In the first chapter of Gladwell’s Outliers, he brings up the point that sometimes factors that we can not control affect people’s view of us. The main example that Gladwell uses is the age cutoff date in Canadian hockey leagues. The cutoff birthday in Canadian junior hockey leagues is January 1st, so the closer that you are born to January 1st the more likely you will be to get recruited and placed into the higher leagues of Canadian hockey. The reason that this cutoff is so important is because a player who is born on January 4th with be more mature and developed at age ten then a person who was born on June 10th. Due to the cutoff date, many children who are born later in the year are skipped over by the recruiters because of a thing that they had no control over.
In my personal view, I think that the fact that the kids being recruited based on their birthday is kind of dumb, but I can also see why they do it. I understand that a kid born early in the year will be more developed at age ten than a kid who is born later in the year, but I think that a player’s birthday can not be the primary reason why they are recruited into more skilled leagues. The recruiters need to give each kid an equal opportunity to prove themselves, no matter when they were born in the year. If a player is being recruited more heavily because of when there birthday is, that means that they are being given an advantage that other kids can not obtain, and it is all based on something that can not be controlled. I found a quote from Gladwell that sums this up perfectly, “But in fact they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others can’t” (Gladwell, 19).
I feel that Gladwell makes an important point in chapter one. He shows us that basing a decision on which person to choose based on something that is uncontrollable, like a birthday, is not the best way to do it. The month and day of your birthday should not be the only factor that is used to decide if you will be a more sought after sports player, and Gladwell shows this view throughout chapter one. Gladwell shows this view in this quote, “It tells us that our notion that it is best and the brightest who effortlessly rise to the top is too simplistic. Yes, the hockey players who make it to the professional level are more talented than you or me. But they also got a big head start, an opportunity that they neither deserved nor earned. And that opportunity played a critical role in their success” (Gladwell, 30).
I enjoyed chapter one of Outliers, I felt that it made a lot of excellent points on issues that are prevalent in today’s world. He shows us that choosing a child for a sports team or advanced class in school just because of when their birthday falls in the year is not usually the best way to choose, even though that is how it usually happens. Every child should be considered equally, no matter when their birthday is. Gladwell states that the reason we set up these advanced sports leagues and advanced school programs so early in their lives is to make sure that no talent is missed. But instead only the best talent is recruited from the early months and the talent that is born later in the year is almost completely skipped over. Gladwell further explains this point by stating, “We think that starting all-star leagues and gifted programs as early as possible is the best way of ensuring that no talent slips through the cracks. But take a look again at that roster for the Czech Republic soccer team. There are no players born in July, October, November, or December, and only one each in August and September. Those born in the last half of the year have all been discouraged, or overlooked, or pushed out of the sport. The talent of essentially half the Czech athletic population has been squandered” (Gladwell, 31).
Works Cited
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: the Story of Success. Back Bay Books, 2013.