Annual Age-Grouping and Athlete Development

@article{Cobley2009AnnualAA,
  title={Annual Age-Grouping and Athlete Development},
  author={Stephen Paul Cobley and Joseph Baker and Nick Wattie and Jim McKenna},
  journal={Sports Medicine},
  year={2009},
  volume={39},
  pages={235-256}
}
Annual age-grouping is a common organizational strategy in sport. However, such a strategy appears to promote relative age effects (RAEs). RAEs refer both to the immediate participation and long-term attainment constraints in sport, occurring as a result of chronological age and associated physical (e.g. height) differences as well as selection practices in annual age-grouped cohorts. This article represents the first meta-analytical review of RAEs, aimed to collectively determine (i) the… 
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591 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
102
Background Citations
290
Methods Citations
33
Results Citations
51

591 Citations

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Modifications to sport policy, organisational and athlete development system structure, as well as practitioner intervention are recommended to prevent relative age effect-related participation and longer term attainment inequalities.

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Transient Relative Age Effects across annual age groups in National level Australian Swimming.

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Relative age effect (RAE) refers to the immediate and long-term consequences of age difference within an age grouping. In sporting contexts, it has been widely shown that those born in the first…

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The impact of negative outcomes from RAE appears to be greater among German age group swimmers, compared to previous reports on Australian as well as Portuguese cohorts, because the RAE was prevalent over a longer time period.
...

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