Relative Age and Passing Performance in Pre-adolescent Football Players

Annual age grouping in youth football can create a relative age effect, characterised by the over-representation of players born earlier in the selection year. This pattern is often attributed to temporary developmental advantages, but it is unclear whether earlier-born pre-adolescent players also demonstrate superior technical performance.

The study used a cross-sectional observational design in a youth football development programme in Bello, Colombia. The source cohort contained 61 participant records. Birth month was used to classify players into four relative-age quarters: Q1 (January-March), Q2 (April-June), Q3 (July-September) and Q4 (October-December), and into two semesters: H1 (January-June) and H2 (July-December).

Passing performance was measured with the Loughborough Soccer Passing Test. Players were scheduled to complete two trials separated by five minutes. Each trial comprised 16 externally cued passes to four colour-coded target areas. Movement time was adjusted by adding penalties for inaccurate execution or protocol violations and subtracting bonuses for striking the central target strip. Lower total performance time indicated better performance. The primary technical outcome was the mean total performance time across available trials. Sensitivity outcomes included Trial 1 and the best trial.

The primary analysis estimated the association between birth month and LSPT total performance time after adjustment for birth cohort. Additional analyses examined representation by quarter and semester and agreement between the two LSPT trials. Data collection was completed in 2017. The study is being registered retrospectively in 2026 to improve transparency and support public sharing of the anonymised dataset and analysis materials.

Inclusion criteria

• Registered or actively participating in the selected youth football development programme in Bello, Colombia during the assessment period.
• Date of birth available in the programme roster.
• Able to undertake the football passing assessment.
• Written parent or legal guardian consent and child assent.

Exclusion criteria

• Acute injury, illness or medical restriction preventing safe completion of the LSPT [retain only if this was an actual criterion].
• Unable to complete the required familiarisation or test procedure.
• Missing date-of-birth information.
• No valid LSPT trial available for inclusion in the primary analytical sample.