The Matthew Effect

I hate sports. So I had to read this story a couple of times before getting a grasp on what the question was asking me. When people hear the word, “Success” they usually automatically think of money. Money equals power, which equals success. Traditional notions of success usually consist of rising to popularity or power, due to a family’s name, people you know, or money. Gladwell states, “You can't buy your way into Major Junior A hockey. It doesn't  matter  who  your  father  or mother  is, or who  your grandfather  was,  or  what  business  your  family  is in.  Nor does  it matter  if you  live in  the  most  remote  corner  of  the most  northerly  province  in  Canada.  If  you  have  ability, the vast network  of hockey scouts  and  talent  spotters  will find  you,  and  if  you  are  willing  to  work  to  develop  that ability,  the  system  will  reward  you. “This is what true success should be. Talent should be what fuels success in life, no matter where they come from. He’s saying that it doesn’t matter what you’re from, if you have talent then you have the best chance to succeed. I can relate to this because I come from a very small town, Woonsocket, in the smallest state, Rhode Island. My dream is to become an actress but seeing all these younger kids and teens already living my dream, discourages me. I feel that coming from a “nowhere” will put me at a disadvantage to the kids coming from “somewhere”, from families with big names and money.

Gladwell also mentions how the hockey players who just miss the deadline (even the day after) will have an extra year to practice compared to kids who turn their age just a few months before the deadline. “It's simply that in Canada the eligibility cutoff for age-class hockey is January 1. A boy, who turns ten on January 2, then could be playing alongside someone who doesn't turn ten until the end of the year— and at that age, in preadolescence, a twelvemonth gap in age represents an enormous difference in physical maturity.” This puts the older children at an advantage, seeing as older means wiser in this sport. This notion is thoroughly backed up by the roster that Gladwell shows. Most of the players that were on the team were born in January, February, or March. "But I looked through it, and what she was saying just jumped out at me. For some reason, there were an incredible number of January, February, and March birth dates." After these months, the number of players born in the remaining months lessened. “In any elite group of  hockey players—the very best of the best—40 percent of the players will have been born between January and March, 30 percent between April and June, 20 percent  between July and September, and 10 percent between October and December”

Therefore, in this hockey league what matters are knowledge, talent, and luck. I would think those kids who are born in the first three months are lucky, they have a whole nether year to become better than the kids they’ll compete against, the ones born in the later months.