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Ribeiro E, Barreira J, Carraco D, Galatti L, Götze M, Cal Abad CC. The relative age effect in under-17, under-20, and adult elite female soccer players. SCI MED FOOTBALL 2024; 8:153-160. [PMID: 36592346 DOI: 10.1080/24733938.2022.2164608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
To investigate the RAE in elite female soccer players, the absolute and relative birthdate distributions of players who disputed the Women's World Cup were assessed. Differences between observed and expected distributions were analyzed using chi-square and effect sizes. The birthdates of 1224 female soccer players were assessed in Under-17 (N = 336), Under-20 (N = 336) and adult (N = 552) categories. There was no significant RAE in adult category for different playing positions and players in general (including all playing positions per age category). There was significant RAE for midfielders and players in general with mainly small effect sizes for the U-17 and U-20. In both age categories, players born in Q1 were over-represented with the highest quartile ratio for midfielders. In regard of RAE and success defined by final ranking at the World Cup, we found no significant differences between the birthdate distributions of players who participated in either the group stages or finally the knockout phases. Coaches should consider this information to avoid bias in talent programs designed to promote and select female soccer players independently of their birthdates. Young female players should be encouraged to learn to play in different field positions before to reach high-level performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elaine Ribeiro
- Department of Sport, Paulistano Athletic Club (CAP), São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Post Gratuation, Singularidades Institute (iS), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Júlia Barreira
- School of Applied Sciences, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Limeira, Brazil
| | - Dayse Carraco
- Department of Post Gratuation, Singularidades Institute (iS), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Larissa Galatti
- School of Applied Sciences, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Limeira, Brazil
| | - Martin Götze
- Faculty of Sport Science, Institute of Movement and Training Science, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Cesar Cavinato Cal Abad
- Research Center of Sport Science, Social Service of Industry (SESI), São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Physical Education, Lusófona Faculty of São Paulo (FLSP), Cotia, Brazil
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Bezuglov E, Semeniuk N, Shoshorina M, Savin E, Waśkiewicz Z, Emanov A, Malyakin G, Telyshev D, Morgans R. Is There a Relative Age Effect among the Most Successful Track and Field Athletes? J Hum Kinet 2024; 92:193-202. [PMID: 38736604 PMCID: PMC11079924 DOI: 10.5114/jhk/174497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/14/2024] Open
Abstract
The prevalence of the Relative Age Effect (RAE) was studied among medalists from the World Athletics Championships at U18, U20 and Senior age groups and from the Olympic Games from 2000 to 2022. The specific events examined were the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, and 3000/5000 m, the long jump, the triple jump, the high jump and the pole vault. Dates of birth from 1,858 outdoor track and field athletes were analysed and further divided into four groups according to the quartile of birth. The RAE was found to be widespread among athletes of both sexes in U18 and U20 age groups in all examined disciplines. There was no difference between the most successful U18 and U20 athletes (p = 0.52). Among senior athletes of both sexes, this effect was not detected and the number of "late-born" athletes in this age group was higher than athletes born in the first three quarters. The prevalence of the RAE across the four groups of events was found in U18 and U20 age groups. Additionally, within each age group, the difference among events was statistically significant. In most successful track and field athletes, the RAE is only significant in U18 and U20 age groups. In senior athletes, the number of "late-born" athletes is significant while RAE disappears. These data may be considered when assessing the athletic potential of an individual athlete.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduard Bezuglov
- Department of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
- High Performance Sports Laboratory, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Maria Shoshorina
- Department of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Evgeny Savin
- High Performance Sports Laboratory, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Zbigniew Waśkiewicz
- Institute of Sport Science, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education, Katowice, Poland
| | - Anton Emanov
- High Performance Sports Laboratory, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Georgiy Malyakin
- Department of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
- High Performance Sports Laboratory, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Danila Telyshev
- Department of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ryland Morgans
- Department of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
