Relative age effects An inevitable consequence of elite sport?

The process of annual age-grouping, applied most commonly in school and sport, has been shown to produce a developmental climate that provides advantages to some while disadvantaging others. This inequality has a number of important short- and long-term consequences known as relative age effects (RAEs). This review summarizes current knowledge regarding the origins of RAEs, their effects on skill acquisition and athlete development as well as possible solutions to this problem. The work done to date reinforces the conclusion that RAEs are remarkably complex and are underpinned by a number of social and procedural factors that make resolution of this inequality difficult. Throughout the review, we propose areas where further work is needed to improve our understanding of this phenomenon.