2,373
Views
28
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Reviews

Solving sport’s ‘relative age’ problem: a systematic review of proposed solutions

, ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Pages 187-204 | Received 31 Mar 2019, Accepted 22 Sep 2019, Published online: 15 Oct 2019

References

  • Abel, E. L., & Kruger, M. L. (2007). A relative age effect in NASCAR. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 105, 1151–1152.
  • Albuquerque, M., Fukuda, D. H., Da Costa, V. T., Lopes, M. C., & Franchini, E. (2016). Do weight categories prevent athletes from the relative age effect? A meta-analysis of combat sports. Sports Science for Health, 12, 133–139.
  • Andronikos, G., Elumaro, A. I., Westbury, T., & Martindale, R. J. J. (2016). Relative age effect: Implications for effective practice. Journal of Sports Sciences, 34, 1124–1131.
  • Ashworth, J., & Heyndels, B. (2007). Selection bias and peer effects in team sports: The effect of age grouping on earnings of German soccer players. Journal of Sport Economics, 8, 355–377.
  • Baker, J., & Logan, A. J. (2007). Developmental contexts and sporting success: Birth date and birthplace effects in National Hockey League draftees 2000–2005. British Medical Journal, 41, 515–517.
  • Baker, J., Schorer, J., Cobley, S., Bräutigam, H., & Büsch, D. (2009). Gender, depth of competition and relative age effects in team sports. Asian Journal of Exercise & Sports Science, 6, 7–13.
  • Baker, J., Wattie, N., & Schorer, J. (2019). A proposed conceptualization of talent in sport: The first step in a long and winding road. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 43, 27–33.
  • Barnsley, R. H., & Thompson, A. H. (1988). Birthdate and success in minor hockey: The key to the NHL. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 20, 167–176.
  • Barnsley, R. H., Thompson, A. H., & Barnsley, P. E. (1985). Hockey success and birthdate: The RAE. Canadian Association of health. Physical Education and Recreation Journal, 51, 23–28.
  • Barnsley, R. H., Thompson, A. H., & Legault, P. (1992). Family planning: Football style – Relative age effects in football. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 27, 77–88.
  • Baxter-Jones, A. (1995). Growth and development of young athletes: Should competition levels be age related? Sports Medicine, 20, 59–64.
  • Bedard, K., & Dhuey, E. (2006). The persistence of early childhood maturity: International evidence of long-run age effects. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 121, 1437–1472.
  • Bell, J. F., Massey, A., & Dexter, T. (1997). Birthdate and ratings of sporting achievement: Analysis of physical education GCSE results. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 2, 160–166.
  • Boucher, J., & Halliwell, W. (1991). The Novem system: A practical solution to age grouping. Canadian Association Health Physical Education & Recreation Journal, 57, 16–20.
  • Brazo-Sayavera, J., Martínez-Valencia, M. A., Müller, L., Andronikos, G., & Martindale, R. J. J. (2017). Identifying talented track and field athletes: The impact of relative age effect on selection to the Spanish national athletics federation training campus. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35, 2172–2178.
  • Brazo-Sayavera, J., Martínez-Valencia, M. A., Müller, L., Andronikos, G., & Martindale, R. J. J. (2018). Relative age effects in international age group championships: A study of Spanish track and field athletes. PLoS ONE, 13, e0196386.
  • Brewer, J., Balsom, P. D., & Davis, J. (1995). Seasonal birth distribution amongst European soccer players. Sports Exercise Injury, 1, 154–157.
  • Carling, C., Le Gall, F., Reilly, T., & Williams, A. M. (2009). Do anthropometric and fitness characteristics vary according to birth date distribution in elite youth academy soccer players? Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 19, 3–9.
  • Chittle, L., Horton, S., & Dixon, J. C. (2016). The out of fast break? The relative age effect in NCAA Division I basketball. Journal of Sport Behavior, 39, 107–125.
  • Cobley, S., Abraham, C., & Baker, J. (2008). Relative age effects on physical education attainment and school sport participation. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 13, 267–276.
  • Cobley, S., Baker, J., Wattie, N., & McKenna, J. (2009). Annual age-grouping and athlete development: A meta-analytical review of relative age effects in sport. Sports Medicine, 39, 235–256.
  • Côté, J., MacDonald, D. J., Baker, J., & Abernethy, B. (2006). When ‘where’ is more important that ‘when’: Birthplace and birthdate effects on the achievement of sporting expertise. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24, 1065–1073.
  • Crawford, C., Dearden, L., & Meghir, C. (2007). When you are born matters: The impact of date of birth on child cognitive outcomes in England. Centre for the Economics of Education: London School of Economics.
  • Cumming, S. P., Brown, D. J., Mitchell, S., Bunce J., Hunt D., Hedges C. … , Malina R. M. (2018). Premier league academy soccer players’ experiences of competing in a tournament bio-banded for biological maturation. Journal of Sports Sciences, 36, 757–765.
