© Serials Publications Man In India, 97 (22) : 397-408 EFFECT OF BIRTH MONTH CUT-OFF POINT WITH FITNESS-MOTOR PERFORMANCE ON MALAYSIAN BOYS AND GIRLS RELATIVE AGE Siti Musliha Mat-Rasid * Mohamad Razali Abdullah * Hafizan Juahir ** Rabiu Muazu Musa ** Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki ** Aleesha Adnan ** Norlaila Azura Kosni ** Vijayamurugan Eswaramoorthi ** and Norzulaikha Alias ** Abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the association of the birth month cut-off point with the fitness motor performance of Malaysian boys and girls relative age. A sum of 711school children (286 girls and 425 boys) age range (10-12-year-old) was collected and the frequencies of children in each cut-off point were observed. The children underwent motor fitness assessments, and the cut-off point of Q1 (Jan-March), Q2 (Apr-June), Q3 (July-Sept) and Q4 (Oct-Dec) were assigned to represent their relative age. Data analysis was carried out for boys and girls separately. A Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to examine the significant motor fitness parameter between of cut-off point across all the age level and gender, while Tukey (HSD) follow-up test was used to examine the variance amongst the significant age quartile. Significant differences in the measured parameters between cut-off points in each age grouping were found p < 0.05. Pairwise comparison from theboy’s category demonstrates that relative age effect (RAE) gradually set in as the age increases. Similarly, for girls, a minimum of one parameter significantly differedacross the cut-off points in each age grouping. The results revealed that children who are born at the early cut-off point have a higher advantage inmotor fitness performance. It is evident from the study that relative age cut-off point has an impact on children motor fitness in both boys and girls. Coaches should, therefore, consider the effect RAE in motor fitness associated with sports participation when identifying talent at a young age. Keywords: Relative age effect, Motor fitness, Birth month, Cut-off point. INTRODUCTION In virtually all sporting movements, a cutoff criterion akin to that of the community school system involves. Children are categorised by chronological age for the aim of bringing developmentally suitable preparation, fair trial, and equal chance. About 33 years ago, a viable association between relative age and involvement in a sport that reflects the connection between relative age and academic attainment was early documented (Grondin et. al., 1984; Barnsley et. al., 1985). They explained that the greater age of children born early in the competition year offers them a competitive edge over their counterpart. The supportive result indicated a greatly skewed pattern of birthdates among ice hockey athletes in competitive youth hockey leagues and the entire professional ice hockey league in North America, the National Hockey League (NHL) (Grondin et. al., 1984). Those born in the early months of the year * Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 21300 Terengganu, Malaysia ** East Coast Environmental Research Institute (ESERI), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 21300, Terengganu, Malaysia.