Relativ alderseffekt i norsk kretslagsfotball : Eksisterer det en relativ alderseffekt blant selekterte norske kretslagsspillere?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of a relative age effect among selected youth players on a regional level in Norwegian soccer and to determine if players born in different quarters of the selectionyear, assess their soccer-related abilities differently. Previuos research has shown that players born early in the selectionyear, has been overrepresented in youth national teams in Europe (Helsen et al., 2005) and talentdevelopment-programs (Carling et al., 2009). A total number of 624 players took part in this study, from 16 out of 18 different regions in Norway and the players were considered the most talented in their cohort. All players were born in 2001 and 2002. To test the hypothesis in this study, an Independent Samples t-test, an One-Way ANOVA with a Tukey HSD post hoc-test and a chi-square test, were performed. Results showed that players born in the first quarter of the selectionyear were overrepresented for both cohorts with a declining number of players born the further one comes from the cut-off date. Early born players were shown to be higher than late born players in the 2001-cohort. In the 2002-cohort, early born players were shown to both higher and heavier than their late born peers. A significant difference was shown between early and late born players in self-assessed strength. It is possible that coaches who are in charge of selecting players to performance-groups in Norway, focus too much on physiological characteristics. The results of this study adds to already existing literature in the field of talent identification as well as contributing new findings. Keywords: Talent development, talent identification, relative age effect, abilities