Birth advantages and relative age effects
exploring organisational structures in youth sport
Table of contents
05 Editorial: Birth Advantages and Relative Age Effects
Adam L. Kelly, Jean Côté, David J. Hancock and Jennifer Turnnidge
08 The Relative Age Effect and Talent Identification Factors in Youth Volleyball in Poland
Krystian Rubajczyk and Andrzej Rokita
17 Appreciating Factors Beyond the Physical in Talent Identification and Development: Insights From the FC Barcelona Sporting Model
Greg Doncaster, Daniel Medina, Franchek Drobnic, Antonio José Gómez-Díaz and Viswanath Unnithan
26 Female Youth Soccer Participation and Continued Engagement: Associations With Community Size, Community Density, and Relative Age
Kristy L. Smith and Patricia L. Weir
36 “Birthday-Banding” as a Strategy to Moderate the Relative Age Effect: A Case Study Into the England Squash Talent Pathway
Adam L. Kelly, Daniel T. Jackson, Josh J. Taylor, Mark A. Jeffreys and Jennifer Turnnidge
45 Origins of Relative Age Effects in Youth Football—A Nationwide Analysis
Michael Romann, Eva Rüeger, Mirjam Hintermann, Raphael Kern and Oliver Faude
52 Relative Age Effect in Elite German Soccer: Influence of Gender and Competition Level
Martin Götze and Matthias W. Hoppe
60 “He’s Just a Wee Laddie”: The Relative Age Effect in Male Scottish Soccer
James H. Dugdale, Allistair P. McRobert and Viswanath B. Unnithan
67 Revisiting the Relative Age Effect From a Multidisciplinary Perspective in Youth Basketball: A Bayesian Analysis
Carlos Eduardo Gonçalves and Humberto Moreira Carvalho
78 Talent Identification and Relative Age Effects in English Male Rugby Union Pathways: From Entry to Expertise
Adam L. Kelly, Kevin Till, Daniel Jackson, Donald Barrell, Kate Burke and Jennifer Turnnidge
87 Leveling the Playing Field: A New Proposed Method to Address Relative Age- and Maturity-Related Bias in Soccer
Werner F. Helsen, Martine Thomis, Janet L. Starkes, Sander Vrijens, Gerrit Ooms, Calum MacMaster and Chris Towlson
104 Relative Age Effect in Canadian Hockey: Prevalence, Perceived Competence and Performance
Jean Lemoyne, Vincent Huard Pelletier, François Trudeau and Simon Grondin
115 Relative Age Effect in 14- to 18-Year-Old Athletes and Their Initial Approach to This Effect—Has Anything Changed Over the Past 10 Years?
Ronnie Lidor, Zohar Maayan and Michal Arnon
127 Confusion Reigns: An Analysis of Responses to U.S. Soccer Age Cut-Off Date Policy Change
Kristy L. Smith, Sara Scarfone, Laura Chittle, Sean Horton and Jess C. Dixon
137 Handedness and Relative Age in International Elite Interactive Individual Sports Revisited
Florian Loffing and Jörg Schorer
150 Relative Age-Related Biases in Objective and Subjective Assessments of Performance in Talented Youth Soccer Players
Daniel Leyhr, Fynn Bergmann, Robert Schreiner, David Mann, Damir Dugandzic and Oliver Höner
167 Exploring Relative Age Effects in Youth Ice Hockey Through a Single Team Case Study and Composite Narratives
David J. Hancock
176 Are Soccer and Futsal Affected by the Relative Age Effect? The Portuguese Football Association Case
Pedro Figueiredo, André Seabra, Marta Brito, Marta Galvão and João Brito
185 The Relative Age Effect on Competition Performance of Spanish International Handball Players: A Longitudinal Study
Alfonso de la Rubia, Alberto Lorenzo, Christian Thue Bjørndal, Adam Leigh Kelly, Abraham García-Aliaga and Jorge Lorenzo-Calvo