Age Groups on OpenTrack¶
Understanding Competition Setup¶
Age groups for competitions in OpenTrack are calculated using two settings, both found on the Entry configuration management screen — age group calculation and age group category.
Age group calculation has three options — UK Athletics rules, World Athletics rules, and Country-specific rules.
Selecting an option for age group category is only available, and only affects age group calculation, when Age group calculation is set to UK Athletics rules.
Age group category has five options — Track and Field/Indoor, Road/Cross-country, School Year, School 2-year, and Ireland.
Age Group Cutoff Date¶
Every competition in OpenTrack has the option to set a cutoff date to override how age groups are calculated.
If this is set, then age groups for that competition will be calculated as if the competition was taking place on the cutoff date.
For most competitions, this should be blank, and age groups will be calculated using the first day of the competition.
UK Athletics rules¶
Setting age group calculation to UK Athletics rules means OpenTrack will make calculations according to the scheme specified in a competition's age group category field, all of which are frequently-used age grouping systems in the UK.
The Track and Field / Indoor and Road / Cross-country schemes follow UK Athletics' rules on age groups, as set out in the supplements to Technical Rule 3 in the combined UKA/World Athletics rulebook.
UK Age Group Changes
The standard age groups used in the UK are due to change from 1st January 2026.
We will be able to provide more information on managing this transition closer to the time, once the UK's governing bodies have worked out how they plan to transition.
Track and Field/Indoor¶
Calculation Dates¶
The UKA track and field competition year runs from the 1st October to the 30th September in the following year.
UKA track and field age groups up to U17 are calculated using a competitor's age group on the 31st August at the end of the UKA competition year their competition sits within.
Example
For a competition on the 1st October 2034, the date a competitor's age is calculated on is 31st August 2035.
For a competition on the 1st July 2034, a competitor's age is calculated at 31st August 2034.
U11-U17¶
Competitors under the age of 11 on the calculation date are U11, with age groups progressing in 2-year bands from there up to U17 (i.e. U11, U13, U15, U17).
For competitions using the U9 age group, any competitors under the age of 9 on the calculation date are U9, again with the 2-year bands up to U17.
U20 upwards¶
For competitors older than 16 on the calculation date, they will be placed in the U20 age group if under the age of 20 on the 31st December in the actual year of competition, as per normal World Athletics rules.
For competitions using masters age groups, competitors aged 35 or older on the date of competition will be placed in the appropriate 5-year age band (e.g. V35, V40, V45).
Competitors not falling into the U20 or masters age groups will be categorised as seniors.
Road/Cross-Country¶
Calculation Dates¶
The UKA road and cross-country competition year runs from the 1st September to the 31st August in the following year.
UKA road and cross-country age groups for non-masters are calculated using a competitor's age on the 31st August prior to the competition year starting.
Example
For a competition on the 1st October 2034, the data competitor's age is calculated on is 31st August 2034.
For a competition on the 1st July 2034, a competitor's age is calculated at 31st August 2034.
All Age Groups¶
Competitors under the age of 11 on the calculation date are U11, with age groups progressing in 2-year bands from there up to U17 (i.e. U11, U13, U15, U17).
For competitions using the U9 age group, any competitors under the age of 9 on the calculation date are U9, again with the 2-year bands up to U17.
Competitors aged 17, 18, or 19 on the calculation date are U20.
Competitors aged 20 or older on the calculation date are seniors.
For competitions using masters age groups, competitors aged 35 or older on the date of competition will be placed in the appropriate 5-year age band (e.g. V35, V40, V45).
School Year¶
All competitors are given an age group that corresponds to a year group in the UK schooling system, e.g. YEAR1, YEAR2, YEAR3.
Year group is calculated using a competitor's age on the 31st August prior to the competition year starting.
A competitor's age on this date, minus 4, is their year group.
School 2-year¶
All competitors are given an even-numbered age group in 2-year bands, e.g. U12, U14, U16
Age group is calculated using a competitor's age on the 31st August prior to the competition year starting.
Competitors aged 12 or 13 on the calculation date are U14, competitors aged 14 or 15 on the calculation date are U16, and so on.
Ireland¶
Competitors up to U20 are given an age group in single-year bands, e.g. U13, U14, U15.
Age groups for these competitors are calculated using a competitor's age on 31st December in the competition year.
Competitors aged 20, 21, or 22 on the calculation date are U23.
Competitors aged 23 or older on the calculation date are seniors.
For competitions using masters age groups, competitors aged 35 or older on the calculation date will be placed in the appropriate 5-year age band (e.g. V35, V40, V45).
World Athletics rules¶
The World Athletics rules allow a degree of flexibility, but age groups are always calculated based on a competitor's age on 31st December in the competition year.
Competitors aged 22 or younger on the calculation date will be put into the correct age group from: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18, U20, U23.
Competitors aged 23 or older on the calculation date are seniors.
For competitions using masters age groups, competitors aged 35 or older on the competition date will be placed in the appropriate 5-year age band (e.g. V35, V40, V45).
Country-specific rules¶
If country-specific rules are selected, then OpenTrack will look to see whether there is a specific method of age grouping used in the country your competition is in.
The country-specific age grouping methods currently defined in OpenTrack, and the countries/territories they are currently defined for, are:
- Norwegian age groups: Norway
- Finnish age groups: Finland, Åland Islands
- Irish age groups: Ireland
- UK age groups (defaults to Track and Field): UK, Guernsey, Tanzania
If you would like to use your country's specific age group rules, and they are not listed above, please get in touch.
For all other countries, using country-specific rules will default to using the World Athletics rules as defined above.
Norwegian age groups¶
Norwegian age groups are calculated based on a competitor's age on 31st December in the competition year.
Competitors aged 20 or older on the calculation date will be calculated according to the World Athletics rules as defined above.
Competitors aged 18 or 19 on the calculation date will have age group '18/19'.
Competitors aged 17 or younger on the calculation date will have an age group corresponding to their age on that date, e.g. 14, 15, 16.
For competitions using masters age groups, competitors aged 35 or older on the calculation date will be placed in the appropriate 5-year age band (e.g. V35, V40, V45).
Finnish age groups¶
Finnish age groups use World Athletics rules as defined above.
For age groups beginning with 'U' (i.e. U23, U20, U18, U16), the 'U' is removed and the number is reduced by 1.
This means that a World Athletics U20 is a Finnish '19', and a World Athletics U16 is a Finnish '15', and so on.
Irish age groups¶
See above.
UK age groups¶
See above — will default to track and field.