USA Climbing Youth Series age categories are changing for the 2024-2025 climbing season. This post will illustrate the new age categories, explain why this change is being made, and provide additional information about how categories are affected.
Why is this change being made?
The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) member federations voted to approve a shift in IFSC age categories starting in 2025. This change increases the minimum age to participate in IFSC senior events by one year in an effort to safeguard young athletes from potentially negative pressures experienced competing at the senior level. The vote also approved the change of youth categories to align with the age shift. USA Climbing, as a National Federation member of the IFSC, must align with IFSC changes.
What are the new USA Climbing Youth age categories?
Effective for the start of the 2024-2025 Season, youth categories including respective event eligibility is illustrated below in Table 1. For comparison and reference, the 2023-2024 categories and competition eligibility are provided in Table 2.
Table 1: USA Climbing Age Categories and Competition Eligibility (2024-2025 Season)
Table 2: USA Climbing Age Categories and Competition Eligibility (2023-2024 Season)
How does this affect IFSC 2025 Youth World Championships?
The 2025 Youth World Championships will only include U17 (15-16-year-olds) and U19 (17-18-year-olds) age categories. As a result, categories with 14- or 19-year-old competitors (that were eligible in prior years) will not be eligible for the 2025 Youth World Championships.
How were these decisions made?
USA Climbing staff and the Youth Series Task Force (YSTF) have worked to collect feedback over the past several weeks from various USA Climbing stakeholders. The qualitative and quantitative data collected played a critical role in the decisions made for the upcoming 2024-2025 season.
Considerations included minimizing negative impacts to athletes, host facilities, and volunteers while also considering operational resources for the upcoming season.
How does this affect USA Climbing Youth Series competitors?
USA Climbing has made the following decisions regarding the 2024-2025 season. These decisions will allow for a smooth transition into our new age categories without overextending the systems already in place to manage the Youth Series. The YSTF will continue to collect feedback and consider how to improve the youth athlete experience for future seasons.
U20 (19-year-olds):
- Athletes born in 2006 will be in a new, single-age category for 2024-2025.
- The competitors in U20 are not eligible for Youth Worlds per IFSC rules.
- The U20 category will follow a traditional pathway to Nationals which includes QEs > Regionals > Divisionals > Nationals.
- For the upcoming season, the U20 category advancement quota will remain the same as previous seasons – 26 for Regionals, 13 for Divisionals and 6 for Nationals.
- Continuation of this single-age category beyond the 2024-2025 Season is still under review.
U15 (13-14-year-olds):
- Athletes born in 2011 or 2012.
- The U15 category will use the Standard Speed Route for QSTs.
- The Youth National Championship will use the Standard Speed Route with additional holds in a standard pattern to shorten movement for this category.
- USA Climbing will provide setting guidance to use additional holds as an OPTION at QSTs for those facilities who choose to use it.
- The U15 category will be Top Rope only for all rope climbing events for the upcoming season (QEs > Regionals > Divisionals > Nationals).
- Since category designations are based on ages ending on December 31 of the respective year, some youth athletes in this category would be as young as 12 years old, which is a year younger than the Youth B category in previous seasons.
- The age for lead-climb certification at host facilities varies widely across the nation due to liability insurance and other requirements. There are a significant number of facilities that do not permit lead-climb certification at 12 years old.
- This decision was made in the interest of equity and providing a consistent event experience for this category nationwide.
U13 (12-year-olds or under):
- Athletes born in 2013 or later.
- The U13 age category will not compete at Divisionals or Nationals.
- We understand this news may disappoint some athletes anticipating their first year of Divisionals eligibility. However, we believe that this decision will best support the positive development of the majority of the athletes competing in this category.
- There were many variables to assess: the American Development Model (ADM) that guides youth development in sports, the level of service and quality of competitions, and the operational lift from 100+ Regional Coordinator volunteers, USA Climbing Committees, and USA Climbing internal staff, etc.
How is North American Cup Series (NACS) eligibility being affected?
IFSC member federations voted to approve a shift in the minimum age for World Cups from 16 to 17 years old, effective for the 2025 season, which affects NACS participation and eligibility for interested competitors. While the North American Cup Series is not part of the Youth Series, many youth competitors have participated in these events. USA Climbing may consider eligibility for competitors who are 16 years old for North American Cup Series events with the understanding that only those who are 17 years old or older would be World Cup eligible (TBD). Any potential changes to the current model requires consultation with member federations and is outside the purview of the Youth Series Task Force.
Please know that decisions were guided by putting the interests of our youth athletes first. USA Climbing and the Youth Series Task Force will continue to monitor and review these decisions during this upcoming season. As the YSTF continues its work, we also plan to monitor the decisions of the IFSC, collect feedback from all necessary stakeholders, and prioritize athlete well-being above all else. We are excited to continue to grow and strengthen the Youth Series over the coming years, so that more young athletes can thrive in this sport we all love!
We look forward to seeing you at Youth competitions soon and welcoming new climbers and their families to the sport in the upcoming season. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Warm Regards,
USA Climbing & Youth Series Task Force
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CBJ press releases are written by the sponsor and do not represent the views of the Climbing Business Journal editorial team.
