The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) relative age solutions project—part one: a call to action

Kelly, Adam L. and Zwenk, Frederike and Mann, David and Verbeek, Jan (2025) The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) relative age solutions project—part one: a call to action. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 7. ISSN 2624-9367

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Abstract

Introduction: Despite its widespread prevalence in youth soccer, there seems to be no widely implemented intervention to moderate or overcome Relative Age Effects (RAEs). The purpose of this study was a call to action for stakeholders to propose relative age solutions to the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB).

Methods: The call to action consisted of a standardised, open-access questionnaire that contained questions focussed on: (a) the mechanisms of the proposal, (b) hypothesised effects, and (c) reference to empirical findings.

Results: Following the initial screening of 185 submissions, a total of 143 eligible proposals were included. Each proposal was categorised by two project members based on a taxonomy to classify different approaches designed to reduce RAEs by: (a) altering the behaviour of observers, (b) implementing rules when selecting teams, or (c) adjusting competition structures. From this, 13 lower-order independent solutions were categorised.

Discussion: Interestingly, whilst no new suggestions outside the existing literature were proposed in any of the submissions, only two have been empirically tested in soccer. Overall, the results present a useful first step in identifying possible relative age solutions. Due to the number of proposed solutions and their anecdotal nature, the next step for the KNVB was to utilise the knowledge of experts in the field via an adapted e-Delphi study to identify the most effective and feasible solutions to implement in practice (Part Two).

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.3389/fspor.2025.1546829
Dates:	Date Event 13 March 2025 Accepted 10 April 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 13:54
Last Modified:	14 Jul 2025 13:54
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16518

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