Sex-based age differences in the Norwegian top soccer leagues
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14198/jhse.2023.183.06Keywords:
Football, Gender, Relative age effectAbstract
This study aims to examine sex-based age differences in the Norwegian top soccer league, the relationship between age and performance level, and the presence of the relative age effect (RAE) in the same population of players. Players’ birthdates were obtained from publicly available databases, and the total sample comprised 663 players (231 women, 432 men) from 26 teams (10 women’s teams and 16 men’s teams). For the RAE analyses, birth months were categorised in birth quartiles: Q1: January–March, Q2: April–June, Q3: July–September, Q4: October–December. The median age of the players was significantly lower for women than for men [22.1 (15.0–38.2) vs. 24.5 (15.5–38.4) p < .001]. A very large correlation between the median age of the team and the team performance was found in the women’s league (rs(10) = -0.72, p = .019), while no correlation was found in the men’s league (rs(16) = 0.22, p = .405). Chi-square analysis showed a difference between the observed and expected birth quartile distributions for the total sample, male players, and female players (p < .05). The lower age observed for the women than for the men indicates the need to prolong female players’ careers through greater support, allowing them to reach their performance potential.
Downloads
References
Bangsbo, J., Mohr, M., & Krustrup, P. (2006). Physical and metabolic demands of training and match-play in the elite football player. J Sports Sci, 24(7), 665-674. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410500482529
Barreira, J. (2016). Age of Peak Performance of Elite Women's Soccer Players. International Journal of Sports Science, 6, 121-124.
Bradley, P. S., Di Mascio, M., Peart, D., Olsen, P., & Sheldon, B. (2010). High-intensity activity profiles of elite soccer players at different performance levels. J Strength Cond Res, 24(9), 2343-2351. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181aeb1b3
Brustio, P. R., Lupo, C., Ungureanu, A. N., Frati, R., Rainoldi, A., & Boccia, G. (2018). The relative age effect is larger in Italian soccer top-level youth categories and smaller in Serie A. PLOS ONE, 13(4), e0196253. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196253
Chen, P. Y., & Popovich, P. M. (2002). Correlation: Parametric and Nonparametric Measures. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412983808
Culvin, A., & Bowes, A. (2021). The Incompatibility of Motherhood and Professional Women's Football in England. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.730151
Deelen, I., Ettema, D., & Kamphuis, C. B. M. (2018). Time-use and environmental determinants of dropout from organized youth football and tennis. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1022. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5919-2
Delorme, N., Boiché, J., & Raspaud, M. (2010). Relative age effect in female sport: a diachronic examination of soccer players. Scand J Med Sci Sports, 20(3), 509-515. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2009.00979.x
Dendir, S. (2016). When do soccer players peak? A note. Journal of Sports Analytics, 2, 89-105. https://doi.org/10.3233/JSA-160021
Ericsson, K. A. (2020). Towards a science of the acquisition of expert performance in sports: Clarifying the differences between deliberate practice and other types of practice. J Sports Sci, 38(2), 159-176. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2019.1688618
Garris, M., & Wilkes, B. (2017). Soccernomics: Salaries for World Cup Soccer Athletes. International Journal of the Academic Business World (11(2)), 103-110.
Hill, M., Scott, S., Malina, R. M., McGee, D., & Cumming, S. P. (2020). Relative age and maturation selection biases in academy football. J Sports Sci, 38(11-12), 1359-1367. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2019.1649524
Hopkins, W. G., Marshall, S. W., Batterham, A. M., & Hanin, J. (2009). Progressive statistics for studies in sports medicine and exercise science. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 41(1), 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e31818cb278
Jørnholt, M. (2023). Toppserie-spilleren ble gravid: - Jeg følte meg som en byrde som ikke lenger var ønsket i klubben. NRK. NRK.
Kalén, A., Rey, E., de Rellán-Guerra, A. S., & Lago-Peñas, C. (2019). Are Soccer Players Older Now Than Before? Aging Trends and Market Value in the Last Three Decades of the UEFA Champions League. Front Psychol, 10, 76. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00076
Lovell, R., Towlson, C., Parkin, G., Portas, M., Vaeyens, R., & Cobley, S. (2015). Soccer Player Characteristics in English Lower-League Development Programmes: The Relationships between Relative Age, Maturation, Anthropometry and Physical Fitness. PLOS ONE, 10(9), e0137238. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0137238
Lygren, I. (2021). 30 spillere i Toppserien kan leve av å spille fotball. Fire av dem spiller i nye Brann. Adresseavisen.
