mozgrame
Engorged member
A former player at club, State and Country level who is still very involved in the game ( I won't name him, but you'd be pretty thick to not be able to guess ) told me the other day that it is common knowledge in footy circles about players age differences in school boy footy. He says it is a misconception that the Poly/Islander background players are just naturally bigger than other kids, but did agree with me that at adult age they are big people.
He says that although school boy footy is governed by age rating or date of birth, a lot of Poly/Islander kids (and not all mind you) are actually a few years older than what their age bracket would have us believe. These "kids" are not actually put into an age bracket based on their birth certificate, but by the date of their Christening. If they are not Christened until the age of three or four, they can then enter an under 16s team and be pushing 20! They could therefore be playing under 20s, and be in their early 20s already.
This is all apparentley under the heading of "Give the poor buggers a chance to build a good life" through footy. Don't get me wrong here, I am always willing to give anyone a hand in life, and yes it has bitten me hard more than once. What i'm more interested in is, is this true?
Not that any of us will have definite proof either way I guess. I just wonder if anyone else has heard this. The source i got it from is always on the money and doesn't bull**** for the sake of it. I find it interesting to say the least.
He says that although school boy footy is governed by age rating or date of birth, a lot of Poly/Islander kids (and not all mind you) are actually a few years older than what their age bracket would have us believe. These "kids" are not actually put into an age bracket based on their birth certificate, but by the date of their Christening. If they are not Christened until the age of three or four, they can then enter an under 16s team and be pushing 20! They could therefore be playing under 20s, and be in their early 20s already.
This is all apparentley under the heading of "Give the poor buggers a chance to build a good life" through footy. Don't get me wrong here, I am always willing to give anyone a hand in life, and yes it has bitten me hard more than once. What i'm more interested in is, is this true?
Not that any of us will have definite proof either way I guess. I just wonder if anyone else has heard this. The source i got it from is always on the money and doesn't bull**** for the sake of it. I find it interesting to say the least.