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Duffers guides

Chart Rated Event ages

BDC Event ages

Duffers Guide to Age rules - part III

Here is a table with the various age groups side by side, after this I will give you a few examples that may explain things further..

A little example or two for you:

Julie and John dance together; John will be 16 in November - Julie will be 14 in March

For all BDC comps , (non-chart rated comps) from 1st January and until John is 16 they will dance Junior, once he is 16, then they dance Adult (as Julie will be 14 and can apply to dance up to Adult)

From 1 January until Julie is 14 in March, they are unable to dance NSC’s . They are stuck outside the NSC age groups (sorry kids). From her birthday they can dance Youth NSC. When John turns 16 in November they can also dance Amateur NSC’s.

They dance a Youth NSC and in July they split. Julie must find a partner who will be at least 16 this year if she wants to dance in charts, as she can not dance in Junior charts having once danced in the adult chart section and one of the partnership must be turning 16 this year to do Youth. Julie now gets a new partner and dances with George who will be 16 in October.

Julie is only 14 and George is 15 but will be 16 this year, so they can now dance Youth NSC’s and after his birthday they can also dance Amateur NSC’s. Both their ages still permit them to dance Junior non chart rated events until he turns 16. (as long as neither have danced in an Adult BDC comp before)

In November Julie & George dance a Youth (adult) non-chart comp, and then they split. Julie has now danced as an Adult and CANNOT EVER go back to Junior and so would need to find a partner over 16 in order to continue to dance. This is why it is so important to be absolutely sure before you go up to adult!

Bill and Sally
Bill will be 12 in July, Sally will be 11 in August

From today until Bill is 12 they have a choice, they can elect to dance Junior NSC’s or they can continue to dance Junior NSC’s. As soon as Bill is 12 he has to dance Junior - no choice Sally has the option of staying with him and dancing up or getting a new partner. These are the only dancers who do have a choice of age groups and should Billy & Sally want to dance Junior prior to him being 12 they must ask permission. But again once they have danced a Junior NSC they cannot subsequently dance Juvenile NSC’s.

For non chart events, they have to wait until Bill is 12 before dancing Junior .

George & Mildred
George & Mildred are a little older, in fact they are both Over 45 this year (but all the dancing keeps them very fit and you would never know it to look at them); They are actually quite luck in that they can dance their age range – Senior II, but can also dance Senior 1 and if they feel fit enough Amateur. Now we are not recommending you dance them all and certainly not in one day, but you are allowed to if the urge takes you

If you are at al unsure then please ask us for clarification, we would so much rather you asked us than danced in the wrong age range. Some people have found out that once you do this you are then effectively “stuck” between the age ranges. Even that one competition in Adult Beginners at the age of 15 will stop you dancing Junior ever again so please think carefully before you do it.
Any questions please contact membership@EADA.org.uk