Old Feller wrote:
Is there an argument for youngsters to be matched according to weight - like boxers - up until a certain age?
What age? even the quartile that Avenger talks about on the previous page isn't the effect it used to be, since the switch to summer rugby. The season starts in March and ends end of September in the Yorkshire Junior league.
I can give an example of my own lad, who is by far the youngest in his team, and probably the league (unless playing up a year), considering his date of birth is the end of August, which puts him the youngest in his year. He is nowhere near the smallest in his team, and much bigger than some.
I watched a team yesterday who have asked to be moved up from under 13's to under 14's as they have been beating everyone in their age group, and it is holding them back. Only a couple of these lads had any size about them and were playing an under 14's side, and won. Their technique and their speed was much better.
Rather than the competitions that need to change, it is the coaching at that level that needs to follow a recognised path of ensuring they coach the right things. I saw that yesterday in that under 13's side.
