ABSTRACT
At what age can a child begin to take part in competitive sports? Since the 1970s, several authors have tried to find an answer to this question. They agree that before the age of six or seven, a child cannot understand the concept of competition (Sherif 1976: 18-36; Martens 1978: 190-1; Roberts 1980: 37-50; Maffuli 1998: 298). Children under the age of nine are incapable of differentiating between the concept of effort and that of ability. This means that they believe that winning can only be achieved through effort and that losing is the result of not trying hard enough (Murphy 1999: 146).
