Classes and Age Groups
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Started
As we would like to convert this discussion into a proposal, I am creating the discussions but gossi prepared the necessary texts, please refer to the first post.
Comment
Hello everyone,
In the general committee the “chaos” between age groups, novice/intermediate/experts, who is a winner, etc. is going to get reworked. The proposal is to use classes that will be used to award championship titles. And within that age groups are possible. This is really great to freestyle as it will simplify a lot of rules and benefit a lot of riders with that.
Since freestyle rules are one of the oldest, this requires modernizing them and dropping the notion of categories (this is very old). According to our knowledge, these categories are not used as written in the rules (probably in the US?) and only left are (jr) experts. Dropping those in favor of the combination of classes and age groups benefits all freestyle competitions world wide and unites them together.
Additionally Artistic Freestyle is the only discipline that has limits at Unicon (Championship and Convention competitions), we propose that freestyle will be the first one to support a youth class - germany is already using them (see the numbers posted there) to divide competitors into that ages as we hit the limits with the IUF rulebook. We took the opportunity to share our experiences in managing such a high number of athletes.
As such, the combination of classes and age groups allow for different types of events at different scales, while being IUF rulebook compliant.
Other sections in the freestyle rules need an update as well, which will be in separate discussion, but they will reference section 6E.5.3 as drafted here.
Draft for changes to the rulebook:
## 6E.5 Classes and Age Groups
### 6E.5.1 Supported Classes
Artistic Freestyle (Individual and Pair) will support all three classes (as per 1C.x), they are:
1. Junior (< 15)
2. Youth (15 - 18)
3. Adult (>=19)
### 6E.5.2 Minimum Age Groups: Individual and Pair
Artistic Freestyle recommends to follow age groups and their guaranteed ranges (as per 1C.7 Age Groups).
IUF Sanctioned & Endorsed events: Recommended age groups will be enforced for Individual and Pair competitions.
Other events (eg. Newcomer Freestyle events that welcome first timers) are free to adjust age groups to match their expected competitors.
### 6E.5.3 Class-based vs. Age Group-based Competitions
Classes and age groups may be different types of competitions, but ensure hosts to focus on one or another.
IUF Sanctioned & Endorsed events: Class-based competitions for Individual and Pair will be enforced.
Group Artistic Freestyle: Will always happen in class-based competitions.
### 6E.5.3.1 Class-based Competition
Athletes start in classes and are awarded in classes (championship titles). If this event is part of a qualification series, athletes advance to the next competition based on their results in a class.
Athletes optionally can be awarded for age group results.
### 6E.5.3.2 Age Group-based Competition
Athletes start in age groups and are awarded in age groups (eg. winner in U17). If this event is part of a qualification series, athletes may advance to the next competition based on their results in their respective class.
Athletes optionally can be awarded for class results.
## 6E.6 Categories for Smaller Competitions
[delete]
## 6C Judges and Officials Rules
## 6C.4 Judging Panel
### 6C.4.4 Judging Panel May Not Change
A judging panel remains persistent per class rsp. age group, depending on the type of competition (see 6E.5.3). When the competition is age group-based but awards class results, the judging panel must remain persistent for the respective class.
Comment
Is this in relation to the Qualification topic that was already started as a discussion? I'm finding your explanation hard to follow.
Comment
I can't really follow the proposal either - what exactly is the difference between "Class-based Competitions" and "Age-Group Competitions" if for Age-Group Competitions the proposal says “Athletes optionally can be awarded for class results.” and for Class-based Competitions it says “Athletes optionally can be awarded for age group results.”?
Then you could award the same prizes in both types of competition... so why make the rules so complicated?
Comment
Thanks for your feedback. We (Jan, Marvin, Lisa and me) discussed this on monday and based on the discussion I refined my text (along with a change for Classes in Main Committee).
@Patricia About qualification: Germany uses multiple events througout the year, that qualify you for the next higher event.
State (6 events) -> Regional (2 events) -> national (1 event) -> international/unicon
I rephrased the respective sentence to make it more clearer.
As we discussed about forming start groups and how it affects warm up/acclimation time on the competition floor, I saw myself adding this section as it wasn't present before (nice one).
Here is the refined rules:
## 6E.5 Classes and Age Groups
### 6E.5.1 Supported Classes
Artistic Freestyle will support classes based on competitions.
### 6E.5.1.1 Individual and Pair
A youth class as per 1C.x shall be used when the requirements (see below) are met:
1. Junior (< 15)
2. Youth (15 - 18)
3. Adult (>= 19)
Requirements:
IUF Sanctioned events: All three classes are used
Other events: Youth and Adult class should have at least 8 starters each
Reasons:
- Visibility: Ensure athletes from the youth class are represented
- Equality: Ensure a stable competitor field within one class with similar conditions that gives athletes more equal chances to win a championship title
- Development pipeline: Establish conditions for growth within the discipline
### 6E.5.1.2 Groups
Small and large group uses two classes:
1. Junior (< 15)
2. Adult (>= 15)
### 6E.5.2 Minimum Age Groups: Individual and Pair
Artistic Freestyle recommends to follow age groups and their guaranteed ranges (as per 1C.7 Age Groups).
