Avon T&F League Rules For 2024 Season

1. Management


• The League will be run under UKA Rules in conjunction with the World Para Athletics rule book and Activity Alliance guidance.
•  
• The League will be run by a committee consisting of Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Welfare Officer, Webmaster, plus one representative from each of the competing clubs.
•  
• The League has a bank account and only the Treasurer is authorised to sign cheques. The committee will meet as necessary during the year to transact the business of the League.


2. Competitors
   
   
   • Teams may enter up to three athletes per age group event (only two will score).
   •  
   • In the 100m (both programmes), and the Women’s 1500m and Mens’s 1500m (appropriate Programme), Masters may be declared to score either as Seniors or Masters (but not both) In the 100m separate races may be staged at the discretion of the Starts team. In all events except those mentioned above, Masters must compete as Seniors.
   •  
   • Guests of the opposite gender to the programmed event are not allowed in field events with the sole exception of Pole Vault. Guests of the opposite gender in races are only allowed exceptionally at the discretion of the track referee.
   •  
   • All protests must be made to the Track and Field Referees of the day and only by a Team Manager.


3. Ages
   
   
   • Ages of competitors will be as per UKA Rules, and are set out below:
     
     
     • U11 Boys & Girls, Under 11 but 9 or over, before 31.08.2024. (School year 4 & 5)
     • U13 Boys & Girls, Under 13 but not Under 11 at midnight on 31.08.2024. (School year 6 & 7)
     • U15 Boys & Girls, under 15 years at midnight on 31.08.2024. (School year 8 & 9)
     • U17 Men & Women, under 17 years at midnight on 31.08.2024. (School year 10 & 11)
     • SM & SW over 17 years at midnight on 31.08.2024.
     • Men Masters, 35 or over, on the day of competition.
     • Women Masters, 35 or over, on the day of competition.
   •  
   • The League can take no responsibility for competitors under 11 years of age (i.e. Yr’s 4 & 5). No competitors under 11 years of age may compete in the main league and should compete in the Quadkids events.
   •  
   • No athlete may compete in two age groups per meeting, except the MM/WM, who may compete as SM/SW, but not in the same event. Any athlete being caught doing this will have all of their points deducted. Athletes may move up an age group in subsequent matches, subject to UKA rules.
   
   
4. Number of Events
   
   
   • No competitors may compete in more than 3 individual events. Athletes competing in too many individual events will lose their best points score(s).
   
   
5. Colours
   
   
   • Club colours must be worn and these are listed below:
     
     
     • Team Bath – Blue vest with yellow panels.
     • Bristol & West - White vest with red horizontal band.
     • Gloucester – White vest with diagonal red band.
     • North Somerset AC: Navy Blue vest with White Trim
     • Cheltenham & County Harriers: White, two black bands
     • Yate - Green vest with yellow vertical stripe.
   
   
6. Numbers
   
   
   • Numbers must be worn front and back except for the Jumps events where one number must be worn. Team numbers are to be supplied by teams and must be Stacy size and not "home-made". Numbers must be from the defined range of numbers for the club for all age groups.
   
   
7. Track Events
   
   
   • The make up of races is at the discretion of the track officials. All events up to and including 400m can be seeded to grade the races in order of performance. Lane draws will no longer be operated, but preferential treatment in seeding athletes in certain lanes should be avoided at all times.
   
   
8. Throws
   
   
   • Team Managers must ensure that any athlete they enter has a basic knowledge of the event, and training experience, of the event to be able to throw safely and not be a danger to officials, other athletes or themselves.
   •  
   • In throwing events Masters may compete as a Master, throwing a non-Senior weight but will be considered a non-scoring athlete. In all other events Masters will considered as Senior competitors.
   
   
9. Jumps
   
   
   • Triple Jump: Only U15 age group and above may participate in the Triple Jump as per UKA rules. No take-off board or line at less than 7 metres will be provided.
   •  
   • High Jump: For all age groups the first height on offer will be 1.00m. Competition will proceed in 5cm increments until the last three competitors in each age group remain. Thereafter the lead event official will ask the remaining athletes what increment they would like with a minimum of 2cms, unless it is for a League record. (UKA Rule)
   •  
   • Pole Vault: The starting height and progression, at a minimum of 5cms, will be at the discretion of the lead official. The lead official, in conjunction with the Field Referee, may decide to split the competition into two pools, or call an interval in the competition, to allow event officials a break and /or athletes to warm up again. No under-11 competitors will be allowed in either the scoring or non-scoring competitions in this League.
   
   
10. Horizontal Jumps and Throws
    
    
    • All athletes will be entitled to 3 trials and the top three athletes in each age group, U15 and above, who have met PB Award standard level 4, shall be entitled to a further 3 attempts. Note: Should insufficient officials be available on the day, or if the timetable is running behind schedule, the Field Referee has the discretion to rescind the entitlement to additional attempts.
    
