In boxing and judo, players compete with others with similar weight. This is to acknowledge the fact that a heavier player has advantage over a lighter player. In basketball and volleyball, players compete against each other regardless of their height. Clearly a taller player has advantage over a shorter player in these sports. Why shouldn't they play in different divisions/classes?
Weight advantage is acknowledge in some sports
In some sports, such as boxing, judo and weight lifting, players compete within their own divisions or classes. This is to acknowledge weight advantage in these sports.
In judo, men are grouped into the following seven divisions
(Source: Wikipedia):
Under 60 kg / 60–66 kg /66–73 kg / 73–81 kg / 81–90 kg / 90–100 kg / Over 100 kg
Women are grouped into the following divisions:
Under 48 kg / 48–52 kg / 52–57 kg / 57–63 kg / 63–70 kg / 70–78 kg / Over 78 kg
Boxing are grouped into even finer (16) classes
(Source: Wikipedia):
47.6 kg / 49 kg / 50.8 kg / 52.2 kg / 53.5 kg / 55.3 kg / 57.2 kg / 59.0 kg / 61.2 kg / 63.5 kg / 66.7 kg / 69.9 kg / 72.6 kg / 76.2 kg / 79.4 kg / 90.7 kg.
There they even acknowledge the difference of a couple of kilograms.
Olympic weight lifting are also divided into divisions
(Source: Wikipedia):
Men: Up to 56 kg / 62 kg / 69 kg / 77 kg / 85 kg / 94 kg / 105 kg / over 105 kg
Women: Up to 48 kg / 53 kg / 58 kg / 63 kg / 69 kg / 75 kg / over 75 kg
Surprisingly, height advantage is never acknowledged
In sports such as basketball and volleyball, height advantage clearly counts. A player who can throw a basketball down into a basket certainly has advantage over a player who has to throw upward. Similarly, a volleyball player who cannot reach the top of the net cannot possibly strike as hard as someone who can. Tall players have clear advantage. It is unclear why they should not not compete in different divisions/classes.
The same point probably applies to high-jumps too.
In fact, one has more control over one's weight than one's height. There are plenty of examples where a boxer adjusts his/her weight in order to play in different classes. So there is a stronger case for putting height divisions into these sports.
Possible restriction
A taller footballer will have advantage over a shorter player in heading;
so why limit height divisions to basketball?
However, a team may assemble players of different height.
A short footballer can excel in some parts of the game.
There are many examples of top footballers who are relatively short.
But one can hardly see a 1.60 meter tall player succeeding in competitive international basketball.
So the least adjustment to these games is to limit the total height of a team.
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