did you know… in soccer your success
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Did You Know In Soccer Your Success is Determined by What Month You Were Born
In the Youth Olympic Development Program (ODP), if you were born between January
and June you are more likely to be selected for the elite teams, but only if you are a male.
Although some believe that the relative age effect refers to both male and female, according to a
study done by Vincent and Glamser (2006) titled, Gender Difference in the Relative Age Effect
Among US Olympic Development Program Youth Soccer Players, the relative age effect
impacts youth males much more than it affects youth females. The gender difference is a vital
part to the study because it discusses the maturation process for males and females.
To determine if there was a relative age effect in both female and male ODP players they
took their sample from a very wide range of data. The study that was conducted involved 1,344
female and male ODP participants that were born in 1984. The birth dates came from the state
and regional rosters for the four USYSF regions: Region I (Northeast), Region II (Midwest),
Region III (South), Region IV (West). Also included were the birthdates of the U.S. womens
under-19 national team pool and the under-17 mens pool. With all the birth dates from the state,
regional and national team players, the authors believed that they had the birth dates of all the
elite soccer players born in 1984. They chose the birth year of 1984 because they believed that
soccer players of this age were performing at their most elite levels in order to obtain college
scholarships and were not susceptible to burn out or to skip camps because of other activities.
They were looking to find if there was any correlation between what month the players were
born and also how big of a role gender played in the results.
What the researchers found was that for male players the month they were born impacted
whether they were selected for the ODP team, but with females the relative age effect did not
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play any role in their success. The difference between males and females is that they mature
differently, in that males reach puberty later than females. Therefore, at an older age males are
still developing. Male players can develop more muscle and possible have a significant height
advantage in the span of a year, which in turn makes them dominant and superior within their
age group. The female results were consistent with each quarter of the year. In the first quarter,
25% of births occurred; in the second quarter 26% occurred; in the third quarter 25% occurred;
and in the fourth quarter 23% occurred. Although the distribution was similar across quarters,
the authors also looked at the half-year comparisons and found a difference. Within the first half
of the year (January-June), 60% of the females were born as opposed to the 39% that were born
in the second half (July-December).
In the male study, it was very evident that the relative age effect was occurring. In the
first quarter, 37% of the players were born, with 33% born in the second quarter, 18% in the
third quarter and 12% in the fourth. That then translated into 69% of the players born between
January and June and 31% of the players born between July and December. Ultimately, date
demonstrated that male ODP regional team soccer players born in January were over five times
more likely to be selected for the national pool than their peers (pg. 410).
In summary, in youth soccer it is a significant advantage if you were born in the first half
of the year rather than the last half. It is even more of an advantage if a player was born in the
first few months of the year. Again, this advantage seems apparent for males, but not for
females. This suggests that the nature of the maturation process is the underlying variable in
explaining success in elite youth soccer.
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