Post by bri on Aug 29, 2013 10:45:27 GMT
Ok first off apologies to Martin Luther King, but it seemed fitting with the recent anniversary of his speech and that the topic is what changes I would make.
Just to be clear these are not going forward as Notices of Motion, just my thoughts.
1 League Structure
Currently there are 55 teams across Senior 1 to Junior 2. I would remove the distinction and go with 5 eights and a bottom division of 15. The bottom division would play each other once until the numbers dropped to 10 at which stage they would play home and away. The 5 eights would play home and away.
The first 2 divisions would come from the top 16 teams in Senior 1 and Senior 2 in the current structure.
The new third division would be made up of the teams finishing 6, 7, 8 and 9 in the old Senior 2, the top 2 teams in old Senior 3 and finally the top 2 teams in Junior 1.
New division 4 would be the 2 teams relegated from old Senior 2, the teams 3rd and 4th in Senior 3 and the teams 3,4,5,and 6th in Junior 1.
Division 5 would then be teams 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 in Senior 3 and teams 7, 8 and 9 in Junior 1.
Finally Division 6 would be last 2 teams in Senior 3, last 2 teams in Junior 1 and whole of Junior 2.
Ok your head probably hurts now. The reason it is so complicated is to try and create reasonably balanced leagues from the start. The alternative is to simply merge and then let Junior teams rise up while bottom of Senior 3 fall. I think the simpler option will have unequal leagues for a number of years until it settles.
2 Promotion and Relegation.
With 8 team leagues I think go 1 up 1 down. I'd also have a play-off between 7th and 2nd for a bit of excitement at the end of the season.
Rules would need changed to counter 2 teams from same club being in same division. It's easy to stop a club going up, but the other situation is a team being relegated into the same division. That would have to force the second team into relegation too. The alternative would be both teams operating completely separate panels of players.
3 Cups
The rules here would need overhauled to determine who plays in which cup. I would say Senior Cup is all teams from Division 4 up, unless that team is from a club with a team in a higher division in which case they play in the Junior Cup.
I had proposed a few years ago that the cups should be re-formatted into teams of 12 made up of 1 rink, 1 triple, 2 pairs and a single. I still think that would be better as clubs only have to field 12 players instead of 16.
If I was stuck with the current system I would reduce the ends to 18 from 21.
4 Player eligibility
A contentious issue if there every was one. I would have no restrictions in place. I know this is being abused occasionally but the alternative is far less teams playing bowls. It will be frustrating for teams when Senior players play at lower levels, especially when it is purely to seek an advantage and not just to ensure a team play with 16. Take the moral high ground and enjoy your victory even more if you win.
5 Catering
Do away with it. Clubs are offering less and less after matches on Saturdays. It's gotten to the stage where the whole league will need to go into a sandwich and sausage roll detox in September when the season finishes. I know there are a number of clubs who do still put out a proper meal and a few of them have expressed their unhappiness at their fellow clubs over the years. Sandwiches and sausage rolls on a Saturday after a match are a complete waste of time and money as people will then go home to have a proper meal. I know the argument from some clubs is that they want the money over the bar and catering encourages people to stay. Does it? Home players are paying between £5-£10 to cater (I know some smart arse will say "we only pay £4.50", but you get the idea). Visting players may or may not buy a drink back after the game, so extra bar revenue isn't guaranteed. The money paid for catering rarely goes to the clubs, so why not remove that cost to the home player and free up that £5-£10 to spend over the bar. I don't buy that argument that teams will leave straight after the game and catering makes them stay. We had a team where only 4 players from the visitors stayed after the game. It was a nice night and most of them had plans that night. They let us know a bit in advance and we certainly bear them no animosity. I'm sure next time we play them we will all catch up over a pint.
The other frequent cry against the removal of catering is "I'm coming straight from work, feed me." We have these brilliant things called shops, you can call in and buy yourself food. I have done it plenty of times when going straight from work to play that night. What about the home players? They have to rush home and make sandwiches in some cases (against health and safety legislation I think) or the home players are again levied by their clubs to pay the caterers.
6 IBA yearbook
Do away with it. This is the one thing I will be raising a Notice of Motion about. We don't need it anymore.
