Examining the relative age effect and influence of academic timing in Canadian interuniversity sport

Abstract

Relative age effects (RAE) are developmental advantages experienced by those born in the initial months after a predetermined cut-off date over their younger counterparts. When examining the RAE in an interuniversity setting, it is important to consider the academic timing of the student-athletes (Chittle et al., 2015; Dixon et al., 2013). Failing to consider this moderator can result in a skewed perception of the bias associated with relative age. Student-athletes are considered to be 'on-time' when their current year of athletic eligibility coincides with their expected year of athletic eligibility, based on their year of birth. Student-athletes are considered 'delayed' when their current athletic eligibility year corresponds with a younger cohort. This project examined the RAE and academic timing within nine of the 12 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship sports. A moderate RAE was seen among the entire sample of CIS student-athletes (males: X2 = 67.84, df = 3, p < 0.001, φ = 0.12; females: X2 = 40.87, df = 3, p < 0.001, φ = 0.10). Males are more likely to be delayed than females, and those student-athletes born in the later months of the year are more frequently delayed compared to their relatively older peers. Specifically, 73.33% of male CIS athletes are delayed with the most extreme examples seen in ice hockey (99.76%) and football (85.21%). Alternatively, only 39.50% of female CIS student-athletes are delayed. Based on these results, delaying one's athletic eligibly may be an effective method to reduce the disadvantages associated with being relatively younger.

Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for funding this project.