Relative age, maturation, anthropometry and physical performance characteristics of players within an Elite Youth Football Academy

Abstract

A professional English football club with Category 1 academy status was investigated to determine the magnitude of relative age effects (RAE) within the club and explore between-quartile differences for somatic maturity, anthropometry and physical performances. Birth dates of 426 players from Under 9 to First Team were categorised into four birth quartiles (Q) and examined for relative age effects. Additionally, data on 382 players (Under 11 to First Team) were obtained for somatic maturity, anthropometry, countermovement jump, sprint (10 and 30 m), agility T-test and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Level 1 or 2 performance to determine between-quartile differences. Odds ratios revealed Q1 players were 6.0 times more likely to be represented than Q4 players. Multilevel modelling demonstrated between birth quartile similarities for each variable across all age groups, though there was a tendency for Q4 players to outperform Q1 players between Under 11 and Under 18 groups. Strong relative age effects exist within this club as well as a tendency to select players demonstrating advanced growth and/or maturity, with some indication that higher categorised academies in England may be at risk of amplified selection biases. Talent identification strategies in elite youth football should actively seek to adopt novel approaches to reduce selection biases and avoid wasted potential.

The influence of birth quartile, maturation, anthropometry and physical performances on player retention: Observations from an elite football academy

“…This suggests that the small number of relatively younger players selected into this academy are considered to be highly talented, thereby facilitating their progression along the developmental pathway. On the other hand, there was a large number of Q1 players that dropout from this academy suggesting that many of these are erroneously recruited at a young age due to the relative age selection bias, which is robust within English youth football 15,[40][41][42] . Moreover, given that the prevalence of the RAE throughout this particular academy is strong 41 , it seems that the Q1 dropouts are typically being replaced by relatively older players (i.e.…”

“He’s Just a Wee Laddie”: The Relative Age Effect in Male Scottish Soccer

“…It has been suggested that talented youth players not favored by the RAE bias (i.e., Q3/Q4 or S2 born) may be required to demonstrate superior technical and psychological skills to endure (de)selection during academy soccer ( Cumming et al, 2018a ; Patel et al, 2019 ). Consequently, when approaching senior professional transition, these superior abilities elevate these chronologically younger players due to the diminishing physical and developmental advantages previously benefitting their chronologically older peers ( Votteler and Höner, 2014 ; Cumming et al, 2018b ).…”

Talent Identification in Youth Soccer: Prognosis of U17 Soccer Performance on the Basis of General Athleticism and Talent Promotion Interventions in Second-Grade Children

“…Due to the early stage of the talent screening campaign, the U9 participants are still far from the pre-pubertal acceleration of the development of body dimensions, which might reduce the impact of the anthropometric predictors on the soccer performance of the young people. Nevertheless, to fully understand the relationship between body size and biological maturity (Meylan et al, 2010;Lago-Peñas et al, 2011;Lovell et al, 2015;Patel et al, 2019) and soccer performance development from childhood to adolescence, more differentiated analyses would be worthwhile.…”