Working alongside Basketball England, the primary aim of this project was to explore the influence of relative age, gender, and playing time on selection at youth levels and the successful progression into senior national teams. Our findings showed males revealed significant relative age effects across both the Regional Talent Hubs and England National Youth Teams (U16, U18, U20). In comparison, females only had significant relative age effects in the Regional Talent Hubs. Despite relative age effects being prevalent throughout youth levels, there were no significant differences in the birth quarter distribution based on playing time and those who made the successful transition to the England National Senior Teams. These findings demonstrate the potential mechanisms of relative age effects in basketball, as well as the impetus to explore more equitable competition structures within the England Basketball Talent Pathway.
