Age limits

[Lefty]

I read in the latest Fellrunner magazine that there may be a move to alter the race age qualification to age on the day of the race rather than as of 1st Jan as it present stands. Surely for the Championships series this wouldn't work as most juniors wouldn't be able to achieve a full series in their age group, many would end up doing some races in one age group and some in another, not good and careful though must be given to this by the Fra junior committee before making such a retrograde decision.

[Witton Park]

not good and careful though must be given to this by the Fra junior committee before making such a retrograde decision.

Lefty - just to pick up on this. I am on the junior committee and this has not come through the junior committee.

If the FRA Committee are of the opinion that this has been discussed and agreed by the Junior Committee then they have been mislead.

The Junior committee have taken part in a dialogue on a related matter regarding race distances and "running up" along the lines of part of the discussion on this thread.
http://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/showt...linary-Matters

But I have never been aware of a proposal to change the age groups until I was asked about it by a Welsh colleague about 3 weeks ago.

[Lefty]

If as I understand it and have been reliably informed that the age eligibility will be changed to the date of the first championship race ( round about 1st March ) surely this will be more confusing and what difference if any will moving the date by some 8 weeks make. Perhaps someone from the Fra committee ie Graham can let us know if in fact this matter has been discussed, if advice has been taken from the Junior committee and indeed other interested and well informed parties such as club coaches and officials and race organisers, if not then why not.

[Lefty]

It would appear from my conversations with several Fra committe members today that it's been decided that there will be a 2 tier system. For the Championship age qualification will remain age as of 1st Jan whilst for all other races it will be age on the day of the race. If the previous system was deemed to be confusing this will be even more so especially for the athletes as they will be running in one age group in some races and a different age group in others. How will this affect our local clubs Grand Prix series, I suspect it will have to be age as of 1st Jan as fr the Fra championships or it's going to be a bebacle.

[Witton Park]

How will this affect our local clubs Grand Prix series, I suspect it will have to be age as of 1st Jan as fr the Fra championships or it's going to be a bebacle.

If this goes through, U14 race will now become 12/13 years Age on Day race, so if we go to an existing race with the FRA Champs, the U14s will run in the 12/13 year old on the day race.

But there could be some U14s (1st Jan) that are already now 14, so they could also quite legitimately run in the 14/15 year old / U16 race.

So not only will we have a two tier system of races, we will have 2 tiers within a fixture.
:w00t:

[Witton Park]

Question from me to FRA
Will race distances be set based on the age on day or Champs calculation?
A 13 year old U14 with a birthday of Feb 1st will be able to run over 7km in a junior open race after his birthday but only over 5km in a FRA Champs race.

An FRA spokesman replied
A U14 race would be not more than 5km as at present and a U16 race would be up to 7km. The runner you mention would normally run U14 in a championship series, but would be allowed to race up to 7km and at U16 (age 14/15) level in other races from Feb 1st. Under the proposed amendment they could technically run the U16 championship race (if the organiser allowed it), but would not then be able to qualify for the U14 championship.

So I anticipate a scenario where said athlete would arrive at a race faced with the option of running in the U14 Champs race or moving up to run in the 14/15 year old open race (on which the U16 champs race will piggy-back)

[Clash City Rocker]

I cant just see how this move will make things easier. As an RO of 3 junior races I am tempetd to just stick with age at 1st of Jan anyway, I think (correct me if I'm wrong) butthis arose out of considerable debate about the issue of older juniors and their progression through longer races to becoming seniors was it right that they could go from 6 mile races one day to any distance the next. I am not sure how this solution serves to address that problem. Initially looking at it its just going to be way more complicated for everyoine concerend from juniors to parents to RO's.
As FJ mentiosn there are notes available but to be honest I think it would be useful if there was a explanation of the rationale for this made here on the forum.

[Witton Park]

Might as well use an old thread.

How many of you out there are aware that UKA are consulting on changes to the Rule Book for 2016?
Click here for info.

Note in the FAQs
Would this apply to all disciplines?
Yes – if adopted then the new age groups would apply across all disciplines and have the effect of
standardising across the sport and allowing structured preparation for international competition at
Under 20 and Under 18.

If this does go ahead it might not be such an onerous issue for Fell Running as there is already a familiarity with age group changes on 31st Dec/1st Jan.
However, the FRA doesn't define age groups in it's rules, only max distances (a mistake in my opinion) and it would now have age group definition forced on it.

This may have an affect on the recent change that allows junior races to be age on day and it may also have an effect on race sthat operate differing age cats such as BOFRA.

Fell Clubs certainly need to consider this and if necessary make their views known through the channels outlined on the link.

The FRA is also an affiliate and has a voice in the process. It would be interesting to know if the committee has discussed this and has a view.

NB.
Would the change affect Schools’ competitions?
No – Schools’ competition is managed separately and no changes will be made to their structure.

The schools are no buying in to this. No surprise really as they participate in sport based on school year.

Other than fell there are consequences for Cross Country in particular as the age groups would change mid season.

[blencathrafrommykitchen]

As far as fell champs are concerned this doesn't look like a major issue, since the championship season starts in the spring and is contained in one calendar year. I would be against a rule that prevented "age on day" being used in one-off races at the organiser's discretion. I know junior athletes who are desperate to race against the seniors in shorter races: those born in January-March would be fed up if they were told they had to wait a further 9-11 months for no good reason.

I agree it would be more of an issue for XC and would initially feel odd as kids would be running with one set of competitors in league races up to Xmas, and then a 50% different set of competitors after Xmas into the county champs, regional and nationals.

Having said that, on a week by week basis they already race with different competitors when they go from racing for their clubs and counties to their schools and county schools. And that's without thinking about eg Kendal Winter League fell racing where there are different age groups again.

The biggest headache might be trying to explain it to parents and getting entry forms filled in accurately.

[Witton Park]

As far as fell champs are concerned this doesn't look like a major issue, since the championship season starts in the spring and is contained in one calendar year. I would be against a rule that prevented "age on day" being used in one-off races at the organiser's discretion. I know junior athletes who are desperate to race against the seniors in shorter races: those born in January-March would be fed up if they were told they had to wait a further 9-11 months for no good reason.

I agree it would be more of an issue for XC and would initially feel odd as kids would be running with one set of competitors in league races up to Xmas, and then a 50% different set of competitors after Xmas into the county champs, regional and nationals.

Having said that, on a week by week basis they already race with different competitors when they go from racing for their clubs and counties to their schools and county schools. And that's without thinking about eg Kendal Winter League fell racing where there are different age groups again.

The biggest headache might be trying to explain it to parents and getting entry forms filled in accurately.

Endurance would certainly be affected less. This affects juniors on the whole and on road there is little specific for juniors other than standalone road relays.
The XC leagues and the XC championship pathway is the one that will be most affected from an endurance standpoint.

Wider in athletics there are huge issues though. Hurdles for example will have one technical spec for schools and another for UKA. In an event like that you cannot coach 2 specs effectively and there will be similar issues for throws.