Weight Consideration Guideline
Abstract
Whilst World Rugby has guidelines related to age bandings and Unions have player pathways based on age,
there has been some interest in age and weight bandings for Age Grade Rugby. The establishment of
weight guidelines within individual Member Unions is a complicated issue and if developed should consider
the physical and mental developmental stages and progress of each individual child detailed below.
The approach of other sports to the issue
While the practice of introducing weight restrictions at Age Grade Rugby is relatively unknown in many
territories, a number of sports have had such restrictions in place for some time. Boxing, an individual sport,
places weight restrictions at each of its age grade levels, ensuring that fighters are given the opportunity to
fight against someone of comparable size, strength and development 8.
American Football, which is comparable to Rugby in the physicality required and the need for players of a
range of sizes depending on position, has also had weight restrictions in place for under age players for
some time. Within these gradings, there are minimum and maximum weights, with players falling outside
this range being required to play at a grade lower or higher. In addition to this there is a mid-range weight
which is used to dictate the positions that particular players are allowed to play in addition to dictating how
much they can be involved in actively playing the ball. These grades are indicated by specific decals on their
uniform 9.
Both boxing and American Football allow for growth in players over the season with specific figures put on
how much weight they can gain while remaining eligible to play at their grade. Both sports (and others with
weight grading) are cognisant of, and attempt to educate players, coaches and parents in the dangers of
severe dieting and weight loss measures to attempt to come in under weight for their grade.
Existing weight guidelines in Rugby & other sports
In Scottish schools Rugby (under the SRU) senior schools level is equivalent to Under 18’s and open to
players aged 16 to 18. However, if a 15 year old player has a grip strength and weight above the set level
then they are permitted to play senior Rugby at any position other than the front row. The levels set are the
grip strength and height of an average 17 year old boy (given that most senior schools players are 17 years
old) as detailed in a study by Backous et al (1990)12. Nutton et al (2012)13 looked at the suitability of these
limits and also the current maturity levels of boys aged 12-18 within Scottish Under Age Rugby.
Currently a number of competition organisers under the New Zealand (NZRU) Rugby Union have weight
cut-off criteria for age grades which require players over a given weight to move up an age grade to facilitate
them playing with similar sized players. This has been done in these territories due to the concerns regarding
the larger size of some children, especially from ethnic backgrounds where children tend to develop earlier,
compared to the average for their age and the perceived injury risk to smaller children when playing with or
against them. This practice is generally more common in areas where the playing population is large enough
to allow this practice while providing playing opportunities to all players, irrespective of their size.
Weight Consideration Guideline
Taking the Canterbury (New Zealand) Metropolitan Rugby guidelines on weight restrictions they have
restrictions in place from Under 8s up to Under 13 with minimum and maximum weights being applicable
to each age group. Any player outside of those limits must move to the grade above or below unless an
exemption has been applied for and approved. In addition to weight grades, some competition organisers
offer restricted weight competitions where only athletes with a weight within a given range can play.
Table 1 gives a comparison between the weight grading structures (in kg) for the Canterbury Metropolitan
Rugby (CMR) and Indian Football Conference (IFC) (an American Football league based in Oklahoma) for
equivalent age grades.
CMR 10
IFC 9
Age grade
Minimum
Maximum
Minimum
Restricted
Maximum
Under 8
23
32
27
36
48
Under 9
25
36
32
41
52
Under 10
27
38
36
45
59
Under 11
31
41
41
52
68
Under 12
35
46
50
61
77
Under 13
40
53
59
73
No max
Under 14
45
58
68
No max
No max
Table 1: Weight Guideline Comparison
The restricted weight for the IFC is used to distinguish between positions that players can play. These
positions relate to those where physical stature and strength are paramount and also where the potential
for being tackled by bigger players exists.
All codes investigated allow for a certain amount of weight gain throughout the season and also have
procedures for applying for exemptions to the weight guidelines. In addition, they are cognisant of, and
attempt to educate players, coaches and parents in the dangers of severe dieting and weight loss measures
to attempt to come in under weight for their grade.
Another consideration when creating weight restrictions is the age at which players begin to develop and
use the more physically demanding aspects of Rugby such as tackling, rucking, mauling and scrummaging.
With different Unions introducing these aspects (or parts of them) into age grade Rugby at different times
it is important to reflect these developments when assessing the presumed risks in allowing relatively more
physically developed children to play with their peer group.
Weight Consideration Guideline
For example, while some countries such as the NZRU introduce tackling rucking, mauling from Under 8s
others, such as Rugby Canada don’t introduce these concepts until Under 11s in the case of tackling and
Under 13s in rucking and mauling. Contested scrummaging on the other hand is introduced by USA Rugby
from Under 9s while NZRU wait until Under 12s to introduce contested scrimmaging and U14s for lineout
lifting.
