Author: Bethany Brookshire / Source: Science News for Students
In a curious coincidence, two members of the U.S. men’s Olympic alpine ski team will celebrate their birthdays during the Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Another five of them will be lighting birthday candles in the two months surrounding the event.This could be random chance. Or not. The way that coaches pick teams when kids are very young could give an advantage to those born at a certain time of year. Slightly older kids will be just a bit bigger than younger teammates born the same year. In many sports, that difference is a bonus. But it means coaches might tend to leave younger kids on the bench.
This can give older kids a small advantage in sports. And what starts in childhood may continue on throughout their sports career. No one doubts that professional athletes work hard and are extremely talented. But in sports like hockey, skiing and soccer, many players tend to be born around the same time of year. This early birthday boost is known in science as the “relative age effect.”
Late bloomers shouldn’t despair, though. Given some time to grow, later-birthday kids might equal — and even surpass — older teammates.
Birthday bias
Older kids get a boost both on and off the field, says Nick Wattie.
He studies the science of sports in Canada at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa. Older kids often get better grades, for instance, and are more likely to be identified for gifted programs.But the effect is easiest to spot in sports. Early-birthday athletes get professional careers in sports more often in swimming, soccer and hockey, studies show. “Older athletes may look more talented because they are faster, stronger,” says Joe Baker. He studies sport science at York University in Ontario.
Story continues below graph
Not every sport favors the slightly older kids. For example, American football doesn’t have a strong birthday bias, Wattie says. “In youth football, you’ve got age and height and weight categories,” he notes. “So even if you’re smaller, you still have a chance to play and have a good experience.” That good experience means younger football players might stick with it — and their talents may be eventually spotted — as they grow older.
Other sports show no age advantage because they don’t rely on the same types of speed or size. In gymnastics and figure skating, for example, younger kids actually may have the advantage because they can be more…
The post Why many Olympic athletes have early birthdays appeared first on FeedBox.