Is the date of birth an advantage/ally to excel in handball?

Abstract

Sánchez-Rodríguez C, Grande I, Sampedro J, Rivilla-García J. Is the date of birth an advantage/ally to excel in handball? J. Hum. Sport Exerc. Vol.8, No. Proc3, pp. S754-S760, 2013. The Relative Age Effect (RAE) has been analyzed in a population of Spanish international handball players (n=161) divided into four different levels: Senior, Junior, Juvenile and Promising Talents. The variables registered were quarter, half year and year of birth using the initial information of their date of birth. The data were collected from the Royal Spanish Handball Federation on-line data base. The statistical method used was the χ 2 and the minimum level of significance was set at p<0.05. The total results on distribution by quarter show a significant difference (χ 2 = 21.68; p<0.01) with a greater frequency of players born in the first quarter (40.37%) compared to those born in the second (22.36%), third (16.15%) and fourth quarter (21.12%). The total results on the distribution of birth date by half year show a significant difference (χ 2 = 10.44; p<0.01) with a greater frequency of players born in the first half of the year (62.73%). With regard to the rate of births registered in an even numbered or odd numbered year there are significant differences when the rates for an even numbered year (64.60%) and an odd numbered year (35.40%) are compared with those of the general population (χ 2 = 13.72; p<0.001). Based on the data collected and analyzed it can be concluded that there is a RAE in the basic categories of the Spanish national men's handball teams according to quarter, half year and year of birth (even or odd numbered), but there exists little knowledge about the causes and consequence which may be produced by, or derive from, this effect.

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“…The results of both analyses show statistically significant differences and that those born in the first six months of the year have greater possibilities of being selected for regional selections, regardless of whether they are grouped by quarter or semester. These results are consistent with those found in team sports other than handball (Bruner et al, 2014;Campos et al, 2016;Ishigami, 2015;Lewis et al, 2015;Prieto et al, 2015;Salinero et al, 2014;Sedano et al, 2015) and in samples made up of elite handball players both in Spain (Gutiérrez et al, 2012;Sánchez-Rodríguez et al, 2012;Sánchez-Rodríguez et al, 2013) and abroad (Schorer et al, 2009a(Schorer et al, , 2009b(Schorer et al, , 2010(Schorer et al, y 2013. Thus the existence of RAE is confirmed in team selection at junior levels in Spain.…”

The relationship between the relative age effect and performance among athletes in World Handball Championships

“…However, the impacts of the RAE were not evident at the professional handball level in Germany. Similar mixed findings were reported by Sánchez-Rodríguez et al [24] in their study of 161 male players from the Spanish national handball teams (promising, youth, junior and senior), and by Gómez-López et al [25] in a study of 479 adolescent handball players who participated in the Spanish Regional Handball Championships during the 2015-16 season.…”

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“…That is, a clear RAE is observed in both samples, which is even more patent in the case of the selection process for regional teams. These results are in line with those in other studies related to different team sports (Bruner, Macdonald, Pickett, & Coté, 2014;Campos, Stanganelli, Rabelo, & Campos, 2016;Helsen et al, 2013;Prieto et al, 2015;Saether, 2015;Salinero, Pérez, Burillo, Lesma, & Herrero, 2014;Sedano, Vaeyens, & Redondo, 2015) and with other studies carried out with elite handball players (Gutiérrez, Saavedra, Contreras & Fernández, 2012;Sánchez-Rodríguez, Yáñez, Sillero & Rivilla-García, 2012;Sánchez-Rodríguez, Grande, Sampedro & Rivilla-García, 2013;Schorer, Baker, Büsch, Wilhelm & Pabst, 2009a;Schorer, Cobley, Büsch, Bräutigam & Baker, 2009b;Schorer, Baker, Lotz & Büsch, 2010;Schorer, Wattie & Baker, 2013). Furthermore, this tendency observed in development stages has also been shown in other studies (Gómez-López et al, 2017;Sáenz-López, Feu & Ibañez, 2006;Vaeyens, Philippaerts & Malina, 2005;Gutiérrez, Pastor, González & Contreras, 2010).…”