| The relative age effect (RAE) suggests that athletes born earlier in a sport's selection year are provided with greater opportunities for athletic success. While the effect has been well established in men's sports, little work has been directed at examining the RAE in women's sports. The purpose of the present study was to take an exploratory look at the RAE in developmental girls' hockey in Ontario. Relative age, community location and size, player position, age division, and level of play information were provided by the O.W.H.A. for 36,555 registrants. From the chi-square analyses, there was an over-representation in the first and second quartile and an underrepresentation in the fourth quartile across all age divisions and level of play. This suggests that the RAE is present in developmental girls' hockey, the magnitude of which varies with level of play, player position, and community size. It is expected that the increasing popularity of women's hockey will result in the RAE becoming even more pronounced. |
