Volleyball is a popular sport in Brazil, and the relative age effect (RAE) is known to occur within it; but less is known of how RAE relates to elite Brazilian volleyball players` age, sex, and competitive levels. We aimed to investigate RAE prevalence with data from two seasons of play among players in the Superliga A (2020/2021 and 2021/2022 seasons), and Superliga B (2021 and 2022 seasons) made available from the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV), the club`s official website, or direct consultation with the CBV. After removing duplicate data, we grouped these 1,063 athletes by their dates of birth, sex, and competition level (Superliga A or B). We divided players` birth dates into quarters (Q1: January-March, Q2: April-June, Q3: July-September and Q4: October-December) and into semesters, and we performed chi-square (X2) tests to investigate RAE prevalence according to the players` sex and competitive level. RAE was prevalent overall (X2 = 33.198; p < .001), among males (X2 = 24.48; p < .001) and females (X2 = 11.23; p < .011). Regarding competition level, RAE was evident among males in both Superliga A (X2 = 14.581; p = 0.002), and B (?2 = 13.985; p = 0.003), and among females in Superliga B (X2 = 9.204; p = 0.027), but not Superliga A (X2 = 4.012; p = 0.26). Thus, the RAE phenomenon operated differently for male and female Brazilian volleyball players according to their competitive level. We discuss the implications of these findings.
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