Situating birth advantages within the youth sport system

Côté, Jean; Murata, Alex; Turnnidge, Jennifer; Hancock, David

doi:10.4324/9781003163572-4

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…As we navigate our way toward a new era of birth advantage and relative age literature, we encourage researchers and practitioners to work collaboratively to design, implement, and evaluate a range of fresh, theoretically-driven solutions. By doing so, we can help moderate birth advantages and relative age effects while continuing to promote positive participation, performance, and personal development outcomes in youth sport across the immediate, short-, and long-term timescales (Côté et al, 2021).…”

Section: Editorial On the Research Topic Birth Advantages And Relative Age Effects: Exploring Organisational Structures In Youth Sportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Editorial: Birth Advantages and Relative Age Effects

Kelly

Côté

Hancock

et al. 2021

Front. Sports Act. Living

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Section: Editorial On the Research Topic Birth Advantages And Relative Age Effects: Exploring Organisational Structures In Youth Sportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Editorial: Birth Advantages and Relative Age Effects

Kelly

Côté

Hancock

et al. 2021

Front. Sports Act. Living

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“…Research has shown how selecting players based on their actual level of performance often leads to several selection biases [ 25 , 26 ]. Birth advantages (i.e., relative age effects (RAEs) and birthplace effects) have been defined by Hancock and Côté [ 27 ] as “variables present at birth that have long-lasting influences throughout development” and are the most studied bias affecting all TID across various sports [ 28 ] (p. 16). RAEs arise from the decision of youth sports organizations to adopt a cut-off criterion that groups children into(bi)annual age groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Birth Advantages in Male Italian Soccer: How They Influence Players Youth Career and Their Future Career Status

Morganti,

Brustio,

Ruscello

et al. 2024

Sports

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Soccer organizations generally adopt deterministic models within their talent pathways. In this framework, early ability and results are emphasized, leading to selection biases, such as birth advantages (i.e., relative age effects and birthplace effects), which research has shown affect both early developmental experiences and continued sporting involvement. Accordingly, this study aimed to (a) provide further test of birth advantages in Italian youth soccer by exploring the birth quarter (BQ) and birthplace (BP) distribution of 1050 male Italian players born between 1999 and 2001 who competed in the national U17 championship throughout the 2015–16 season and (b) investigate how birth advantages influenced selected players’ future career status. Chi-square goodness-of-fit tests revealed early born players, and players born in North Italy were overrepresented at the youth level (p-values < 0.0001). Successive prospective analysis revealed only 18% of players developed into professional-level soccer players. Chi-square tests of independence indicated that players’ BP was associated with their future career status (p < 0.0001), whereas their BQ was not (p = 0.459). Odds ratios showed players born in North Italy were five times more likely to complete the youth-to-senior transition than those born in South Italy. These findings highlighted environmental factors influence Italian players’ early developmental experiences and their future career status.

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“…The multidisciplinary nature of the talent development process is also reflected in several theoretical (e.g., Personal Assets Framework [ 5 , 6 ]) and practical (e.g., Locking Wheel Nut Model [ 7 ]) frameworks. One practically based model that is particularly relevant to the talent development processes in youth football is The Football Association’s Four Corner Model (FCM) [ 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multidisciplinary Investigation into the Talent Development Processes at an English Football Academy: A Machine Learning Approach

Kelly

Williams

Cook

et al. 2022

Sports

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The talent development processes in youth football are both complex and multidimensional. The purpose of this two-fold study was to apply a multidisciplinary, machine learning approach to examine: (a) the developmental characteristics of under-9 to under-16 academy players (n = 98; Study 1), and (b) the characteristics of selected and deselected under-18 academy players (n = 18; Study 2). A combined total of 53 factors cumulated from eight data collection methods across two seasons were analysed. A cross-validated Lasso regression was implemented, using the glmnet package in R, to analyse the factors that contributed to: (a) player review ratings (Study 1), and (b) achieving a professional contract (Study 2). Results showed non-zero coefficients for improvement in subjective performance in 15 out of the 53 analysed features, with key findings revealing advanced percentage of predicted adult height (0.196), greater lob pass (0.160) and average dribble completion percentage (0.124), more total match-play hours (0.145), and an older relative age (BQ1 vs. BQ2: −0.133; BQ1 vs. BQ4: −0.060) were the most important features that contributed towards player review ratings. Moreover, PCDEQ Factor 3 and an ability to organise and engage in quality practice (PCDEQ Factor 4) were important contributing factors towards achieving a professional contract. Overall, it appears the key factors associated with positive developmental outcomes are not always technical and tactical in nature, where coaches often have their expertise. Indeed, the relative importance of these factors is likely to change over time, and with age, although psychological attributes appear to be key to reaching potential across the academy journey. The methodological techniques used here also serve as an impetus for researchers to adopt a machine learning approach when analysing multidimensional databases.

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Situating birth advantages within the youth sport system

Cited by 5 publications

References 1 publication

Editorial: Birth Advantages and Relative Age Effects

Editorial: Birth Advantages and Relative Age Effects

Birth Advantages in Male Italian Soccer: How They Influence Players Youth Career and Their Future Career Status

A Multidisciplinary Investigation into the Talent Development Processes at an English Football Academy: A Machine Learning Approach

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