Write categories and eligibility rules for an outsider.

Rules differ by country and by council. Ask your legal adviser.

A rule is often written by someone who already knows what it means. The author has the sport, the location and the season in mind. The text makes sense to those who have the same mind. Candidates don't have it.

Then the applications arrive. A club asks whether a player who turned eighteen in March counts as a youth. Each limiting case becomes a question. Each answer becomes a precedent.

A good rule does not prevent all questions. It answers the likely ones before anyone asks.

Give the rule to those who didn't write it

If that person disagrees with the meaning, rewrite it. Words like “young” or “local” seem clear and they are not. Replace them with something that a stranger can verify: a date of birth, a time period, a county.

Candidates read the rule with their own case in mind. That's why the text has to work for a stranger.

Say who is in and who is out

Say what the award recognises. Say what you don't recognise. A rule in simple words is easier to apply and easier to defend. People accept a rule they perceive, even when it does not favor them.

Apply the same text to each candidate. A favor to one person and a refusal to another becomes a complaint.

Publish before opening, and don't change midway

Publish the rule before applications open. If you need to change it, inform each candidate. A rule that prevents an argument costs less than the argument. The discussion may come after the ceremony, in front of those who were not awarded.

The published rule and the form say the same thing

A rule that lives in a document and is applied via email changes depending on who reads it. When the application form asks for what the published rule requires, the team fails to respond to each club with a different version.

This does not take away the decision from those who judge. The organiser's jury makes the final decision. What emerges from the discussion is the meaning of the rule. Categories and eligibility are based on the edition. Eventblox® keeps that base. Planning is where the regulation comes in.

Check the rule with someone who didn't write it. Apply the same text to each candidate. Publish before opening. If it changes, let us know.

Write the rule as if a stranger will apply it on your worst day.