Minor Consent Form
So - your son or daughter, aged 4 to 17, wants to race in an AMA sanctioned motorcycle race event - great! As you might imagine, you and your child are entering a new world with lingo, concepts and many new things to learn. This article is designed to make you familiar with the AMA Minor Release process and with the paperwork required should you want your child to enter a race when neither parent or legal guardian is present at the track.
In any AMA event, anywhere in the country and in any discipline, if the rider is under the age of majority, which in California is 18, that rider cannot enter any AMA race him or her self - there must be adult involvement in the sign-up process.
There are 2 parts to a minor signing up for an AMA competition event. First, they cannot even sign up at an AMA event by themselves - a parent, a legal guardian or an adult temporary guardian must actually be physically present with the minor and sign the race entry form along with the minor. Second, there are 2 varieties of AMA Minor Releases. The rider must have one or the other of the Minor Releases or the rider cannot enter the race.
A minor rider will buy an entry form (also called a data card) at the gate at Lodi. The minor rider will then fill out that entry form (you can do this for your child if you prefer) and will select the class that he or she wants to race in. The minor then signs that entry form and the entry form is also signed by the parent, guardian or adult temporary guardian. In addition, one of the 2 varieties of Minor Release is required. We’ll talk about the Minor Releases in a moment.
First - the adult accompanying the minor has to be one of 3 things- they can be the actual biological or adoptive parent, they can be a legal guardian, or they can be an adult temporary guardian.
So, again - either a parent, legal guardian or adult temporary guardian must show up at signups with the minor or the minor cannot race.
Second - In addition to the parent, legal guardian or adult temporary guardian signing the entry form, each minor rider must also have a minor release form. There are essentially 2 types of Minor Releases.
The simplest Minor Release is the one-page, one-day form that the LMC sign-up folks will happily provide to you. You properly fill this form out and sign it and it is kept by the sign-up workers. This type of Minor Release form must be signed by both parents or guardians unless only one of the parents/guardians have sole legal custody. In that case, the parent/guardian with the sole custody checks the box marked “sole custody”.
The other Minor Release is the Annual Minor Release form. There are 2 ways to obtain an Annual Release. The fastest and simplest way to get an Annual Minor Release is to follow this link to the AMA website, scroll down to the correct version, (there is one form for minors with 2 parents or guardians and a different form for minors with only 1 parent or guardian) complete the correct electronic form and electronically submit that form. You will need a computer and an e-mail account to use the on-line process. http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Story/competition-annual-minor-liability-release. If you don’t want to do the online Annual Release process, you can follow this same link and then scroll down to the mail-in version, then follow those instructions.
To recap - the entry form and the Minor Release are two separate processes. A parent, a legal guardian or an adult temporary guardian can sign the entry form. Only a parent or legal guardian can sign a Minor Release, an adult temporary guardian cannot sign any type of Minor Release. YOU NEED BOTH AN ENTRY FORM AND A MINOR RELASE TO RACE IN THE AMA.
We do want you to know that we understand that this whole process is a bit of a pain and we regret that we have to make you do all of this. Most of us in the Lodi Motorcycle Club have kids who race and we have to go through exactly this same process every time we enter one of our kids into one of our races. This process applies to every AMA discipline in the US and if some other venue or promoter has let you sign up without requiring this process, they have been doing it wrong and have been placing you, your kids and their racing activities in legal jeopardy. We’re doing it this way because the AMA has told us we have to do it this way.
In any AMA event, anywhere in the country and in any discipline, if the rider is under the age of majority, which in California is 18, that rider cannot enter any AMA race him or her self - there must be adult involvement in the sign-up process.
There are 2 parts to a minor signing up for an AMA competition event. First, they cannot even sign up at an AMA event by themselves - a parent, a legal guardian or an adult temporary guardian must actually be physically present with the minor and sign the race entry form along with the minor. Second, there are 2 varieties of AMA Minor Releases. The rider must have one or the other of the Minor Releases or the rider cannot enter the race.
A minor rider will buy an entry form (also called a data card) at the gate at Lodi. The minor rider will then fill out that entry form (you can do this for your child if you prefer) and will select the class that he or she wants to race in. The minor then signs that entry form and the entry form is also signed by the parent, guardian or adult temporary guardian. In addition, one of the 2 varieties of Minor Release is required. We’ll talk about the Minor Releases in a moment.
First - the adult accompanying the minor has to be one of 3 things- they can be the actual biological or adoptive parent, they can be a legal guardian, or they can be an adult temporary guardian.
- Parent. Pretty simple, either the biological parent or an adoptive parent.
- Guardian. This is someone who is court-appointed as the “legal guardian”. Legal guardianship requires a court order and is not the same as the adult temporary guardian described in 3.
- Adult temporary guardian. This is someone who either a parent or a legal guardian has authorized by written notarized statement to appear at sign-up and to sign that child up for a race. (See PDF sample below).
So, again - either a parent, legal guardian or adult temporary guardian must show up at signups with the minor or the minor cannot race.
Second - In addition to the parent, legal guardian or adult temporary guardian signing the entry form, each minor rider must also have a minor release form. There are essentially 2 types of Minor Releases.
The simplest Minor Release is the one-page, one-day form that the LMC sign-up folks will happily provide to you. You properly fill this form out and sign it and it is kept by the sign-up workers. This type of Minor Release form must be signed by both parents or guardians unless only one of the parents/guardians have sole legal custody. In that case, the parent/guardian with the sole custody checks the box marked “sole custody”.
The other Minor Release is the Annual Minor Release form. There are 2 ways to obtain an Annual Release. The fastest and simplest way to get an Annual Minor Release is to follow this link to the AMA website, scroll down to the correct version, (there is one form for minors with 2 parents or guardians and a different form for minors with only 1 parent or guardian) complete the correct electronic form and electronically submit that form. You will need a computer and an e-mail account to use the on-line process. http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Story/competition-annual-minor-liability-release. If you don’t want to do the online Annual Release process, you can follow this same link and then scroll down to the mail-in version, then follow those instructions.
To recap - the entry form and the Minor Release are two separate processes. A parent, a legal guardian or an adult temporary guardian can sign the entry form. Only a parent or legal guardian can sign a Minor Release, an adult temporary guardian cannot sign any type of Minor Release. YOU NEED BOTH AN ENTRY FORM AND A MINOR RELASE TO RACE IN THE AMA.
We do want you to know that we understand that this whole process is a bit of a pain and we regret that we have to make you do all of this. Most of us in the Lodi Motorcycle Club have kids who race and we have to go through exactly this same process every time we enter one of our kids into one of our races. This process applies to every AMA discipline in the US and if some other venue or promoter has let you sign up without requiring this process, they have been doing it wrong and have been placing you, your kids and their racing activities in legal jeopardy. We’re doing it this way because the AMA has told us we have to do it this way.
| adult_temporary_guardian_authorization.pdf |
