The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) relative age solutions project—part two: an adapted e-Delphi study

Kelly, Adam L. and Zwenk, Frederike and Mann, David and Verbeek, Jan (2025) The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) relative age solutions project—part two: an adapted e-Delphi study. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 7. ISSN 2624-9367

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Abstract

Introduction: Following the lack of widely implemented interventions to mitigate Relative Age Effects (RAEs) in sports, the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) called on stakeholders to propose relative age solutions in youth soccer (Part One). This initial study yielded 13 lower-order potential solutions, many of which remain hypothetical. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate these solutions to overcome RAEs in youth soccer using a two-round adapted e-Delphi study.

Methods: Fifteen international experts, including both researchers and practitioners, rated (out of 9) each solution on how likely it is to directly and indirectly mitigate RAEs (Round 1) and how feasible it is to implement (Round 2).

Results: Findings indicated that “rotating cut-off dates” was perceived as the most effective solution to mitigate direct and indirect RAEs (6.2 ± 1.6), although it was not rated particularly feasible (4.6 ± 2.5). In comparison, while “cueing differences in age” was perceived as the most feasible solution (6.7 ± 2.1), it was deemed less useful for mitigating RAEs (5.2 ± 2.3). Taken together, “cueing differences in age” was considered the most viable solution across both rounds (5.8 ± 2.3).

Discussion: Interestingly, highly rated solutions perceived to effectively moderate RAEs were generally expected to be more challenging to implement. Results also showed regular disagreement amongst the international experts, highlighting that creating consensus on possible relative age solutions may be difficult to achieve in youth soccer. Moving forward, the highest rated solutions should be designed, implemented, and evaluated based on their effectiveness and feasibility in practice.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.3389/fspor.2025.1565819
Dates:	Date Event 7 May 2025 Accepted 29 May 2025 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	relative age effects, talent identification, talent development, athlete development, youth soccer, youth football
Subjects:	CAH03 - biological and sport sciences > CAH03-02 - sport and exercise sciences > CAH03-02-01 - sport and exercise sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences > College of Life Sciences
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2025 12:21
Last Modified:	14 Jul 2025 12:21
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16517

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