Relative Age Effect affecting young sports players
Did the fact that you were short mean you were picked last for a team? Or maybe your because of your height, you always played defence on the court. Well, it could be because of the relative age affect.
Often, school cut off dates for sport is December 31 of that year. So, if your birthday is January 1, and your friend’s birthday is December 30 of that year, you will both be competing in the same age group. Only you have had an extra twelve months of growing, which means chances are you are more physically mature than your friend.
So what affect does this have on young sports people?
