Participants in youth sports are grouped by age, which is a selection criterion used to safeguard equal opportunities. The aim of this study was to examine the existence of a relative age effect (RAE) in male volleyball and to identify this influence in four different categories. Data were collected in four men`s volleyball championships in 2015 (n=1105): Boys`U19 World Championship (n=393), Men`s U21 World Championship (n=313), Men`s U23 World Championship (n=234) and Men`s World Cup (n=165). Thus, athletes were analyzed using two models. In the first model, they were divided into four groups based on month of birth; quarters Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 were January-March, April-June, July-September and October- December, respectively. In the second model, they were divided into two groups based on the month of birth; first and second semesters, January-June and July-December, respectively. Chi-squared tests were performed to investigate the RAE. The results revealed that the birth-date distributions of the four investigated groups of volleyball players showed an overrepresentation of players born in the first quartile, except in the Men`s World Cup. Regarding the second model, the results revealed a greater predominance of athletes born in the first semester. Moreover, the RAE risk progressively decreased with an increase in level of volleyball.
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