Abstract
Registration cut-off dates, initially intended to promote equity and fair play, have had the unintended consequence of creating selection and participation inequalities known as relative age effects (RAEs). While RAEs exist in men's rugby from beginner to professional leagues (Till et al., 2010), recent work by Lemez et al. (2011) suggests that RAEs do not exist in women's World Cup rugby. However, no research has examined women's rugby at the developmental, provincial level. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of RAEs in junior and senior women's provinical level rugby in Canada. Player data (range: Under-8 to Under-21 years) was collected for all provinces from Rugby Canada. Each player birth date was categorized into a quartile based on the respective registration cut-off date. Using chi-square analysis, it was hypothesized that relatively older athletes would be over-represented on each team given the physical demands of rugby. Similar to the World Cup data, there was no evidence of RAEs within any junior or senior age group, suggesting equal distributions of relatively younger and older players on each team. It can be concluded that physical maturation does not play a role in developmental rugby for women in Canada. Results will be discussed with reference to current literature regarding relative age effects in sport.Acknowledgments: Mr. Bob Kreasul, Rugby Canada