Opinons needed on the Youth Contest

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How should The Youth contests be broken up age wise?

  • Leave it at 13 and Under

    Votes: 23 76.7%
  • Break it up into Under 13 and 13-14

    Votes: 5 16.7%
  • I have a better Idea!

    Votes: 2 6.7%

  • Total voters
    30

mredburn

IAP Activities Manager
Staff member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
8,752
Location
Fort Myers FL
The youth contests I have held have been divided into 13 and under, and 14 - 16.
Because we have had little participation in the 14 and up we have discontinued that age bracket. IF we have a young turner in that age group they can of course partake in the other contests open to the Membership.

My question is should we break the Youth contests up into
Under 13
and
13-14 years of age.

or just leave it at 13 and under?

Thoughts and opinions are appreciated.
 
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stonepecker

Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2012
Messages
4,382
Location
central Minnesota
Just my opinion so take this with a grain of salt.

I still would like to see two groupings. But I believe we need a change.
Group one........10 and under
Group two........ 11-15.

I think that some of the entries are really worthy of being in the open classes or up with the big boys. But I also believe there is something to be said for the younger turners to be given that "pat on the back" that we all need at times.

Just my thoughts about the subject.
 

mark james

IAP Collection, Curator
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
Messages
12,720
Location
Medina, Ohio
I also went for 13 and under. If you are 15, 16, etc i believe you can develop into commensurate skill levels... (did I spell that correctly???) :eek:.

At some point, the "Kids" become "Adults" with all the added advantages and disadvantages becoming apparent. Welcome to the real world "Younglings." So said Yoda... Look him up!).

Be Well, Mark
 

lyonsacc

Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
1,615
Location
Cincinnati, OH
My 14 year old has been turning pens for about 3 years. She can stabilize, dye, cut, drill,glue, turn and finish a pen as nicely as I can. As a 13 year old she was close, but lacked the confidence she has now. Everyone is different, but she is not as motivated by awards or prizes or contests as much as she used to be. So, at least in my limited experience, 13 and under works. She can turn with the big boys. If she was a new turner, that would be tougher, but at her age, she would be able to gain the skills necessary to turn a basic pen more quickly than at age 12.
Those are my 2 cents (I found a penny in the parking lot today)
 

clieb91

Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2013
Messages
84
Location
Ashburn VA
The breaking up of the 13 and under would not be a bad thing. I think based on the entries we have seen the past few years the teenagers are able to hold their own in the main contests. Though as Stonepecker notes there is something to be said for an area where that age bracket could compete by themselves. It is a good way to show that there are turners in that age bracket and bring turning to that group.

CtL
 

mike4066

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2014
Messages
353
Location
Akron, Ohio
lyonsacc's daughter at 14 has been turning longer than me :)

I have 3 boys ages 7, 14, and 16. I think experience in that 12-16 range is whats going to separate the younger turners. My 14 and 16 year old son have only turned a few pens between them and I'm still heavily involved when they want to make a pen, workflow, setting up equipment, monitoring their work, etc..


Can you break it up by skill level? It would require some honesty on the part of the IAP member sponsoring the youth, but could help keep the categories level.


Youth Advanced:
Able to turn a simple pen from beginning to end with little to no assistance
Able to setup tools and operate lathe with minor supervision to ensure safety
Knows the difference between a bowl gouge and spindle gouge (OK some of us can fail this one)


Beginners
Have turned somewhere between 0 and X numbers of pens
Need to be shown how to do each step, and monitored for the entire time.


If I had to pick an age I'd say 13 is good enough. They are teenagers, time to step up!
 
Last edited:

Edward Cypher

Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
1,901
Location
Denver, Colorado
I like mike4066 idea. Beginners, Intermediate and, advance. There are some kids that have been turning since they were 5 and are 11 now but can hold there own with the big boys; there are also 16 year olds who have only turned one or two pens.

The problem I see with this is who determines there catagory. We run into that problem at our club Front Range Woodturners, sometimes people claim they are beginners or intermediate yet there work appears to be advanced.

Like everything else there is a million opinions on what constitutes these classes but I feel that if they are defined well enough you eliminate many of the problems. I just hate to see a new kid for that matter any new turner get discouraged and not continue because they have to compete with "a Pro" or don't compete at all. Constructive criticism is good but we need to remember they are still kids, lets let them be kids a little longer. I'm sure many of us still wish are biggest concern is what kind of ice cream we want.

Sorry rambling but I think many will understand. Society is making our kids grow up way to fast as it is. Okay off my soap box.
 

mredburn

IAP Activities Manager
Staff member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
8,752
Location
Fort Myers FL
For those of you that have not been here for the last couple of youth contests. We allow parental assistance for the younger ones. Part of the entry form is disclosure of any and all help from an adult.
Unfortunately in the last contest we had only 1 entry in the 14 to 16 year old catagory.
 
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