Age is just a number, right? Well, not in youth sport!

Differences in age and maturity at the youngest youth sport levels have significant consequences. Here’s an overview.

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

Almost any discussion about the relative age effect (RAE) and its long-term implications gains traction among parents of young athletes. However, some reactions I received after a recent article suggest that many parents lack a clear understanding of how sport organizations determine an athlete’s age and why they do it the way they do. They are unaware of the many other methods that could have been used to determine the age of their child. Once we become accustomed to how age is calculated in our sports we tend to believe that our method is the only correct and appropriate one.

Chronological age—the number of years that have passed since birth—is the simplest and most widely used method for determining age. However, it’s not always the most fair. The biological maturity of a young athlete can differ significantly from their chronological age by several years. While there are methods to measure this difference, they are neither practical nor suitable for use in sports, so we continue to rely on chronological age.

Age differences, regardless of how they are determined, are temporary; children eventually outgrow them. However, for younger athletes, these differences can be quite significant:

A 16-year-old is only about 7% older than a 15-year-old and both are closing in fast on their adult height, which means that growth and other attributes that typically increase with it like strength, lung capacity, etc. are almost at their maximum. This means that differences in performance potential would be negligible. A 7-year-old, on the other hand, is almost 20% older than a 6-year-old and is in a period of rapid growth, and strength and speed increases. This is a volatile period of growth and training. Understanding the relative age effect, May 2021

The period when age and growth differences are most evident is at the younger end of the youth sport spectrum, which coincides with the onset of sport participation for most youngsters and the highest rate of dropout. Often, lack of success is cited as a primary reason for dropping out.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to eliminate or even reduce these differences except for practitioners to be aware of their existence. Several strategies can be employed to address this issue, including minimizing consequences, educating athletes and parents, and creating an environment where achievement is the primary objective rather than just conventional success.

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This article was originally published in 2017. It has been slightly rewritten for clarity, and because I know more now than I did then.

How we calculate age in youth sport can have benefits and consequences

Several methods exist for calculating an athlete's age in sport. How it’s done is important because of the relative age effect (RAE) and being able to maintain accuracy in historical performance data. Knowing how old someone is carries significant meaning in sport and while determining someone's age seems like a no-brainer it's a bit more complicated than many assume.

Not all cultures treat age the same way. In the West we are used to celebrating birthdays on the actual day we were born. Our official age increases on that day. In some Eastern cultures age changes when the year changes. On 1 January, for example, many Chinese consider themselves a year older even though their actual birthdate may be different.

And, surprisingly, it’s still possible that in some developing countries, young people may not know their birthday or even their birth year.

These factors must be considered when determining the age of young athletes. However, knowing one's actual chronological age is only one type of age that’s important in sport. Other ages can affect training, competition, and the historical records of a sport:

Chronological age is a person’s actual age in years, calculated from the day they are born. In most sports and across most parts of the world, chronological age is considered the most important and is usually the only one taken into account when discussing age in sports.

Developmental age is a combination of biological maturity and assessments of mental, psychological, and emotional development. Biological maturity can be determined by calculating maturity offsets; it’s data intensive but relatively straightforward. However, evaluating mental, psychological, and emotional development is more complicated, and, considering the limited resources available in youth sport, is often just a guess. (Bio-banding is an attempt to use developmental age to improve the youth sport experience.)

Relative age refers to the apparent differences in children who share the same chronological age but various developmental ages. These variations are especially prominent in performance activities and they exist in any cohort of children.

Training age represents the number of years that an athlete has been involved in sports overall. Since many training components, such as endurance, speed, and agility, are transferable between sports, it’s possible to establish a general training age without regard to the specific sports played.

Specific training age refers to the time an athlete has been training in a particular sport and is especially important in skill intensive activities like gymnastics or figure skating. For most youth sports, the specific training age holds little significance. Athleticism is developed through a diverse range of sport activities, making the overall training age more important.

Chronological age is the most commonly used method for grouping athletes in sports because it’s simple to implement and widely accepted. While other methods may yield more accurate results, they’re challenging to evaluate and require specific knowledge to use effectively. Additionally, their limited adoption and lack of widespread understanding make them impractical for large youth sport organizations.

Setting age cutoff dates

Cutoff dates used to determine an athlete’s age for competition usually fall on an arbitrary annual date that marks the commencement of a new sport season or school year. Alternatively, they may be chosen based on some significant date within the sport itself.

Using the first day of a competition as the age determination date helps mitigate the inherent relative age effects compared to using an arbitrary annual date. However, determining age this way merely shifts the relative age effect, it doesn’t eliminate it. The primary advantage of employing the ‘day of’ method prevents any one group of athletes from being perpetually disadvantaged solely based on their birthdate.

This ‘as of’ system also ensures the accuracy of historical performance data. All athletes participating in this system will either be the age they are assumed to be or only a day or so older if they ‘age up’ during a competition.

Another strategy could be to use narrower age groups for competition. For instance, instead of the usual two-year age groups, using single-year age groups can also reduce the RAE.

Think outside the box: Eliminate age groups!

In sports that are measured by time, weight, or speed, one potential innovation that can simultaneously reduce the RAE and incorporate bio-banding elements into a competition is to combine multiple age groups for competition and then compile the results afterward in one-year increments. In such a format, athletes can be categorized into groups for ages 12 and under and then 13 and over. This broader age range for competition enables athletes of comparable abilities to compete together regardless of their age. Obviously this is not suitable for contact or team sports.

Coaches likely recognize the simplicity and effectiveness of a competitive/results-oriented system. However, the inclusion of 9-year-olds competing against 12-year-olds might pose a challenge in convincing parents of young athletes.

By manipulating age in youth sport, we can potentially offer better opportunities for late maturing individuals while simultaneously encouraging early maturing athletes to concentrate on training and skill development. Implementing elements of bio-banding and narrowing age groups can enhance overall development efforts. Instead of continuing as we have always done, it is worthwhile to explore ways to improve our youth sport programs.