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Introduction: This study reports empirical data from a project that investigates talent development in the 24 soccer districts in Sweden.

The purpose of this study is to examine how birth dates for girls and boys relate to the district teams performance at the elite camp at the ageof 15.

Methods: The material that the study is based on is an analysis of data from Sweden’s 24 football district between 2001-2011. The study was based on 4517 girls and 4404 boys who attended the elite camp at the age of 15. A compilation of all 24 districts match results against other districts at the elite camp were used as a measure of district performance (30 matches between 2001-2011 were registered for each district). Based on the birth dates of the players a relative age index (RAE index) ranging from 4, january–march to 1, october-december, was constructed for each district during the period 2001-2011.

Results: The results show for both boys and girls that a majority of those who attended the elite camp between 2001 and 2011 were born the first six months. Overall, the results show that for girls are 34% born in the first quarter, 30% in the second quarter, 22% in the third quarter and 14% in the fourth quarter. The 24 districts RAE index varies between 2.6 and 3.0. For the boys, the results show that about 41% were born the first quarter, 30% in the second quarter, 19% in the third quarter and 10% in the fourth quarter. The district RAE-index is higher for boys and varies between 2.8 and 3.3. The analysis show that there are statistically significant correlations between district RAE index and match results for boys but not for girls.

Discussion: The study shows, for both girls and boys a marked RAE effects for all Swedish football districts compared to the general population (Peterson, 2011). The relationship with the match result at age 15 are only found among the boys. We can conclude that for the boys, but not for girls, district teams with higher RAE index perform better at the elite camp. The relative age differences that exist between boys and girlsmay be partially due to the girls’ earlier biological and mental maturation processes which contribute to that girls may compete on equal physical conditions at the tryouts for the district teams when they are 14 years of age (cf. Romann & Fuchlosher, 2011). This earlier maturation process may also be a reason why the girls’ performances do not have any connection with the district RAE.