Relative age effect: beyond the youth phenomenon

INTRODUCTION: Initially described in a sports context in ice hockey in 1985, the relative age effect (RAE) refers to the performance advantages of youth born in the first quarter of the birth year when trying-out for select, age-restricted sports. The competitive advantage bestowed to the relatively older athlete in their age band is the result of the older athlete being more physically and emotionally mature. These more mature players will likely go on to be exposed to better coaching, competition, teammates and facilities in their respective sport. OBJECTIVES: Our study sought to characterise the ubiquity of this effect by examining the birth distribution of some of the world’s most elite athletes, Olympians. METHODS: We extended the exploration of the RAE beyond specific sports by examining the birth quarter of over 44 000 Olympic athlete’s birthdates, born between 1964 and 1996. Our hypothesis was that the RAE would be prominent in both Olympic athletes as a whole and in selected subcategories of athletes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The fractions of births in the first versus the fourth quarter were significantly different (p<0.001) from each other for the summer and winter Olympians, ball and non-ball sports, and team as well as individual sports. This significant difference was not gender specific. We found the general existence of the RAE in Olympic athletes regardless of global classification. Our findings suggest that coaching staff should be cognisant of the RAE when working with young athletes and should take relative age into consideration when evaluating a burgeoning athlete’s abilities.