Does Birthday Matter in Team Selection for Rowing?

An interesting study has just come out of the University of Saskatchewan about young hockey players that is at least food for thought amongst rowing coaches. It says that those with late birthdays are less likely to be selected for teams, presumably because those born earlier in the year are more likely to have already hit their growth spurts. This despite the fact that those passed over had the same predicted future height.

In fact 75% of those on provincial and national teams studied were born in the first half of the year! To those selecting the teams, they are only choosing the best players at the time. Unfortunately, the late bloomers aren't recognized and may be "filtered out" of the sport when they lose out on opportunities.

What is the responsibility of a coach to the future of the sport? If you cut kids from a younger crew, they may well drop out when they could have been the future of your team.

Does this apply in rowing?

An interesting addition to this piece is a link to the University of Saskatchewan web site and a tool for predicting future size in adolecents.

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