Link to Defintion of Surrey

To compete for Surrey or to enter one of its championships an athlete requires a Surrey qualification. County qualifications are defined by UK Athletics in its Rules for Competition. Each club secretary has a copy of the current Rule Book and they should be your first point of contact regarding any interpretation.

The following extract is taken from UK Athletics - Rules for Competition - effective from 1^st April 2018 and is reproduced with permission from UKA. This information is provided as a guide only and should not be considered as a definitive statement of the rules.

RULE 21 S6 (1) ENGLISH COUNTY QUALIFICATION

(i) County Championships are open to all eligible athletes possessing a County Qualification.

(ii) A County qualification may be acquired as follows:

(a) By birth (see also Rule 21 S4(1)).

(b) By nine months' continuous bona fide residence in the County immediately prior to the competition.

(c) By service in a Unit of HM Forces stationed in the County for nine months immediately prior to the date of competition. Temporary absence on duty shall not break a qualification acquired under this paragraph.

NOTE : Membership of a Club affiliated to a County Association does not, of itself, provide an athlete with a County qualification unless at least one of (a) - (c) above is satisfied.

(iii) Competitors who have qualified, and competed under (ii)(b) or (c) above retain that qualification until they have acquired residential qualification and competed in the Championship of another County, or represented another County in an Inter-County Championship.

(iv) A student at school, college or university does not acquire a residential qualification by residence in the County during term time only (See also (x) below).

(v) An athlete who has competed in a County Championship, (other than is allowed under (x) below), or represented a County in an Inter-County competition, may not compete in the Championships of, nor represent, another County in that Competition Year.

(vi) County Inter-Team (including relay) Championships are open to:

(a) Any Club affiliated to the County Association, fulfilling the appropriate requirements of Rule 21 S2(4).

(b) Any Unit of HM Services stationed in the County.

(c) Any school, college or business house in the County.

NOTE. Every member of a team must hold a County qualification for that event as defined in (ii) above.

(vii) A County may, at its discretion, limit Team Championships to affiliated Clubs.

(viii) Athletes whose first claim Club is not affiliated to the County Association may compete for their second claim Club in a County Inter-Team Championship if they posess the necessary County qualification.

(ix) A Club may affiliate to more than one County.

(x) A County may at its discretion relax the qualification in the case of athletes in term-time residence at a school, college or university within its boundaries, but competition in any such events shall not be deemed to have established a County qualification for any inter-county competition. This discretion is not extended to include athletes of any age attending only as day students at the institution concerned.

(xi) Where County boundaries are changed by law, affecting the place of birth or residence of an athlete, thereby moving it from County A to County B the following shall apply:

(a) If athletes have already competed for County A, or in the Championships of County A, under (ii) above, they shall retain the existing birth or residential qualification unless notice is given in writing to the Honorary Secretary of County A that they wish henceforth to be qualified for County B.

(b) If athletes have not competed for County A or in a Championship of County A under (ii) above, the place of birth shall be deemed to have been in County B and any period of residence in County A to have been in County B.

(xii) Competitors in an Inter-County Championship must possess a County qualification under (ii) above for the County they represent.

The above Rule refers to "eligible athletes" and to Rules 21 S2(4) and 21 S4(1). The definition of an eligible athlete is contained in Rule 20.

Rules 20, 21 S1, 21 S2 and S1 S4(1) are as follows:

RULE 20 DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ATHLETE

An athlete is eligible to compete if he agrees to abide by the Rules and has not been declared ineligible.

RULE 21 S1 ELIGIBILITY TO COMPETE

Eligible Athletes

(i) All competitions under the Rules of UKA and Domestic Competitions held under IAAF Rules are confined to eligible athletes as defined by these rules. All athletes in Age Groups covered by these Rules (Age Group Under 13 upwards) must be registered with their National Association and comply with their terms and conditions including payment.

