Winter League
The unique format of the Huddersfield Winter League with different divisions being played on different days of the week has always produced its own problems. In particular promotion and relegation can see teams playing on a different day to the one they played on the previous season. This can result in teams having to change personnel with the unavailability of some team members following such a change.
Up to now that has been overcome in the main by shuffling teams and divisions around to accommodate all teams' preferences. It is recognised that this practice cannot continue so the Annual General Meeting considered a new rule to assist in making this conundrum easier in the future and clubs voted overwhelmingly in support of the introduction of the new rule.
This new rule will allow any team winning promotion to decline that step up in status. It is envisaged that this would only be required where it prevented a team from going out of business in being unable to field a team on a different bowling day that promotion had forced upon them. However they do not have to stipulate any reason for declining promotion.
Any team declining promotion would carry a handicap for the following season. They would be handicapped by taking a 2-points penalty into every singles and pairs game they played the following season. In the event of that team ending in a promotion place once again and calling on the 'Decline Promotion' rule for a 2nd season then that penalty would be doubled to 4-points in every game. Similar successes in subsequent seasons would see that score doubled every time.
Where a team has declined promotion the next team in the end-of-season table in that division may be offered promotion instead. This is dependent on what other teams apply to join the League and where they are best suited based on the likely strength of their team.
The same new rule also carries a relegation element as well. This rule only applies to teams of host greens. Should a host green team finish in a relegation position then they can avoid that drop in status. However they must declare that intent before the season starts so that every team in that division know that the host green involved cannot be relegated from the outset of the season.
Host greens have particular problems with personnel availability to provide catering and admin services on matchdays. Some host clubs can only staff these roles by having key members available. Should their bowling team be playing on the same day on another green that could undermine and jeopardise the complete hosting service.
To emphasise that the Decline Promotion option is open to all teams upon completion of the League season. The Avoid Relegation option is only available to host green teams that have stipulated that option before the start of the season.
It is a unique new double rule which it is hoped will not be required on a too frequent basis but it will help overcome the annual dilemma of teams winning promotion but then being forced to field weaker teams at a higher level the following season through no fault of their own.
The actual wording of the rule is as follows: A host green team cannot be relegated from the division it plays in unless it opts to do so. In addition a team can elect not to be promoted but all its players will begin their games on minus 2 points in the following season. Should they again win promotion the following season then the handicap will be doubled to minus 4 points in each game and doubled each subsequent season
You may think that this could actually be two rules. However, we did discuss this and there can be a conflict if one rule was to be adopted and not the other so we decided that the only way that it would work is if they become inter-dependent on each other within a single League Rule.
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