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Lord_Bobbymort t1_iyog0u0 wrote

Reply to comment by Top_Election3816 in [OC] Birth months of FIFA World Cup players. The top three are January, February and March, possibly due to the "Relative age effect" by desfirsit

The theory is that if you're older each year in your youth playing with and against younger players you don't improve skills as much, and if you're younger playing with and against older players you can get better.

There's different cutoffs for different sports at different times of year based on eligibility and when each sport plays in the year, so different birth months have different effects on different sports.

That's my understanding at least, but not particularly answering your question about April.

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aj55raptor t1_iyoj3gp wrote

It's actually the opposite. January and February are the highest above and for hockey, because these kids are usually more physically developed than peers. This leads to being selected for elite camps/teams earlier, which compounds throughout their lives. Another cool economics type phenomenon in soccer (may no longer be true), a study was done early 2000s, there's a perfect balance of wealth of parents on average for professional soccer players in Brazol: enough that their nutrition is never sacrificed, but not enough money for structured programs after school, means they're fit but also non stop playing street soccer.

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Embarrassed-Loss-118 t1_iyvozd1 wrote

It is like that in schools, more grown folks develop better in schools, and if the groups are made based on birth year, people who are born in 1st months are less likely to fail the course than their last months counterpart

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The--Strike t1_iyp0tf1 wrote

As the other person commented, it’s the opposite. At young ages, the difference of 11 months is a huge percentage.

Let’s say we have 2 players we have to choose between. Player A and Player B. Both were born in the same calendar year, so for many sports they are grouped together for divisions and such.

Player A was born in January

Player B in December.

Let’s also imagine that they are 8 years old, trying out for their first travel team. At this point in their lives, 11 months of extra growth has given Player A a slight advantage, and the coach picks him for the team. Player B doesn’t make it, but sticks with the sport in recreational leagues.

Player A however gets more specialized coaching, more practice since they’re also playing rec league and travel, and they get more experience playing at a more “serious” level.

Well now it’s a year later, and time for tryouts again.

Player A still has 11 months of growth over Player B, but he’s also got a year of more intensive, in depth training, and more time playing the sport. Even though Player B has been practicing his best, and playing rec level, he just hasn’t developed at the same rate. Plus, he’s still 11 months behind on his physical growth. This gap in skill, experience, and maturity has prevented him from making the team again.

A year later, their 3rd tryouts, will show the divide between the two players has grown even further than the previous years, and any hope of Player B catching up is looking unlikely without some serious, specialized training.

This cascading effect continues throughout their lives, and the effects can be seen greatly when puberty enters the equation, and the rapid development of some players, but not others, coincides with important milestones, like making a high school sports team, or some other big event.

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joellarson1 t1_iypqvga wrote

Also, an important distinction in this is that those 11 extra months of growth isn't just physical size. It's 11 extra months of using their body and mind in everyday life, gaining coordination, balance, depth perception and all the other physical and mental components that go into being a good athlete.

Player A has had over 10% more time alive for their brain to develop than player B by the time they start playing their sport.

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