Relative Age Effect on Brazilian male elite futsal athletes according to playing position and performance by goals scored on Brazil National Futsal Leagues

Abstract

The relative age effect is prevalent in different elite team sports. However, little is known about this phenomenon in high-level adult male futsal players. Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of relative age effect in Brazilian male elite futsal players, and its relationship with playing position and goals scored on Brazil National Futsal Leagues (BNFL) from 2016 to 2020. Methods: The distribution of birth dates, playing positions, and goals scored by male participants of the Brazil National Futsal Leagues were analyzed. Chi-squared tests were used to analyze the birth dates distribution based on quarters and semesters of the year, according to playing position (defender, winger, pivot, and goalkeeper) and scoring performance (high and low). Results: The overall analysis indicated that the relative age effect is prevalent on the pool of athletes analyzed. However, this effect was position-dependent, since relatively older athletes were overrepresented only in wingers and defenders playing positions. On the other hand, scoring performance was not associated with the relative age effect, since this effect was found in both performance levels. Conclusion: Relative age effects are prevalent in Brazilian male elite futsal athletes, especially for defenders and wingers. Considering the high level of competitiveness for spots in elite futsal teams, coaches and sports administrators must be educated about the prevalence of the relative age effect in this sporting context. This is necessary in order to reduce the inequalities generated by age categories based on arbitrary cut-off dates, which may reduce potential talent loss.

Prevalence of the Relative Age Effect in Elite Brazilian Volleyball: An Analysis Based on Gender, the Playing Position, and Performance Indicators

“…The phenomenon of relative age effect (RAE) reflects the asymmetrical distribution of athletes based on their birth dates, relative to an arbitrary cutoff ( Lidor et al, 2021 ). Evidence indicates that RAE influences selection and talent identification in different team sports ( Rubajczyk and Rokita, 2020 ; Schorer et al, 2013 ) such as soccer ( Yagüe et al, 2020 ; Figueiredo et al, 2022 ; Szwarc et al, 2019 ), basketball ( Kalén et al, 2021 ), rugby ( Kelly et al, 2021 ), futsal ( Castro et al, 2022 ), handball ( de la Rubia et al, 2021 ; Peña-González et al, 2021 ), and volleyball ( Campos et al, 2020 ; Işın. and Melekoğlu 2020 ; Rubajczyk and Rokita, 2020 ; Safranyos et al, 2019; Solon Junior and Silva Neto, 2020 ), with older athletes having better chances of being selected by coaches and talent scouts compared to their younger peers within an age category ( Furley and Memmert, 2016 ).…”

Relative age effect on student-athletes of Mato Grosso state (Brazil) participating in the National School Games depending on sex, age category, and sport type

“…Individual sports included track and field, badminton, cycling, rhythmic gymnastics, judo, karate, taekwondo, wrestling, swimming, table tennis, beach volleyball, and chess. For this study, we defined the birth year as beginning on January 1 st [13], and the quarters of birth were defined as: first quarter, Q1 (January 1 st to March 31 st ); second quarter, Q2 (April 1 st to June 30 th ); third quarter, Q3 (July 1 st to September 30 th ); and fourth quarter, Q4 (October 1 st to December 31 st ), similarly to Castro et al [7]. All the data were tabulated in a spreadsheet for analysis.…”

“…Relative age and maturation have been observed to influence the athlete's selection of different sports features, such as playing positions [7], chronological age and performance [8], effectiveness in the match [9], and the laterality in individual sports [10]. When evaluating the potential of a young athlete, the maturational factor must also be considered and monitored [1].…”

“…Although the main objective of school sports is not to develop athletes, it is undeniable that in Brazil, the school sports system ends up being the entry point for many elite athletes because of an insufficient structure of clubs for the development of talents. Accordingly, in many cases, the competition for sports in competition teams can be fierce, depending on the type of sport, its popularity in the region, and even the age group of the athletes [3,5,7]. Considering that RAE is a context-specific phenomenon [15] and that investigation on school sports is still scarce, it is still unknown if this phenomenon is widespread in the Brazilian school sports system.…”

Relative Age Effect in Brazilian water polo: analysis of male and female athletes from U16 to senior categories

“…Even though RAE is a widespread phenomenon in different individual 20,21 and invasion team sports [22][23][24][25][26][27] , investigations in water sports focus on swimming [28][29][30] , being scarce in water polo [31][32][33] . In addition to that, the results from studies that investigated RAE in water polo are inconsistent.…”