School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
J Sports Sci. 2011 Oct;29(13):1399-406. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2011.593040. Epub 2011 Aug 11.
Relative age effects in sport reflect an over-representation of athletes born early in a selection year that lead to selection and performance advantages. These effects might be enhanced by rules that increase physicality. An opportunity to investigate these influences arose when Hockey Canada altered its body-checking rules. Two studies are described that investigate the possible influence of this rule change. Study 1 used cross-sectional data to contrast relative age effects for 9-year-olds in games with and without body-checking (birth quartile 1 ranged from 27 to 39%; birth quartile 4 from 10 to 20%). Study 2 used quasi-longitudinal data to examine age effects when players transitioned from a season in which body-checking was permitted to one that prohibited such checking (birth quartile 1 ranged from 27 to 39%; birth quartile 4 from 11 to 20%). Chi-square statistics demonstrated relative age effects in both studies irrespective of body-checking. Post-hoc analyses indicated reductions in these effects that were limited to some second and third quartiles when body-checking was prohibited. Body-checking is not a critical mechanism of relative age effects. The physicality of ice hockey, regardless of body-checking, and increased experience in ice hockey are influential.
相对年龄效应在运动中反映出在选拔年度中，出生较早的运动员过度代表，从而导致选拔和表现优势。这些效应可能会因增加身体接触的规则而增强。当加拿大曲棍球协会改变其身体碰撞规则时，就有机会调查这些影响。本文描述了两项研究，以调查这一规则变化的可能影响。研究 1 使用横断面数据，对比了有身体碰撞和无身体碰撞的 9 岁儿童的相对年龄效应（出生四分位数 1 从 27%到 39%；出生四分位数 4 从 10%到 20%）。研究 2 使用准纵向数据，研究了当球员从允许身体碰撞的赛季过渡到禁止身体碰撞的赛季时，年龄效应的变化（出生四分位数 1 从 27%到 39%；出生四分位数 4 从 11%到 20%）。卡方统计表明，无论是否有身体碰撞，这两项研究都存在相对年龄效应。事后分析表明，当禁止身体碰撞时，这些效应仅限于某些第二和第三四分位数时会减少。身体碰撞并不是相对年龄效应的关键机制。冰球的身体接触性，无论是否有身体碰撞，以及在冰球方面增加的经验，都是有影响的。
