Lemoyne Jean, Bespomoshchnov Vladislav A, Saarinen Mika
Department of Human Kinetics, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada.
Department of Sport and Social Sciences, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jul 29;16:1583349. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1583349. eCollection 2025.
Past research shows that relative age effects (RAEs) are highly prevalent in ice hockey. Early-born players benefit from more exposure, especially in the early stages of development, and are frequently considered "more talented." Although RAEs are apparent in these early stages, little is known about how it affects pathways leading to the highest levels of competition. This study aims to look more closely at the associations between RAEs and players' career trajectories in 4 hockey nations: Canada, Finland, Czechia, and Slovakia. Specifically, it aims to: (1) evaluate the prevalence of RAEs in each country, (2) identify players' career pathways and examine the impact of RAEs on the players, and (3) compare these effects for each nation.
Data were drawn from 4,306 players (100% males born between 1992 and 2002), who were invited to national development and selection camps between 2009 and 2019. Trajectory clusters were estimated from the players' participation in 8 career milestones, from U17 to representation of their country at the Olympic Games. Group comparisons were conducted based on birth quartiles and hockey nations.
The results confirmed the presence of RAEs in the four hockey nations. Consistent with past research, early-born players are overrepresented in the early career stage, whereas late-born players begin to emerge during transition to junior level (U20). Some nation-specific differences were observed.
This provides further support for the stakeholders of ice hockey association looking to enhance their national team selection processes and discover structuring pathways that offer development opportunities for all groups of players.
过去的研究表明，相对年龄效应（RAEs）在冰球运动中非常普遍。出生较早的球员受益于更多的上场机会，尤其是在发展的早期阶段，并且经常被认为“更有天赋”。尽管相对年龄效应在这些早期阶段很明显，但对于它如何影响通往最高水平比赛的途径却知之甚少。本研究旨在更深入地研究加拿大、芬兰、捷克和斯洛伐克这四个冰球国家中相对年龄效应与球员职业轨迹之间的关联。具体而言，其目的是：（1）评估每个国家相对年龄效应的普遍性，（2）确定球员的职业路径并研究相对年龄效应对球员的影响，以及（3）比较每个国家的这些影响。
数据来自4306名球员（100%为男性，出生于1992年至2002年之间），他们在2009年至2019年期间被邀请参加国家发展和选拔营。轨迹集群是根据球员参与从U17到代表国家参加奥运会的8个职业里程碑来估计的。基于出生四分位数和冰球国家进行组间比较。
结果证实了这四个冰球国家中存在相对年龄效应。与过去的研究一致，出生较早的球员在职业生涯早期阶段的占比过高，而出生较晚的球员在向青年组（U20）过渡期间开始崭露头角。观察到了一些国家特有的差异。
这为冰球协会的利益相关者提供了进一步的支持，他们希望加强国家队的选拔过程，并发现为所有球员群体提供发展机会的结构化途径。
