Australian Rogaining Association

In NSW we normally place the following restrictions on team members:
* at least two members have to be older than 14 years old
OR
* at least one of the two members must be 18 years or older

What rules do other states use? Are there any restrictions with respect to Australian Rogains Association Insurance that dissallow a team composing of two team members of 10 years old, or even a younger age? Do the current restrictions exist due to individual state rules, Australia wide rules or insurance limitations?

Hi Phil,

My view is that we follow the rule that if someone is under 14 then someone must be over 18 in the team in hope that there is some maturity in the team. Probably have to rethink that if they were drifting in the campground before the event!

Seriously I think the <14 & 18> is pretty good though I do recall a NSWRA Committee Member being DQ because he and his less than two? year old made up the team. Should they have started?

My wife and I usually take our three children all under 8. I did once take the elder two out when under three and under five. In hindsight it is probably questionable whether that was wise. Personally I never recovered from "we are not going rogaining ever again" to any tune and great gales of laughter!

Anyhow I hope this helps to kick this conversation along.

Post edited by: Alan_Mansfield, at: 2008/09/04 06:53

Too young... Well we took our 3 month old on a rogaine last year (were only out for 7 hours on a 24 hour event) we had a great time, and our son isn't showing any signs of being worse off for the experience yet (see photo on vra 2008 calander)... And we just took him on his second rogaine as a 14 month old last weekend. He loves being in the back pack, and then enjoys going for a walk every few hours (he's even learning to use a compass (though trying to get it off him again was another matter)). Figure if we involve him in the sport we love from a young age, he'll grow up with even better navigation skills and enjoyment of our outdoors.

Post edited by: Grant, at: 2008/10/18 07:22

I've been thinking about this further, and the more I think about it the more I think there is some need for a ruling on this - and I think the suggestions to date don't properly cover the core issues of both safety on the course and rogaining is a team sport. Realistically, any young child is going to be more of a restriction than a benfit as any child under 3 is going to require considerable carrying / nappy changing / feeding.

As far as safety goes, any child under 6 ? years of age is not going to be able to be of much assistance to an injured second team memeber, in fact they are likely to be more of a liability. Hence I would suggest that this situation is akin to a single competitor without a team!

Secondly rogaining is a team sport, and any child under 4 ? is unlikely to be provinding much input into route selection, navigation and actual walking on the course.

I'd suggest the following two conditions:
1) Minimum two people 14 or older (or maybe a little younger if said members have participated in more than 10? rogaines - ie have demonstrated navigational ability)
or
2) If one member is 18 or older, then a second member must be at least 6 or older - ie in a two person team the second team meber must be able to look after themselves and call from assistance.

Any 3rd or subsequnt team members can be any age provided one of the two conditions above are met.

Thoughts?

The previous post is quite right - as long as there are two "of age" competitors, the third or subsequent competitors can be of any age. In WA we have recently had the same issue posed - how young is too young? We recently disqualified a Junior team as they managed to register a member who was not 14 - all the remaining members were >14, and <18. I looked at the rules with the aim of elaborating on Rule 2, and came up with the following explanation:

The Australian Rogaining Association considers that once a person has reached fourteen years of age, they are mature enough to be able to handle themselves in the bush, both individually and as a team. However, they are unlikely to be able to handle a younger team member if that person starts to be have irresponsibly, especially if that team member is a personal friend. In this situation, a more mature person is required to ensure that the younger team member does not behave in a manner that places at risk one or more of the team.

My biggest concern is that if you have a group of 14 year olds, and one 13 year old, they are most likely all friends, and it is unlikely that if the youngest decides to do something "stupid", then his/her friends are unlikely to be able to stop them, whereas an older person may be able to "put their foot down" and keep the situation under control. The most likely instance is two people wanting to go different ways, and the team splitting up.

So my suggestion is that R2 stays as is - it is needed. But we do have to address the situation as to what is the minimum age for the second person in a two-person team? Is a 6 year old old enough to "go for help"? 2 years ago in WA a 5 year girl was able to walk 10km to attract help after her father got into difficulty in the bush. But I certainly wouldn't want to go any younger.

Owen Horton

We also discussed this at a recent ACT committee meeting.

If there are 2 people over 18 then any age for other members is fine.

If there is only one person over 18, then the rest of the team should be 14 or over. In effect, the team has to be "allowable" without the single over 18 member in the extreme event of their incapacitation.

Consideration could possibly be given for discretion with a team of 2 if the junior is experienced, but I'd take a lot of convincing that under 12 would be OK in any circumstance. Sure it may be possible and even have happened, but we don't want to be creating situations where a child may need to do a "bravery award" type deed if the adult breaks a leg or similar.