4-H

General Rules for Competitive Events

INTRODUCTION

This publication includes competitive events and rules under which the event are conducted at the District and State levels. These rules may also serve as a guide for conducting community and county competitive events.

Competition is only one of the teaching methods available to Extension Agents and volunteer leaders in the development of youth.  Agents and leaders are encouraged to keep competitive events within their proper perspective. All youth do not enjoy competitive situations. Some prefer to learn by other methods, which are available to them through 4-H.

When encouraging participation in 4-H competitions, the emphasis should be placed on the value of the experience gained in preparing and presenting educational materials, in making decisions, speaking in public, and in meeting new people; not on the importance of winning an award.

Competitions provide excellent educational experiences when used properly. Those

4-H’ers who gain educationally, are the winners regardless of who gets the award.

GENERAL RULES

1. Junior members 8 - 13 years of age:
   1. Must be at least 8 years old as of January 1 of the current year to participate in a 4 -H competition.
   2. Must not have reached his or her 14th birthday as of January 1 of current year.
   3. Refer to specific competition rules for different age requirements. Example:  All judging event (s), public speaking, bicycle, visual presentation, held at the District 4-H Project Achievement Day, the contestants must be at least 10 years old as of January 1 of the current year to compete. (8 & 9 year old members compete as Clover Leaf exhibitors, exception is in Share-the-Fun)
2. Senior members 14 - 18 years of age:
   1. Must be at least 14 years old as of January 1 of the current year.
   2. Must not have reached his or her 19th birthday before January 1 of current year. c.   Refer to specific competition rules for different age requirements.
      Example: Intermediate 4-H member records ages 12-14, horse events ages, etc.
3. 4-H competition in judging, visual presentation and miscellaneous categories are held on a district basis for juniors (8 through 13 years old except where noted) and at the state level for seniors (14 through 18 years old).  Record competition is held on the state level for both junior and senior 4-H members, adults (19 years old and above), and for
4. Junior and senior members participate separately in 4-H competitions.  For exceptions see specific competition rules.
5. Competitions are open to all registered 4-H members. A 4-H registered member is defined as a member of a 4-H club or 4-H members at large (individual 4-H members) who have enrolled in 4-H and a record of his or her enrollment is in the County Office on or before due date.  4-H members can only be members of 4-H in one county and in one state.  It is preferable that the youth be a member of a club in the county in which they reside, but if both agents involved agree that the youth can be enrolled in a county other than the one in which they reside, the official 4-H enrollment can be in a county other than their home county. After a 4-H member declares county membership, they must remain with that county for the remainder of the year. However, a 4-H’er can participate in activities such as workshops, trainings, camps, etc., in any county.
6. 4-H members are not required to be enrolled in any specific project in order to compete in a competition related to that project.
7. Previous district winners in Junior competition may enter the same competition again in the same project category.
8. State winners in the Senior Competition from previous years may enter the same competition area again provided they have not been recipients of a trip to the following National events. (This rule applies to alternates who receive trips as well as first place winners who receive a trip). Livestock Judging, Dairy Judging, Land Judging, Horticulture Judging, Horticulture Visual Presentation, Tractor Operation, Automotive Driving, Small Engine Event, Public Speaking Event, Poultry Judging, Poultry Cookout,  Poultry  Egg  Preparation and Demonstration, National 4-H Dairy Conference,  Meats  Judging,  Compact  Tractor,  Electric  Energy,  Forestry  Judging, Bicycle, Computer, Horse Judging, Horse Bowl, Horse Public Speaking, Wildlife Judging,  Consumer  Judging,  and Hippology.
9. A county may enter up to three individuals in all junior and senior judging, visual presentations,  miscellaneous  and  record  competition  with  the  following exceptions: Judging Contests with teams (see Rule 10), Dairy Posters, Dairy Sweetheart, Beef, Horse Public Speaking, Horse Bowl, Insect Collection, Livestock Bowl team, Poster Art, Poultry Cookout, Share-the-Fun, Junior 4-H Records (no limit), Club records, Leader records (no limit), Consumer Judging team, Mississippi 4-H Cloverleaf Exhibits, Horse Photography (no limit).
10. In all Junior and Senior events with judging teams, a county may enter two teams of three or four members.  Exceptions:  (1) Livestock, Dairy and Horse - a county may enter as many teams and/or individuals as desired.  (2) Land Judging – a county may enter three junior and three senior teams, totaling twelve participants. In computing the team score with four-member teams, the score of the lowest members will be dropped. With three-member teams, all three scores will be added.  In lieu of a team, a county may enter one or two individuals who compete only as individuals.
11. University, college, junior college, or technical school students are eligible to compete in all 4-H competitions provided they meet other eligibility requirements and are enrolled in 4-H in the county in which their parents or guardians reside or the county in which they were last members of 4-H, before entering college (see Rule 22 for exception).
12. In the event that a tie occurs in a competition, it must be broken.  See the specific rules governing each category.
