Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Catholic University of Valencia "San Vicente Mártir", 46900 Torrent, Spain.
Doctorate School, Catholic University of Valencia "San Vicente Mártir", 46008 Valencia, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Aug 8;16(16):2837. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16162837.
The need to achieve short-term competitive outcomes in sports may influence the emergence of talent selection strategies, which could bias individuals' opportunities. The present study aimed to further explore the relative age effect (RAE), a phenomenon that strongly influences youth sport development. The RAE refers to a disproportionately high percentage in sport teams of athletes born early in the selection year. Our primary focus was to explore whether the RAE is supported by behavioral evidence in favor of better fitness-and especially cognitive-attentional functioning-of early as compared to late-born players. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 105 young athletes (u10, = 52; 9.8 ± 0.3 years old, and u12, = 53; 11.8 ± 0.2 years old) attending two youth elite soccer academies. Attentional functioning, anthropometrics, physical fitness, and game intelligence were compared across two Age Groups (u10 vs. u12) and four Birth Quarters (BQ1-BQ4). The RAE was statistically significant ( < 0.001), showing that about 50% of participants were born in the first quarter and 75% were born in the first half of the year. More importantly, U12 players outperformed u10 players in measures that were related to sustained attention (with faster and less variable responses; < 0.001 and < 0.05, respectively), and in all anthropometric measures ( < 0.001), physical-fitness capacities ( < 0.05). Crucially, neither the attentional measures, game intelligence, anthropometrics, nor physical fitness were affected by BQ (all > 0.1 and BF between 0.08 and 0.6, showing strong evidence for the null hypothesis). The present findings suggest that the early selection process that occurs during scouting in youth soccer academies offsets the age-related differences that could be anticipated in cognitive skills, anthropometrics, and physical abilities, due to growth and maturation. These birth asymmetries could lead teams to disregard later maturation athletes and athletes born later in the year inducing a larger dropout of those players with the consequent reduction in the talent pool.
在体育运动中获得短期竞争成果的需求可能会影响人才选拔策略的出现，这可能会使个体的机会产生偏差。本研究旨在进一步探讨相对年龄效应（RAE），这一现象强烈影响着青年体育的发展。RAE 是指在选拔年份中，运动员出生较早的比例过高。我们的主要重点是探讨 RAE 是否得到了支持，即是否有行为证据表明，与出生较晚的运动员相比，出生较早的运动员具有更好的体能和认知注意力功能。对参加两个青年精英足球学院的 105 名年轻运动员（u10，=52；9.8±0.3 岁，和 u12，=53；11.8±0.2 岁）进行了横断面研究。在两个年龄组（u10 与 u12）和四个出生季度（BQ1-BQ4）之间比较了注意力功能、人体测量学、体能和比赛智能。RAE 具有统计学意义（<0.001），表明约有 50%的参与者出生在第一个季度，75%的参与者出生在上半年。更重要的是，与持续注意力相关的测量指标（更快和更稳定的反应；<0.001 和<0.05）和所有人体测量指标（<0.001）、体能能力（<0.05）方面，U12 运动员的表现优于 u10 运动员。至关重要的是，注意力测量、比赛智能、人体测量学或体能都不受 BQ 影响（所有 p>0.1，BF 在 0.08 到 0.6 之间，强烈支持零假设）。本研究结果表明，在青年足球学院的球探选拔过程中，早期选拔过程抵消了由于生长和成熟而导致的认知技能、人体测量学和身体能力方面的年龄相关差异。这些出生不对称可能导致团队忽视晚熟运动员和出生较晚的运动员，导致这些运动员的辍学率更高，从而减少人才库。
