In this podcast, David Turner, Children's Lead at Sports Coach UK, discusses the relative age-effect, something both sports coaches and parents should be aware of. Many sports clubs and organisations mirror the educational system and use the academic year to register their players for participation. These specific academic year age groups provides consistency for children in regards to friendship groups, whilst attempting to ensure equal competition and opportunities. However, this structure still leads to some children being almost one year older than others within the same (academic year) age group. This difference in age within an age group is defined as relative age; consequently known as the 'Relative Age Effect'.
