What are the benefits of making these changes to competition age groups?
Players and Parents
- Competition will be fairer for more players; players born in the last half of the calendar year will not always the youngest in an age group and suffer because of a ‘bad birthday’
- More players will have the opportunity to realise their potential, increasing the talent pool of players
- Changes to competition age groups will support higher quality competitions and provide players with a better experience
Coaches
- Coaches will have players competing in a fairer environment which will better support their development and enjoyment and keep them in the game for longer helping to support the business of coaching
- Coaches will be better equipped to sell the benefits of competition to players, because the system will be fairer and easier to understand. This will support the attraction and retention of players – which can only be good for the growth of the coaching market
Places to Play
- Competition brings profile to a ‘place to play’ and contributes to the attraction and retention of members, which ultimately generates income – if more players are attracted to the sport and more stay in the game because competition is fairer and more enjoyable, this will support places to play in growing their business
- If there are more players involved in the sport and wanting to compete there will be more demand for places to play to run competitions, providing more opportunities to make money
Competition Organisers and Officials
- If there are more players involved in the sport and wanting to compete there will be more demand for competition, increasing the opportunities for organisers and officials to get involved
- If competition is fairer; more players will enjoy competing making the experience for organisers and officials more rewarding