Age limits

[Witton Park]

The primary purpose behind the Rule Ten change is to reduce the number of breaches (whilst retaining the protective/welfare aspect underpinning the Rule) and since this rule is also UKA Rule 410 it could only be altered with the agreement of a broad consensus of the great and the good in the other home countries. It also makes more "sense" to regard juniors as the age they are rather than the age they were on 1st January.

UKA Rule 410 does not refer to Championships and age operative dates for them, or any individual race, can vary, as indeed they do now for eg international competitions, but the overriding Rules Ten/ 410 must apply and the FRA will take action following breaches: as indicated in the statement placed on page 75 of the current The Fellrunner by a Race Organiser.

Graham, you really surprise me when you come on here with such wishy-washy stuff. For a man with your eloquence and clear knowledge it astounds me sometimes.

You seem to be saying that we will be looking to move to a system where in all races Age on Day will be the relevant factor - it makes more sense does it? Why? No one has really explained this.
If it makes more sense then we will soon see the other disciplines of athletics follow this sensible lead proposed by the FRA and maybe we'll see it expanded to other sports as well as they all seem to take the rather bonkers approach of having operative dates for age calculation. By the end of the decade maybe even the schools will move children up a year based on DOB rather than School Year.

No one has demonstrated how this move will reduce the breaches when the breaches that have taken place have mostly been by deliberate false declaring of the age by competitors and/or their connections (as this involves juniors) or by ROs of Senior races who don't understand the rather simple current system and therefore probably shouldn't be an RO anyway.

The proposed Rule Change, if put in place, will apply to all races. So all races will be Age on Day and it allows no flexibility for anything. There are no rules in place that say "except...." for Championship Series, One of Champs Races, Local Leagues, or Race Series such as the Bunny's.

So when will the FRA Guide us to the Rules that will allow for Champs, or will allow for one-off races to vary from this?
I look forward to this guidance.

Oh and by the way, if an RO has the right form, signs up all over the show, correct info in the calendar, but the breach takes place by an athlete or their adult carer falsifying the entry form, why punish the RO.
Take sanctions against the athlete's connections and the club.