- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
What is the solutions to the age issue identified by Malcolm Gladwell?
Posted on 7/24/26 at 7:40 am
Posted on 7/24/26 at 7:40 am
Most of us have probably read the book or at least know the basics. To simplify the point he says age restrictions in youth sports make it so where kids who are on the older side of their age range get better coaching, more praise, and become better at sports all because they are more physically mature due to their age. This incentivizes people to hold their kids back and you end up with a bunch of 12yr olds playing in 11U and so on.
The data he presents backs it up and it seems like he’s probably right, the question is what is the solution to fixing this problem?
The data he presents backs it up and it seems like he’s probably right, the question is what is the solution to fixing this problem?
This post was edited on 7/24/26 at 7:42 am
14
Posted on 7/24/26 at 7:57 am to Tiger1242
quote:
This incentivizes people to hold their kids back and you end up with a bunch of 12yr olds playing in 11U and so on.
How do you hold back a kid in youth sports? I can see an argument for issues with holding kids back in school for sports reasons only, but you post doesn't seem to be about school.
Posted on 7/24/26 at 8:01 am to Tiger1242
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. Talent prevails in most HS programs, and these tactics won’t make any difference beyond that.
Posted on 7/24/26 at 8:09 am to DestrehanTiger
quote:
How do you hold back a kid in youth sports? I can see an argument for issues with holding kids back in school for sports reasons only, but you post doesn't seem to be about school.
Let’s say the age cut off is you have to be 11 on June 1. Well these teams will fill their rosters with kids who turn 12 in early June and play a bunch of 11U tournaments all summer with a team full of 12yr olds playing. Some of them don’t even necessarily do it on purpose, the best players on their teams are all naturally older kids, or they make a league “All-Star” team that in actuality is just a team full of the older kids
Posted on 7/24/26 at 8:11 am to Tiger1242
Why does this need to be “solved”?
Posted on 7/24/26 at 8:11 am to TexasTiger08
quote:
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. Talent prevails in most HS programs, and these tactics won’t make any difference beyond that.
Yes and no, Gladwells point is those kids get more attention and coaching as youths and end up better, or the other kids end up quitting before high school. I don’t want to bog down this thread with the data but his research backs up his thesis pretty well.
This post was edited on 7/24/26 at 8:12 am
Posted on 7/24/26 at 8:15 am to Epic Cajun
quote:
Why does this need to be “solved”?
Because a kid who turns 11 a week before the age cut off might spend his whole childhood thinking he’s not that good at sports when in reality he’s playing his whole life against kids who are a year older than him. And by the time he gets into high school he quits before he naturally develops.
Posted on 7/24/26 at 8:31 am to Tiger1242
My daughter is really good at volleyball. She’s a good soccer player too, but volleyball is something she was immediately natural at. After 1 season of rec, she made a club team, became team captain. She was born in April. Going into 6th grade now.
In her school grade of 100 kids at a Catholic K-8, there are half dozen girls that are a full year older than her. My daughter is not small, I’m just under 6’ and wife is 5’-9”. These girls aren’t slow mentally, were born in April and May the year before my daughter, but parents trying to get them HS scholarship money at the big private schools, so held them back to put them on all the school’s A-teams. It’s laughable really.
In her school grade of 100 kids at a Catholic K-8, there are half dozen girls that are a full year older than her. My daughter is not small, I’m just under 6’ and wife is 5’-9”. These girls aren’t slow mentally, were born in April and May the year before my daughter, but parents trying to get them HS scholarship money at the big private schools, so held them back to put them on all the school’s A-teams. It’s laughable really.
This post was edited on 7/24/26 at 8:33 am
Posted on 7/24/26 at 8:35 am to Tiger1242
Our son’s birthday is in the middle of August and the cutoff for school is 9/1 here. We decided to hold off a year and sent him when he was 6 instead of 5. If we sent him at 5 he’d be the youngest in his class and from talking to the kindergarten teachers they said, we’d never regret waiting. Doesn’t really have much to do with sports, he plays but isn’t terribly athletic, but with maturity in life I think it’s been a big win. He’s going into 4th grade this year, no way he’d be ready for 5th.
Posted on 7/24/26 at 8:36 am to Tiger1242
quote:
Let’s say the age cut off is you have to be 11 on June 1. Well these teams will fill their rosters with kids who turn 12 in early June and play a bunch of 11U tournaments all summer with a team full of 12yr olds playing.
so they have met the required age restrictions to play in that age class. Why does this need to be addressed? they could play in 14U or 13U or whatever and be the youngest on their team and then we're complaining that they're the worst kid because everyone else is older.
As has already been mentioned, none of it makes a hill of beans considering once they get to HS age and beyond the real talent will rise to the top regardless. This "problem" reeks of parents that have shelled out thousands upon thousands for travel ball only to see their kid be the worst on the team and need to point a finger somewhere
Posted on 7/24/26 at 8:39 am to DestrehanTiger
quote:I know some baseball organizations allow, or used to allow, grade exceptions where a kid who was over the age cutoff could play down in the younger age group if they were in the same grade as the majority of that group. And yes, a lot of dumbass parents and teams used it because they can’t stand for their kid to not have the same advantage in travel/club ball as they do in school sports from being held back or starting a year later than they could have.