IUF Sanctioned & Endorsed events: Recommended age groups will be enforced for Individual and Pair competitions.
Other events (eg. Newcomer Freestyle events that welcome first timers) are free to adjust age groups to match their expected competitors.
### 6E.6 Results
Awards can be given for classes (championship titles) or age groups (winners) and must be announced for each event.
IUF Sanctioned events: Athletes are awarded in classes (championship titles).
IUF Endorsed events: Recommended to award athletes in classes (championship titles).
Qualification Event: If an organization uses multiple events throughout the year as a qualification series, athletes advance based on their results in a class, see section 6C.4.4 for the judging panel arrangement.
### 6E.7 Start Groups
Forming start groups is up to the event, but should be based on classes or age groups. For IUF Sanctioned and Endorsed events (when following the recommendation) class based start groups are enforced.
### 6E.8 Warm Up Time
Hosts must ensure warmup time on the competition floor. For example with a separate area (locked away from the competition, but same floor) or through breaks in the schedule to give the next wave of riders time to acclimate with the floor.
Example:
For large start groups, there is a warmup break every ~10 routines - or - there is one warmup block for the next three start groups if combined they are not more than 10 people.
The numbers in the example shall give orientation, please pick reasonable numbers that match your schedule and suit the athletes warm up needs.
## 6E.6 Categories for Smaller Competitions
[delete]
## 6E.9 Pre-Event Practice Time
...
## 6C Judges and Officials Rules
## 6C.4 Judging Panel
### 6C.4.4 Judging Panel May Not Change
A judging panel remains persistent minimum per age group. If the event awards athletes by class or uses class results, the judging panel must remain persistent per class.
Comment
This seems to want to tackle a lot of issues in one.
I am also confused by the difference of "Class-Based" vs. "Age Group Based." I don't think we need to award more titles in Freestyle.
Also, I am not in favor of getting ride of 6E.6. In the US, where Freestyle is very limited, these categories work incredibly well and were originally added to the IUF Rulebook to allow other small Freestyle countries to use the categories while still being an IUF supported event. I know that Denmark had similar interest and success. There seems to be no reason to get rid of this.
Comment
I also think this proposal is highly confusing and someone who doesn't have any kind of knowledge can't understand it at all. However, adding a Youth class, that I am in favor of. Especially in Germany we have a lot of older riders and someone who turns 15 always has a disadvantage because everyone from that age up competes against each other. It would also help people who don't know anything about the sport to understand it better because it's similar to other sports and their classes/age groups.
Comment
I also agree with Rebecca. In Germany we have a lot of good riders in Junior Expert. When they turn 15, they suddenly have to compete against riders, who are much older and have much more experience. A lot of them therefore loose their motivation and stop competing. Why not create a youth title? I don't see the disadvantage...
In the beginning I was also confused about the system, Gossi explained here and in the other committees. But when I talked to him, it all made more sense and I see the benefits in all of that now aswell.
I would like to describe it in my own words, Gossi please correct me, if I am wrong :)
Class-based events means, that all the Junior riders f.e. compete against each other, no matter what exact age they are (later you can still award the age classes). The winner of the class receives the title of the competition. For higher events (endorsed and sanctioned) this variation is a duty.
Agegroup-based events are good for smaller /regional events. All the riders compete in their age group. The winner is the winner of the age group (no title). In Germany, we have more and more small Freestyle competitions, where no title is available. This system would work pretty well here.
In my understanding, it is not one strict system described here. Every country could pick the variation, what works best for them. For Unicon it is clear, that the class-based system has to be used.
Comment
> I am also confused by the difference of "Class-Based" vs. "Age Group Based."
I think this aspect was taken into account in gossi's new proposal, wasn't it? I definitely find the new proposal much easier to understand in this regard.
> Also, I am not in favor of getting ride of 6E.6. In the US, where Freestyle is very limited, these categories work incredibly well and were originally added to the IUF Rulebook to allow other small Freestyle countries to use the categories while still being an IUF supported event.
I think that's a good hint, after all the rules should remain applicable to all countries. At the same time, I would say that even with the rule proposed by gossi, it would still be possible to have a competition where the three categories “Novice”, ‘Intermediate’ and “Expert” are offered - the IUF rules do not prohibit offering competitions for different performance levels at any point. The only difference that would exist with the new rule would be that each performance level offered would have to be divided into at least U15 and 15+, which in my opinion makes a lot of sense from a sporting point of view. With this subdivision, however, a competition with several performance levels would still be compliant with the rules and could be offered.
I have a few comments on the proposal, which I will simply integrate directly into the proposal text, separated as follows “### Note ###”
### 6E.5.2 Minimum Age Groups: Individual and Pair
Artistic Freestyle recommends to follow age groups and their guaranteed ranges (as per 1C.7 Age Groups).
IUF Sanctioned & Endorsed events: Recommended age groups will be enforced for Individual and Pair competitions.
### The mentioning of endorsed events is difficult in my opinion, since the core of these events is that they may deviate from the rulebook - so they may also deviate from this rule and could still be endorsed events ###
Other events (eg. Newcomer Freestyle events that welcome first timers) are free to adjust age groups to match their expected competitors.
