Switching Clubs Mid Season?

[andy L]

Suppose we have an Orienteer who is a member of Club X on 1 Jan 2014 but has now decided he/she wants a more "competitive" relay team for the big relays in March / April and so wants to switch to Club Y prior to 1 March 2014. Questions:

1) Is it actually possible to switch clubs mid season?
2a) If the switch is done prior to 1 March 2014, will the "switch" have any impact on the eligibility of the Club Y's relay team for JK/British/Harvester prizes etc
2b) If the switch is done prior to 1 March 2014, will the "switch" have any impact on the UK relay league points for JK/British/Harvester etc

I did have a quick search through Nopesport and BO website but nothing jumped out at me.
Thanks for your help in advance.

[Jon X]

Andy, it's fine to do but needs two things - you need to notify BOF of the change of club and as part of that provide a letter/email of approval from the club president/secretary of the runner is leaving, and then new team is eligible for prizes and for UKRL points.

[King Penguin]

... and they can only run for a single club in the CSC in a year, so if they run for club A in the qualifier they cannot run for club B in the final (even if one is Trophy and the other is Cup).

[SJC]

Andy, it's fine to do but needs two things - you need to notify BOF of the change of club and as part of that provide a letter/email of approval from the club president/secretary of the runner is leaving, and then new team is eligible for prizes and for UKRL points.

That certainly used to be the case, but it isn't what the 2014 rules say.
In fact, they don't say anything about changing clubs at all, but tend to imply you can only represent one club in a calendar year.

[graeme]

The "Neighbouring Club Alliances" rule is meant to deal with this, but only the Scottish allows it for all age classes. There are some restrictions, e.g. if the person transferring is likely to deny someone else a run.

[andy L]

Thanks for the swift responses... I will get in touch with British Orienteering to confirm

[Red Adder]

Surely Moysey has only until midnight on 31 Jan to sign you up if he wants you to be eligible for the PL and Champions Lge And make sure your agent gets you a good % of the transfer fee.

[Mrs H]

So Andy - do tell - which club is "your friend" thinking of moving too?

[keever]

For the UK relay league:

• Individual competitors may represent one club in the the UKRL each year. Any individual competitor who intends to run for multiple clubs in UKRL races in a single year shall notify the UKRL coordinator in advance of which club he would like to represent in the UKRL; otherwise he shall be considered to be representing the first club that he runs for that year.
• If a club is represented at an event by a team which includes a competitor who has already represented a different club at a previous UKRL event that year or who has given notice that he intends to represent a different club for UKRL purposes, then the team featuring that competitor shall be disregarded in the scoring of UKRL points at that event.

[Snail]

otherwise he shall be considered to be representing the first club that he runs for that year.

That's slightly ambiguous. Presumably it means "the first club he runs for in a UKRL competition" - although that's not what it actually says...

[Stodgetta]

What is the situation with juniors in relays?
We have a couple who are in our club, come to our training camps, socials etc when they can, but are members of their local club as they live some distance away. As they tend to orienteer locally, they have been running for their local club all year and have entered JK for their local team, but are keen to run with us in the relays.
If they did this, would the team be non-competitive, or would they be allowed on the podium (fingers crossed!!)?
From the UKRL rules above, it sounds like they would be competitive, but junior relays aren't quite UKRL... I'd hate to get their hopes up and then end up with disappointed dinkies...

[LostAgain]

I think you can only run for one club in the same year jan-dec. thus, entering JK / British for Club A would prevent you from running in competitive team for Club B. You can of course enter the Ad-hoc which are typically none medal classes.

You are able to cancel membership from one club and join another,but if you have already represented another club in the competition then you are not allowed to run for another in the same competition, typically CSC or YBT.

[jayelc]

I think the club alliance rule is only applicable for men's / women's open teams and then the intention has to be declared and approved by 31st Jan, so don't think it will help 'littlies' from different clubs.