Administrators - What to do now

As an administrator you are responsible for ensuring that young people are given every opportunity to have positive sporting experiences and that they are able to participate at the level most appropriate to their ability with the least risk of injury.

To help you deal with this issue:

• Check if you have any local guidelines for the categorisation of young athletes.
• Find out if your state or national sporting organisation has a policy for grouping young people and check to ensure your local guidelines are consistent with them.
• Inform club members of any guidelines you adopt and nominate a person they can contact if they have any concerns.
• Consider exemptions you could implement to better match young people with others of their own ability or developmental stage. You could, for example:
  • regrade divisions or age groups to align participants either at mid-point or at the end of the season
  • use handicapping in competitions to reduce the effect of growth and maturation
  • allow junior players to play up or down a division but only after reviewing  their individual situation and consideration has been given to the standard of play and type of players in the other division.
• Consider getting a signed parental consent form if a child or young person plays up in a higher division. The implication of any move must be explained to the parents/guardians.)
• Communicate in writing the reasons for exemptions to parents, coaches and players.