Age Groupings for Practice and Competition

PRACTICES

Because of the large size of the team and the small coaching staff (volunteers always welcome!), we generally split practices into two sessions, or roughly equal size groups.  Since the median age of our team always seems to be around 10 years, we split the team into two groups with the break between grades 4 and 5.  If a family has siblings on both sides of the break, or if it finds that the companion session actually works out better for their schedule - they are welcome to try attending the session that suits their needs, provided that the child or children is/are comfortable in that respective peer group.  More about practice sessions can be found at the Practices: Where, When, and What to Expect link elsewhere on the team website (http://www.fpycsports.com/Running%20homepage.htm).  An occasional switch, even if the peer group isn’t the best fit, is certainly encouraged if it means being able to make a companion session rather than having to skip.

There will be occasions when the entire team meets is one big session.  We do this when there is not enough daylight to fit in two sessions or if attendance is expected to be lower and more manageable.

COMPETING AT MEETS AND RACES

At track and field meets, particularly with shorter distance events, every effort within reason will be made to have participants compete with their peers.  Depending on what club or organization is hosting and organizing the meet, groupings may be done in different ways.  In some races, it will be done by age group (for example, age 6 and under boys, age 6 and under girls, age 7 and 8 boys, age 7 and 8 girls, etc.)  Some times it is done by grade level (for example, K and under boys and girls, grade 1 and 2 boys and girls, etc.)  When it is possible and makes sense, boys and girls will be run sprints in separate heats or races.

“AGE” DEFINED

This is not as easy as you might think.  There are two general approaches to defining the age, and thus the age category, or competitors.  The first is “age on race day.”  Following this method, if a runner is 8 years old on the day of the meet, and will not celebrate her ninth birthday until the following day, she would run and be scored with the 7 and 8 year old girls.  The other approach is grouping by “age at the end of the calendar year.”  In this case, the same girl would be considered “9”, because she will reach her ninth birthday on or before December 31 of that year.

There will be times, however, when efficiency trumps strict adherence to age or grade groups.  For example, if the 7 and 8 year old girls have been placed in groups of six (most high school tracks are six lanes), and there are 2 remaining girls at the end, it would not be uncommon to merge the heat with a few 7 and 8 year old boys or bring down a few nine year old girls from the next succeeding (9 and 10 years) age category.  This is done to reduce the number of total heats and make the meet run faster.

At longer distance track races, track field events, and cross country races, there is less likely to be age group separation for competition.  The track, pit, or cross country course can accommodate more participants simultaneously, so groupings that  cross age and gender are fairly standard.

SCORING AT MEETS AND RACES

At our competitions, we do not keep composite team scores - but many races and meets distribute individual ribbons and other awards to competitors.  Again, this is up to the host.  Sometimes, they are based on place in heat (for example, if our same young lady placed fourth in the second heat of the girls age 7 and 8 200-meter dash, she might get a fourth place ribbon), and other times they are based on overall place in the age group (her fourth place heat finish might have been the 8^th overall fastest time, when all 7 and 8 year old girls from all heats are considered).  So please recognize that procedures and practices can vary widely.

TEAM RECORDS

Our team records are all based on “age on race day.”  So even if the meet organizers consider a competitor to be 9 years old for their scoring and awards because they are using the method that calculates that she will be 9 years old prior to the end of the year, she will still be considered, for our club purposes, to be an 8 year old on that day and her performance would be judged against those marks or times in the 7 and 8 year old category.

AGE GROUPS AND COMPETITION AGES

The generally recognized standard age groupings are:

            Age 6 and Under                                   Grade K and Under

            Ages 7 and 8                                         Grades 1 and 2

            Ages 9 and 10                                       Grades 3 and 4

            Ages 11 and 12                                     Grades 5 and 6

            Ages 13 and 14                                     Grades 7 and 8

            Ages 15 and 16                                     Grades 9 and Higher

            Ages 17 and 18.

The organizing body of all things running in the United States, USA Track and Field (USATF), uses the following recognized names for their age groupings (notice that their lowest official category is a more catch-all ‘8 and under’ group).  USATF uses these classifications for all events that it sanctions, such as the Junior Olympic program and meets.

Sub-Bantam:                born in or after 1999      (age 8 or under on Dec. 31, 2007)
Bantam:                       born in 1997 and 1998    (ages 9 - 10 on Dec. 31, 2007)
Midget:                       born in 1995 and 1996    (ages 11 - 12 on Dec. 31, 2007)
Youth:                          born in 1993 and 1994    (ages 13 - 14 on Dec. 31, 2007)
Intermediate:              born in 1991 and 1992    (ages 15 - 16 on Dec. 31, 2007)
Young Women/Men:   born in 1989 and 1990    (ages17 - 18 on Dec. 31, 2007)