Cycling Team Rules

sparkey290

I have been involved in sports including cycling for a number of years the team rules and points generally all work the same way but BMX Ireland seem to have come up with a set of rules that make no sense to me or anyone I have spoken with, can any of you guys offer any light on these, My understanding is that a win is a win no matter what category you are in and all winners should be awarded the same points no matter of the age or sex of the racer.

The new team rules are based on the number of riders in the category, see below for example;

12 Riders in a Category: 1st = 12pts / 2nd = 11pts / 3rd = 10pts / 4th = 9pts / 5th = 8pts etc.

8 Riders in a Category: 1st = 8pts / 2nd = 7pts / 3rd = 6pts / 4th = 5pts / 5th = 4pts etc.

4 Riders in a Category: 1st = 4pts / 2nd = 3pts / 3rd = 2pts / 4th = 1pts

This seems to be very unfair towards the smaller groups like the female riders who work hard on and off season to be penalised for their effort, this change greatly reduces their chance of being selected for a team because they aren’t in the running for team points, this really look like they are trying to exclude the minorities and pushing female participation out of the sport at a time when the remit of most cycling organisations is to increase female participation.

Link to New Rules: bmxireland.ie/2015/01/2015-national-team-competition-details/

sconhome

Are the points not applied equally across both sexes as in 1st male =12, 1st female =12 points? Or sliding points bases on position?

In most other non cycling events they are usually male and female races that just happen to be run concurrently but positions and points applied to the winners in each sex.

Or is BMX another 'victim' of equality where everyone is considered absolutely equal regardless of sex?

rab!dmonkey

I think what he's getting at is that women's fields are smaller, so they fall into the lower points brackets. Makes sense to me: it's harder to win from a bigger field.

sparkey290

rab!dmonkey, agreed that it's harder to win from a bigger field but usually a win is a win and everyone is awarded the same points for the win no matter the size of the field, if you look at last years age groups below you will see that there are big differences between the amount of female riders in each age group compared to most of the male groups, it seams unfair that a rider in Superclass can get 22 points for a win and the most points any girl will get is 6 which means that they will get the same points as a rider that comes 16th in the Superclass which seams unfair.

Boys U6 = 12 Riders
Boys 7-8 = 18 Riders
Boys 9-10 = 13 Riders
Boys 11-12 = 19 Riders
Boys 13-14 = 10 Riders
Boys 15+ = 15 Riders

Girls U7 = 6 Riders
Girls 8-10 = 4 Riders
Girls 11-14 = 6 Riders
ladies 15+ = 4 Riders

Vets 30+ = 17 Riders
Superclass = 22 Riders


AKW - Not sure what BMX is a 'victim' of yet however these rules look extremely unfair towards the majority of age groups and it would seam that whoever decided on the rule change either doesn't get it and therefore shouldn't be allowed make rule changes like this in an Irish National Series or else they have an alternate agenda.