  • Cumming, S. P., Lloyd, R. S., Oliver, J. L., Eisenmann, J. C., & Malina, R. M. (2017). Bio-banding in sport: Applications to competition, talent identification, and strength and conditioning of youth athletes. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 39, 34–47.
  • Deaner, R. O., Lowen, A., & Cobley, S. (2013). Born at the wrong time: Selection bias in the NHL draft. PLoS ONE, 8, e57753. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057753
  • Delorme, N., & Raspaud, M. (2009a). The relative age effect in young French basketball players: A study on the whole population. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport, 19, 235–242.
  • Delorme, N., & Raspaud, M. (2009b). Is there an influence of relative age on participation in non-physical sports activities? The example of shooting sports. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27, 1035–1042.
  • Edgar, S., & O’Donoghue, P. (2004). The distribution of season-of-birth among players of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Journal of Sports Sciences, 22, 578–579.
  • English, C., Nash, C., & Martindale, R. (2018). The effects of structural change: An investigation into the South African cricket development pathway. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 10, 371–391.
  • Fukuda, D. H., Kelly, J. D., Albuquerque, M. R., Stout, J. R., & Hoffman, J. R. (2017). Relative age effects despite weight categories in elite junior male wrestlers. Sports Science for Health, 13, 99–106.
  • Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The story of success. New York: Little, Brown and Co.
  • Grondin, S., Deschaies, P., & Nault, L. P. (1984). Trimester of birth and school output [ in French]. Apprentissage Social, 16, 169–174.
  • Grondin, S., & Trudeau, F. (1991). Date of birth and the National Hockey League: Analyses of different parameters [ in French]. Revue Scientifique et Technique due Activité Physique et Sport, 26, 37–45.
  • Hancock, D. J., Ste-Marie, D. M., & Young, B. W. (2013). Coach selections and the relative age effect in male youth ice hockey. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 84, 126–130.
  • Helsen, W. F., Baker, J., Micheils, S., Schorer, J., van Wickel, J., & Williams, A. M. (2012). The relative age effect in European professional football: Has anything changed after 10 years of research? Journal of Sports Sciences, 30, 1665–1671.
  • Helsen, W. F., Starkes, J. L., & Van Winckel, J. (1998). The influence of relative age on success and dropout in male soccer players. American Journal of Human Biology, 10, 791–798.
  • Helsen, W. F., Starkes, J. L., & Van Winckel, J. (2000). Effect of a change in selection year on success in male soccer players. American Journal of Human Biology, 12, 729–735.
  • Helsen, W. F., Van Winckel, J., & Williams, A. M. (2005). The relative age effect in youth soccer across Europe. Journal of Sports Sciences, 23, 629–636.
  • Henriksen, K., & Stambulova, N. (2017). Creating optimal environments for talent development: A holistic ecological approach. In J. Baker, S. Cobley, J. Schorer, & N. Wattie (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of talent identification and development in sport (pp. 271–284). London: Routledge.
  • Henriksen, K., Stambulova, N., & Roessler, K. K. (2010). Successful talent development in track and field: Considering the role of environment. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 20, 122–132.
  • Hill, B., & Sotiriadou, P. (2016). Coach decision-making and the relative age effect on talent selection in football. European Sport Management Quarterly, 16, 292–315.
  • Horn, R. R., & Okumura, M. (2011). It’s time to eliminate the relative age effect in American soccer. Soccer Journal, 56, 38–40.
  • Hurley, W. J. (2009). Equitable birthdate categorization systems for organized minor sports competition. European Journal of Operational Research, 192, 253–264.
  • Hurley, W., Lior, D., & Tracze, S. (2001). A proposal to reduce the age discrimination in Canadian minor hockey. Canadian Public Policy, 27, 65–75.
  • Jimenez, I. P., & Pain, M. T. G. (2008). Relative age effect in Spanish association football: Its extent and implications for wasted potential. Journal of Sports Sciences, 26, 995–1003.
  • MacDonald, D. J., Cheung, M., Côté, J., & Abernathy, B. (2009). Place but not date of birth influences the development and emergence of athletic talent in American football. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 21, 80–90.
  • Malina, R. M., Bouchard, C., & Bar-Or, O. (2004). Growth maturation and physical activity. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
  • Malina, R. M., Cumming, S. P., Silva, M. J. C. E., & Figueiredo, A. F. (2015). Talent identification and development in the context of ‘growing up’. In J. Baker, S. Cobley, J. Schorer, & N. Wattie (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of talent identification and development in sport (pp. 150–168). London: Routledge.
  • Malina, R. M., Rogol, A. D., Cumming, S. P., Silva, M. J. C. E., & Figueiredo, A. J. (2015). Biological maturation of youth athletes: Assessment and implications. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 49, 852–859.
