BKO Youth League Rules

Eligibility

• The BKO Youth League will consist of Team and Individual Leagues.
• Any School, Scout, Guide or other youth group is eligible to enter the Team League.
• Orienteering clubs will not be eligible to enter the Team League.
• Any junior of school age attending events will automatically be ranked in the Individual League unless they request otherwise.

Age Classes

• Age Class eligibility will be determined by school year.
• Age Class eligibility for Individuals no longer in full-time education will be determined by the school year they would be in, ie years 12 or 13.

Registration

• Teams must register their competitors with the Youth League co-ordinator to score points in the League.
• If an Individual is registered after the start of the season, only their most recent event will score for the Team.
• Any individual may only be registered for one youth group in the course of a season.
• In the event of multiple groups attempting to register the same Individual, the first registration will be taken as valid unless the Individual requests otherwise.

Events

• The Youth League season will take place over a school year (September-June).
• Events which form part of the Youth League will be nominated a minimum of 1 week in advance by BKO, and publicised as such on the BKO web site.
• Events will normally be Saturday local events, but may at the organisers discretion include other events organised by BKO
• There will normally be 8 events over the course of a season.
• Youth League colour-coded events must provide a minimum of four courses, normally White, Yellow, Orange and Light Green.
• Individuals will be grouped into Age Classes as shown in the table below.
• Each Age Class will have a recommended course as shown in the table below.

Age Classes

• If the normal colour coded courses are unavailable, eg at a park run type event, alternatives for each age class will be nominated in advance.

Scoring

• Scoring will by points awarded on the basis of overall position within Youth League runners on the course, 1^st = 100, 2^nd = 95, 3^rd = 90 etc.
• An Individual running a course that is above that nominated for their Age Class will have a bonus of 20 points added to their score for each Age Class they are running up, subject to a maximum score of 100 points.
• An Individual running a course that is below that nominated for their Age Class will have a handicap of 20 points subtracted from their score for each Age Class they are running down, subject to a minimum score of 10 points for completing the course.
• The scores of Individuals running their nominated courses will not be affected by the scores of Individual running up or down. For instance, if the winner on an Orange course is running down from Light Green, they will receive 100 -20 = 80 points, while the fastest Individual running Orange within their Age Class will receive 100 points. Similarly, if the third fastest runner on Light Green is running up from Orange, they will receive 100 points (90 +20, capped at 100), while those running Light Green within their age class will receive points 1^st = 100, 2^nd = 95, 3^rd = 90 as normal.
• Completing a course within Age Class will score a minimum of 20 points.
• An individual’s score for the League will be the sum of their best 4 event scores.
• An organisation’s score for an event will be the scores for their best 4 individuals, regardless of class.
• An organisation’s score for the League will be the sum of their best 4 event scores.
• Individuals running as pairs will be in the Age Class of the eldest of the pair, and their points score will be halved, except when running the White class within their age class.
• If an individual runs more than one course at an event, only their best score will be added to their individual and team totals.

Prizes

• There will be prizes for the winners and runners-up in each age class
• There will be a medal (or similar award) for every individual completing at least 4 events over the course of the season.
• To qualify for a prize in the team competition a group must have runners scoring in at least 4 different events over the course of the season.