研究：出生月份影響當運動員的機率

The month of your birth influences your chances of becoming a professional sportsperson, according to Australian academics in a new study.

Dr Adrian Barnett, from Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, studied the seasonal patterns of population health, and found by analysing the birthdays of professional Australian Football League players, that a disproportionate number were born in the early months of the year.

Unlike in the UK, the Australian school year begins in January. The studies correlates with findings in the UK, where the year starts in September, that autumn babies are more likely to succeed in sport, particularly football.

"Children who are taller have an obvious advantage when playing the football code of AFL," Dr Barnett said. "If you were born in January, you have almost 12 months' growth ahead of your classmates born late in the year."

Barnett found there were 33 per cent more professional AFL players than expected with birthdays in January and 25 per cent fewer in December.

Those results mirror other international studies which found a link between being born near the start of school year and the chances of becoming a professional player, particularly in ice hockey, football, volleyball and basketball.

"Research in the UK shows those born at the start of the school year also do better academically and have more confidence," he said.

That said, aspiring junior sportspeople at school should not despair. The month of their birth never stood in the way of Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson (July) winning 11 paralympic gold medals, Sir Chris Hoy (March) winning three Olympic golds, and other sporting legends such as Bobby Moore (April), Kapil Dev (January), Daley Thompson (July), and Lawrence Dallaglio (August).

澳大利亞的一項最新學術研究表明，一個人出生的月份會影響其成爲職業運動員的機率。

昆士蘭科技大學健康和生物醫學創新研究所的艾德里安•巴奈特博士對人口健康的季節性模式進行了研究，並通過對澳大利亞足球聯盟的職業球員的生日進行分析後發現，該職業聯盟中相當大一部分人出生於年初。

與英國九月份開學不同，澳大利亞的新學年從一月份開始。英國的研究發現秋天出生的孩子在體育運動方面取得成功的可能性更大，尤其在足球項目上。澳大利亞的這項研究與該發現具有相關性。

巴奈特博士說：“如果按照澳大利亞足球聯盟的規則，那些個頭較高的孩子具有明顯優勢。如果你一月份出生，那麼你比在這一年年底出生的同班同學就多長了近12個月。”

巴奈特發現，該聯盟中一月份出生的職業球員數量超出預期33%，而12月份出生的球員數量則比預期少25%。

其他一些國際研究也有類似發現，如在新學年快開始時出生的人成爲職業運動員的機率更大，尤其在冰球、足球、排球和籃球等項目上。

巴奈特說：“英國的研究表明，在開學時出生的人在學業上也更優秀，而且更爲自信。”

儘管有這個說法，但有志成爲職業運動員但出生月份較晚的學生千萬不要絕望。看看七月出生、贏得11塊殘奧會金牌的塔妮•格雷-湯姆森爵士，三月出生、贏得三塊奧運會金牌的克里斯•霍伊爵士 ，以及三月出生的波比•摩爾、一月出生的卡皮爾•戴夫、七月出生的戴利•湯姆森和八月出生的勞倫斯•達拉格里奧等體育界傳奇人物，出生月份對於他們來說從來就不是個問題。

Vocabulary:

disproportionate: too large or too small when compared with something else 不成比例的；不相稱的；太大（或太小）的

that said:儘管這麼說