Mini revamp of Winter Cup

Winter League

A proposed revamp of the Winter Cup was discussed by the Winter League's Management Committee at their meeting last Friday. The main point of discussion being a suggestion that prize money be awarded to the winners of the 2025-26 competition.

This had been discussed at their previous meeting and turned down although the League Officials had been told to work through and put forward the options for funding such a move at the next meeting. Options were tabled with affordable proposals of sponsorship and contributions from League funds. The meeting confirmed their previous decision that they did not want to introduce prize money into any of the competitions at this time with an 11-4 vote in favour of maintaining the status quo.

However in a mini revamp the door was left open to each of the host clubs having the option to award a cash prize to the winner of the qualifying round played on their green. This would mean playing right down to a final of two individuals with both qualifying for the overall Finals Day but also going on to have their own Division Finals Day. No host club was able to confirm this intent at the meeting, but may do so before the competition starts. The incentive for the host clubs would be that a cash prize would increase the number of entries which in turn would generate more cash for the host club. This season would be the test of such an initiative.

There will be no cash prize to the finalists in the competition's Finals Day which upholds one of the starting principles of the League. The priority has always been to provide fund raising opportunities for the host clubs to help them survive the winters which are often barren of activity and money-raising opportunities. We know that this has kept at least three clubs in business over the past 5 years when they would have expected to have folded due to a lack of funds to pay basic bills.

Many leagues judge how successful they are by holding thousands of pounds in reserve. That is not a measure that the Winter League uses. The Treasurer will declare a balance of just £800 in hand after 5 years of business in a total turnover figure in 2024 of less than £2,000 at next month's AGM. With annual league fees of only £15 per team, no honoraria payments for any League Officials and the cheapest entry fees of any league to the individual competitions, the League maintains its stance of not being a cash cow to leak money out of the game.