Need to know information
Historically, cross-country mountain biking is an individual sport, with very few structured team competitions in place.
This stems from the fact that World Championship and Olympic participation is done on an individual basis. Individual participation has made it difficult for mountain biking to compete against the mainstream sports like rugby, cricket, hockey and netball where the focus is on “team” and “school” and not the individual.
A school builds its sporting reputation based on the annual strength of their teams, and one can find a direct correlation between team strength and the quality of the programme behind the sport.
The League focuses mainly on High Schools, but in many regions provision is made to accommodate junior schools as this boosts numbers at smaller events and allows for a feeder system to develop. In Gauteng, for example, there will not be enough room to manage all the additional categories.
In short, participation in the League is open to all school children, irrespective of whether the school has an MTB programme or not. However, participation in the Inter-schools Final is based on overall performance of school teams.
In most regions, parents enter their children through their region’s specific entry process. The rider’s points will automatically be awarded to their registered school, allowing for the school’s overall log to be formed. The responsibility is then on the parents to ensure child arrives on time to their race and participates in the correct race.
Ideally, we’d like to see the schools supporting by encouraging participation of current and new riders, appointing school team managers and coaches, driving the entry and team registration process, assisting with transport to events, building local school practice tracks, arranging inter-school competitions and providing school branding at Spur MTB League events.
Various coaching and commissaire courses are being rolled out by SASC (South African Schools Cycling) in order to assist school teachers become educated and trained to assist grow their scholar’s skill levels.
How to work out rider’s age category: a rider’s age is determined based on the age that they will be on the 31st December of this year.
2019 AGE CATEGORIES
| PRIMARY SCHOOL AGE CATEGORIES | ||||
| BOY’S AGE CATGORY | CAT | YEAR OF BIRTH | GIRL’S AGE CATEGORY | CAT |
| Sub Nipper Boy (7-8) | SNB | 2011-2012 | Sub Nipper Girl (7-8) | SNG |
| Nipper Boy (9-10) | NB | 2009-2010 | Nipper Girl (9-10) | NG |
| Sprog Boy (11-12) | SB | 2007-2008 | Sprog Girl (11-12) | SG |
| Sub Junior Boy PS (13-14) | JBP | 2005-2006 | Sub Junior Girl PS (13-14) | JGP |
| HIGH SCHOOL AGE CATEGORIES | ||||
| Sub Junior Boy HS (13-14) | JBH | 2005-2006 | Sub Junior Girl PS (13-14) | JGH |
| Youth Men (15) | YM15 | 2004 | Youth Women (15) | YW15 |
| Youth Men (16) | YM16 | 2003 | Youth Women (16) | YW16 |
| Junior Men (17-19) | JM | 2000-2002 | Junior Women (17-19) | JW |
Important rules to note:
PARTICIPATION
- Riders will participate in the age category as per the age that they will be on the 31st December of the current year
- No 6 or 20-year-old riders will be permitted to participate
- Any rider participating in the incorrect race or with the incorrect race board will be disqualified
- All riders must ride under their school name that they are registered at
- No rider is permitted to represent a school that they are not registered at
- Under the schools act, home-schools are not defined as a school and therefore will need to register to a schools team to participate in the League
- Home-school riders must represent a school and/or wear the school kit and be registered for sport at the school. Click here to read more
- All riders that are not representing a bona fide school will be seen as “ghost riders” and will not be seeded, awarded points or qualify to podium
- A rider that is participating at a regional event where their school is not part of the provincial district must inform the registration crew of this and will be seen as a “ghost rider” and will not be allocated schools points, be seeded or qualify to podium
- Riders not adhering to event rules can and will be disqualified under the discretion of the head commissaire and/or race director
SUB JUNIOR AGE CATEGORIES (if split)
- 13-year old riders registered at a high school will participate in the Sub Junior HS (JP) category and will be eligible to qualify for the Spur MTB League Inter-schools Final.
- 14-year old riders registered at a primary school will participate in the Sub Junior PS (JH) category and will not be eligible to qualify for the Spur MTB League Inter-schools Final.
CYCLING KIT
- School cycling kit must be worn
- If the school does not have an official cycling kit, phys-ed or plain shirt may be worn
- No boldly sponsored or other event kit may be worn
RIDER / PARENT / MANAGER (and other) BEHAVIOUR
- The Spur MTB League and/or race director/commissaires reserves the right to remove any rider, parent, teacher, family member or other from a dedicated event area or premises should they be found interfering with official’s event duties
- The same applies to behavior that is found unacceptable and out of line
- An official complaint or protest may be submitted to the Chief Commissaire as per the official rules process
GAZEBOS AND AREA CONSIDERATION
- Only school branded or plain gazebos will be permitted in the feed zone and direct event area
- No advertising of companies or products will be permitted unless granted permission by the race director
- It is expected that each individual will clean up after themselves and deposit any waste in provided bins
- Please note you will only have 3 meter allocation for your Gazebo on the track / feeding zone. If you have more than one Gazebo the rest must be placed behind the one facing the track / feeding zone. If your Gazebo is bigger than 3m ensure the 3m side faces the track/feeding zone.
OTHER
- Each region has specific bylaws that pertain to them. See bylaws for more information
- The Chief Commissaire and Race Director are responsible for running a smooth event and their say is final
LAP GUIDELINES
Primary school courses range between 2 – 4km
High school courses range between 4 – 6km
| RECOMMENDED RACE TIMES | |||
| BOYS | TIME | GIRLS | TIME |
| HIGH SCHOOL | |||
| JUNIOR MEN | 50-60min | JUNIOR WOMEN | 40-50min |
| YOUTH MEN 16 | 40-50min | YOUTH WOMEN 16 | 30-40min |
| YOUTH MEN 15 | 40-50min | YOUTH WOMEN 15 | 30-40min |
| SUB JUNIOR BOYS HS 13-14 | 30-40min | SUB JUNIOR GIRLS HS 13-14 | 25-35min |
| PRIMARY SCHOOL | |||
| SUB JUNIOR BOYS PS 13-14 | 30-40min | SUB JUNIOR GIRLS PS 13-14 | 25-35min |
| SPROG BOYS | 20-30min | SPROG GIRLS | 20-30min |
| NIPPER BOYS | 15-25min | NIPPER GIRLS | 15-25min |
| SUB NIPPER BOYS | 15-20min | SUB NIPPER GIRLS | 15-20min |