watchout wrote:
Being born in November, I never felt disadvantaged by that rule.
... just race.
Being born late, to win a race you have to be so good that you can beat all the kids your age, and all the kids a year older...in your *second* year in an age group.
In you first year, you have to beat all the kids 1 AND up to 2[b/] years older than you. In other words, you have little chance.
watchout wrote:[/
Being born in November, I never felt disadvantaged by that rule.
... just race.
I guess that it doesn't make a big difference if you don't improve much from year to year.
But, I for one, was improving by 6 sec, 7 sec, 5 sec, respectively in my first 3 years in the mile. 6 or 7 seconds is huge. Pretty much the difference between 1st and 8th... Almost nobody born more than 7 months after me ever beat me in this period however... Imagine 12 months younger...
Indiana1600 wrote:
Yeah, most of these people aren't understanding the point.
And you don't seem to understand my point...
Hurdle distances/heights and the weight of throwing implements changes from age group to age group through the years.
Under your plan With a July birthday, smack in the middle of the summer track season I would have had to change from the 80m hurdles to the 100m hurdles.
The cut off date is fine the way it is.
Also, for those born in late December, you actually get to compete in the USATF Junior Olympics XC after your fall XC in college cause you're still 18. The same rule applies to track if you were started a grade earlier from August-September, as the cut-off date for both Young Men/Women is the final day of competition. So those that are at a disadvantage might actually get to compete three times as Young Men/Women in the USATF Junior Olympics.
toodarnloud89 wrote:
Indiana1600 wrote:Yeah, most of these people aren't understanding the point.
And you don't seem to understand my point...
Hurdle distances/heights and the weight of throwing implements changes from age group to age group through the years.
Under your plan With a July birthday, smack in the middle of the summer track season I would have had to change from the 80m hurdles to the 100m hurdles.
The cut off date is fine the way it is.
The same thing happens in Dec during the indoor season. Kids change implement during the course of a season.
Very few do usatf CC compared to track..and really the competitive ages in usatf track are 9-10 up to about 15-16. After that many kids don't do it as much because of HS commitments, or they quit, or whatever.
Aug 31 (or Aug 1 even, track is done by then for the most part) would be the best for track. 12/31 is fine for CC. Use 2 different dates.
who care about indoor? People should be smart enough to train for their summer event
rupp-certified saladbar wrote:
It's been well-reported than something like 80% of NHL drafts are born in Jan-March.
That's a huge exaggeration. There is an effect but it is not anywhere near your 80% number.
http://www.arcticicehockey.com/2010/8/3/1603630/inefficiencies-in-irrelevant
I agree that it is unfair to use January 1 as the cutoff, but it probably has little, if any, effect on who eventually rises to the top. There are many people who did no training or competing as children and still became very good runners.
The reason they do this in the UK is that the school year starts in September.
That made me nearly a year younger than some of the kids and it showed in terms of maturity.
U.S. Births by Month, 1995-2002
Total Births Avg. per Day
January 2,582,009 10,411.33
February 2,409,565 10,661.79
March 2,645,413 10,666.99
April 2,537,816 10,574.23
May 2,673,858 10,781.69
June 2,629,368 10,955.70
July 2,788,695 11,244.74
August 2,813,582 11,345.09
September 2,740,831 11,420.13
October 2,694,594 10,865.30
November 2,532,156 10,550.65
December 2,631,533 10,611.02
That isnt the point. The overwhelming majority arent "rising to the top" anyway. The point of youth athletic of any sort is a fair competition that the kids enjoy.
This isnt Soviet Russia where the sole purpose is to id the top talent and f everyone else.
Many could have a much more rewarding and fair youth careers under another system instead of the current one that is hugely biased against them.
Its a problem in hockey too. They use Dec31. You end up riding the pine if you are a typical Nov/Dec 5th grader playing with 7th graders...
Sure some great runners ect can compete an age group up but even many of them are "down" for a year. How'd you like to be "down" one year and destroyed the next? That is what happens to late year kids.
worst poster wrote:
How'd you like to be "down" one year and destroyed the next? That is what happens to late year kids.
That's the way it would be no matter what, as the age groups are in two year increments. The early mature-ers have a huge advantage, so normal kids may only be competitive in their second year in that age group.
As far as the person mentioning kids having to switch implements mid-way through an indoor season - what indoor season? Indoor seasons are localized to certain sections of the country. And if as a parent you're dumb enough to push your kids into competing year round - you'll surely end up with a burnt-out kid who will want to quit track.
Having two different dates for xc and track just adds more confusion in a sport that needs simplicity and strong leadership.
Good luck getting USATF to move on this... They can't even get a World Championship in Athletics held in this country.
age is just a number.
I think AAU track runs 1 yr per age group up to 14 or 15? That would be one option but it would be better just to move it to Aug 1 or something. I cant imagine how long a aau meet must take to run?
Agree that indoor, that is a nonconcern and the birthday cutoff should be such that it makes outdoor as fair as possible, not indoor.