Research Summaries Research Summary No1 The Relative age Effect
sports coach UK Research Summary 1
© Alan Edwards
More than Just Physical Maturity:
How Coaches, Parents and Children
All Influence the Relative Age Effect
The Relative Age Effect is a phenomenon in sport. It describes how top-level sport is often dominated by players born at
certain times of the year. Physical maturity is most often cited as the cause, with bigger children receiving the benefits of more
attention and playing or practice time. But what if it wasn’t the only culprit? What if parents, coaches and the children
themselves were all unconsciously complicit?
This is the idea recently put forward by researchers who suggest how three concepts widely used in business and management can help
explain how factors beyond physical maturity influence the Relative Age Effect.