ABSTRACT

Relative age effects (RAEs) are independent of specific cutoff dates that can vary from country to country. However, the consequences of changing the selection cutoff dates within a national sport organization are unknown. Further, the transition from international youth to senior representation is yet to be explored in rugby union. Thus, the aims of this article were twofold: Study 1 compared the birth quarter (BQ) distributions of the England Rugby Football Union (RFU) under-18 representatives based on September to August and January to December selection cutoff dates. Study 2 explored the BQ distributions within the RFU international development pathway through analyzing the under-18, under-20, and senior representatives, as well as the BQ distributions of youth players who were subsequently capped at senior level. Chi-square analysis was used to compare BQ distributions in each sample against expected distributions. Results revealed a corresponding shift of a skewed birthdate distribution favoring chronologically older players that was mediated by specific cutoff dates (p < 0.05). Moreover, whilst RAEs were present within both youth cohorts (p < 0.05), it was not apparent at the senior level (p > 0.05). Furthermore, during the transition from international youth to senior representation, more chronologically older players were successfully capped.

摘要

相对年龄效应 (RAE) 与特定截止日期无关，具体截止日期因国家/地区而异。然而，在国家体育组织内更改选择截止日期的后果尚不清楚。此外，橄榄球联盟还有待探索从国际青年到高级代表的转变。因此，本文的目的是双重的：研究 1根据 9 月至 8 月和 1 月至 12 月的选择截止日期，比较了 18 岁以下英格兰橄榄球联盟 (RFU) 代表的出生季度 (BQ) 分布。研究 2通过分析 18 岁以下、20 岁以下和高级代表，以及随后被封顶的青年球员的 BQ 分布，探索了 RFU 国际发展路径中的 BQ 分布。卡方分析用于比较每个样本中的 BQ 分布与预期分布。结果显示，偏斜的出生日期分布发生了相应的变化，有利于按时间顺序排列的年龄较大的球员，这是由特定的截止日期介导的 ( p < 0.05)。此外，虽然 RAE 出现在两个青年群体中 ( p < 0.05)，但在高级阶段并不明显 ( p> 0.05)。此外，在从国际青年到高级代表的过渡过程中，更多年龄较大的球员被成功封顶。