13. In the district and state competitions (Judging, Visual Presentation and Miscellaneous), the county 4-H staff will provide each contestant(s) with a completed, typewritten Form 166.  The  contestant(s)  will  present  this  Form  166  to  the  person  coordinating  the competition.  Coordinators will use it to tabulate and report the scores.  In the event of teams, all contestants should be listed on the same form.  If there are more than four contestants on a team, a second Form 166 should be used.  A copy of this form will be returned to the county after winners are announced.
14. After the beginning of a judging and certain other competitions, conversation between contestants and agents and/or leaders, who are not assisting with the contest, is prohibited.  Violation of this rule can result in disqualification.
15. 4-H members are discouraged from using their name or county during a competition. 4-H’ers should refer to their contestant number.
16. A senior contestant may enter the National Poultry contest in only one of the poultry competitions (Poultry Judging, Egg Preparation Demonstration, or Poultry Cookout) the same year.
17. National 4-H Dairy Conference trip winners will be selected as follows:
    1. One will be selected during the State Dairy Round-Up show from the contestants in Showmanship, 16-18 years of age as of January 1 of the current year.
    2. One will be selected from 4-H Dairy records, meeting the following requirements: One must have completed at least three years’ participation in the 4-H Dairy Program, including the current year and be at least 15 years of age and not over 19 years of age on January 1 of the current year.
    3. One will be selected from the Dairy Premier Exhibitor Contest held during the Dixie National Junior Round-Up.
       Delegates will not be permitted to attend the conference more than one time.
    4. Current year Dairy exhibitors at the World Dairy Expo are not eligible to be delegates to the 4-H Dairy Conference.
18. If a state winner forfeits an out-of-state trip, the trip recipient will be selected from the next high scoring individual or team.
19. An individual or a team trip winner may compete again in the state competition if they forfeit early enough for alternate(s) to be prepared to make the trip. This is interpreted as being not later than 30 days prior to the trip. However, if the alternate makes the trip, the first place winner will remain eligible. An individual member of a Judging team may not forfeit and remain eligible unless the whole team forfeits.
20. In the case of a forfeit, the State 4-H Office must receive a letter from the Extension 4-H Youth agent or county Extension agent involved at least 30 days prior to the dates of departure on the trip.
21. During State 4-H Congress, a member may enter only one competition in the morning and one in the afternoon. Note: Depending on the number of participants, members entering Forestry, Wildlife, Automotive and Tractor may only be able to participate in one competition per day.
22. To be eligible to participate in State 4-H competitive events, contestants must not have participated in official post-secondary (university, college, junior college, or technical school) competitive events of a similar nature in the same subject matter area.  Neither can the competitor be a member of a post-secondary team undergoing training in an official collegiate livestock judging competition, either on or off-campus, is ineligible to compete in a similar State 4-H judging competition.
23. A senior contestant may enter the National 4-H Engineering Event in only one of the Engineering competitions (automotive driving, compact tractor, electric energy, small engine event, tractor operation, bicycle safety, welding, and computer) the same year.
24. If a first place winner in a competition receives a white ribbon, that contestant(s) is ineligible for first place awards.
25. Reference material for training 4-H members may be ordered from the subject matter specialist responsible for the contest. Refer to competitive event for a list of reference material.
26. During the District 4-H Project Achievement Day, 8 and 9 year olds (8 years old before January 1 of the current year and have not reached his/her 10th birthday) are only eligible to enter the Mississippi 4-H Clover Leaf Exhibit event and Share-the-Fun.
27. In the event that one or more members of the qualifying team are unable to attend the State event because of illness, relocation outside of county, scholastic conflict or employment conflict, the agent responsible for 4-H in the county may petition in writing to the State 4-H Leader to replace these members with qualified alternates. Teams that compete in the District Contest with three members may not add a fourth member.
28. During the District 4-H Project Achievement Day, 4-H’ers may enter only one competition during the morning and only one in the afternoon.
    Exception: (insect collection).
29. Practice judging for 4-H members during a District or State competition is NOT permitted.
30. All electronic devices will be turned off at the discretion of the event coordinator.
    Violation of this rule will result in disqualification. (Example: cell phones, pagers, text messaging devices, etc.)
31. Any 4-H member winning a national trip must confirm they will attend not more than two weeks after winning the event. Turning a trip down 30 days prior to the event will result in the county being responsible for lost registration fees, travel fees, etc. Exception: Illness or medical emergency verif i ed w it h a doctor’ s certificate or death in immediate family.
32. For reference to the rules that govern many of the national 4-H events, please go to: https://www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/polguidelines.pdf
33. IF A REGIONAL OR NATIONAL COMPETITION IS CANCELLED, THERE WILL BE NO OUT-OF-STATE PREMIUMS AWARDED.
34. All 4-H members must participate in a county qualifying 4-H competition to be eligible for district, state, regional, and national 4-H competitions. In the event there is no team participation, team(s) to represent the county will be decided based on the highest scoring individuals competing in the qualifying event.