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NABBA HQ P.O. Box 1186 Brierley Hill West Midlands DY5 2GL
Telephone: (44) 01384 898578
EMail: val@nabba.co.uk  website: www.nabba.co.uk

NABBA RULES AND DEFINITIONS - updated regulary

STOP  PRESS   

The Nabba Pro Division has been re-introduced with immediate effect June 2024. 

3 new Pro Card Classes introduced:   (Miss Bikini Pro Card, Mr Sport Physique Pro Card and Mr Classic BB

 

We will continue with all of the following categories: which were updated during 2023/2024

New Teenage Category introduced at Area Level - must be 18 or under on 1st January in the year of their contest

 Juniors age group will be amended to must be under 22 on 1st January in the year of their contest 

The Mr Classes to reduce down to just 3 height classes: 

Mr Class 3 - up to and incl 1.72     Mr Class 2 Over 1.72 and up to and incl 1.79     Mr Class 1  Over 1.79

 The 2 Sport Shorts category names have been changed to:

Men's  Physique Open and Men's Physique Over 45 (The criteria will remain exactly the same)

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH MEN'S CLASSIC PHYSIQUE which is an entirely different NABBA category

ADDITIONAL NEW RULING - ALL NABBA COMPETITORS WILL BE ABLE TO ENTER 

ANY NABBA AREA COMPETITION DURING 2024.

A COMPETITOR WILL BE ABLE TO ENTER UP TO 2 CATEGORIES, BUT MUST STATE EACH CATEGORY BEFORE THE DAY OF THE COMPETITION, AND THE FIRST CATEGORY ENTERED WILL BECOME THE QUALIFYING CLASS FOR THE BRITAIN FINALS  WITH "EXPENSE" PRIZES FOR CLASS WINNERS. THE  OVERALL CHAMPION OF THE DAY MISS & MR CATEGORIES WILL ALSO BE AWARDED "EXPENSE" PRIZES, ACTUAL AMOUNT OF EXPENSES PAYABLE WILL BE AT THE DISCRETION OF EACH INDIVIDUAL AREA SHOW ORGANISER. 

WE ARE ALSO STARTING WORK WITHIN THE MONTH OF JULY & AUGUST TO UPDATE 

 ALL OUR SOCIAL MEDIA 

 INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK 

and our WEBSITE WILL BE UPGRADED TOO

We will be taking on new Social Media helpers along the way too, watch this space!

NABBA CONTEST RULES  (various updates have been added for June 2023 & 2024 onwards)


1. All competitors (both male and female) shall be NABBA members. It is the Area Show Organiser’s responsibility to ensure that memberships are valid. A closing date for entries of one week prior to the contest date is suggested, so that any doubtful memberships may be checked with NABBA HQ. Non-members may be allowed (at the discretion of the Organiser) to join on the day of the contest with the payment of the membership fee to the contest Organiser. A Membership card will be sent to the Competitor on receipt of membership fee to NABBA HQ. Any Organiser allowing non-members to enter without charging competitor(s) membership fee will be invoiced by NABBA for said fee(s). Organiser will furnish NABBA HQ with all entry forms within seven days after the contest date.

2. Judging shall be in three phases:
    (a) Front, back and side in line up. (b) Individual posing routine, not to exceed 60 seconds ( up to 60 seconds max at NABBA                        Area Competitions depending on number of Competitors) (c) Standard comparison poses.

3. Competitors own music may be used at the judging and/or show at the discretion of the contest organiser. Organiser shall                provide suitable music for competitors not providing their own. Most Area Shows receive Competitors music downloaded onto MP3 suitable file, or are required to inform Competition Organiser of track required etc via email depending on Show DJ                    circumstances at least two weeks before the competition  DJ can sort music out before the day.  Organiser must provide

adequate changing facilities and suitable lighting for physique presentation.

4. Competitors may enter up to a max of TWO categories  per show.      

5. At the discretion of the contest Organiser, tanning colour may be used. 

6. Any competitor acting in an unsportsmanlike manner must be reported to NABBA HQ and may be liable to disciplinary action. If        considered serious he/she may be disqualified from contest by judges present.