While Rugby does not have the same specificity at positions and involvement in play as American Football
does, similar restrictions could be placed on players in relation to whether they play in a position where they
are exposed to a higher risk of injury. This practice may, however, restrict a player from finding the position
which best suits them, a result best achieved by allowing players to try out different positions as they learn
the game.
There are a number of issues to be taken into consideration when adopting weight guidelines in any sport
which are related to the physical, cognitive and psychosocial development of the player in question.
Physical factors
One measure of the physical developmental stage of a player is Peak Height Velocity (PHV). Typically, this
stage of growth occurs for females between 12 and 13 years (but this can vary between 10 and 15 years of
age) and for males between 13 and 14 years of age (this can, in reality, occur between 11 and 15 years of
age). While the maturity events that take place during the adolescent growth spurt occur in sequence, the
timing of these events is highly variable among individuals.
The sequence of growth stage spurts starts with stature (PHV) and is followed with body mass and then by
strength. Menarche (onset of menstruation) in girls always follows the increase in body mass stage.
While the mass gain in boys following PHV is as a result of a decrease in fat and an increase in muscle mass,
girls tend to experience an increase in body fat with relatively small increases in muscle tissue resulting in
girls tending to have about two thirds of the muscle found in boys, and roughly twice the body fat.
This increase in mass for boys is an indication that an increase in strength is likely to occur but there is no
guarantee that it will have already begun. This could mean that, although a player may be the same size as
a player older than him he does not necessarily have an equivalent strength to the older player, placing him
at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to participating in a physically demanding sport like Rugby.
As the age at which the adolescent growth spurt occurs varies, there will also be a variation in the readiness
of being able to compete in sports events against peers. The significant differences in age that the growth
spurt can occur at means that, in sports programs matched on age, a number of the competitors will be
disadvantaged if they are late maturing.
Late maturing athletes are at a distinct disadvantage in physically demanding sports due to their smaller
size in comparison to their cohort of team mates and opponents and are likely to experience less success in
the years leading up to adolescent maturity. One solution is to direct late maturing athletes to less physically
dependent sports (or sport variations such as Rugby Sevens which could be used to retain players within the
sport) and/or delay their entry into a sport until they have reached a physical maturity that will allow them
to compete with their peers.
Weight Consideration Guideline
Early maturing athletes have an advantage in sports where size, speed and physical strength play a major
role in success. This is true until the athlete’s peers begin to catch up in physical maturity. While it is thought
that heavier and stronger children playing against lighter and weaker peers creates an increased risk of
injury to the smaller athletes, there is no empirical evidence to suggest that this is the case. There is a
suggestion, however, that injuries such as fractures are more likely to occur during the period of PHV when
there may be an imbalance between muscle strength and relative bone strength and that poor playing
fields, inadequate protective equipment and insufficient supervision by instructors with limited knowledge
may contribute to the incidence of injury 1.
The large potential variation in physical development also means that consideration should be given to
allowing smaller, lighter players the opportunity to play down an age grade to ensure they are playing at an
appropriate level with similarly sized players.
Cognitive and psychosocial factors
As sport is a major part of the life of a large proportion of young people, it is only natural that it is seen as a
factor in the mental development of young athletes.
Participation in sport peaks at around 12 years of age 1 so, it is at this age that the influence of sporting
experience will have the greatest impact on an athlete’s mental development and also on the athlete’s
perception of sport and their participation in it.
There are three psychological issues relevant to the guidelines for children’s participation in sport; these
begin to develop between the ages of 8 and 12.
Motivational readiness
The following reasons for initial and continued participation in sport among young athletes (for children
and adolescents participating in sport the pattern for both boys and girls were shown to be similar) have
been proposed by researchers 1,2:
• Competence (learning and improving skills)
• Affiliation (being with and making new friends)
• Team Identification (being part of a group)
• Health and Fitness (getting and staying fit)
• Having fun
• Parents or friends want them to be involved
• Something to do
• Like the coach
• Use of facilities
It is only as the athletes get older that extrinsic incentives such as winning, trophies and playing at an elite
level become primary motivational factors.
