Laboratoire Sport et Environnement Social (SENS), Universite J. Fourier Grenoble 1, 38041 Grenoble cedex 9, France.
J Sports Sci. 2010 May;28(7):717-22. doi: 10.1080/02640411003663276.
The aim of this study was to examine the birthdates distribution of French male soccer players (n = 363,590) who dropped out during or after the 2006-2007 season, to determine whether the relative age effect is linked to dropout behaviour. An over-representation of players born late in the competitive year was observed among dropouts, from the U-9 to the U-18 age categories, whereas their counterparts born earlier in the year were under-represented. The distortion of the distribution was most marked for the extreme quarters of the competitive year, and in the U-13 and U-15 categories. This biased distribution was not confirmed for the U-7 category. Finally, regarding the adult category, an unbiased distribution of dropouts was observed as hypothesized. Practical implications to avoid the negative consequences of the relative age effect are advanced.
本研究旨在探讨法国男性足球运动员（n = 363590 人）在 2006-2007 赛季期间或之后退役的出生日期分布情况，以确定相对年龄效应是否与退役行为有关。在 U-9 至 U-18 年龄段的退役球员中，观察到出生于竞争年份后期的球员人数过多，而出生于当年早些时候的球员人数则不足。竞争年份的极端季度以及 U-13 和 U-15 年龄段的分布扭曲最为明显。对于 U-7 年龄段，并未确认这种有偏差的分布。最后，关于成年组，如假设的那样，观察到退役球员的分布是无偏差的。提出了避免相对年龄效应负面影响的实际意义。
