Kelly Adam L, Jackson Daniel T, Taylor Josh J, Jeffreys Mark A, Turnnidge Jennifer
Department of Sport and Exercise, Research Centre for Life and Sport Sciences (CLaSS), Birmingham City University, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Independent Researcher, National Squash Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Front Sports Act Living. 2020 Nov 17;2:573890. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2020.573890. eCollection 2020.
The relative age effect (RAE) is almost pervasive throughout youth sports, whereby relatively older athletes are consistently overrepresented compared to their relatively younger peers. Although researchers regularly cite the need for sports programs to incorporate strategies to moderate the RAE, organizational structures often continue to adopt a one-dimensional (bi)annual-age group approach. In an effort to combat this issue, England Squash implemented a "birthday-banding" strategy in its talent pathway, whereby young athletes move up to their next age group on their birthday, with the aim to remove particular selection time points and fixed chronological bandings. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the potential effects of the birthday-banding strategy on birth quarter (BQ) distributions throughout the England Squash talent pathway. Three mixed-gender groups were populated and analyzed: (a) ASPIRE athletes ( = 250), (b) Development and Potential athletes ( = 52), and (c) Senior team and Academy athletes ( = 26). Chi-square analysis and odds ratios were used to test BQ distributions against national norms and between quartiles, respectively. Results reveal no significant difference between BQ distributions within all three groups ( > 0.05). In contrast to most studies examining the RAE within athlete development settings, there appears to be no RAE throughout the England Squash talent pathway. These findings suggest that the birthday-banding strategy may be a useful tool to moderate RAE in youth sports.
相对年龄效应（RAE）在青少年体育运动中几乎普遍存在，即相对年长的运动员相比其相对年轻的同龄人，在人数上始终占比过高。尽管研究人员经常提到体育项目需要采用策略来减轻相对年龄效应，但组织结构往往继续采用一维的（按）年龄组方法。为了解决这个问题，英格兰壁球协会在其人才培养路径中实施了“生日分组”策略，即年轻运动员在生日时升入下一个年龄组，目的是消除特定的选拔时间点和固定的年龄分组。因此，本研究的目的是考察“生日分组”策略对英格兰壁球人才培养路径中出生季度（BQ）分布的潜在影响。研究人员选取并分析了三个混合性别的群体：（a）有抱负的运动员（n = 250），（b）发展中和有潜力的运动员（n = 52），以及（c）高级团队和学院运动员（n = 26）。卡方分析和优势比分别用于检验BQ分布与全国标准以及四分位数之间的差异。结果显示，所有三个群体的BQ分布之间没有显著差异（p>0.05）。与大多数在运动员发展环境中研究相对年龄效应的研究不同，在整个英格兰壁球人才培养路径中似乎不存在相对年龄效应。这些发现表明，“生日分组”策略可能是减轻青少年体育运动中相对年龄效应的一个有用工具。
