Reply to Divisionals really shows why the unfair birthday rule matters

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The only thing I would change is moving the date to July 1 instead of June 1 or maybe June 15…. Just to try and capture the age kids are for the bulk of the season.

I think age has next to no effect for the 12 and under kids.  It can be brutal for those 13 and over boys!  Big difference to be 13 racing a 15 year old!!  But it is what it is.[/quote]

Dumb idea.

Why?  The cut off could easily be the Monday before the first A meet of the season instead of a set date.

[/quote][/quote]
Cool. So then the 8 year olds that swam 25s at time trials don’t get to swim the first A meet if they turned 9 in between and won’t have times for 50s? Sucks to be them but at least your kid doesn’t have to swim against that 9 year old, so you’re fine with this. [/quote]

Why on earth would they swim 25s at time trials if they were competing for a spot in 50s at the first A meet?[/quote]

The debate is about swimming in the correct age group and then swimming up as the swimmer ages (ie an 8 year swims a 25m at time trials, ages up that week, then would need to swim
50m as a 9 yr old). [/quote]

This scenario is so crazy it’s not even believable. The kid would obviously swim 50 m at time trials to get a seed time and to be ready for the meet. Stop trying to counter crazy with even crazier. [/quote]
Time Trials is maybe not the best example since you could use an age up date as the first A meet.  What about if kid ages up in between the first A meet and the second?  Then they would have no times.   Makes no sense and makes a ton of work.  You have to use a consistent age up date as this is not USA swimming and these meets are run by parent volunteers and sometimes inexperienced coaches.   Whoever is suggesting this is obviously one of those parents that likes to complain and not help at all. [/quote]
I hate that this argument comes up year after year. A cutoff time is needed for such a short season, but these people pretending that June 1 is so much fairer than say August 1 crack me up. It’s 2 sides of the same coin, the only difference is whose kid will be disadvantaged. All meets are automated, there is no issue with age ups, you just set the software appropriately. All of our swimmers are in the system with their age as of the age up date. So we have 11 year olds that still show up in heat sheets as 10 since that was their age on June 1. If you went with age on the day of the meet the program would account for that, same with if you went with age as of August 1. [/quote]
If June 1 and August 1 are equally fair, why change the rule that's been in place for years?

It's no big deal if a kid has just turned 11 and is racing in the 9-10 bracket because their birthday was after the cutoff date unless you're being ridiculously literal for the sake of being literal.  The bracket is exactly two years in width.  No one is more than 2 years older than any other swimmer, even if they are already 11 yo, as the youngest 9 yos are swimming in the 8u bracket.

--parent of kids who don't have a June or July birthday [/quote]

1. No can or has argued that a 24 month birthday span is not the fairest and most practical way to divide age groups for a very short summer rec league. 
2. The idea of a 9 year old winning a labeled “8 and under” is  apparently triggering on a primal level. 
3. The idea of an 8 year old having to compete in a division labeled “9-10 year olds” is apparently equally triggering
4. The system is fair, whether the cutoff is June 1, July 1, Aug 1 or October 23rd. Every kid is within 2 calendar years of every other kid. 
5. Parents are math challenged and do not understand that a 9 year old can indeed be born within 24 months of an 11 year old. 
6. Parents perceive the cutoff as “unfair” because they cannot stomach the ideas of points 2. and 3. above. 
7. Call the groups minis/freshman/sophomore/junior/senior or copper/bronze/silver/gold/platinum. Anything to distract parents from their inability to do calendar math. [/quote]

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