How do you hold back a kid in youth sports?
People like this are probably the primary reason US youth soccer just moved back to age cutoffs in line with school grade years as opposed to birth years like the rest of the world.
This post was edited on 7/24/26 at 8:42 am
Posted on 7/24/26 at 8:40 am to The Third Leg
quote:
These girls aren’t slow mentally, were born in April and May the year before my daughter, but parents trying to get them HS scholarship money at the big private schools, so held them back to put them on all the school’s A-teams. It’s laughable really.
Right, this is the kind of stuff I’m talking about. And girls like your daughter might never get to reach their potential because her opportunities will go to the older girls
Posted on 7/24/26 at 9:02 am to MOT
quote:
People like this are probably the primary reason US youth soccer just moved back to age cutoffs in line with school grade years as opposed to birth years like the rest of the world.
Pretty predictably the people that play more AAU basketball have used grade levels to turn it into a shitshow with reclassing… now we have “5th” graders dunking…
Posted on 7/24/26 at 9:06 am to Tiger1242
10,000 hours and a brain or high IQ for the sport.
I know an FBI agent who played 4 years in the NFL as a linebacker. He's a physical freak and has said on numerous occasions, he didn't focus enough on building his football IQ because he dominated physically. When he got the NFL, he had the tools but couldn't apply them.
FWIW - he a smart guy and a great investigator.
I know an FBI agent who played 4 years in the NFL as a linebacker. He's a physical freak and has said on numerous occasions, he didn't focus enough on building his football IQ because he dominated physically. When he got the NFL, he had the tools but couldn't apply them.
FWIW - he a smart guy and a great investigator.
Posted on 7/24/26 at 9:12 am to TexasTiger08
quote:
Talent prevails in most HS programs
I think the point is that you have to make it to HS for that to matter.
And if you give up a sport because you ride the bench because you’re 11’months younger than other kids on your team you never show talent at HS level.
This is a HUGE issue beyond sports. Especially with boys who are usually developmentally behind girls.
my son has September birthday and has always been the youngest
kid in his grade it has not helped him.
The statistic show you’re significantly more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and be considered to have behavioral issues.
This post was edited on 7/24/26 at 9:29 am
Posted on 7/24/26 at 9:12 am to Tiger1242
quote:
what is the solution to fixing this problem?
Tell parents to enjoy their own lives rather than living through their children.
Posted on 7/24/26 at 9:17 am to Tiger1242
Youth sports in this country are broken beyond belief.
It's really sad.
It's really sad.
Posted on 7/24/26 at 9:18 am to theCrusher
quote:
I know an FBI agent who played 4 years in the NFL as a linebacker. He's a physical freak and has said on numerous occasions, he didn't focus enough on building his football IQ because he dominated physically. When he got the NFL, he had the tools but couldn't apply them.
The stuff I’m talking about doesn’t apply for genetic freaks.
Posted on 7/24/26 at 9:31 am to WG_Dawg
quote:
they have met the required age restrictions to play in that age class. Why does this need to be addressed? they could play in 14U or 13U or whatever and be the youngest on their team and then we're complaining that they're the worst kid because everyone else is older.
As has already been mentioned, none of it makes a hill of beans considering once they get to HS age and beyond the real talent will rise to the top regardless. This "problem" reeks of parents that have shelled out thousands upon thousands for travel ball only to see their kid be the worst on the team and need to point a finger somewhere
I’m not talking about the best players on the high school team, I’m talking about the kid who quit in 6th grade that could’ve been on the team but never had a chance because of his birthday. It’s more of an interesting phenomenon than a problem. Basically if your kid born right before the age or grade cutoff their chances of being good at sports is statistically much higher than someone born right after the cutoff
This post was edited on 7/24/26 at 9:32 am
Posted on 7/24/26 at 9:39 am to The Third Leg
quote:
My daughter is really good at volleyball. She’s a good soccer player too, but volleyball is something she was immediately natural at. After 1 season of rec, she made a club team, became team captain. She was born in April. Going into 6th grade now.
Out of curiosity, at what age did she play her 1 year of rec volleyball and did y’all give up soccer?
Our daughter is 9 and currently plays club soccer, rec volleyball, and rec basketball.
Volleyball probably her best sport, but we like the structure of the soccer program and how active it keeps her with all of the running. Basketball will get cut at some point.
We’ve been playing rec volleyball since 7, and our daughter is one of the better ones in the league, but the disparity in level of play in the 9-10 league between the better players and girls who have never played before has me starting to think rec is becoming a waste of time.
The better girls are starting to get bored/frustrated in games as gameplay can get pretty erratic with the skill levels, but we also want to avoid the potential burnout if we go all in with club volleyball, since I’ve heard it can be as bad as travel baseball.
We like being able to play multiple sports but seems like we’re starting to get forced to pick a sport with the focus on club/travel teams in today’s youth sports environment.
This post was edited on 7/24/26 at 9:44 am
Page 1 of 3
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News