| Popis: |
Relative age effects are developmental advantages that children born in the months following a particular cut-off date have over their younger counterparts. Evidence of relative age effect is well demonstrated in a variety of team sports, however, only few studies have examined the presence of relative age effects in young female volleyball players. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of relative age effect, and the quarterly differences on anthropometric and physiological characteristics in a group of young female volleyball players 13-14 years old. In total, 389 female high-level volleyball players (age = 14.18±5.45 years, height = 167±0.07 cm, weight = 57.05±9.48 kg, and BMI = 20.28±2.76), participated in a national age-group selection training camp and were divided into two age groups (AG13, n =127) and (AG14, n = 262). To define the distribution in the birth quarter, volleyball players were separated into 4 groups according to the date of birth: T1 (January–March), T2 (April–June), T3 (July–September) and T4 (October–December). The relative age effect was not proven to be present between the first and the last age groups. For the AG13, 52.63% of the volleyball players were born in the first quarter, while 15.61% were born in the fourth quarter. The relative values for AG14 were 65.9% and 15.65% (χ2 = 12.486, p = 0.187) respectively. The findings of this study demonstrate that RAE has little effect on physiological markers in this female age group, with the development of strong functional drills in the sport being the top focus. Future studies are needed to identify not only the causes but also the consequences of the RAE in female volleyball players. © JPES. |
