THE RELATIVE AGE EFFECT PHENOMENON IN THE 2013 UEFA EUROPEAN UNDER–17 CHAMPIONSHIP

GIOLDASIS ARISTOTELIS; BEKRIS EVANGELOS; MICHELINAKIS EVANGELOS; GISSIS IOANNIS; KOMSIS STERGIOS

Volume : II, Issue : XII, December - 2013

THE RELATIVE AGE EFFECT PHENOMENON IN THE 2013 UEFA EUROPEAN UNDER–17 CHAMPIONSHIP

Gioldasis Aristotelis, Bekris Evangelos, Michelinakis Evangelos, Gissis Ioannis, Komsis Stergios

Abstract :

The categorization of the players according to their dates of birth is believed that provides equal opportunities for everyone because of the same chronological age. However, the research about the existence of Relative Age Effect (RAE) showed that it is not true. The participants of the study were all the players (n= 1094, M= 16.91, SD= .30) that took part in the UEFA European U17 Championship. The aim of the study was to examine the age distribution of players in quartiles, and how this distribution affected the performance of each team in the championship. Then it was examined the RAE according to the percentage of participations, and the playing positions of the players. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and post hoc comparisons were used. The distribution of the birth dates revealed significant RAE effect which was related to the team performance. There were also some trends which associate the RAE with the players� participations and playing positions.