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Thuany M, Vieira D, Lima M, Cavalcante JT, Alcântara T, Nikolaidis PT, Knechtle B, Weiss K, Gomes TN. The birthplace and relative age effects in Brazilian olympic athletes: a cross-national comparison. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1135471. [PMID: 37492448 PMCID: PMC10364438 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1135471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose Our purpose was to verify the existence of birthplace and relative age effect (RAE), as well as the association between birthplace effect and RAE among Brazilian athletes competing in the Olympic Games. Methods Data included information about Brazilian Summer Olympic athletes from 1920 to 2021. To investigate RAE, athletes' birthdate was distributed into birth quartiles (Q1: Jan-Mar; Q2: Apr-Jun; Q3: Jul-Sep; Q4: Oct-Dec), while birthplace effect was assessed considering the state and the region (Southeast; Northeast; South; North; and Midwest) of birth. The Chi-square test (χ2) was used to verify differences between the birthplace effect and RAE. Results The sample consisted of 388 Brazilian athletes of both sexes, distributed in 38 sports modalities from 23 Brazilian states (Southeast = 66.5%; South = 14.4%; Northeast = 12.1%; North = 1.5%; Midwest = 5.4%). For both sexes, most of the athletes were from the São Paulo state (37.4%), followed by Rio de Janeiro (18.3%), both from the Southeast region. For birthdate distribution according to birthplace, it was observed that the North region presented the highest frequency of athletes born in Q1 (50%), followed by the Northeast and Southeast regions. No significant differences were found for the birthplace effect (χ2 = 5.69, value of p = 0.128) and RAE between sexes (χ2 = 0.530, value of p = 0.912), nor was shown an association between the birthplace effect and RAE. Conclusion Most Brazilian Olympic athletes are from the Southeast region, but no RAE was established regarding their birthplace. Results from the present study can guide sports public policies in Brazilian regions, especially in the Midwest, North, and Northeast regions, which are underrepresented in Brazilian high-performance sports.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mabliny Thuany
- Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport (CIFI2D), Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Douglas Vieira
- Post-Graduation Program of Physical Education, Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil
| | - Marcos Lima
- Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil
| | | | - Tatiana Alcântara
- Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil
| | | | - Beat Knechtle
- Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, St. Gallen, Switzerland
- Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Katja Weiss
- Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Thayse Natacha Gomes
- Post-Graduation Program of Physical Education, Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil
- Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil
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Difernand A, De Larochelambert Q, Homo S, Rousseau F, Antero J, Toussaint JF, Sedeaud A. Relative age effects in track-and-field: Identification and performance rebalancing. Front Physiol 2023; 13:1082174. [PMID: 36714323 PMCID: PMC9879012 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1082174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Relative Age Effect (RAE) consists of a biased distribution of the dates of birth in a same-age group. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate Relative Age Effect among French athletes in different track-and-field events, and propose a corrective adjustment method to highlight the true potential of an athlete with respect to his/her relative age. Methods: 358,610 performances from 2009 to 2019 of female and male athletes between 12 and 21 years old were collected. Relative age distributions of performances were analyzed by level of competitiveness ("All," "Top50%," "Top10%" where "all" represents all athletes, top50% and top10% represent the best 50% and 10% of athletes per age category respectively) and age category, with chi-square and odd-ratio statistics. A linear relationship between distribution of performances and age leads to a calibration coefficient allowing to rebalance the performance by considering the effect of Relative Age Effect. Validation is obtained by Wilcoxon statistical test on actual athlete data. Results: Relative Age Effect is present in all types of events. It is larger when the level of competitiveness increases. In male 100 m sprint, 1 year difference between two athletes birth date represents an average gain of 931.01 ms (6.5%) in the U13 (Under 13 years old) and 229.65 ms (1.9%) in the U17 (Under 17 years old) categories. Our validated rebalancing methods allows to compensate for the biases induced by the relative age effect. By comparing the rebalanced performance and the realised performance of each athlete, we cannot say that they are significantly different. On average, there is no significant difference between these two performances. Conclusion: This study showed that there is a relative age effect among young French athletes, with an even greater effect as the level of competition increases. Thanks to the rebalancing method that has been validated, performances can now be better appreciated according to category and event.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audrey Difernand
- IRMES—URP 7329, Institut de Recherche Médicale et d’Epidémiologie du Sport, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France,INSEP, Institut National du Sport, de l’Expertise et de la Performance, Paris, France,*Correspondence: Audrey Difernand,
| | - Quentin De Larochelambert
