Selection and promotion processes are not associated by the relative age effect in an elite Spanish soccer academy

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of the relative age effect (RAE) on the selection and promotion processes in an elite soccer academy. One hundred and eleven elite youth players who belonged to an elite soccer club from the Spanish “La Liga” participated in this study. Players were classified into three age-categories: under 14 years (U14), under 16 years (U16) and under 18 years (U18); and they were also classified in quartiles based on their date of birth (i.e., January-March, Q1; April-June, Q2; July-September, Q3; October-December, Q4). In addition, two further classification criteria were established based on the selection (i.e., selected and non-selected players) and promotion (i.e., promoted and non-promoted players) processes. The main results showed that in U14 and U16 age-categories, players born early in the year were over-represented compared to players born late in the year, although birth-distribution was not associated with the likelihood of a player to be selected or promoted. In addition, less fat in sum skinfolds, less percentage of fat, higher percentage of muscle and lower endomorphy and mesomorphy components were showed in U14 selected players, in comparison with non-selected players. Likewise, better sprint performance was found in U16 selected players versus non-selected ones. However, no significant differences on anthropometry, body composition, somatotype and physical performance were found between promoted and non-promoted players. Therefore, our results suggest there is need for coaches to reorient their talent identification programs in order to make sure that players selected to continue playing in the club have the potential to promote to the excellence in soccer.

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

“…Specifically, our results demonstrate that between U11 to U21 groups, retained players were typically superior in physical performance tests, where effect sizes were typically small to medium (Table 2). This corroborates with previous findings that retained players within European football academies 25,35,43 and Australian football 55 achieved superior physical performances. Buchheit et al reported that performances on field tests were related to match-running performance (in a positiondependent manner) 56 , where superior match-running performance is also related to retention across age groups within an English academy 57 .…”

“…To the authors' awareness, the relationship between birth date and retention/dropout, after selection into an elite youth academy, has seldom been addressed within previous research 9,34 . Still, our results corroborate the findings within a Spanish football academy, in which birth date was not associated with being retained or promoted to a higher playing level between U14 and U18 groups 35 . However, it must be acknowledged that the low number of Q3 and Q4 players within the current study represent drawbacks in the analysis.…”

“…Alternatively, the tendency to retain younger players may be related to a greater (perceived) potential for long-term improvements by talent selectors. Finally, the lack of significant differences between retained and dropout players in these groups could suggest that, as both groups precede the First Team, other relevant predictors of performance could discriminate between the most talented players 2,35,43 . In any case, additional research in these age groups is warranted to better understand the factors that influence progression to the First Team squad.…”

Correlation Between Estimated Thermoregulatory Responses and Pacing in Athletes During Marathon

“…An additional uncertainty factor is age, as reported in [51], where the race speed becomes minimal for athletes aged 25-29 years. The effect of age in different sports has been discussed [51,52], as well as the effects of race distance and gender [53]. In general, women differ from men in thermal responses because of a larger ratio of body surface to body mass, a greater subcutaneous fat content, and lower exercise capacity [1,53].…”

Relative Age Effect in Anthropometrical Characteristics and Physical Fitness Among Youth Soccer Players of Amateur Clubs

“…Age consider as a factor that determining RAE. More specifically previous studies have mentioned that RAE decreased as age increased (Brustio et al, 2018;Castillo et al, 2019). However, Mujika et al, (2009) performed a study on players' of Athletic Club Bilbao, and mentioned that the effect of RAE is independent of players' age.…”