Influance Of The Date Of Birth In Try Outs

[Bert 0]

After a game in the NHL some of the visiters find out that all players of both teams were born in only three month of the year ....... the same three month. What was happened????

For the Volley Techno I have written an article about the influance of birthdate at the selection career of a volleyballtalent.

Ad Dudink phd of the University of Amsterdam and Jacques van Rossum, also a Phd. do have published some articles about this subject, but they were not the first. In 1970 an other dutch Phd., Karel Doornbos have published some articles and books about the same subject, but now in the schoolcareer of children.

What's the problem, in 1970 Doornbos said: "When we tested children in a class, we want that every children of that class do the same things, knows the same things, but is that correct?

Is it fair when we tested children from one class or a whole levelgroup, on the same subjects? No, that is not fair, Doornbos said. When we look at those tests, we see that every time the older children make the tests better than the younger children in class. In the Netherlands, Doornbos said, most of the younger children get troublle in their schoolcareer.

Is that because younger children are less intelligent than the older children? No, of course not, Doornbos said again. Older children are only older, have more experience, are futher in their development, education ect ect. When we look at the classes we can see that in every class the children born in the first month after the 'selectiondate' do things better and the children who were born in tha last three month do things worser. When we change that date, it's not the solotiun, because we see that then other children are the best (the older children) and another group of

children will get in trouble. Dudink and Van Rossum find out that in sport we do have the same problem. Of course, we work also with a kind of a class (selectiongroups) and when we select children we also want all the children do the same. Those children who cant't don't get in the team. Is that fair? No, again that's not fair. Why, because when we select children we mostly looked at fysical things, how fast is someone, how tall is someone ect. ect. Children can be very different in those things and in one year children can change a lot. Also in sport, in volleyball, older children will be selected and younger children won't. This is bad for the motivation of children, and most of

the younger children (born in the last three month of the year will be drop outs).

That's not good, because it's won't say that those children can't be talent children who can play in the Nationalteam for example, I have read a lot about your way of looking at children and I like it a lot. I have seen two clinics of you, when you were in Europe, and I enjoy it very much. I hope you can help me. In the Netherlands we are very busy with this problem, we have change the way we do the selection at the national youth teams, but that's not all. Dudink and Van Rossum find

out that at the basis, at the clubs, there is big influence of the date of birth at the selections volleyball clubs do. So at the basis, we don't select younger, perhaps, talented children.

I am very curious if you know this problem, or if it's the first time when you hear about it?

When you know this problem I am very curious what yoo do in the USA to solve this problem?

When you look at you're team, in what month are they born, and what is the correspondence between the date of birth and the date of selection (for example over here this date is 1th of oktober, and very much children in selectionteams, at the clubs are born in the first month after 1 october (so October, November and December)...............

Bert

[Bert 0]

On http://www.usavolleyball.org/Juniors/2005agedef.asp , I saw the 'key-date' in the USA is September the first......... so I was wondering ................... how many children in you're team are born in the month September, October and December and how many children were born in the other month of the year?

Bert

[gijig21 0]

A majority of mine are born in the middle part of the age defined year (Feb-May)

[Bert 0]

A majority of mine are born in the middle part of the age defined year (Feb-May)

And the other kids ........., in what month are they born? How many kids are born in the first three month after September 1?

Besides, the variation in month of birth I am also very curious about the way you, or other coaches, do try outs. What are the selection criteria and are you only select for, let's say, the best team for next season or are the goals you set, individual goals for a period of, let's say 6 years?

[Bert 0]

Hello,

I understand the whole topic sound perhaps strange, but it is or can be a really problem. On the next website:

http://www.psychologie.uni-bonn.de/sozial/...sch/ageeffx.htm ,

you will find a good article about this problem in soccer. The article is in english, all the other articles bellow are in english. Perhaps you like to read it, it's very interresting ....... or better, that's what I think.

On the next website there is a other article about this problem:

http://bjsm.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/34/6/465

On the next website, I found something about a inquiry in Canada, at schools:

http://www.psychologie.uni-bonn.de/sozial/...sch/devrev.htm:

"For volleyball teams in schools, there was no RAE. We can suppose that most players interested in volleyball had a chance to be part of the teams. Nevertheless, the study also revealed that, when regional elite teams are formed from this pool of players in schools, there was a RAE for male players in the 14-15 years old category"

In the text above RAE means Relative Age Affect (this is the same as the influance of the date of birth).

Bert

[fmfjohn 0]

Bert,

So, I looked through my current under 13 club folder, and guess what? Of the 10 girls, 5 were born Oct.-Dec., 4 were Jan & Feb, and the last one was Aug. (very big for her age

In the next few days I will review the rest of the club (13's thru 18's) and see what their age groups are. I have stats for the last 5 years so it should be interesting.

I would think that my team selection is pretty typical. I do select for the upcoming season, but will save a spot (or 2 if I can)for either promising returning players from a younger team, or a girl that seems to have exceptional potential who is new. Having a club that can enter teams within different levels of a given age group certainly helps a club develope players over the long term, but not many of us are lucky enough to have that large of an organization.

How do you handle this situation in your club? And does your national organization have a program/policy that addresses this?

This is really getting interesting. Thanks!

john

[Bert 0]

Hello John,

In our club we didn't have solve this problem, but we are busy with it.

I know that the national federation use now a different try out organisation, for I think it was even until the national youth selection. A few years ago they have one or two try outs where the whole group was invite. Now they use smaller groups, one group for the players born from october - april and one group with the talents born from may - september. So the difference in age between the oldest and the youngest in the group is smaller. They invite those age groups on the same day, but the try outs are in two different accomodations, so the coaches couldn't compare, even unknown by them self, the individual players of those two groups. From both groups there must select a even group, so for example when they select 8 players from the group 'october - april ' - they must select also 8 players from the other group. Of course this is something they agree before the try outs. Truth the smallers 'age group' the change there will be a RAE is smaller, but even then it could happend. So, of course, when you have the change to select out of a very big group of players, the sollution to organize try outs with age-group with a age variation of three month, is better, but most of the time the selection group won't be so big, to use this method.

Bert