Small Relative Age Effect Appears in Professional Female Italian Team Sports

The relative age effect (RAE) concerns those (dis)advantages and outcomes resulting from an interaction between the dates of selection and birthdates. Although this phenomenon is well known in a male context, limited data are available in female sports. Thus, the aim of this study was to quantify th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-12, Vol.19 (1), p.385
Main Authors: Brustio, Paolo Riccardo, Boccia, Gennaro, De Pasquale, Paolo, Lupo, Corrado, Ungureanu, Alexandru Nicolae
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Age Factors
Athletes
Basketball
Careers
Chi-square test
Female
Gender differences
Goodness of fit
Humans
Italy
Male
Males
Players
Soccer
Sports
Statistical tests
Success
Team Sports
Volleyball
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Summary:The relative age effect (RAE) concerns those (dis)advantages and outcomes resulting from an interaction between the dates of selection and birthdates. Although this phenomenon is well known in a male context, limited data are available in female sports. Thus, the aim of this study was to quantify the prevalence and magnitude of the RAE in a female Italian context at the professional level in basketball, soccer, and volleyball. A total of 1535 birthdates of elite senior players were analyzed overall and separately between early and late career stages. Chi-square goodness-of-fit tests were applied to investigate the RAE in each sport. An asymmetry in birthdates was observed in all sports (Crammer's V ranged = 0.10-0.12). Players born close to the beginning of the year were 1.62 and 1.61 times more likely to reach first and second Italian divisions of soccer and volleyball, respectively, than those born in the last part of the year. A small over-representation of female athletes born close to the beginning of the year is evident at the senior professional level in all Italian investigated team sports. In soccer, this trend was more evident in the first stage of a senior career.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph19010385