Abstract
The term “relative age effect” (RAE) is used to describe a bias in which participation in sports (and other fields) is higher among people who were born at the beginning of the relevant selection period than would be expected from the distribution of births. In sports, RAEs may affect the psychological experience of players as well as their performance. This article presents 2 studies. Study 1 aims to verify the prevalence of RAEs in minor hockey and test its associations with players' physical self-concept and attitudes toward physical activities in general. Study 2 verifies the prevalence of the RAE and analyzes the performance of Canadian junior elite players as a function of their birth quartile. In study 1, the sample is drawn from 404 minor hockey players who have evolved from a recreational to an elite level. Physical self-concept and attitudes toward different kinds of physical activities were assessed via questionnaires. Results showed that the RAE is prevalent in minor hockey at all competition levels. Minor differences in favor of Q1-born players were observed regarding physical self-concept, but not attitudes. In study 2, data analyses were conducted from the 2018–2019 Canadian Hockey League database. Birth quartiles were compared on different components of performance by using quantile regression on each variable. Results revealed that RAEs are prevalent in the CHL, with Q1 players tending to outperform Q4 players in games played and power-play points. No other significant differences were observed regarding anthropometric measures and other performance outcomes. RAEs are still prevalent in Canadian hockey. Building up perceived competence and providing game-time exposure are examples of aspects that need to be addressed when trying to minimize RAEs in ice hockey.
Highlights
The term “relative age effect” (RAE) is used to describe a bias, evident in the upper echelons of youth sports, where participation is higher among those born at the beginning of the relevant selection period—and, lower among those born at the end of the selection period—than would be expected from the standard distribution of live births (Larouche et al, 2010)
In the Perceived Competence and Performance in Hockey literature on the RAE, live birth distributions are analyzed in the form of quartiles (Q) in which birth months are grouped in four 3-month categories (Q1: January 1st–March 31st; Q2: April 1st–June 30th; Q3: July 1st–September 30th; Q4: October 1st–December 31st)
Despite the prevalence of RAEs, they do not seem to be specific to an age group or a playing level. This result is in line with Grondin et al (1984), who showed that RAEs applied to all minor hockey age groups, from Atom (9 and 10 years old) to Midget (15 and 16 years old)
Summary
The term “relative age effect” (RAE) is used to describe a bias, evident in the upper echelons of youth sports, where participation is higher among those born at the beginning of the relevant selection period—and, lower among those born at the end of the selection period—than would be expected from the standard distribution of live births (Larouche et al, 2010). Past research has shown that the RAE is predominantly found in many sports (Grondin et al, 1984; Turnnidge et al, 2014). This effect is mainly found in sports in which physicality prevails—such as soccer, rugby, and ice hockey (Lames et al, 2008; Till et al, 2010; Helsen et al, 2012)—and among male athletes (Romann et al, 2018). In the province of Quebec (Canada), RAEs were found at the minor hockey level, where the effects remained even after changes in cutoff dates for each age-group category were implemented (Lavoie et al, 2015)
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