Relative Age and Maturity Timing in Youth Team Sports: Associations with Body Size and Vertical Jump Performance

Relative age effect (RAE) and biological maturation can significantly impact athlete selection. This study examined the presence of RAE in youth team invasion sports and assessed whether the timing of maturity influences body size and lower-body explosive strength. Athletes were grouped by age category (U14, U16, U18), and the distribution of birth quartiles was analyzed. Maturity timing was estimated using age at peak height velocity (APHV), and lower-body explosive strength was evaluated through jumping performance. Comparisons across age groups showed progressive increases in body size and jumping performance with advancing age, consistent with pubertal changes in fat-free mass and neuromuscular function. The birthdate distribution indicated an overrepresentation of relatively older athletes (U16 and U18), suggesting that selection bias may intensify with age around the pubertal window. Regression analyses showed that earlier APHV was significantly associated with greater body size after controlling for chronological age (CA) (p ≤ 0.01), although CA remained the strongest predictor. In contrast, APHV did not significantly explain additional variance in jumping performance, suggesting that anthropometrics, training exposure, and movement technique likely contributed. The current findings underscore the role of biological maturation in body size and the need for youth sport systems to include structured strength and conditioning programs that optimize lower-body muscle power.