GENERAL INFORMATION
GENERAL RULES
The Florida Senior Games rulebook can be found online
at floridaseniorgames.com. It is the responsibility of the
participant to familiarize him/herself with the rules and
requirements of the Florida Senior Games. Most sport specific
competition rules and qualifying standards have been provided
on the following pages.
AGE DIVISIONS
Age divisions for singles competition will be determined by the
athlete’s age as of December 31, 2019. Age divisions for all relay,
doubles and mixed doubles competition will be determined by
the younger age of the two players as of December 31, 2019.
Age divisions for all team competition will be determined by the
age of the youngest team player as of December 31, 2019. For
example, a team consisting of eight players 65 or over and one
player age 63 will compete in the 60+ age division.
The following age categories will apply to both men and
women for individual, doubles and relay competition, except
Powerlifting: 50-54; 55-59; 60-64; 65-69; 70-74; 75-79; 80-84; 85-
89; 90-94; 95-99; and 100+
All team sports, except Team Bowling, are divided into the
following categories for both men and women: 50+; 55+; 60+;
65+; 70+ and 75+; 80+ division will be available for Basketball 3
on 3 and Volleyball.
Team Bowling will offer 10-year age divisions. Powerlifting will
offer a combination of age and weight classes. Some sports
reserve the right to combine age groups. It is the responsibility
of the athlete to provide appropriate photo identification
proving age and residency upon request.
QUALIFICATION
Many sports require Floridians to qualify at one of the Florida
Senior Games Series Qualifiers. Please see the sport specific
pages for qualifying rules.
The Florida Sports Foundation defines an “OPEN” event as
one in which a resident athlete is not required to participate
in a Florida Senior Games Series Qualifier. Archery, Bag Toss,
Basketball 3 on 3, Billiards, Powerlifting, Race Walk, Racquetball,
Road Race, Tai Chi and Volleyball are considered “OPEN” events.
In addition, the non-ambulatory divisions of Bowling and
Shuffleboard are considered “OPEN” events.
The Florida Sports Foundation defines a “LIMITED” event as
one in which an athlete may not find suitable opportunities for
qualification at a Florida Senior Games Series Qualifier. Javelin
and Pole Vault are considered to be a “LIMITED” event. In order
to qualify in a “LIMITED” event, one must register for that event
at a Florida Senior Games Series Qualifier or show evidence that
the event was not offered at any Florida Senior Games Series
Qualifiers. If competition is not available, an athlete may request
to be included as qualified by the Florida Senior Games Series
Qualifier for which they registered. Florida Track & Field and
Swimming athletes wishing to compete in relay events must
qualify in an event of their sport.
Non-resident athletes are not required to qualify at a Florida
Senior Games Series Qualifier for any sport.
6 2019 FLORIDA SENIOR GAMES REGISTRATION BOOK
RESIDENCY
The Florida Sports Foundation’s definition of an athlete’s state
residence is that state in which the person resides for at least six
months out of the year.
The Florida Senior Games are open to out of state athletes.
Out of state athletes are not required to qualify, but will not
take a medal from an in-state athlete nor prevent them from
qualifying for the National Senior Games.
AWARDS STRUCTURE
Divisions with no out-of-state athletes: One set of awards will
be awarded, since only in-state athletes are competing in that
division.
Divisions with in-state and out-of-state athletes: In the event
that out of state athlete(s) are competing in a division and finish
in the top three, then two sets of medals will be awarded; 1)
Overall – which is the top three athletes overall, and 2) State
Championships – which is the top three Floridians. If a division
has out of state athlete(s) that do not finish in the top three,
then only one set of medals will be awarded, since the out of
state athlete did not affect the in-state athlete from placing.
DOUBLES PARTNERS
Teams for doubles/mixed doubles events must consist of two
Florida residents in order to be considered an in-state doubles
team. Teams consisting of one in-state player and one out of
state player will be considered a non-resident doubles team.
Doubles partners who qualify together do not have to play
together at the Florida Senior Games. Each Florida resident
partner must have qualified at a Florida Senior Games Series
Qualifier in order to compete at the State Championships.
Billiards, Bowling, Pickleball, Racquetball, Table Tennis and
Tennis doubles partners must be of the same gender. Note:
These events also have a separate mixed doubles except for
Billiards. Shuffleboard doubles may be of mixed gender. All
doubles and mixed doubles pairs must compete in the age
division of the younger partner as of December 31, 2019. Athletes
may compete with only one partner per event.
TEAMS
All registration and team rules apply to non-playing coaches,
non-playing captains and non-playing bench personnel with
the following exceptions:
Non-playing coaches, non-playing captains or non-playing
bench personnel may represent more than one team in the
same sport, each of which must be in different age divisions.
Non-playing coaches, non-playing captains or non-playing
bench personnel are not subject to age and gender
requirements.
Athletes may compete with up to two teams per sport providing
that the teams are in different age divisions that are not
scheduled to play at the same time. Athletes who compete in
a team sport may serve as a non-playing coach, non-playing
captain or non-playing bench representative for additional
teams in the same sport, provided the teams are in different age
divisions.
Non-playing coaches, non-playing captains or non-playing
bench personnel are not required to meet qualifying standards
for their sport.
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