  • Mann, D. L., & Van Ginneken, P. J. (2017). Age-ordered shirt numbering reduces the selection bias associated with the relative age effect. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35, 784–790.
  • Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & The PRISMA Group. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLoS Medicine, 6, e1000097. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed1000097
  • Mujika, I., Vaeyens, R., Matthys, S. P. J., Santisteban, J., Goiriena, J., & Musch, J. (2002). Birthdate and success in youth soccer: Investigating the development of the relative age effect. Sportonomics, 8, 22–28.
  • Musch, J., & Grondin, S. (2001). Unequal competition as an impediment to personal development: A review of the relative age effect in sport. Developmental Review, 21, 147–167.
  • Newell, K. M. (1986). Constraints on the development of coordination. In M. G. Wade & H. T. A. Whiting (Eds.), Motor development in children: Aspects of coordination and control (pp. 341–361). Martin Nijhoff: Amsterdam.
  • Peña, E. V. (2014). Marginalization of published scholarship on students with disabilities in higher education journals. Journal of College Student Development, 55, 30–40.
  • Phillips, E., Davids, K., Renshaw, I., & Portus, M. (2010). Expert performance in sports and the dynamics of talent development. Sports Medicine, 40, 1–13.
  • Pierson, K., Addona, V., & Yates, P. (2014). A behavioural dynamic model of the relative age effect. Journal of Sports Sciences, 32, 776–784.
  • Renshaw, I., Davids, K., Phillips, E., & Kerhervé, H. (2012). Developing talent in athletes as complex neurobiological systems. In J. Baker, S. Cobley, & J. Schorer (Eds.), Talent identification and development in sport: International perspectives (pp. 64–80). London: Routledge.
  • Rienhoff, R., Tirp, J., Strauß, B., Baker, J., & Schorer, J. (2016). The ‘quiet eye’ and motor performance: A systematic review based on Newell’s constraints-led model. Sports Medicine, 46, 589–603.
  • Robinson, K., Wattie, N., Schorer, J., & Baker, J. (2018). Talent identification in sport: A systematic review of 25 years of research. Sports Medicine, 48, 97–109. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0803-2
  • Romann, M., & Cobley, S. (2015). Relative age effects in athletic sprinting and corrective adjustments as a solution for their removal. PloS One, 10(4), e0122988.
  • Schorer, J., Baker, J., Büsch, D., Wilhelm, A., & Pabst, J. (2009). Relative age, talent identification and youth skill development: Do relatively younger athletes have superior technical skills. Talent Development and Excellence, 1, 45–56.
  • Schorer, J., Cobley, S., Bräutigam, H., Loffing, F., Hütter, S., Büsch, D., & Baker, J. (2015). Developmental contexts, depth of competition and relative age effects in sport: A database analysis and a quasi-experiment. Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling, 57, 126–143.
  • Schorer, J., Cobley, S., Büsch, D., Bräutigam, H., & Baker, J. (2009). Influences of competition level, gender, player nationality, career stage and playing position on relative age effects. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport, 19, 720–730.
  • Schorer, J., Wattie, N., & Baker, J. (2013). A new dimension to relative age effects: Constant year effects in German youth handball. Plos One, 8(4), e60336. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0060336
  • Sherar, L. B., Baxter-Jones, A. D. G., & Faulkner, R. A. (2007). Does physical maturity and birth date predict talent in male youth ice hockey players? Journal of Sports Sciences, 25, 879–886.
  • Simmons, C., & Paull, G. C. (2001). Season-of-birth bias in association football. Journal of Sports Sciences, 19, 677–686.
  • Steingröver, C., Wattie, N., Baker, J., Helsen, W. F., & Schorer, J. (2017). The interaction between constituent year and within-1-year effects in elite German youth basketball. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 27, 627–633.
  • Thompson, A. H., Barnsley, R. H., & Stebelsky, G. (1991). “Born to play ball”: The relative age effect and major league baseball. Sociology of Sport Journal, 8, 146–151.
  • Till, K., Cobley, S., Cooke, C., Wattie, N., & O’Hara, J. (2010). The prevalence. Influential factors and mechanisms of relative age effects in UK Rugby League. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport, 20, 320–329.
  • Tucker, R., Raftery, M., & Verhagen, E. (2016). Injury risk and tackle ban in youth rugby union: Reviewing the evidence and searching for targeted, effective interventions: A critical review. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50, 921–925.
  • Vincent, J., & Glamser, F. (2006). Gender differences in the relative age effect among US olympic development program youth soccer players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24, 405–413.
  • Wattie, N., Baker, J., Cobley, S., & Montelpare, W. J. (2007). A historical examination of relative age effects in Canadian hockey players. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 38, 178–186.
  • Wattie, N., Schorer, J., & Baker, J. (2015). The relative age effect in sport: A developmental systems model. Sports Medicine, 45, 83–94.
  • Wilson, G. (1999). The birthdate effect in school sports teams. Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy, 4, 139–145.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.