Weight Consideration Guideline
Factors given for the withdrawal from organised sport by young athletes include:
• Lack of playing time
• The competitive emphasis of the program
• Overemphasis on winning
• Boredom
• Fear of failure or negative evaluation
• Having other things to do
• Friends leaving
• Too much pressure
• Poor coaching
• Embarrassment
• Ridicule
• Rejection
• Expense
• Injury and burnout
In relation to the issue of sport withdrawal, there are a number of misconceptions in relation to it 2. While
these notions are sometimes a reality, generally speaking research shows that they are not the rule:
• Withdrawal is permanent
• Withdrawal is an atypical phenomenon in children and adolescents
• Reasons for withdrawal are necessarily linked to the reasons for becoming involved in the first place.
Cognitive readiness refers to an athlete’s ability to process information that allows them to perform the
skills required of a specific sport or activity. This also includes an athlete’s ability to recognise others
viewpoints and to adapt behaviour as well as display problem solving skills and how they perceive their own
performance.
Research indicates that younger children (age 8-9) use adult feedback and evaluation to gauge
performance while older children (10-14) rely more on feedback gained from peer group evaluation 1,2,7.
Children do not develop a mature overall understanding of the notion of competition until they are
approximately 12 years of age. As with physical maturation, the age at which this development begins and
the length of time it takes varies from child to child.
Potentially harmful consequences follows on from the cognitive factors affecting the readiness for
children to participate at different levels of sport. Creating a competitive atmosphere that is inappropriate
for the developmental stage of a child can create negative psychological effects. This can occur where the
level of competition is mismanaged and inappropriate for the level of maturation of an athlete. A lack of
both motivational and cognitive readiness within the young athlete and can also be linked to a lack of
motivating factors to be involved in sport in the first place and lead to withdrawal from the sporting activity.
Typically within Rugby development pathways, the level of competition and the skills required develop as
the child progresses through age grades, which goes some way to alleviating the potential for these
harmful factors.
Weight Consideration Guideline
What these pathways can often disregard is the effect that parental pressure and continual peer group
evaluation can create further stresses for the child. This is especially true of less cognitively developed
children playing with more developed children as can be the case when a child is forced to play at a higher
age grade due to physical factors rather than choosing to do so as a way of fulfilling a greater need for
competition or development of ability.
Conclusion
Taking all these factors on board, it is accepted that the current method of separating youth sports into
gradings based on age is a method that is generally the most efficient means of performing what can be a
complex task. While, the method of determining the categorisation of age groups can have its own issues
(one example is the Relative Age Effect 11), the above factors need to be considered when finding a solution
to grading the minority of children who don’t fit within the general rule of age. This cannot so easily be
achieved through a single solution that is expected to cover all circumstances but rather through
consideration for the physical and mental development of the individual child in question.
It is important when creating weight guidelines for Age Grade Rugby to take into account the
recommended guidelines in relation to children playing Age Grade Rugby outside of their age group
(maximum recommended two years), in addition it is important to ensure that the player in question is
playing at a level that allows them to gain enjoyment from the game through ensuring they are capable of
playing and understanding the game at the level prescribed as well as being allowed to play with their
friends and with children of their own physical and mental age where possible 1.
References
1. Passer, Michael J – Children in Sport: Participation Motives and Psychological Stress; Quest, 1982, 33(2),
231-244
2. Weiss, Marueen R & Petlichkoff, Linda M – Children’s Motivation for Participation in and Withdrawal from
Sport: Identifying the Missing Links; Pediatric Exercise Science, 1989, 1, 195-211
3. Wankel, Leonard M & Sefton, Judy M – A Season-Long Investigation of Fun in Youth Sports; Journal of
Sport & Exercise Psychology, 1989, 11, 355-366
4. Helms, PJ – Sports Injuries in children: Should we be concerned?; Archives in Disease in Childhood, 1997,
77, 161-163
5. Bailey, Don – Junior Sport Matters: Briefing Papers for Australian Junior Sport
6. Gibson, Barry – Performance Implications of Physical & Mental Growth of the young Athlete
7. Horn, TS & Hasbrook CA; Psychological Characteristics and the Criteria Children Use for Self-Evaluation;
Journal of Sport Psychology, 1987, 9, 208-221
8. Information received in conversation with a representative from the Irish Amateur Boxing Association
(IABA)
Weight Consideration Guideline
9. http://www.inyouthsports.com/forms/2012_INFC_RuleBook.pdf
10. http://www.crfu.co.nz/main/download/4491/weights-grading-2013-final.pdf
11. http://www.irbplayerwelfare.com/?documentid=110
12. Backous DD, Farrow JA, Friedl K. Assessment of pubertal maturity in boys using height, and grip strength.
J Adolesc Public Health 2004; 28:482-6
13. Nutton RW, Hamilton DF, Hutchinson JD, et al. Variation in physical development in schoolboy Rugby
players: can maturity testing reduce mismatch? BMJ Open 2012;2:e001149.doi:10.1136