar", „Web of Science" and „Research Gate" were used for extraction of adequate scientific papers (n=16). Analyzed papers cover a total of 25 sports (14 individual and 11 team sports). Results of this research suggest the greatest impact of RAE among young males (<18 years old), RAE occurs in 81,81% of analyzed samples. The male sample is also affected by RAE, with 85,71% of occurrence among the overall male sample, and 42,86% among the sample composed of males only. There is no significant tendency among females only, while RAE occurs among half of the female samples. The majority of RAE-positive female samples belong to individual sports while the majority of male samples belong to absolute bodyweight sports. No significant differences were found between sports and among the sample of Olympic games competitors. Also, it can be stated that RAE depends on many factors and effects, which can be controlled to a greater extent. Future research should focus on the analysis of the existence of RAE between sports, especially boundaries between groups of sports and among Olympic competitors.

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Darwinian Selection Discriminates Young Athletes: the Relative Age Effect in Relation to Sporting Performance

Cited by 16 publications

References 66 publications

Relative Age Effects in Male Cricket: A Personal Assets Approach to Explain Immediate, Short-Term, and Long-Term Developmental Outcomes

Relative Age Effects in Male Cricket: A Personal Assets Approach to Explain Immediate, Short-Term, and Long-Term Developmental Outcomes

The Relative Age Effect in the Best Track and Field Athletes Aged 10 to 15 Years Old

Relative Age Effect and Gender Differentiation Within Sport- A Systematic Review

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