Classification in sport

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Classification in most sports is done in two ways. Depending on the sport, it is divided into age classes and / or performance classes. This creates groups that either hold separate competitions or - as part of a joint competition - are rated separately. The main classification features are:

The division according to the age of the athletes is made mainly because the performance of the athletes differs depending on age. The classification also serves to protect young athletes. For reasons of organization, clarity and limitation of the participant fields, classifications are also made in the form of performance classes.

In endurance sports, this often happens in the form that after a joint start, the competition is ended and scored after different distances (differentiated by age) or after a start with specifications (differentiated by performance) after a joint finish, a joint or separate evaluation takes place (such as in the amateur - Cycling ).

In almost all sports there is also a gender-specific distinction between the competition classes.

Age groups

structure

In almost all sports there is the junior age group below the adult class (also called U 19 or U 18), in which young athletes fight among themselves and in which there are competitions up to world championships . In most of the widespread sports, a structure has prevailed that is predominantly based on a 2-year class affiliation and in which it is not the birthday but the year of birth that is decisive ( year class ). It follows from this that athletes who have already reached the age limit or only in the course of the year, maintain their class affiliation during a season, which is particularly important in team sports .

Designation
class
description
U 11 Athletes under 11 years of age
U 13 Athletes from 11 to
under 13 years of age
U 15 Athletes aged 13 to
under 15
U 17 Athletes from 15 to
under 17 years of age
U 19 Athletes from 17 to
under 19 years of age
U 23 Athletes from 19 to
under 23 years of age

However, depending on the competition rules of the individual sports, it is sometimes also possible to compete in a higher age group.

Almost all sports have their own rules for the age class names and structures. In some sports, such as B. in football and swimming , there is a separate age group for each year after a certain age.

Special features for individual age ranges

U 23

The athletes in this age group usually take part in the adult competition classes, but have the option of taking part in separate U23 competitions if necessary. Such competitions are mainly held at international level to gradually introduce young talents to the international level of performance.

A, B, C and D youth

In addition to the division into precise age groups (the so-called "U-classifications" already described), there is also another possibility of classification, especially in football and handball , which is also age-dependent but is marked with the corresponding letters. The so-called A-youth represents the oldest group of young athletes , while the other levels unite younger youth athletes .

Example: A-youth

The A-youth (also called A-Juniors ) is the oldest group of youth athletes, for example in football or handball . As a rule, the age of these athletes is 17 to 19 years. Different sports are differentiated differently:

  • The A youth in fencing describes the age group of 14 to 16 year olds
  • A-Juniors in football (also U 19 / U 18) *) of a season are players who are or have reached the age of 17 or 18 in the calendar year in which the game year begins. (Junior teams are also permitted in this age group.)
  • In athletics , A youth refers to the 17 to under 19 year olds.
  • In cycling , the term A-Jugend was still in use until the 1980s. Then it was replaced by the internationally common designation U 19 . The term juniors is used in parallel .

It is similar with the other classifications (B, C and D youth). The consecutive designation with letters corresponds to the rejuvenating youth sports group.

Seniors / Masters

Overall, this term for older athletes is very inconsistent. While in some sports the term "senior citizens" is used as a synonym for the entire adult area from 18 years of age (to distinguish it from juniors ), in other sports it applies to athletes from a certain higher age (usually around 30 years) which one assumes a declining efficiency. These classes are also referred to variously as Masters, Veterans or Age Classes .

The German Athletics Association , for example, evaluates athletes as senior citizens according to their year of birth in 5-year steps, starting with age group "35". The age groups are divided into men (M) and women (W) in M ​​/ W 35, 40, 45 etc. At the state level, age groups M / W 30 are also permitted as senior classes. In contrast, international senior athletics evaluates membership of the five-year age group individually according to the birthday of the respective athlete.

The German Swimming Association also divides the Masters into five-year areas according to the year of birth: For example, all athletes who are 55–59 years old at the end of the year fall into age group 55.

In international cycling , racing cyclists from the age of 30 (in track cycling from the age of 35) generally belong to the Masters . This does not apply to riders of this age who start as members of international cycling teams or by choice in the elite class.

In other sports, classifications such as “over 40 to under 51; over 50 to under 61 etc. ”is common.

Performance classes

The performance class structure varies greatly from sport to sport. It ranges from very differentiated systems that have 23 levels (as in tennis) through six or more levels (as in football) to single-class systems in the adult area. While in team sports a distinction is made primarily through the membership of the teams in certain leagues , there are often different performance classes in individual sports . There is always a top category (common names for this are e.g. main class, activity class, performance class, elite ) and graded categories with weaker athletes (names e.g. connection class, performance class II and many others).

This also enables athletes who are not at the very highest level to take part in competitions in their class with a chance of winning. The affiliation to certain performance classes is often determined by placing in rankings .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Interview with Matthias Reick on the new regulation of senior age classes by the DLV
  2. German Swimming Association: Competition Regulations Swimming Masters (MS) ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 312 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dsv.de

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