Late Bloomer Resource Center

Often times the goals of a coach align with the nature for competitiveness and a will to succeed. A successful team may often times be built around a couple of highly successful core athletes. In the pursuit to create elite athletes, those with the most perceived potential are often given more playing time and more coaches attention.

In a study by Horn and Lox cited in Children’s Organized Sport: A Developmental Perspective, they found “Early maturers benefit from positive reinforcement and encouragement, while late bloomers- due to their lack of skill, size or experience- receive markedly less social support and reinforcement” (Brady, 2004, p. 38). In the same article, Brady (2004), cites Matsudo stating that peop ...