New Event Structure

[LostOldTimer]

New Event Structure as announced in the Focus magazine today... What do members think?
It seems the main change is to Regional (Badge) Events, where the courses will no longer be Age Classes but a range of extended Colour coded courses and members can choose any course to run based upon their preference of length and Technical Difficulty... Age Class courses will only remain for National Events, British Championships / JK etc...

Any thoughts?

[Mrs H]

My Focus hasn't arrived yet - so when is this all due to happen? The BOF fixture list is full of district and regional events next year and the advanced noticed list has regional events scheduled until the end of 2010. Does that mean it will be rolled out in 2011?

[LostOldTimer]

Although they say 2009 will be a transition year - this new structure will be implemented from 1st January 2009 !!!, and fully implemented by 1st January 2010, so from next year you will no longer be able to compete in your Age class, or against competitors of the same age.. may be fairer to novices and/or juniors, which seems to be the main reason for the change, but for those of us used to age classes...

[Kitch]

you will no longer be able to compete ....against competitors of the same age..

that wouldn't be entirely true now would it ...?
I would assume that age class will still be recorded in results and so you will still be able to see how you are fairing against those in the same (arbritary 5 year) age group.

The upside is of course that you will have a broader competition against all those who judge themselves to be of a similar physical and technical ability as you.
To my mind it improves competition.
You can be buoyed by the beating of younger fitter types - or of course embarrased by the older generation.

enjoy

[awk]

or against competitors of the same age..

Age classes preclude many of those only a couple of months, or even days, apart competing against each other (that is if you stick to them). A colour structure does not.

[HOCOLITE]

How does it effect those already advanced in their planning for 2009 events, or am I foolish to think that planners might be that far ahead?

[graeme]

2009 Planners? We've already started CONTROLLING the courses for the 6-day! How else would we know if/where there was bracken and how runnable it is in the summer?

Returning to the question, the event structure won't affect planning - there will still be the same range of junior courses, only difference being that younger people will be allowed on the shorter TD5 courses. Our anecdotal evidence suggested that on balance people will move from the medium onto the longest and shortest courses. What may affect you (and isn't covered in Focus) is Level of Controller and Embargo rules. From what I've seen informally, they're about to mess this up...

Graeme

[Cave Man]

I thought this one had died a death and was about to ask "what's going on" with it! I'm fairly happy with the idea as I'm caught between a rock and a hard place - my Long class I'm finding a little too long, and my short class a little too short - the ideal is between the two - which, with the new structure, is now open to me - and I'll remain "competitive". There are far too few competitors at many Regional's to justify inclusion of some classes - I see this as a good way as a remedy for that - but what about the dreaded Ranking lists?

[DM]

- but what about the dreaded Ranking lists?

Take a look at the news section of BOF site, about a week ago for an item that might start explaining this......

[SJC]

What may affect you (and isn't covered in Focus) is Level of Controller and Embargo rules.

From what we have been told it would seem more logical than today:
Level 1 event = Grade 1 controller
Level 2 event = Grade 2 controller
Level 3 event = Grade 3 controller, or at least someone checking that obvious things like the risk assesment have been done

So in reality not much difference.

Don't know about the embargo rules, but don't see any reason to change those either.

[Nimby]

... Age Class courses will only remain for National Events, British Championships / JK etc...

What about the Compass Sport Cup?

[DM]

... Age Class courses will only remain for National Events, British Championships / JK etc...

What about the Compass Sport Cup?

Last CSC event I did was colour coded with age limits. I see nothing that says this can not still happen. I chose to run Blue due to my age but could have run Brown (and got more points as it turned out....)

[Gnitworp]

Are you using Age Category or Colour-Coded courses for Tay 2009, Graeme?

[andy]

Are you using Age Category or Colour-Coded courses for Tay 2009, Graeme?

I can't see 3000+ competitors fitting into any sort of colour coded structure. Tay 2009 will undoubtedly be age classes, as for 2011, who knows?

[madmike]

How does it effect those already advanced in their planning for 2009 events, or am I foolish to think that planners might be that far ahead?

Not just the planners but the Major Events Committee are also thinking that far ahead. For example they have already tracked down the Planner and Organiser of Interland/Southern Area Champs/National Event at Burnham Beeches in Feb 2009 and provided us with a copy of the draft guidelines to inform our planning/organising.