General

  • The event shall be called the Ward Junior Home Internationals.
  • It shall be held annually between Junior teams from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales.
  • The JHI should be held in the autumn. It should not clash with the Peter Palmer Relay or Junior European Cup.
  • It should if possible be a stand-alone event, i.e. not combined with any other event. If this is not possible then the public races should be held after the JHI has finished.
  • A 4-year organising cycle is currently in operation as detailed below: 2005 WOA 2006 SOA 2007 NIOA or IOA 2008 EOA.
  • Consideration should be made to having the location reasonably accessible for everyone, eg NW England, North Wales, Scotland south of Perth, Ireland within 2 hours drive of Belfast or Dublin.

Prior to the Event

  • The date of the Event should be agreed between the National and Regional Association Fixtures Secretaries approximately one year in advance and published in the National Fixtures List.
  • A Co-ordinator should be appointed by the organising Nation.
  • Once the date and location is confirmed, the Co-ordinator should send a formal invitation to compete to each Nation’s HI contact (names available from BOF Office). This should be approximately 6 months in advance of the Event date. Thereafter, the Co-ordinator should communicate directly with each Nation’s Team Manager.
  • Central accommodation should be booked for a possible 96 competitors plus their team managers and coaches (on average 4 per Nation). In the past, youth hostels and caravans have been used. If possible, all teams should be accommodated together, but if this is not possible, then a maximum of two venues should be used.
  • Finance – an accurate budget should be prepared. A grant is available from BOF to “improve the quality of the Event”. This may be used to subsidise such things as marquees, public address, hire of toilets, the social event, but not to subsidise team expenses. Otherwise the Event must be self-financing. The budget has to cover accommodation, catering, social, and prizes (see below) as well as the competition costs. If an all-inclusive charge is being made per person, the BOF levy is not payable.
  • Catering – the following meals should be provided by the organisers:
    • Saturday and Sunday breakfast
    • Packed lunch material for Saturday and Sunday
    • Hot meal for Saturday evening
  • The Co-ordinator should inform the Team Managers of the cost per head at least 6 weeks before the event so that they can work out how much to charge each team member. Team Managers should also be informed of any special requirements such as the need for sleeping bags.
  • Team Managers should be asked to supply their team running order on a blank start list along with SI number (if SI is being used) at least one week before the Event in order to allow sufficient time to input data.
  • Co-ordinators should send to Team Managers a detailed programme for the weekend with all necessary information at least one week prior to the Event. This should include information about competition venues, terrain description, map scale, course details, accommodation, plus a copy of the map if the area has been used before (see below).

The Event

  • The Event consists of an Individual Competition on the Saturday and Relay Competition on the Sunday morning.
  • Each Nation may enter a maximum 4 competitors in each of the 6 Age Classes M/W 14, 16 & 18, i.e. a maximum total of 24 competitors per Nation.
  • Courses shall be planned to National Event standard and the event itself shall be organised to National Event standard.
  • The areas should not have been used in the previous 12 months. Where the area has been used before, Team Managers should be provided with a copy of the map along with the final details prior to the event. However, maps should not be used for discussion with team members during the event itself.
  • There should be no advance disclosure of course maps to any age class runners.
  • Team Managers and coaches may not enter the competition areas before or during the event without the permission of the event Controller.
  • Toilets should be provided for each day’s competition.
  • There are 4 national flags and a start banner for use at all HI matches available from BOF office.

The Individual Competition

  • There are 6 classes, namely M&W14, M&W16 and M&W18.
  • Each class should run a separate course. (This allows all the starters to be set off during a reasonable time span).
  • The first start should be no earlier than 11am.
  • A random draw for each class start order should be made in advance at the JIRCs.
  • There should be a 4-minute gap between starters on the same course.
  • There should be a gap of no less than 16 minutes between competitors from the same Nation.
  • Scoring – a maximum of four from each Nation to run in each age class with the best two to count, points being awarded 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 per class.
  • Event Safety – competitors take part at their own risk. It should be made clear to Team Managers that they should not enter anyone who does not have sufficient experience to run the course for which they are entered. Team Managers are responsible for First Aid for their own team.

The Relay Competition

  • This is held on the Sunday morning at a time which allows competitors to depart for home by 2pm (and preferably earlier). It is recommended that the first start be approximately 9.30am.
  • Each Nation may enter a maximum of 4 men’s (open) and 4 women’s teams with the best two teams from each Nation to count.
  • Relay teams must be declared before leaving the Individual event.
  • Scoring shall be 16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2.
  • Each team shall comprise a 16, 14 and 18 and will run in that order.
  • Non-competitive ad hoc teams should be permissible if required.
  • Winning times should be approximately 30 minutes for M&W14 and 40 minutes for M&W 16 and 18.
  • There should be a separate course for each class.
  • Planners should endeavour to “gaffle” all the courses for a section at technical difficulty 4 and the 16’s and 18’s for an additional section at technical difficulty 5 to reduce the possibilities of following.
  • It is recommended that there is a massed start of women’s teams first, followed the men’s start 10/15 minutes later.
  • The points total for the Relays should be announced and the Relays Trophy awarded to the winning Nation.
  • The overall points for the Event should be announced and the Overall Trophy awarded to the winning Nation.
  • Prizes should be awarded to members of the first men’s and first women’s teams.

The Social Programme

  • After the Individual, most teams will return to their accommodation to recover and prepare for the Saturday evening social. The Organiser should advise Team Managers of the whereabouts of a swimming pool or other recreational facilities within easy reach of the Individual event/accommodation.
  • The Saturday evening social is an important part of the programme. The venue for the social should be fairly close to the accommodation, preferably no more that 30 minutes drive away. It should include a substantial hot meal, a disco or ceilidh and a prize-giving. Alcoholic drinks must not be available. The meal should start at approximately 6.30pm allowing the evening to finish by 10.30pm.
  • Prize-giving – this should take place during the Saturday evening. Prizes or mementoes should be presented to the first three in each age class. It should be noted that this is an important part of the proceedings and the Juniors enjoy cheering for their own team members. The points total for each Nation should be announced and the Individual Trophy presented to the winning Nation.

Trophies

  • Individual
  • Relays
  • Overall
  • The Judith Wingham Trophy (for the winner between Ireland and Wales)

Winning teams keep the trophies until next year. The winning Nation is responsible
for engraving each trophy.

Consideration should be made of providing a small memento for each competitor.