Maturity Status Strongly Influences the Relative Age Effect in International Elite Under-9 Soccer.

Abstract

= 12.08; p = 0.002; ω = 0.58). These findings demonstrated that the selection process in international soccer, with athletes younger than 9 years, seems to be associated with the biological maturity status and the relative age. Relatively younger soccer players seem to have a better chance for selection for international tournaments, if they enter puberty at an earlier age, whereas relatively older athletes seem to have an increased likelihood for selection independent of their biological maturity status.