New age categories for youngsters

Two new age categories for Junior athletes: Under 16 (U-16) and Under 18 (U-18) years of age have been introduced by the ESC Presidium aiming to further develop the shooting sport on our continent with paying special attention to the young athletes.

Consequently, new European Championships for U-16 and U-18 age categories in 10m Air Rifle/Air Pistol and new European Championships for U-18 age category in Shotgun are established. 

Besides, the existing European Championships in 10m Air Rifle/Air Pistol events will be divided in two separate Championships: European Championships Juniors and European Championships. 

The introduction of the U-16 and U-18 age categories does not affect neither the existing age limit for Juniors nor a possibility of U-16 and U-18 athletes in taking part in the European Championships for Juniors. At the same time, it gives an opportunity for the Member Federations to involve a bigger number of young athletes in the competitions of the European Championships level and to the most talented of them to give them the opportunity to compete at three European Championships within the year. 

On the other hand, athletes of the U-21 age category will obtain an additional possibility to take part not only in the events for Men Junior/Women Junior but also in the events of Men and Women.

The new version of the General Regulations with approved amendments can be found on the ESC website.

---

Leave a comment