2024 RULES CHANGE

The 2024 Rules Change Season is about to start. This year we have shortened the period for submitting new rules or modifications to existing rules. Submissions will be received May 1st through May 15th.

If you are a member in good standing and you’ve been itching to try your hand at writing rules, now is your time to shine. While you’re thinking about getting involved in building a better club, the best question for you to ask yourself is “Why change/add a rule?” There are good and not-sogood answers to that question. Read on for a good answer:

“I think my proposal will make competition in the class better.” On the not-so-good side:

“It will make my bike faster so I don’t get beat so badly.” The Rules & Eligibility committees always get a chuckle from that one proposal that screams, “It’s all about me.” Try not to be that one, really.

Writing rules or modifications to existing rules is pretty simple. As a refresher for the veterans and a primer for the novice authors, we are including last year’s instructions outlining several changes. Steps 1 and 2 are pretty straight forward. Steps 3, 4, and 5 can get a bit tricky; read those instructions a couple of times.

Regarding steps 4 and 5, enough of the original rule language and the revised language must be presented exactly as intended for publication; this also goes for a new rule as in step 3.

To make getting the original language painless, the 2023 Handbook is online. Find your rule, copy as much of the text as you need. Do not copy the entire rule. Those text boxes have limited space. Copy only enough so that the Rules & Eligibility Committee will understand your intent. Paste what you have copied in the appropriate box in step 4.

Steps To Creating A Rule Change Proposal

While you’re at it, copy that same text into the revised box in step 5. Using the text tools provided, strike through the text you want to revise or remove. If you are entering new text, enter that text and use the underline tool to indicate it is new.

And you’re pretty much done. Fill out step 6 if other rules are affected by your change. Help your committee out with a rationale in step 7, and include pertinent documentation in step 8.

Before you start, do your homework. If you can address either the competition or authenticity of the rule, fill out the form, include some documentation and/or a strong rationale, submit it by May 15. And remember, we’re all in this together.

Kevin Burns

KEVIN BURNS RULES CHAIR

Change Proposal Process

STEP 1 - Fully complete all of your personal information including your membership number. Only submissions made by active members with Full Memberships will be accepted for consideration.

STEP 2 - Select Discipline/Category that is affected by this Rule Change Proposal from the dropdown field and whether it is a new rule or an existing rule in the current AHRMA Handbook. If it is an existing rule, please provide the rule number as it appears in the current AHRMA Handbook. MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING THE CURRENT HANDBOOK AS YOUR REFERENCE

STEP 3 - For New Rule submission, you may either provide the complete rule in the New Rule Text edit area, or upload a pdf file through the Supporting Documentation Upload tool. New rules will not be accepted without complete and comprehensive rules.

For new Rules, after completing this step, proceed to Step 6. For existing rules, proceed to Step 4.

STEP 4 - If this is a rule which currently exists in the current AHRMA Handbook, copy the rule to be changed from the Handbook and include it in the “Original Rule Text” edit area.