Department of Exercise, Sport and Lifestyle Medicine

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Browsing Department of Exercise, Sport and Lifestyle Medicine by Subject "Ability, Influence of age on -- Athletics"

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    Relative age effects among student-athletes in a university high-performance programme: prevalence, annual variation and between-group comparisons
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Dube, Sindiso Rangarirai; Grobbelaar, Heinrich; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Sport Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Among the factors facilitating or impeding an athlete’s pathway to success are primary or direct influences such as psychological characteristics, genetic factors and training. Indirect or secondary factors, for instance an individual’s birthdate may influence the type, amount and quality of coaching they receive. Independently, the birthdate is insignificant, but through the simultaneous interaction with age-grouping policies, it may influence selection and long-term athletic development. The term relative age represents the difference in age among participants grouped together based on a pre-established cut-off date (i.e., 1 January to 31 December in South Africa). These differences are associated with short-term and/or long-term effects and has been labelled relative age effects (RAEs). Research is consistent in reporting the short-term and long-term selection and participation advantages enjoyed by relatively older participants in comparison to relatively younger participants. Coach influence, age level, sport type, sex and level of competition are potential moderating factors. Research is plentiful among youth sport and elite athletes, however, few investigations have explored the prevalence of RAEs among university athletes. Moreover, the researchers’ understanding of the RAE within the South African context is limited. Hence, the aim of this retrospective study was to determine the prevalence and magnitude of the RAE among student-athletes from a high-performance (HP) programme at a South African university, in comparison to non-HP-student-athletes according to the competition year, sex and sport code. Relative age distributions of HP student-athletes (N = 950, women = 306, men = 644) and non-HP-student-athletes (student cohort) (N = 46 377, women = 26 376, men = 19 988, undisclosed = 13), aged 18 to 25 years from 2016 to 2021 were analysed. Only South African students were included in both samples to ensure all participants were subject to the same age-grouping policy and cut-offs. The RAE denoted a significant difference between the observed and expected distribution of the participants. Student-athlete (observed) vs non-student-athlete (expected) differences were determined using Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact test. Odds Ratios (OR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) assessed relative age quartile differences. The steps were applied across competition years, sex and sport codes. Overall, student-athletes born in the first quartile of the competition year were significantly overrepresented compared to the non-student-athletes in both sexes. However, the RAE was not prevalent across all individual years. Further Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za V investigations into the 11 HP sport codes revealed a RAE prevalence in swimming, cricket and rugby only. RAEs were also larger in men than in women. This study provides a starting point for future research. Potential moderators for RAE are multifactorial and complex. Further exploration of the underlying mechanisms responsible for the prevalence or lack of RAEs, such as individual (e.g., sport psychological profiles), environmental (e.g., sport’s popularity and coach influence) and task (e.g., level of physicality) constraints is suggested. Subsequent studies should consider expanding this line of enquiry to other sporting codes and participation levels within South Africa.