There is some interesting Australian research that suggests being born earlier in the calendar year predisposes an athlete to sporting success.
Click here to read more about this.
There are some interesting implications for how junior footy is structured. As the research suggests if the “big kids” dominate the game then they are getting positive re-enforcement whilst the “little kids” are getting a negative experience, which may cause drop out. As the articles suggests, one option may be to split the competition up into January-June and July-December ages so the disparity is not as great. Another thing to think about would be the way we design modified games at the under-age level. Are there rules we can put in place that give the “little kids” equal opportunity to flourish in these games?
Any thoughts?
