I received 2nd place at USABDA naitonals last summer in Jr. 2 Standard Championship division. I was 15 then and I am 15 now. My Borthday is June 17th. My World Championships were to take place on June 12 2004. You have to be under 16 to dance in Jr. 2. My worlds were re-scheduled for July 3rd....after my birthday. If anyone knows if I can or can't dance my World Championships....I would really appreciate it.

Thank You

Well, obviously you should ask an expert, but as I understand the IDSF rules, you are considered a year older on Jan. 1 of every year. The age rules don't go by your birthday, but by what age you will be once the year changes on Jan.1 (this is how most Olympic movement sports operate, from what I understand.)

This means that you are already considered a 16-year old by IDSF standards and wouldn't be eligible to dance in the Jr. 2 at any point in 2004. Only if the event took place before Jan. 1 would you have been eligible to compete. It is my understanding that this is why most world IDSF championships take place in the fall.

I think if you go to the IDSF site at www.idsf.net, you can e-mail the director of their sports activities directly and ask him.

The 2003-2004 IDSF Rule Book is available on their web site at http://www.idsf.net . Click "Statues & Rules" on the left hand side of the page, then look for the link that says "IDSF Competition Rules (Status: Barcelona 2003) (.pdf)". Also see, on the same page, the link that says "Age Groups in 2004".

Unfortunately, going by IDSF Rule 11 parts 1 and 2, you have been considered to be 16 since January 1 2004 and therefore are no longer eligible to enter any Junior II events at all.

I think your next step should be to contact your country's dance sport governing body. They are the ones responsible for nominating who gets to go to the World Championships, and will be able to give you a final ruling. According to the IDSF, when World Representatives are selected, each competitor's age must be sent to the IDSF -- presumably so that age rules can be verified.

In the USA, the person to contact would be the VP of DanceSport, Gary Stroick. You might also want to contact the USABDA DanceSport Delegate, Turtle Brennan. You can find out how to contact them by going to:
http://usabda.org/home/our_organization/officers/index.cfm

As a side note, a while ago I was talking to someone about something related to this. The person I was talking to noted that having the USABDA Nationals in August causes problems with age groups when it comes to selecting World Representatives, and that perhaps someday USABDA Nationals should be moved to early in the year to fix this problem and others like it. Another problem that has cropped up is that, because of how the dates of some of the World Championships relate to the date of USABDA Nationals, it is sometimes possible for a USABDA National winner/runner up from one year to go to two World Championships whereas a winner/runner up from another year doesn't get to go to any. It's confusing, crazy, and rather unfair.

Please contact Gary & Turtle immediately to get first-hand information straight from them.

By the way, this is a very important question so I hope you don't mind but I forwarded your request on to Turtle Brennan just now. I suggested that someone from USABDA contact you and your parents directly with an explanation one way or the other. I don't know if the right USABDA people have your contact information, so I suggest you use that link I posted in my last message to email your phone number and email address to Turtle.



If you don't hear from someone by Monday let me know.

According to IDSF rules, you cannot dance at Worlds in Junior II if you have your 16th birthday at any time that year. (Even if USABDA's rules were different, we could only send couples who meet the IDSF rules.) Also, I believe that Gary Stroick, the vice-president for DanceSport in USABDA, usually sends a letter of invitation to the couples who will represent the US at the Worlds and I am assuming that you have not received such a letter.

If you have any questions, you can contact me at the contentmaster master mailto address at the bottom of
main DanceSport page on the USABDA website.

-Turtle
DanceSport Delegate, Region IV (SouthWest)

Thank You everyone that responded. I was afraid that this was true. I am glad I found out sooner than later. I really appreciate your help. I'm probably going to have a nervous breakdown because I had my hopes up so high. Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Paul Jurczyk

Will the next Junior Standard world's be held before the end of 04? I didn't see it on the IDSF calender of competitions. If not USA may not be sending a representative.

It seems to me that the young people that the first and second place couples should be informed at the Nationals if that is the case. My recollection is that during the event it is always anounced that 1st and 2nd will represent the USA at worlds.

It is not right the the young man who started this post had to go through this experience and find out through a forum such as this rather than be informed by representatives of USABDA at the Nationals.