Age & 'right' class - Agreement

chauffeur · Post by **chauffeur** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:55 pm

Quote from Guest in Events & Stafford &Stone: "A list with name and age class worked out by the BCU would be good, there is quite a bit of confusion over J12, J14, J16 etc.. as exactly when you are in which class. Think we have it sorted but spoken to heaps who seem to have no idea how to work out age class. e.g. J12 12th birthday on or after 1st January is J12, well that's OK, but try explaining J13 & J15:
e.g 13th birthday on or after 1st January is a J14.
so many get it wrong!"
Have to say we have found many people find this confusing, anyone else noticed the same?
Does anyone check entries for age and right age class?

dsamartin · Post by **dsamartin** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:24 pm

Yes,
I too find this quite confusing and have been offered conflicting advice as to what age group my son will be in next year.
He is 13 on the 3rd of January,the previous post seems to indicate that he will be J14 however some have told me J12!!
Arghh help ???

Canadian Paddler · Post by **Canadian Paddler** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:10 pm

J12 if your 12th birthday falls on or after Jan 1st in the year, so your son will be J14, his 12th birthday being before 1/1/2006, and his 14th birthday after.

And, yes I do check the ages on the cards, as we often give out J10, and have given out J8 as well

John Sturgess · Post by **John Sturgess** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 10:34 pm

Slight difficulty here in that the Slalom Committee, event organisers, etc work in two-year age-bands, whereas TI&D - including Start - has to work in one-year age-bands, in order to be able to set standards for each year-group.

So your son is a J13 next year in TI&D terms - because on Jan 1st he is still under 13 - but in prize and ranking list terms, England selection, etc, he will be in the first of his 2 years as a J14. In 2008 he will be a J15 for Start purposes, but a first-year J16 for other purposes.

Does that make life more or less confusing?

parent · Post by **parent** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 2:33 pm

I have attended the Stone and Sowerby Bridge events and find that some juniors were entered in the wrong age group at both events. As a result some of the J12, J14 etc were awarded to these juniors who had been entered incorrectly. It is very upseting for those juniors who have rightfully won that award to see it being given to the wrong person!
As the DOB has to be completed on the entry card why have the organisers not checked that they had been entered into the correct age group? When the results go back to Nick are they checked then or is it possible for juniors to complete the season in the wrong age group collecting awards as they go?

jim croft · Post by **jim croft** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 2:58 pm

??? \It can be confusing most slalom programes work it out for you I know the slasoft works the age class out hope the following table helps:-
Date of birth later than
01/01/1994 = J12
01/01/1992 = J14
01/01/1990 = J16
01/01/1988 = J18

When there is an U23 Class
01/01/1983 = U23
01/01/1970 = DV

Hope that is of some help

Jim

Geebs · Post by **Geebs** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 4:00 pm

I think it become's even more confusing for some parents that are new to the sport when the entry cards have the category U12 printed on them and there is no mention of J12?

Perhaps on the next reprint this could be altered to tie in with the classes as per the rules?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 6:58 pm

Age group is an issue for he kids and their prizes. They often wait to be J12, J14, J16, exactly to win a prize as in the group below, i.e. J11, J13, J15, they often miss out.
Perhpas the year book each time could be specific as to DOB and category for each age group for that particular year.

guest · Post by **guest** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 7:31 pm

[As the DOB has to be completed on the entry card why have the organisers not checked that they had been entered into the correct age group]

Both Sowerby and Stone have to enter a lot of paddlers on the day, it's easy to make a mistake when entering data under pressure. Surely it's up to paddlers and their parents to check the start lists and go and notify the organisers of any data entry errors? It doesn't take much to edit them.
Checking every date of birth would be time consuming and lead to late start times - thus causing a different complaint to yours.

Dave Royle · Post by **Dave Royle** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 10:34 pm

Thankyou guest. I think you have spotted the problem. A hundred or so parents hastling you in the morning about how long they have stood in the queue for an entry, followed by the same ones complaining about little Jonny's prize. Might be a little exagerated there, parents, but you see the point perhaps.

Next question though I have never understood and I will use an example to illustrate.

Results
1st Old Bloke
2nd Old Bloke
3rd Old Bloke
4th John Brown J16
5th Dave Smith J18
6th Ed Morris J14
7th Joe Bloggs J12

Prizes are J18, J16 and J14. Who gets what?

Entries on a postcard ..............

jim croft · Post by **jim croft** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:40 am

??? Dave
I am with you as a Organiser its a nightmare when you are trying to get the prizes right, and how many parents put the date of wrong, last year at the event I ran in June I had 2 entrires with with DOB 1) October 2005. 2) September 2005.

What age group do you put them in?

Jim

Canadian Paddler · Post by **Canadian Paddler** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:09 am

Re Daves conundrum, My Postcard would be 1st J18 John Brown, 1st J16 6th Ed Morris, 1st J14 Joe Bloggs,
After all John Brown was the first paddler under 18.

As we tend to have 95% entry on the day, we make up the age groups on the day and would have added J12, (and possibly a J10) - but that is Div 4/3 and we want to encourage people back.

I am with Jim and Dave - entering all the entries on the day leads to tryping errors (especially with my skills) so I am reliant on parents looking at start/result lists and letting me know that Leslie is actually J12 not J14 (sometimes despite the card), and should be K1M, not K1W! After prize giving is too late.

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 5:53 pm

I agree with Canadian Paddler's allocation of prizes, but some clubs see it differently such that a J16 prize could be awarded to someone well down the list with J14s and J12s higher up receiving nothing. However surely this is up to the organisers since I don't think there is anything specific.

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect paddlers (or their parents) to check their details are correct on the start list. We all do our best but just ain't perfect.

For what it's worth, at Shepperton we had no fewer than 3 separate sets of parents saying that we'd got the age group wrong, but when we checked we were right and they were wrong. There is lots of misunderstanding out there...

another confused parent · Post by **another confused parent** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:18 pm

I have been reading all the comment here and feel that prehapes we should follow part of the selection process where they. Take the year we are in at present, and then take away the year your child was born"
I.E. 2006 - 1993 = 13.
This means your child is a J14, even if they have not had there birthday that year, my own daughter is not 13 till July but still has to paddle as at J14, and this weekend Girls older than her were still paddling as J12!!

parent · Post by **parent** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:23 pm

It may be suggested that some parents are entering juniors into the wrong age group so that they pick up the awards, as previously stated this is unfair to those juniors who are particiapting in the correct age group but see their award given to someone in the wrong age group. I agree that it must be difficult to check all of the cards, especially entries on the day of the event, but whose responsibility is it to check? surely it cannot be the responsibility of other parents as this may lead to unpleasnat arguments