No Observable Relative Age Effects in Professional Surfers: a Constraints-Based Evaluation

With the recent inclusion of surfing in the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan, there will be a number of surfing athletes vying for one of the twenty total available spots for their respective gender. The purpose was to evaluate relative age effects (RAEs) in surfing with consideration for specific developmental constraints. Elite competitive male surfers (n = 1590) were examined by birth month and subcategorized by competitive level, age groups, and geographical regions. The observed quarterly distribution was not significantly different (using χ²; p>0.05) from expected for the overall group or any of the subcategories. However, an odds ratio of 1.85 (90% confidence interval: 1.08-3.14) was calculated for being born in the first semester of the year compared to being born in the second semester between top 34 athletes and the rest of the field. Despite consideration for individual, environmental, and task constraints in this study, the sport of surfing does not appear to have any observable RAEs at the professional level. Thus, surfing appears to be one of the few sporting activities included in the Olympic Programme with limited RAEs.