### I think these events should also follow the rules of Chapter 1 if they are to be competitions according to IUF rules ###
### 6E.6 Results
Awards can be given for classes (championship titles) or age groups (winners) and must be announced for each event.
IUF Sanctioned events: Athletes are awarded in classes (championship titles).
IUF Endorsed events: Recommended to award athletes in classes (championship titles).
### Age groups are an extremely important comparison group for many riders, I don't quite understand why only honoring classes is recommended here. It seems as if only a comparison within the class is relevant, but for many riders the age group is the more relevant comparison group. After all, we are in a sport with an extremely large number of young athletes, where age differences can have a major influence on the performance of the athletes ###
Qualification Event: If an organization uses multiple events throughout the year as a qualification series, athletes advance based on their results in a class, see section 6C.4.4 for the judging panel arrangement.
### I also take a very critical view of this for the reasons mentioned above. I also wonder what the advantage of such a strict requirement in the IUF Rulebook is, which in the end mainly affects “smaller” championships. ###
### 6E.7 Start Groups
Forming start groups is up to the event, but should be based on classes or age groups. For IUF Sanctioned and Endorsed events (when following the recommendation) class based start groups are enforced.
### Endorsed events see above. Furthermore, I only see an advantage of class based start groups if championship titles are also awarded (without a separate final). ###
Comment
Ad Patricia:
> This seems to want to tackle a lot of issues in one.
It adresses all aspects of organizing/structuring the event wrt classes (new) and age groups. All while "modernizing" the quite antiquated freestyle section here in catching up with parts in general (existing and those to come as per current discussions).
> Also, I am not in favor of getting ride of 6E.6. In the US, where Freestyle is very limited, these categories work incredibly well and were originally added to the IUF Rulebook to allow other small Freestyle countries to use the categories while still being an IUF supported event.
It's not going away, but moving into general section, which makes it obsolete to keep it under freestyle: See "Levels" in general. Sorry, I missed the pointer to upstream.
Ad Jan: Qualification leads to Unicon, leads to classes. Make qualifiers (endorsed events) run under the same conditions as sanctioned events. Please take notice of the word "recommended". Your comments are all handled.
Comment
> Ad Jan: Qualification leads to Unicon, leads to classes. Make qualifiers (endorsed events) run under the same conditions as sanctioned events. Please take notice of the word "recommended". Your comments are all handled.
I'm not sure what you mean by “Your comments are all handled.”?
>> IUF Sanctioned & Endorsed events: Recommended age groups will be enforced for Individual and Pair competitions.
This can only be enforced for sanctioned events, as endorsed events are allowed to deviate from the rules and can therefore offer other age groups. The information “& Endorsed events” is therefore of no use to the reader of the rules at this point - so why is it there?
>> Other events (eg. Newcomer Freestyle events that welcome first timers) are free to adjust age groups to match their expected competitors.
The wording gives the impression that other competitions can freely adjust their age groups - but this is in contradiction to chapter 1 of the IUF rules.
>> IUF Sanctioned events: Athletes are awarded in classes (championship titles).
>> IUF Endorsed events: Recommended to award athletes in classes (championship titles).
For IUF Sanctioned events there is no “recommended” and also no indication that Classes Awards are to be held in addition to Age Group - so age groups would not be allowed to be honored and honoring would be exclusively in classes? That doesn't make sense to me.
For endorsed events, the same applies as tow comments above - the rule gives a false impression of what is used for endorsed events.
I think what you are trying to describe with IUF Sanctioned and IUF Endorsed is a kind of level of competition (as it exists in other sports) - but that is not the meaning behind these definitions and therefore their application does not work analogously to other sports.
>> Qualification Event: If an organization uses multiple events throughout the year as a qualification series, athletes advance based on their results in a class, see section 6C.4.4 for the judging panel arrangement.
I don't see a recommendation here, but a strict requirement - it doesn't even mention what you qualify for in the qualification series, the rule is simply thrown at everything that could be a qualification series in any way.
But the biggest problem is that by qualifying in classes instead of age groups, it makes it practically impossible for U11 riders, for example, to qualify for a higher competition. However, as I wrote in my other comment, for many riders the age group is the decisive comparison group and the much more important group compared to the class. Nevertheless, the rule focuses exclusively on the class, which means that some age groups will practically no longer be represented at higher competitions of qualification series. In my opinion, this is fatal in a sport with such young participants as unicycling and is in direct contradiction to the reasons for introducing a third class. Introducing a third class but at the same time massively suppressing the age groups that are often much more important for the riders and thus also the corresponding riders is absolutely incomprehensible to me.
>> Forming start groups is up to the event, but should be based on classes or age groups. For IUF Sanctioned and Endorsed events (when following the recommendation) class based start groups are enforced.
Again the same remark for Endorsed events as above - the rule gives a false impression of what is used for endorsed events.
Comment
What should happen with this proposal? All proposals should be send to vote by totay... I think if there are revisions neccessary, then please make them today oder at latest tomorrow and send the proposal to vote as fast as possible.