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<DIV class=headline></DIV><DIV class=headline>Some time ago we were discussing an article that highlighted a scenario where the majority of Germany footballers werenoted to have birth datesin the Early months. We discussed at the time that the reason for this is that identified elite athletes or in this case football players are usually more attractive when they have early birth months as kids who had early birth days sush as January and Feburary were older and physically more mature than kids born in the latter months. This is a study that is showing exactly that.</DIV><DIV class=headline></DIV><DIV class=headline></DIV><DIV class=headline>Size matters at hockey camps</DIV><DIV class=subheadline>Players born in second half of year and late developers being filtered out of sport</DIV><DIV class=pubdate>Oct.24, 2006. 06:11AM</DIV><DIV class=byline>DAVID HUTTON AND ANNAPURNI NARAYANAN</DIV><DIV class=byline>SPECIAL TO THE STAR</DIV>
<DIV class=articlebody>Your 14-year-old, December-born son has a gifted set of hands and a wrist-shot that gives opposing goalies nightmares. But, despite his larger-than-average parents, he hasn't hit his growth spurt yet and is dwarfed by some of the behemoths he plays against. He keeps getting cut from elite teams because coaches say, "He's too small." The scenario is far from theoretical. A new study shows that kids born later in the year are more likely to be filtered out of hockey at a young age, even though they will end up being as big and strong as the players who have birthdays earlier in the year. That latter fact is critical, because it suggests potential full-size stars of the future are skating out of hockey while still young and growing. The study, conducted by University of Saskatchewan researcher Lauren Sherar, will be published in next month's issue of the Journal of Sports Sciences. "All coaches would agree they want to pick the best team but they also need to consider how best to foster future talent," Sherar said in an interview. "By selecting only the biggest kids they are possibly ignoring the smaller, more talented kid who is small because they are late maturing or have a birthday late in the selection year." Sherar, a PhD student in kinesiology working under pediatric researcher Adam Baxter-Jones, studied 619 boys aged 14 and 15 who participated in the Saskatchewan provincial team selection camps in 2003. At that age, some boys have already had their adolescent growth spurt and are significantly bigger than their peers. An early bloomer could be perceived as being more talented at a selection camp, Sherar says, because their size gives them an advantage in strength, speed and endurance. The study compared boys who made the first cut, made the second cut and finally made the Saskatchewan team. Players selected for the team were taller, heavier and had birthdays earlier in the selection year than players who didn't make the cut. Thirty-one of 40 boys who made the final cut had birthdays in the first half of the year. Sherar also calculated the predicted adult height of boys who made the team with those who did not. The predicted average height at adulthood was the same (1.75 metres or 5-foot-9), meaning that the late-maturing and younger players who got cut will likely catch up to their peers in size upon reaching full maturity. Interestingly, this trend is consistent with older boys competing in elite level hockey elsewhere. More than 75 per cent of players who made the Canadian national under-18 teams in the last five years had birthdays before July. "This is more than a hockey issue," says Paul Carson, head of player development for Hockey Canada. "There is a general bias in sport toward early maturers. "The contention is that late maturers are at a disadvantage and as a result decide to drop out, eliminating the opportunity for these potential Gretzkys to be discovered. I think the system has to address that possibility every year." But, Carson says, provincial and national t
<DIV class=articlebody>Your 14-year-old, December-born son has a gifted set of hands and a wrist-shot that gives opposing goalies nightmares. But, despite his larger-than-average parents, he hasn't hit his growth spurt yet and is dwarfed by some of the behemoths he plays against. He keeps getting cut from elite teams because coaches say, "He's too small." The scenario is far from theoretical. A new study shows that kids born later in the year are more likely to be filtered out of hockey at a young age, even though they will end up being as big and strong as the players who have birthdays earlier in the year. That latter fact is critical, because it suggests potential full-size stars of the future are skating out of hockey while still young and growing. The study, conducted by University of Saskatchewan researcher Lauren Sherar, will be published in next month's issue of the Journal of Sports Sciences. "All coaches would agree they want to pick the best team but they also need to consider how best to foster future talent," Sherar said in an interview. "By selecting only the biggest kids they are possibly ignoring the smaller, more talented kid who is small because they are late maturing or have a birthday late in the selection year." Sherar, a PhD student in kinesiology working under pediatric researcher Adam Baxter-Jones, studied 619 boys aged 14 and 15 who participated in the Saskatchewan provincial team selection camps in 2003. At that age, some boys have already had their adolescent growth spurt and are significantly bigger than their peers. An early bloomer could be perceived as being more talented at a selection camp, Sherar says, because their size gives them an advantage in strength, speed and endurance. The study compared boys who made the first cut, made the second cut and finally made the Saskatchewan team. Players selected for the team were taller, heavier and had birthdays earlier in the selection year than players who didn't make the cut. Thirty-one of 40 boys who made the final cut had birthdays in the first half of the year. Sherar also calculated the predicted adult height of boys who made the team with those who did not. The predicted average height at adulthood was the same (1.75 metres or 5-foot-9), meaning that the late-maturing and younger players who got cut will likely catch up to their peers in size upon reaching full maturity. Interestingly, this trend is consistent with older boys competing in elite level hockey elsewhere. More than 75 per cent of players who made the Canadian national under-18 teams in the last five years had birthdays before July. "This is more than a hockey issue," says Paul Carson, head of player development for Hockey Canada. "There is a general bias in sport toward early maturers. "The contention is that late maturers are at a disadvantage and as a result decide to drop out, eliminating the opportunity for these potential Gretzkys to be discovered. I think the system has to address that possibility every year." But, Carson says, provincial and national t
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