(ii) Should the Competitor not be registered they will be liable to disqualification and in such a case the competition shall be decided as if the ineligible competitor had not taken part. In an Inter-Club or Inter-Team competition that disqualification does not necessarily disqualify the Club concerned.

(iii) Any protest in respect of the registration of an athlete must be made within 5 working days from the formal declaration of issuing the result of the competition.

(iv) To aid the registration process:

(a) Athletes being registered with their National Association for the first time will have the provision of one week's grace to enable clubs to register their athletes retrospectively beyond the athletes' participation in a competition in which they have taken.

(b) In addition Home Country Associations may give relaxation in part or whole to the above regulations, in their absolute authority, through the meeting licence (normally for Track and Field events this would relate to Level 1 meetings but in exceptional circumstances also to Level 2 meetings).

(v) Registration payment arrangements are at the discretion of the Home Countries.

(vi) Unattached athletes and any Club Member participating as an individual and not as a Member of any Club Team, competing in Road Walking, Road Running, FELL, Hill and Mountain Running and Trail Running are excluded from these regulations.

RULE 21 S2 CLUBS

(1) Each Club and Competition Provider must be affiliated either to UKA for UK wide Competitions or to the National Association in whose geographical area of responsibility the Club's headquarters are located.

(2) An affiliated Club or Competition Provider must supply to the Association to which it it is affiliated, and to the UKA itself, such information as that body requires.

(3) A club must be properly constituted with a constitution which provides, inter alia, for its democratic management by means of a managing committee and the holding of an annual general meeting of all its members.

(4) Athletics is organised within the following disciplines:

(i) Track and Field

(ii) Race Walking

(iii) Cross Country

(iv) Road Running

(v) Fell, Hill and Mountain Running

(vi) Trail Running

A club may only compete in Open Team Competitions if that Club is specifically affiliated for that discipline (not applicable to Trail Running).

RULE 21 S4 COMPETITION CONDITIONS

(1)Birth qualification: For the purpose of determining place of birth for a competition qualification this may be either at the location of actual birth or at the domicile of the mother at the time of birth, if different. In the event that the different locations are in different Counties or Districts then the athlete may make an irrevocable selection for which County or District they wish to be eligible. Once an athlete has made a decision as to their County or District of birth this may not be changed.

Definition of Surrey

The "County of Surrey" for the purposes of Athletics (and many other sports) is described as being the Ancient and Geographical County of Surrey. This means that in addition to the current Administrative County of Surrey it also includes part of Greater London.

Because of the various re-organisations of local government in the London area, and the fact that as far as athletics is concerned there is no county of London, the athletic county of Surrey includes that part of the Greater London area which, historically, was part of Surrey. In order to simplify matters Kent County AA and Surrey County AA agreed that for those areas, South of the River Thames which have one of the following London postal disrticts, are considered to be located in Surrey:

London Postal Districts in Surrey :

SE1 (Southwark), SE5 (Camberwell), SE11 (Kennington), SE15 (Peckham), SE16 (Rotherhithe), SE17 (Walworth), SE19 (Norwood), SE21 (Dulwich), SE22 (East Dulwich), SE24 (Herne Hill), SE25 (South Norwood), SE27 (West Norwood), SW2 (Brixton), SW4 (Clapham), SW8 (South Lambeth), SW9 (Stockwell), SW11 (Battersea), SW12 (Balham), SW13 (Barnes), SW14 (Mortlake), SW15 (Putney), SW16 (Streatham), SW17 (Tooting), SW18 (Wandsworth), SW19 (Wimbledon), SW20 (West Wimbledon).

For those parts of Greater London which are not located in a London Postal District then those located in the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, Merton, Kingston and that part of Richmond which is on the "Surrey side" of the River Thames are all considered to be located in Surrey.

The Administrative County of Surrey comprises the boroughs of Elmbridge, Epsom & Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Reigate & Banstead, Runneymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Tandridge, Waverley and Woking.