School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2014 Apr;24(2):461-8. doi: 10.1111/sms.12002. Epub 2012 Sep 24.
Previous research highlights the critical role that contextual factors play in shaping athlete development. The purpose of the present study was to investigate two of these contextual factors: birth date (known as the relative age effect, RAE) and city of development as determinants of participation in a sample of youth ice hockey players. The sample included 146,424 athletes registered with Ontario youth ice hockey between the 2004 and 2010 seasons. Chi-square statistics determined a significant RAE in youth ice hockey. Findings also revealed a significant association between small cities of development and increased youth ice hockey participation. Finally, there was no evidence of an interaction between relative age and city of development. The characteristics of smaller communities that may facilitate sport participation across all youth are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.
先前的研究强调了情境因素在塑造运动员发展方面的关键作用。本研究旨在调查其中两个情境因素：出生日期（即相对年龄效应，RAE）和发展城市，作为决定参与青年冰球运动员样本的决定因素。该样本包括 2004 年至 2010 赛季期间在安大略省青年冰球注册的 146424 名运动员。卡方统计确定了青年冰球中存在显著的 RAE。研究结果还表明，发展中小城市与青年冰球参与度的增加之间存在显著关联。最后，没有证据表明相对年龄和发展城市之间存在相互作用。讨论了较小社区的特点，这些特点可能有助于所有年轻人参与体育运动，并提出了未来研究的建议。
