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Juvenile Calendar Change 2021

Background

On 1st January 2021, Badminton Ireland will change the juvenile calendar and the age group rulings for juvenile sanctioned events. The juvenile ranked season will now run on a calendar year basis rather than from September to February. This will mean the circuit will commence in January each year and conclude at the Nationals in October/November. This will also mean that new age groups will come into place in January every year. This change was necessary to stay in line with our neighbouring associations and align our age groups with that of the Badminton Europe Circuit.

Board Decision

After much discussion, consultation and deliberation the Badminton Ireland Board of Directors have decided that this change is necessary in order for juvenile age groups to be the same as those in Badminton Europe. This decision was taken as Ireland is now one of the few countries that have not changed their juvenile age groups to match the Badminton Europe age criteria. After consultation with Badminton England, Badminton Scotland and Badminton Wales the board believes that making this change is a necessary development for juvenile badminton in Ireland.

What will the new circuit look like?

There are four main changes that will happen to the Badminton Ireland Juvenile Circuit in 2021.

1. Age Groups will now be run over one calendar year rather than using the Age Group ruling implemented in 2017. In September 2019 a player's age group would have been determined by their age on 31st December 2020. The new age group ruling will be more straight forward and see a player determined by their year of birth. A full breakdown of age groups for the next three years is given below.

2. All Circuit and National events have now been given a structure. All U19 & U15 events will be paired together and all U13 & U17 events will be paired together. This will help provide the circuit with more structure and provide parents with a more set calendar to work off.

3. The biggest difference will be the feel of the Juvenile Circuit. The circuit will kick off in January and will be active until the Juvenile Nationals in October/November. This will mean that the Juvenile Rankings will be active for most of the calendar year. In previous years the Juvenile Rankings would often only be active for six months a year.

4. The U13 & U17 Nationals will now be held in October, whilst the U15 & U19 Nationals will be held in November. This will mean that the Senior Irish Nationals will now be held as a standalone event in February.

*Note - Team events such as Inter Provincials and Juvenile Inter County Finals will continue to be held in April & May respectively. Branches can start their Inter County qualification tournament before January each year if they wish*

Age groupings for Irish events from 2021-2023

Year of Birth	2021 Season	2022 Season	2023 Season
2003	U19	Senior	Senior
2004	U19	U19	Senior
2005	U17	U19	U19
2006	U17	U17	U19
2007	U15	U17	U17
2008	U15	U15	U17
2009	U13	U15	U15
2010	U13	U13	U15
2011		U13	U13
2012			U13