ArticleChildren (Basel, Switzerland)2022
From Junior to Elite in Soccer: Exploring the Relative Age Effect and Talent Selection in Spanish Youth National Teams.
Article in Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Annual Athlete Turnover of 36% in Olympic Talent Promotion Programs: A Meta-analysis.Sports medicine - open · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of Early Talent Promotion on Junior and Senior Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Pooled it
- Relative Age Effect Is Widespread among Most Successful Youth, but Not in Senior Olympic Weightlifters.Journal of human kinetics · 2025Article
- Talented but Not Chosen-A Cross-Sectional Study-Do Coaches Release Late-Maturing Under-14 Players When Making Decisions?Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- The relative age effect and the relationship between biological maturity and athletic performance in Austrian elite youth soccer players.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- The numbers behind success: key metrics for advancing in male EURO 2024.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Profiles and interactions of gut microbiome and intestinal microRNAs in pediatric Crohn's disease.mSystems · 2024Article
- Relative Age Effect Analysis in the History of the Ballon d'Or (1956-2023).Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Is There a Relative Age Effect among the Most Successful Track and Field Athletes?Journal of human kinetics · 2024Article
- To Sample or to Specialise? Sport Participation Patterns of Youth Team Sport Male Players.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Article
- Mismatches in youth sports talent development.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The implications of relative age grouping in sport are known as the Relative Age Effect (RAE). This study has the twofold purpose of analyzing RAE in Spanish youth national soccer teams and examining the prediction value of being selected for national youth teams to be a professional. The sample was composed of 548 players divided into five groups. A descriptive analysis of distribution and participation, frequencies, mean and standard deviation, crosstabs, Sankey charts, coefficient correlation and Cohen's effect size criteria and two regression analyses were performed. Results established that the RAE is present in U'17 to U'21 Spanish youth national teams. Talent detection and selection programs are more reliable the closer they are to adulthood, reaching a success rate of almost 100% at the U'21 stage. The selection of players for such programs should be delayed as much as possible, thus, preventing younger players from dropping out and those selected from thinking they have already reached their goal. To this end, they should focus on long-term improvement, not short-term performance. In addition, factors such as the RAE or the maturity level of the athletes should be monitored.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.