Many competition rules do not give ages. They give birth dates. A rules sheet says “Juniors: born 01-01-2013 to 31-12-2015”, and the coordinator then has to work out the ages and the date they are counted on. eTalenter now does that for you. When you add or edit an age group, you pick the two birth dates from a calendar, and Age From, Age To and the Age Calculation Date fill in by themselves.
Already covered elsewhere on this site
This page is only about entering an age group by birth dates. Related ground has its own pages:
- Planning your age groups and houses — see how to set up age groups and houses.
- A different ID card or certificate for each age group — see different ID card and certificate background for each age group.
Why birth dates are easier
An age only makes sense together with the day it is counted on. “Age 10 to 12” on 1 June is a different set of children from “age 10 to 12” on 31 December. Rules sheets avoid that problem by listing the birth years, and that is also the easiest thing to check against a birth certificate. So it is the natural thing to type in. eTalenter still stores the group as ages and a calculation date, because that is what the rest of the platform uses. The new form simply does the conversion for you.
How a coordinator sets it up
- Open Age Groups and click Add New Group (or the edit button on an existing group).
- Type the Group Name, for example Junior.
- Under Enter Age Range As, keep Birth Dates. It is the first choice and already selected.
- Pick Born From (Oldest), the earliest birth date allowed, for example 01-01-2013.
- Pick Born To (Youngest), the latest birth date allowed, for example 31-12-2015.
- Check the filled-in Age From, Age To and Age Calculation Date, and the Calculated Age Group Preview below them, then click Submit.
Both calendars have a month and a year list at the top, so going back fifteen years takes two clicks. You can also type the date as DD-MM-YYYY. If your rules give ages instead, switch to Ages and type the ages and the calculation date as before.
A worked example
Here is a typical five-group rules sheet. These are the ages eTalenter fills in when the calculation date comes out as 31-12-2025:
| Group | Born from | Born to | Ages filled in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 01-01-2019 | 31-12-2022 | 3 to 6 |
| Primary | 01-01-2016 | 31-12-2018 | 7 to 9 |
| Junior | 01-01-2013 | 31-12-2015 | 10 to 12 |
| Intermediate | 01-01-2010 | 31-12-2012 | 13 to 15 |
| Senior | 01-01-2007 | 31-12-2009 | 16 to 18 |
Where does the calculation date come from? It always falls on the day and month of the Born To date (31 December in this example). For the year, eTalenter picks the year closest to the calculation date already in the form. For a new group, that is the date your first group uses, so all the groups of one event stay close together. If your event’s date is in 2026, the same rules come out as ages 4 to 7 on 31-12-2026. That is the same set of children, counted one year later. What matters is the birth-date range, and the preview shows it.
When the dates are not whole years
Ages count whole years. A range such as “born 01-06-2019 to 31-12-2022” covers three and a half years, and no pair of ages can match it exactly. In that case a warning note appears under the dates. It says which birth dates the group will really take (here 01-01-2019 to 31-12-2022), so you can check the rule before saving.
On a phone and on a laptop
On a laptop the two birth-date fields sit side by side, with the ages and the calculation date right below. With the rules sheet open next to the form, you can copy one group after another.
On a phone the form shows one field per row across the full width of the screen, and the calendar opens over it. That makes it easy to set up a group from a circular someone has just shared with you in a chat, without going to a computer first.
Groups stay in age order
You do not have to add the groups youngest first. After each save, eTalenter puts the list back in order. Regular groups come first, sorted by age: Individual groups, then groups open to both individuals and teams, then Team groups. Common groups come after them, and groups marked Allow Overlapping Age Range come last. If you set Set Order Manually to Yes in the form, that save keeps the order number you type and skips the re-sort. You can also drag a group to a new place in the list.
What it does not do
- It does not read the rules sheet for you. You still pick the two dates; there is no upload of the circular.
- It does not change anyone’s date of birth. It only sets the group’s age range. Participants are placed in groups from their own date of birth, the same way as before.
- It cannot match a range that is not whole years exactly. It shows the note above instead.
- It does not change other groups. Each group keeps its own calculation date, so add each group from the rules one at a time.
Questions organisers ask
Can I still type ages?
Yes. Choose Ages under Enter Age Range As. The age and calculation-date fields work as they always did.
What happens when I edit a group I made with ages?
The form opens on Birth Dates with the group’s current birth-date range already filled in. Compare it with your rules, change a date if needed, and save.
Can I change the calculation date afterwards?
Yes. The Age Calculation Date field stays editable. If you change it, check the ages, because the same ages on a different date cover different children. The preview shows the birth-date range the group will really take.
Setting up your age groups on eTalenter? See the platform, open a live demo and log in as a demo coordinator to look around the age groups and the rest of the setup (no sign-up, read-only), WhatsApp us, or email support@etalenter.com for help with the software.
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