7. Teenagers must be 18 or under on 1st January in the year of the contest. It is the organiser’s responsibility to check birth certificates

   Junior age group must be 22 or under on 1st January in year of the contest. 

 

8. Only NABBA approved Judges shall officiate. Organiser must invite judges well in advance and submit names of proposed               judges to NABBA HQ.  

Rules apply to MALE and FEMALE competitors unless otherwise stated.

All contests are for AMATEURS unless otherwise stated. An amateur is one who has not competed for a money prize.

Special Notes regarding NABBA AREA contests:

 

1. No competitor may enter more than one AREA contest, but can be in any NABBA designated Area. Contact NABBA HQ in the first instance.  New ruling June 2023.  If a Competitor does not Qualify from an Area show for the Britain Finals, they may, at the discretion of the NABBA Committee have agreed that a Competitor can enter a further Area Competition to try and gain a Britain Finals Qualification.

A Competitor who has entered an Area Competition and has succeeded in gaining a NABBA Britain Finals Qualifying Invite,  cannot enter further NABBA Area Competitions during that year, this in turn, will allow non Qualifying Competitors an equal chance of gaining a Britain Finals Invite.

2. a).  (As of 1st January 2023 and continued)

           Teens class introduced - must be 18 or under on 1st January during the year of their actual contest

           (for example - any Teen competing in 2023 must  18 or under on 1st January 2023. - the year of their contest) 
 

     b).  (As of 1st January 2023 and continued)

            Juniors - must be 22 or under on 1st January during the year of their actual contest 

3. Seniors (2 classes) must be over 45 or over  55 on the date of their area contest.

4. Novices must not have been previously placed in the first three in any AREA Novice contest or have "won" ANY OPEN contest.

5. A First Timer must not have competed before.

6. Any event with less than three competitors shall be deemed a ‘No-Contest’ and winning participants will not be invited to the            Britain Finals unless considered to be of high enough standard by the judges present.

7. Winners of MASTERS/OVER 55's Area contests will only be invited to compete in Britain Finals if considered to be of high                  enough standard by the judges present.

8. For area contests a majority of judges, if possible,  should be from other NABBA areas.

NB: Item 6 of these Area Contest Rules will apply to all contests; i.e. any event with less than three competitors shall be deemed a 'No contest' and winning participants will not be invited to Britain Finals unless considered to be of high enough standard by the judges present. All other Area contest rules apply.

As of 2017, The Universe will NOT have height classes for Miss Trained Figure, in line with Area shows and the Britain Finals.

The Winner of each height class will qualify to compete in the appropriate height class at the Britain Finals if considered to be of high enough standard by the judges present.

Winners of the Area show categories will pose-down to select  Overall Champion of the Day Miss & also Mr. from 2022,

Winners of Britain Final Mr height classes will pose-down to select Overall Champion of the Day from 2022

 

During 2022 The NABBA Committee decided to adjust their Area Contests and the Britain Finals by introducing a Champion of the Day Miss and a Champion of the Day Mr instead of having just an Overall Mr.  This proved to be a great success for both Area Compeitions and the Britain Finals 2022 & 2023, this will continued for 2025.

 

 

Amendments to rules governing NABBA Area Contests from 01.01.2023

. *  New Height classes as of 1st January 2023.  The MR contests will be divided into three height classes 

*Amended  for 1st  January 2023   (but will be used for NABBA UK 2022 & onwards) until further notice.


Class 3  up to and including 1.72
Class 2 Over 1.72 and up to and including 1.79
Class 1 Over 1.79

GENERAL CONTEST RULES (NON AREA)

 

1. Organisers may run Novice and/or Beginners' contests at their own discretion.

2. The MR class may be divided into three height classes at the organiser's discretion.

3. Item 4 & 5 of previous Area contest rules will apply to any Novice contest i.e.  Novices must not have previously been placed in the top three in a NABBA Area novice contest, or have won ANY OPEN contest.  A First-timer must not have competed before.

COMPETITIONS, QUALIFYING, AWARDS

 

The Area Shows act as qualifiers and lead up to the Mr, Miss, Teens, Junior, Masters, Novice, and Fitness categories Britain Finals which is held annually. However, the first qualifier for the Britain Finals will be the NABBA UK show of the previous year.

