RAE Impacts

The “relative age effect” (RAE) advantages relatively older individuals in an age group while disadvantaging the relatively youngest. This age inequality can have significant impacts on sport and educational performance, and long-term health and wellbeing. Learn more in the SIRCuit.

Coming of Age With Relative Age Research: Origins, Consequences, and Potential Solutions

On October 17, 2018, Relative Age Effects: An International Conference was hosted at York University where leading international scholars gathered to discuss the implications of athletes’ dates of birth on sport, health, and education. This article highlights the history of the phenomenon known as the “relative age effect” as well as its impact on sport,…

Talent Identification Issues

A short-term focus on winning can influence talent identification and team selection practices, and create a protectionist and isolationist culture within sports. However, these practices are a disservice to athletes, failing to assess long-term potential and restricting multisport experiences that could enhance development. Learn more about the ins and outs of early identification and selection…

Issues in Athlete Identification and Selection: Are We Compromising Talent?

Despite some important ethical and developmental concerns, early identification and selection is the modus operandi of high performance sport. Most sport systems internationally have limited resources for high performance athlete development and, as a result, have to make predictions about who has the greatest likelihood of future success. Notions of talent also play critical roles…

IN BRIEF: Bio-Banding and Developmental Age

You’ve probably heard of the Relative Age Effect – the concept that when children are placed into groups such as school classes or sports based on their chronological age, those born early in the cohort may have physical or intellectual advantages compared to those born late, leading to selection for enriched opportunities that tend to…

Exploring Developmental Factors for Overcoming Relative Age Effects in Ice Hockey

Relative age effects (RAEs) are developmental advantages experienced by those born in the early months of the year relative to an age-defined cut-off date (Barnsley et al., 1985). In sport and educational settings, RAEs tend to endure, resulting in an accumulated advantage that could affect youths’ overall development (Murray, 2003). This research program investigated the…

I will be taking my talents to…

At the end of each school year, senior high school students have to make important decisions about the future. For student athletes, this heralds an exciting time in their lives, since some will have the opportunity to be collegiate athletes. For these young people, the process of being recruited and offered a scholarship, often by…

Sign up to Our Newsletter

News travels fast. Stay connected to sport and physical activity-related knowledge, news, jobs and resources through SIRC’s daily newsletter — The Canadian Sport Daily — delivered straight to your inbox.

"*" indicates required fields

Groups*
Skip to content