- IRMES—URP 7329, Institut de Recherche Médicale et d’Epidémiologie du Sport, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France,INSEP, Institut National du Sport, de l’Expertise et de la Performance, Paris, France
| | | | - Florian Rousseau
- Fédération Française de Cyclisme, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France
| | - Juliana Antero
- IRMES—URP 7329, Institut de Recherche Médicale et d’Epidémiologie du Sport, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France,INSEP, Institut National du Sport, de l’Expertise et de la Performance, Paris, France
| | - Jean-François Toussaint
- IRMES—URP 7329, Institut de Recherche Médicale et d’Epidémiologie du Sport, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France,INSEP, Institut National du Sport, de l’Expertise et de la Performance, Paris, France,Centre d’Investigation en Médecine du Sport, Assistance Publique—Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Adrien Sedeaud
- IRMES—URP 7329, Institut de Recherche Médicale et d’Epidémiologie du Sport, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France,INSEP, Institut National du Sport, de l’Expertise et de la Performance, Paris, France
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de Almeida-Neto PF, Neto RB, Medeiros I, de Oliveira FCS, de Oliveira Filho AG, de Matos DG, Dantas PMS, de Araújo Tinôco Cabral BG. Relative age effect in elite Brazilian athletes in different combat sports: an observational study. SPORT SCIENCES FOR HEALTH 2023; 19:113-121. [PMID: 36249347 PMCID: PMC9547565 DOI: 10.1007/s11332-022-01007-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Background The relative age effect (RAE) suggests that, due to maturity, young athletes born in the first quartiles of the year may have advantages over those born in the last quartiles of the year. Thus, it is important to evaluate the RAE in different sports and to consider the particularities of the subdivisions of the sports categories. Objective To analyze the RAE in the top 20 of the Brazilian rankings in different combat sports. Methods Observational study that analyzed the national databases for the year 2019 (from categories U-11 to U-18) made publicly available by the Brazilian confederations of karate, taekwondo and fencing. We obtained data on date of birth, age category and body weight of all modalities, type of fencing competition weapon (Epee, Foie and Saber) and type of karate modality (kumite and kata) from the top 20 places in each ranking. The final sample consisted of 1,486 athletes (Age: 14.2 ± 2.3. Male-53.2%. Female-46.8%). To identify the RAE, we performed a contingency analysis and compared the results between the sexes within the same sport. Results There was RAE in the U-11, U-12, U-15 and U-17 fencing categories (p < 0.05), being higher in the female categories (p < 0.05). The RAE was higher for males in the Epee test, and similar between the sexes for the Saber and Foie tests. In karate, RAE occurred in categories U-14 and U-16 (p < 0.05), being higher in males (p < 0.05). The RAE was similar between the sexes in the kumite modality (p < 0.05). There was no RAE for the kata modality in karate (p > 0.05) and for the Taekwondo categories (p > 0.05). Conclusion The results showed the existence of a relative age effect in elite athletes ranked (top 20 places in each ranking) only for the sport of fencing and karate kumite. Graphical abstract
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulo Francisco de Almeida-Neto
- grid.411233.60000 0000 9687 399XHealth Sciences Center, CCS-UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN 59012-570 Brazil ,grid.411233.60000 0000 9687 399XDepartment of Physical Education, DEF-UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Senador Salgado Filho, 3000 Campus Central, Lagoa Nova, Natal, RN 59078-970 Brazil
| | - Rui Barboza Neto
- grid.411233.60000 0000 9687 399XDepartment of Physical Education, DEF-UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Senador Salgado Filho, 3000 Campus Central, Lagoa Nova, Natal, RN 59078-970 Brazil
| | - Iago Medeiros
- grid.411233.60000 0000 9687 399XDepartment of Physical Education, DEF-UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Senador Salgado Filho, 3000 Campus Central, Lagoa Nova, Natal, RN 59078-970 Brazil
| | - Fernanda Cristina Silva de Oliveira
- grid.411233.60000 0000 9687 399XDepartment of Physical Education, DEF-UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Senador Salgado Filho, 3000 Campus Central, Lagoa Nova, Natal, RN 59078-970 Brazil
| | - Abel Gomes de Oliveira Filho
- grid.411233.60000 0000 9687 399XDepartment of Physical Education, DEF-UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Senador Salgado Filho, 3000 Campus Central, Lagoa Nova, Natal, RN 59078-970 Brazil
| | - Dihogo Gama de Matos
- grid.21613.370000 0004 1936 9609Cardiovascular and Physiology of Exercise Laboratory, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Paulo Moreira Silva Dantas
- grid.411233.60000 0000 9687 399XHealth Sciences Center, CCS-UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN 59012-570 Brazil ,grid.411233.60000 0000 9687 399XDepartment of Physical Education, DEF-UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Senador Salgado Filho, 3000 Campus Central, Lagoa Nova, Natal, RN 59078-970 Brazil
| | - Breno Guilherme de Araújo Tinôco Cabral
- grid.411233.60000 0000 9687 399XHealth Sciences Center, CCS-UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN 59012-570 Brazil ,grid.411233.60000 0000 9687 399XDepartment of Physical Education, DEF-UFRN, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Senador Salgado Filho, 3000 Campus Central, Lagoa Nova, Natal, RN 59078-970 Brazil
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