 

Those placing in the top six of each class at the Britain Finals are invited to compete in the NABBA Universe Contest of that year. Anyone placing either 1st or 2nd at the Universe will have an invitation to the following year's Universe. (Bye)  Exceptions to these are Novice and First Timer's categories for obvious reasons - they are no longer a Novice or First Timer once they have competed at an Area Competition and then gone on to compete at a Britain Finals level. Plus we currently do not have either a Novice or First Timer category at the NABBA Universe Competitions

The NABBA Council will discuss and agree on a renewed annual basis, selected Universe Winners to be invited to the next Annual World Championship, which NABBA recognises.

In addition, from July 2016, it was also agreed that in future our NABBA World Team (selected Universe Winners as above) may be chosen from England, N. Ireland, Scotland and Wales and will be known in future as NABBA Team G.B. (Great Britain).

As of UK Competition 2023 and NABBA Area Competitions 2024 there will be "Expenses" Prize offered to each class winner and further Expenses Prizes offered to NABBA Area Overall Champion of the day Miss and Mr, amount payable will be at the discretion of each NABBA Area Show Organiser., and there must be more than two competitors in a category (three)t o qualify for that prize expense.Please see new NABBA Universe criteria for 2023 (Temporarily withdrawing the NABBA Pro Contest.l (this will start at the NABBA UK 2023 which is a qualifier for the NABBA Britain Finals 2024) updated June 2024 for 2025

INDIVIDUAL CLASS RULES AND CRITERIA

NABBA MEMBERSHIP/ENTRY FEES 2024/2025

All NABBA UK Competitors will be required to pay a £50 entry fee PER CLASS (maximum 2 classes)and also hold a valid yearly (seasonal) membership when entering any NABBA Area, NABBA UK or NABBA England Competition. NOTE: the £50 entry fee will be payable at check in. NABBA Britain Finals Competitors will be required to pay a £50 Entry Fee at check in and at the these Finals can only enter one class

All NABBA UK Qualified Universe Competitors will be required to pay an Entry fee of £50 at check in and at the Universe can only enter one Amateur class.  If any Competitor becomes a Pro after Winning the appropriate Amateur class, that goes on to offer a Pro class, then the £100 Pro Division £100 fee will become applicable before stepping on stage in that newly decided Pro Class. 
 

Annual Club Affiliation fee = £40.00

Nabba RULES regarding Professional Competitor Classification

There’s been a bit of concern about what credence we in NABBA UK & NABBA INTERNATIONAL give to the classification of a Professional Competitor.
The NABBA route to a PRO CARD starts at the Nationals.
We introduced three new Professional classes at this year’s NABBA BRITAIN FINALS: Pro Sport Physique, Pro Bikini and Pro Classic, these three classes have all been added to our Trained Figure and Professional Mr Bodybuilding classes, all of which will be included in the NABBA MR & MISS UNIVERSE competition taking place at the NEC in Birmingham on SUNDAY 3rd November 2024.
Do we recognise other Federation professional standards?  Yes, if an NPC or IFBB TWO BROS PRO wishes to compete in the Professional Mr Universe we will accept anyone who has held that status within the past 5 years!
Other competing Professionals, like PCA or UKBFF champions may send in an application to NABBA Uk for NABBA INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL APPROVAL or alternatively they can compete as an Amateur.
If a NABBA, NPC or Two Bros Professional have not used their professional status within the past 12 months, under NABBA Rules they can compete as an Amateur.

 

Now the Pro Division has been reintroduced since June 2024. All Pro Division Competitors have to pay their Pro Division Fee (£100 sterling) and be "up to date" with annual payments before stepping on stage to compete in their qualified  Pro competition

DEFINITION OF AN ASSOCIATE

 

An Associate is one whose wish is to support NABBA but who through status is not eligible to enter competitions with amateurs.

NOVICE COMPETITORS

 

The judging rules for this are exact same at open Toned Figure – the criteria in terms of experience is same as in men’s Novice class.  “Novices male or female must not have been previously placed in the first three in any AREA novice contest or have won ANY OPEN contest.”

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