Veterans League
The Management Committee of the Veterans League met last Monday to decide on the format of the leagues for the 2023 season. The 6-Man League was relatively straightforward with 36 teams the split is down to 3 divisions with 12 teams in each and this has been announced on the homepage of the League's Bowlsnet pages.
Last year in the 10-Man League there were 13 teams in Division 1, 14 in Division 2, 12 in Division 3, 12 in Division 4 and just 10 teams in Division 5. There are 60 teams entered for the 2023 season.
Instead of the expected and obvious format of 5 divisions of 12 teams in each, the new format has been cut down to four divisions. There will be 16 teams in Divisions 1 and 2 and there will be 14 teams in Divisions 3 and 4. This goes against the recommendation of the League Secretary who is responsible for the compilation and ongoing administration of the fixtures.
The traditional summer season starts on the first Monday in April and ends at the end of September which makes up 26 weeks which is enough to support a maximum of 14 teams in a division.
Now with 16 teams in the top two divisions that means a 30-match season. That means that there are insufficient Tuesdays in the 6-month season to support a match a week. So the Management Committee have decided that all Division 1 and 2 teams will play four fixtures on Fridays. Which Fridays has been left to the League Secretary to sort out among all the other non-Tuesday dates where the League's 11 KO competitions are held as well as the 7 Inter-District matches which are scheduled for Fridays as is the one-day Hickson Trophy.
However, teams are to be given dispensation to rearrange the four Friday league matches at other times as they see fit so passing the problem on to the clubs.
Why have they changed the format to increase the number of matches that teams play? The obvious solution was to move to 5 Divisions with 12 teams in each and a 22-week season for every team. One reason sticks out for not doing that. Because they were frightened of the repercussions of a reorganisation of the 5 divisions which would have meant some teams being relegated. That is the only logical explanation. That coupled with the threat from one prominent club to withdraw their sponsorship of the League if their team was relegated which would have happened if 5 divisions of 12 teams had been the outcome. It seems that some clubs believe that they can now buy their way into their preferred division, maybe they are right.
There are going to be weeks when team knock-out competitions are played and these are traditionally played on a Thursday or Friday. There will inevitably be weeks when teams will be playing 3 matches a week, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and that may cause problems for some individuals and teams and is hardly ideal.
Personally, I don't have a problem with the decision but the motives for doing it are very questionable and it will not be warmly received by a number of teams who always withdraw from the League's cup competitions when they are arranged for any day other than a Tuesday. I hope that this doesn't result in some teams defaulting from playing league matches and handing the points to their opponents as this will make the competition a mockery and will lead to the undermining of the integrity of the League.
As the captain of a Division 1 team, I know that I will have team-raising problems on those Fridays as some of my team have other commitments on a Friday. My club is in the fortunate position of having a B team who will not be playing matches on a Friday and I can call on those bowlers to help out. I still believe that 5 divisions of 12 is the more sensible solution but when has this Committee ever made the more sensible decision?
If you have an opinion on this then you are welcome to use the Comments section at the foot of this page to share your views with other bowlers.
The Veterans League 2023 fixtures will be published on Bowlsnet at 9.00am on Friday morning.
As usual Philip you have hit the nail on the head. A referendum from clubs would have hopefully satisfied everybody. But again, if more "new" members joined the Committee rather than relying on the "old stagers" who have served the league well over the years, more could have their say.
The old saying of "being in it to win it" is a perhaps a simile.
To solve the problem the obvious decision was to have 5 divisions of 12 teams.
This would have resulted in NINE teams being unfairly relegated.
We are told that at the October meeting, Clubs will be allowed to vote to continue the new 4 divisions format or, to vote for 5 divisions of 12 for season 2024.
Hooray, you say ! But , hang on a minute. If we vote for this we’ll have 34, yes THIRTY FOUR
TEAMS unfairly relegated. So, I’d be amazed if Clubs voted for 5 Divisions of 12.
So, it looks as though we’ve got 4 Divisions with all the problems it brings, for the foreseeable future.
Philip of Lindley
PS Just think, this could…
i agree it should be 5 div,s with 12 in each as you say they are frightened of some of the top teams who still look down there noses at us ,we are not worthy
I appreciate that at the October meeting we can vote for 4 divisions as we’ll have in 2023 ,or, vote for 5 divisions of 12 teams . Or, in accordance with League rules we can vote for something entirely different.
In 2023 we’ll have winners and runners up. So only 6 teams will be promoted compared to 10 last season and consequently the competitiveness of the league will reduce. The obvious decision, to me, in moving to only 4 larger divisions would be to have 3 teams promoted and 3 teams relegated . ( did the League’s Management Committee have power to decide this ?) ” Winners and runners up will win prizes and also be promoted if this solution conti…
In answer to Philips query about promotion I have copied and pasted this extract from the Vets League's own website, which explains how this matter will be dealt with.
This solution will be reviewed at the October general meeting alongside the 5 x 12 team solution for 2024.
Winners and runners-up of each division will win prizes and also promoted if this solution continues in 2024.
If the Council vote for 5 x 12 team divisions the league positions in 2023 will determine the divisions in 2024
Bob H