ESAA Combined Event 2026 With apologies for the delay in getting this information to everyone, I am now in a position to forward the format for the 2026 ESAA Combined Event Regional Rounds (in June) and Championships (in September). Following a lengthy period of discussion and the vote at the Special Council Meeting in October 2025 to retain the odd age groups and as a result of subsequent conditions imposed by EA and a second round of votes at General Committee, based on recommendations made by event specific 'Working Groups'. We will then switch to even age groups and alignment with EA for our 2027 Championships. Please note that although the CE Championships take place after September 1st, they will still be held using the pre-September 1st age groups and format as has been the case in previous editions of the Championships. The format for the 2026 Combined Events is outlined below and summarised in the attachment: Juniors (Y8/Y9) the U15 age group.Both school years will be doing Pentathlon, but for Shot they will be using the new Y9 specification (ie 4.00Kg for boys/3.00Kg for girls), so 1st year athletes will be using a heavier weight than at club level (but the same weight they have previously used).For safety reasons each year group will compete over their new specification hurdles and therefore be scored on different tables for the hurdles only. This does give the 2nd year athletes a points advantage (on comparative times) but this differential may be reduced as the 1st year athletes have a reduction in hurdle height compared to previous years. For the Intermediates (Y10/Y11) the U17 age group.The same structure as the Juniors with the throws using the Y11 specifications (and 1st years throwing up a weight) and the hurdles split between the new Y10 and Y11 specifications and therefore on 2 different scoring tables for hurdles. The Seniors (Y12/Y13) the U19/U20 age groupSimilar structure to above with throwing events using the Y13 specification (with first years throwing up a weight) and the hurdles split between the new Y12 and Y13 specifications and therefore on 2 different scoring tables for hurdles. Some Counties have pointed out the differential that will occur between the hurdles scoring within an age group, but hopefully this will be slightly alleviated by the reduction in hurdle height for the 1st year athletes in each age group. We will also be looking at possible wildcard entries for Y8s and Y10s that (in the view of the organisers) have missed out on qualification because of the discrepancy on the hurdles score table. The mechanism for this will be forwarded in due course. I do appreciate that the situation is not the course that everyone wanted, but the decisions have now been made and the Officers and Event Coordinators are now determined that the Championships will take place in the most competitive, safest and fairest way possible while noting the democratic processes that have steered us towards our 2026 Championships. Working Groups are now being formed to best shape the future of our Championships in 2027 and beyond and we would welcome comments/suggestions etc from the counties to take to the Combined Event Working Group for due consideration. Iain PresnellNational Coordinator Combined Events and Chair ESAA