    
11. Scoring
    
    
    • Each age group (U13, U15, U17, Seniors + Masters) is scored separately.
    • Total points scored by all age groups determines overall match position.
    • Total points scored determines match position for each age group.
    • Match points are scored as 1st = 6, 2nd = 5.......6th = 1 point.
    • At the end of the season total match scores determine age group and overall positions. In the event of a tie, total event points will be used to determine final positions.
    
    
12. Relays
    
    
    • The Under 13 relay will be a mixed gender race at each meeting comprising two boys and two girls. The general guidance remains unchanged. Provided there is at least one athlete of the correct age group in the team, mixed age group teams can run and score at the higher age grouped team. To clarify if 3 U13s and 1 U15 form a team. They will compete with the U15 age groups. They must not under any circumstances compete 2 age groups above their youngest member. i.e. U13 U13 U13 U17 or U17 U17 U17 U13.
    
    
13. Team Declarations
    
    
    • There is still a requirement to provide a Masters Declaration form and the Officials Declaration form. These should be presented before the start of the meeting. This now includes a requirement to provide contact names and mobile numbers so that the result team may easily contact team managers if result queries arise during the day.
    •  
    • All officials and meeting support staff and photographers are required to sign in on the appropriate register, which is to be provided by the host club.
    
    
14. Results
    
    
    • The Results Team is targeted with issuing a set of provisional results to each Team contact within 48 hours of the meeting. All clubs have until seven days following the meeting to point out any errors or omissions in the results (or to report that they have found none affecting their club). If there are no unresolved issues remaining seven days after the meeting, the results will be declared Final, published, and submitted to Power of 10.
    
    
15. Officials
    
    
    • Each non-Hosting, competing team must provide:
      
      
      • 2 track officials (track judge and timekeeper)
      • At least 3 (preferably 5) field event judges to work as a team (1 of whom must be qualified to Level 2 or above, and at least 1 more qualified to Level 1).
      • 2 parents/officials to assist with the under 11 events (Track, time and field event judging).
      
      
    • The host teams will be responsible for:
      
      
      • An Administration team to to support the Results Coordinator.
      • A Starters Marshal, (2 preferably, for the 75 and 100 metres sprints)
      • An announcer.
      • A Chief Timekeeper and Track Referee (Note, they do not have to belong to one of the Host clubs, as long as they are in attendance).
      • A hurdle movement team
      • A field equipment officer
      • 3 parents/officials to assist with the under 11 events (Track, time and field event judging).
      
      
    • Officials are to report to the host teams 30 minutes before the start of the match. (Remember it requires some 30 officials for the meeting to run smoothly). Officials and photographers are required to sign in on the appropriate register to be provided by the host club.
    
    
    • The Starter and Field Referee and First Aid will be supplied by the League for all 4 matches during the season.
    
    
16. Affiliation Fee
    
    
    • This will be set (and payable) prior to the first match and will be the minimum required to pay for the running costs of the league.
    
    
17. Second Claim Athletes
    
    
    • Second claim members will be allowed to compete as scoring athletes in the league, provided they compete as scoring athletes for one team only during the season.
    
    
18. Guest Competitors
    
    
    • Guests: Requests to compete as a Guest athlete must be made in writing to the League Chairman at least 5 days prior to each match. Guests will only be permitted with prior agreement of the Track Referee / Field Referee. Guests will only be able to compete in the scheduled events and the cost will be £10 per match. Guest athletes must be registered with their Home Country Athletic Federation (HCAF) and eligible to compete for the 2024 Track and Field season
    
    
19. Abandonment of an event or meeting
    
    
    • The decision of the Track or Field Referee to abandon or not hold an event because of safety concerns must be communicated clearly and promptly to all competing teams. A decision to suspend or abandon a meeting must be taken by the Referees in conjunction with committee members present and then clearly communicated to a team manager representing each competing team.
    
    
20. Protests and Appeals
    
    
    • All protests must be made to the Track and Field Referees on the day and only by a Team Manager. The decision of the Chief Track Judge and/or Field Referee will be final
    
    
21. Athlete of the Match Awards
    
    
    • For every completed match, one Male and one Female Athlete of the Match award will be made, on the basis of performances against EA Personal Best Awards scheme in the age group in which they competed on the day. For the Season one Male and one Female Para Athlete Award will be made. Under-11’s will not be eligible for the award; performances by Masters or Under-20's will be compared against Senior grades. No athlete may win more than one award in a season. All decisions on awards (including about meetings not completed) will be made by the Committee, whose decision will be final.

WEBMASTER'S NOTE: I have made minor changes to the layout of these rules compared to the printed version; a good layout for a printed document is not necessarily best on a website, and vice versa. In case of discrepancy, the League Handbook as issued to the member clubs is the valid one. John D.