A great result for Ema who strikes me as a very modest young lady and a trifle unlucky on the birthday front being in the same school year as the likes of Katie Swan but 3 days too old to be in the same 1999 tennis year re junior tennis.
Obviously whereever you put the cut off there will be winners and losers particularly if you are looking at JCH as a marker of progression.
That said to be ranked in the top 100 junior tennis players in the world at 16 having probably spent the spring knocking out GCSE s and the like is regardless of the vagaries of the system a fantastic achievement! .
I have a particular soft spot for Ema simply on the basis that, at the Bank of England club this summer, she was the one girl who had such a ready smile for all and sundry (me being part of the all and sundry, obviously).
NB I agree re the age thing. For the younger ones now in France, there is no cut-off, as such, for most tournaments. It's simply the entry date. So if you're 10 years old on the inscription cut off date you can play in the 10 and under. If you turn 11 the next day, that's fine. But you can't inscribe for next week's tournament - you'll have to play in the 12 and under there. It took a bit of understanding (and moaning) from all the club presidents when it was introduced ( a few years back) but people have got the hang of it now and it puts all the kids on an even playing field - everyone has 12 months at the right age.
Yes, that birthday thing has always seemed a real issue, particularly in the UK.
I remember looking at the birthdays of our top juniors over a period and it was pretty ridiculously early year loaded and the big worry had to be that I am pretty sure that that wasnt down to random chance.
OK, such as Kyle and Liam would no doubt still have come through anyway under any system, but how many potentially very good October to Decemberers were sunk at an early stage ...
I have not really looked at this in the last few years, but my impression is that the birthday break down is much more even if maybe still a bit skewed. I seem to recall some steps being taken by the LTA to help to try and address the issue, but can't recall what these were ?
PS: Well done, Ema, of course Apart from the tennis birthday thing, she's maybe suffered the Christmas / birthday present thing and she's missing an "m"! So it's great that she's ended up so cheerful
-- Edited by indiana on Sunday 6th of September 2015 09:30:18 AM
The birthday thing was a real major issue in France too.
I actually did a research thingy on because the consensus at the time was that it was maybe an issue for littl'uns but, by 12 or so, it all came out in the wash and the Nov/Dec birthdays would have caught up. So it wasn't really worth changing anything.
But the thing I did (just basic but nobody had looked at adults because it all came under the Junior Tennis mandate) showed that about 75% of the top 1000 adult French players were born in the first 6 months of the year. And a large number of those (can't remember) were born in the first quarter.
The point being that the negative effects carried right on through - and mainly because, although physically and mentally it did all even out, the majority of the talented Nov/Dec kids had dropped out by then (often to do team sports where, although the year thing was usually the same, depending on the sport, the focus is not so much on the individual winning and losing, so the slightly younger ones are less conspicuous).
And, yes, as you say, poor Ema - missing an 'm' - under-em-med in fact. Is that like being underwhelmed?
I got the impression that they had addressed it a bit in the UK by splitting the academic years in half with winter and summer seasons so if you are January born you play the winter season up and then the summer at your correct age. The French system sound pretty canny.
This phenomenon is well documented in ice hockey players initially in Canada and in pro footballers where 30-35% are born in Sept-October and only 10% June-August. Based around the fact the older bigger kids do better when they are really young, get better coaching as they get picked out and more ready to take instruction.
I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised if it's less significant in tennis because there are only 150 elite players in the world which means to stand a chance of making a dent you are probably playing a couple of years up as a junior anyway.
Well done Ema regardless, another one please.
-- Edited by Oakland2002 on Sunday 6th of September 2015 09:49:26 PM
Ah, cheers, Oakland, as I said I seemed to recall that the LTA had taken some steps to help to try to address the birthday issue, but couldn't actually recall what. So it would appear to be this splitting of the academic year.
!! 
