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And what happens when a player gets chosen for a rep squad?
一個球員如果能有幸進入曲棍球巡回賽，他將獲得什么？
He gets better coaching,
他會擁有優秀的教練、
and his teammates are better,
更出色的隊友、
and he plays fifty or seventy-five games a season
一個賽季50到75次的出場機會，
instead of twenty games a season
而不是像一個賽季只有20次的出場機會的
like those left behind in the "house" league,
“社區聯賽” 一樣，
and he practices twice or even three times more than he would have otherwise.
他的比賽時間增加了兩到三倍。
In the beginning, his advantage wasn't so much that he was inherently better
起初，他的優勢或許并不明顯，
but only that he was a little older,
但只要他是一塊好料子，
but by the age of thirteen or fourteen,
當他13歲或者14歲的時候，
with the benefit of better coaching and all that extra practise under his belt,
就可以發現通過良好的培訓和有針對性的練習，
he really is better.
他就能證明自己是真正的優秀者。
So he is the one more likely to make it to Major Junior A, and from there into the big leagues.
他就很可能被選進加拿大曲棍球聯賽，從這里，他將走進更為頂尖的聯賽。
Barnsley argues that this kind of skewed age distributions
巴恩斯利認為，
exist wherever three things happen:
在球員篩選、人才分類和區別培訓三個環節，
selection, streaming, and differentiated experience.
無一例外地存在馬太效應。
If you make a dicision about who is good and who is not at an early age;
假如你從球員年齡很小的時候便確定誰優秀誰較差，
if you separate the so-called talented from the so-called untalented;
假如你要從“平庸者”當中挑選出“佼佼者”，
and if you provide the so-called talented with a superior experience,
假如你要為“佼佼者”的訓練開小灶，
then you are going to end up giving a huge advantage to that small group of people born closest to the cutoff date.
那么，你最終會把機會留給一小部分球員，這些球員的出生日期最為接近法定注冊時間。
In the United States, football and basketball don't have these problems,
但在美國，橄欖球和籃球運動都不存在這類現象。
they don't select and stream and differentiate quite as dramatically.
這兩類運動不存在球員篩選、人才分類和區別培訓的問題，
As a result, a child can be a bit behind physically in those sports
結果，很多年幼的小孩，雖然體質上處于弱勢，
and still play as much as his or her more mature peers.
但依舊和那些比他或者她更為成熟年長的人同場競技。
But baseball does.
但棒球運動卻存在這類問題。
The cutoff date for almost all nonschool baseball leagues in the United States is July 31,
在美國，非學校棒球聯賽的法定注冊時間是7月31 日,結果聯賽中，
with the result that more major league players are born in August than any other month.
8月份出生的球員遠遠多于其他月份出生的球員。
The numbers are striking:
數字令人驚訝：
In 2005, there were 505 Americans born in August playing major league baseball
在2005年美國棒球聯賽中，有505名球員出生在8月份，
versus 313 born in July.
7月份出生的球員只有313人。
