Abstract
This study examines the relative age effect (RAE) and its impact on the performance of elite male (n = 3,358) and female (n = 3,273) handball players in the U-19 (n = 2,188), U-21 (n = 2,031), and senior (n = 2,412) categories of the 2013/2014, 2015/2016 and 2017/2018 World Handball Championships organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF). The distribution of the players´ birth dates (by quartile: Q, and semester: S) by categories, handball playing positions, and membership of continental federations, were analysed for each of the three two-year periods in which the World Handball Championships took place. Differences between the observed and expected birth dates were tested using a chi-square goodness of fit test, and subsequent calculations were tested using odds ratios. The Spearman’s correlation coefficient was applied to test the correlation between the relative age of the athletes and (their) performance parameters. The results revealed a prevalence of the RAE on both male and female in the U-19 and U-21 categories (p<0.001), and a stabilisation of the RAE throughout the period analysed (2013/14-2017/2018). The RAE was not found in the female senior category (2013, 2015 and 2017) or male senior category (2013) (p>0.05). All playing positions were impacted by the RAE (p<0.001), and especially strong effect sizes were noted for male pivots (Vc = 0.66/0.68/0.60) and female center backs (Vc = 0.71/0.65/0.71). In our analysis of the handball continental federations, the RAE was found in all regions, except Oceania (p>0.05). The RAE also affected athlete performance: the oldest athletes played more minutes and achieved better performances. The RAE was associated with the final placement of the teams in each championship category, except in the male youth category. The findings clearly demonstrated that the RAE has a significant impact on the selection of male and female athletes to international competitions and the performance of both men and women in international handball. The potential implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.
Highlights
Successful talent identification and development (TID) systems are regarded by policy makers as vital to achieving success in adult elite sports, and are based usually on the selection of athletes for special activities, teams and/or competitions [1]
The sample of the study consisted of 6,631 handball players (3,358 men and 3,273 women) who had played for teams registered in the World Handball Championships, which are organised annually by the International Handball Federation (IHF)
Similar findings were evident in the birth date distribution by semester (Table 3): significant values were found in the male senior category in the three competitions analysed (2013 WC: p < 0.05; 2015 WC: p < 0.01: 2017 WC: p < 0.05)
Summary
Successful talent identification and development (TID) systems are regarded by policy makers as vital to achieving success in adult elite sports, and are based usually on the selection of athletes for special activities, teams and/or competitions [1]. The introduction of international competitions at the youth elite level, for example, has become an important part of identifying, fostering and developing sporting talent in elite development systems [2], and serves as a mechanism for recognising sporting excellence [3]. While an athletes maturation does not necessarily correspond with her or his chronological age at the individual level, relatively older athletes tend to be more mature than relatively younger athletes at the aggregated level [7] This is known as the relative age effect (RAE), and large scale-studies have shown that this effect impacts sporting careers by systematically increasing the number of opportunities made available to relatively older athletes [8]
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