Sweeney, Liam and Cumming, Sean P and MacNamara, Áine and Horan, Dan
(2023)
A tale of two selection biases: The independent effects of relative age and biological maturity on player selection in the Football Association of Ireland's national talent pathway.
International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 18 (6).
pp. 1992-2003.
ISSN 1747-9541
Abstract
This study investigated the associations between biological maturation status (classified using the Khamis–Roche method
for the percentage of predicted adult height at the time of observation) and relative age (expressed as a decimal value
relative to the difference between birth date and competition cut-off date) and the extent to which their relative selection
biases existed across competitive age groups in an analysis of players within the Football Association of Ireland’s (FAI)
national talent pathway. The players assessed were either from the U13 FAI National Academy (n=125), the Ireland
U15 national team (n=18), or the Ireland U16 national team (n=16). A moderate to very large selection bias in favour
of early maturing players was observed across all age groups, increasing in magnitude with successive age groups (p <
0.05). A total of 46–72% of players selected into the national talent pathway were early maturing; 0% of U15 and U16
players were late maturing. A relative age effect existed across all competitive cohorts (p < 0.05), although not increasing
with chronological age and smaller in magnitude than maturation biases. A small positive correlation between relative age
and absolute maturity status at U13 was observed, and an inverse correlation between relative age and relative maturity
status at U15 (p < 0.01) was observed. There were no other significant correlations between relative or absolute maturity
status and relative age. We encourage Football Associations to critically reflect upon their criteria for national talent
squad selection; the current system diminishes the chances of selection for late maturing players.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Development; predicted adult height; soccer academy; youth sport; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering > Sports Science and Nutrition |
| Item ID: |
17945 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541221126152 |
| Depositing User: |
Liam Sweeney
|
| Date Deposited: |
13 Dec 2023 14:54 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching |
| Publisher: |
SAGE Publications |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
Repository Staff Only(login required)
 |
Item control page |
Downloads per month over past year
Origin of downloads
Altmetric
Altmetric