Lucas Garron
Administrator
As a competition organizer, I often get emails from parents asking if there will be an age category 6/8/10/12-year that their child can compete in.
The WCA certainly doesn't have them, and in general we don't give out official age-based awards. I can never think of a clear, concise explanation for way we do it this way. It has always been clear to us that age is not a barrier to potential, and cubers who go to competitions know that it's about getting to interact with (and learn from) cubers of other ages. Age and speed don't matter (I like mentioning that I averaged ≈1:30 at my first competition, and that my first competition was a lot of fun and what motivate me to really start speedcubing).
Similar sports often do have age categories, or even different ways for various competitors to compete with others "similar to them" (in age, speed, class year/seniority, or something else). How would you explain 1) why cubing doesn't, and 2) why you think that's a good thing? And are there any downsides to it that we're not taking seriously?
The WCA certainly doesn't have them, and in general we don't give out official age-based awards. I can never think of a clear, concise explanation for way we do it this way. It has always been clear to us that age is not a barrier to potential, and cubers who go to competitions know that it's about getting to interact with (and learn from) cubers of other ages. Age and speed don't matter (I like mentioning that I averaged ≈1:30 at my first competition, and that my first competition was a lot of fun and what motivate me to really start speedcubing).
Similar sports often do have age categories, or even different ways for various competitors to compete with others "similar to them" (in age, speed, class year/seniority, or something else). How would you explain 1) why cubing doesn't, and 2) why you think that's a good thing? And are there any downsides to it that we're not taking seriously?
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