"It is unethical to have a talent system based on the luck of the draw of when you were born"

Adam Kelly is a Senior Lecturer and the Course Leader for Sports Coaching and Physical Education at Birmingham City University. He consults with international institutions and organisations in a number of professional sports, including football, rugby union, cricket, swimming, squash, and ice hockey.

In this conversation Adam and I explore the latest research into a range of more equitable talent development and competition frameworks that recognise the 'non linear' nature of talent development and allow for more individualised development opportunities for young athletes.

We discuss the relative merits of 'Birthday Banding' , Bio Banding', 'Average Team Age' and 'Playing Up/Down' approaches.

Hope you enjoy...

Links to research articles

'Birthday Banding' - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2020.573890/full

'Playing Up / Down' - https://qspace.library.queensu.ca/handle/1974/27544?show=full 'Average Team Age' - https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003163572-10/average-team-age-method-potential-reduce-relative-age-effects-jan-verbeek-steve-lawrence-jorg-van-der-breggen-adam-kelly-laura-jonker

'Bio Banding' - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03014460.2019.1640284?journalCode=iahb20

'Reversal Effect' / 'Underdog Hypothesis' - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7933505/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640414.2015.1119297