Martin, A. (2023). Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir hails landmark maternity pay ruling as 'wake-up call' for football. The Guardian.
Morra, D., LaMorte, J., & Rojas, G. (2015). Differences Between Men and Women in Professional Soccer. John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Musch, J., & Grondin, S. (2001). Unequal competition as an impediment to personal development: a review of the relative age effect in sport. Developmental Review, 21(2), 147-167. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.2000.0516
Møllerløkken, N. E., Lorås, H., & Pedersen, A. V. (2015). A systematic review and meta-analysis of dropout rates in youth soccer. Percept Mot Skills, 121(3), 913-922. https://doi.org/10.2466/10.PMS.121c23x0
NIF. (2022). The Norwegian football association offcial web page.
Norway, S. (2022). Live births, by month 1966 - 2021.
Pedersen, A. V., Aune, T. K., Dalen, T., & Lorås, H. (2022). Variations in the relative age effect with age and sex, and over time-Elite-level data from international soccer world cups. PLOS ONE, 17(4), e0264813. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264813
Randell, R. K., Clifford, T., Drust, B., Moss, S. L., Unnithan, V. B., De Ste Croix, M. B. A., . . . Rollo, I. (2021). Physiological Characteristics of Female Soccer Players and Health and Performance Considerations: A Narrative Review. Sports Med, 51(7), 1377-1399. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01458-1
Rees, T., Hardy, L., Gullich, A., Abernethy, B., Cote, J., Woodman, T., . . . Warr, C. (2016). The Great British Medalists Project: A Review of Current Knowledge on the Development of the World's Best Sporting Talent. Sports Med, 46(8), 1041-1058. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0476-2
Sarmento, H., Anguera, M. T., Pereira, A., & Araújo, D. (2018). Talent Identification and Development in Male Football: A Systematic Review. Sports Medicine, 48(4), 907-931. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0851-7
Smith, K. L., Weir, P. L., Till, K., Romann, M., & Cobley, S. (2018). Relative Age Effects Across and Within Female Sport Contexts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med, 48(6), 1451-1478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-018-0890-8
Transfermarkt. (2022). Tranfermarkt. Retrieved from: https://www.transfermarkt.com/[10.10.2022].
TV2. (2022). Alt om fotball. Retrieved from: https://www.altomfotball.no/element.do[10.10.2022].
Downloads
Statistics
Published
Versions
- 2023-07-04 (2)
- 2023-04-18 (1)
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 University of Alicante
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Each author warrants that his or her submission to the Work is original and that he or she has full power to enter into this agreement. Neither this Work nor a similar work has been published elsewhere in any language nor shall be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration by JHSE. Each author also accepts that the JHSE will not be held legally responsible for any claims of compensation.
Authors wishing to include figures or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.
Please include at the end of the acknowledgements a declaration that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed. The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the abovementioned requirements. The author(s) will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.
This title is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
Transfer of Copyright
In consideration of JHSE’s publication of the Work, the authors hereby transfer, assign, and otherwise convey all copyright ownership worldwide, in all languages, and in all forms of media now or hereafter known, including electronic media such as CD-ROM, Internet, and Intranet, to JHSE. If JHSE should decide for any reason not to publish an author’s submission to the Work, JHSE shall give prompt notice of its decision to the corresponding author, this agreement shall terminate, and neither the author nor JHSE shall be under any further liability or obligation.
Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (e.g., consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article, except as disclosed on a separate attachment. All funding sources supporting the Work and all institutional or corporate affiliations of the authors are acknowledged in a footnote in the Work.
Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the protocol for any investigation involving humans or animals and that all experimentation was conducted in conformity with ethical and humane principles of research.
Competing Interests
Biomedical journals typically require authors and reviewers to declare if they have any competing interests with regard to their research.
JHSE require authors to agree to Copyright Notice as part of the submission process.