The month of your birth influences your chances of becoming a professional sportsperson, according to Australian academics in a new study.

Dr Adrian Barnett, from Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, studied the seasonal patterns of population health, and found by analysing the birthdays of professional Australian Football League players, that a disproportionate number were born in the early months of the year.

Unlike in the UK, the Australian school year begins in January. The studies correlates with findings in the UK, where the year starts in September, that autumn babies are more likely to succeed in sport, particularly football.

"Children who are taller have an obvious advantage when playing the football code of AFL," Dr Barnett said. "If you were born in January, you have almost 12 months' growth ahead of your classmates born late in the year."

Barnett found there were 33 per cent more professional AFL players than expected with birthdays in January and 25 per cent fewer in December.

Those results mirror other international studies which found a link between being born near the start of school year and the chances of becoming a professional player, particularly in ice hockey, football, volleyball and basketball.

"Research in the UK shows those born at the start of the school year also do better academically and have more confidence," he said.

That said, aspiring junior sportspeople at school should not despair. The month of their birth never stood in the way of Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson (July) winning 11 paralympic gold medals, Sir Chris Hoy (March) winning three Olympic golds, and other sporting legends such as Bobby Moore (April), Kapil Dev (January), Daley Thompson (July), and Lawrence Dallaglio (August).

(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.)

(Agencies)