Make it a requirement for Associations to have all the information of their websites and if needed that each club has a copy of the IBA and their Association rules printed off and accessible. Pinned to a notice board would suffice.
For those who are sensitive about any contact information being on the web, I would remove the need for addresses for Secretaries and would recommend only telephone numbers are included.
Doing away with the yearbook would remove the need for the per player levy imposed to cover the cost of producing the IBA yearbook and would enable the associations to levy their members to pay the webmasters who update your results. Information on a website can be updated very quickly whereas the IBA yearbook is frequently out of date by the time the season starts as telephone number have changes or even fixtures.
And just in case you aren't convinced already, think of the environmental impact!
7 Delegates and Committees
This is in no way a dig at the PG General Purposes Committee. Rather it's calling on the younger members of the PG (by that I mean under 50) to put their hands up and get more involved. I've been to loads of Management meetings and AGMs where I'm the only one under 50. Dunbarton have sent a few younger reps recently but other than that there is barely any other hair colour in the room other than grey.
8 PG Competitions
I would go open draw and would look to shake up the schedule slightly to try and create the odd break. I'd most likely move the Junior singles to the place of the early round of the Fours just to eliminate those ties that finish in darkness.
9 Calendar
I would close Inter Association and International weekends for top division only. I know many think that we should play more bowls in September, I totally disagree. Let September be for Club Finals and one of the only chances a player can take a holiday before the indoor starts. Yes Saturdays in September can be good, but if you have to postpone for whatever reason then its dark by 8pm.
10 Social Media
I'm not sure whether the PG should have a Facebook page or not. On the plus side it would help raise the profile of the PG, but on the flip side it could give players a chance to shoot their mouth off in frustration. Their have been several cases in many sports where players have posted comments they have subsequently been disciplined for. I would probably be banned by the PG right now if I had posted anything after our match on Saturday but that is another story.
As I said these are only my thoughts not NoMs. What would you like changed?
Just to be clear these are not going forward as Notices of Motion, just my thoughts.
1 League Structure
Currently there are 55 teams across Senior 1 to Junior 2. I would remove the distinction and go with 5 eights and a bottom division of 15. The bottom division would play each other once until the numbers dropped to 10 at which stage they would play home and away. The 5 eights would play home and away.
The first 2 divisions would come from the top 16 teams in Senior 1 and Senior 2 in the current structure.
The new third division would be made up of the teams finishing 6, 7, 8 and 9 in the old Senior 2, the top 2 teams in old Senior 3 and finally the top 2 teams in Junior 1.
New division 4 would be the 2 teams relegated from old Senior 2, the teams 3rd and 4th in Senior 3 and the teams 3,4,5,and 6th in Junior 1.
Division 5 would then be teams 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 in Senior 3 and teams 7, 8 and 9 in Junior 1.
Finally Division 6 would be last 2 teams in Senior 3, last 2 teams in Junior 1 and whole of Junior 2.
Ok your head probably hurts now. The reason it is so complicated is to try and create reasonably balanced leagues from the start. The alternative is to simply merge and then let Junior teams rise up while bottom of Senior 3 fall. I think the simpler option will have unequal leagues for a number of years until it settles.
2 Promotion and Relegation.
With 8 team leagues I think go 1 up 1 down. I'd also have a play-off between 7th and 2nd for a bit of excitement at the end of the season.
Rules would need changed to counter 2 teams from same club being in same division. It's easy to stop a club going up, but the other situation is a team being relegated into the same division. That would have to force the second team into relegation too. The alternative would be both teams operating completely separate panels of players.
3 Cups
The rules here would need overhauled to determine who plays in which cup. I would say Senior Cup is all teams from Division 4 up, unless that team is from a club with a team in a higher division in which case they play in the Junior Cup.
I had proposed a few years ago that the cups should be re-formatted into teams of 12 made up of 1 rink, 1 triple, 2 pairs and a single. I still think that would be better as clubs only have to field 12 players instead of 16.
If I was stuck with the current system I would reduce the ends to 18 from 21.
4 Player eligibility
A contentious issue if there every was one. I would have no restrictions in place. I know this is being abused occasionally but the alternative is far less teams playing bowls. It will be frustrating for teams when Senior players play at lower levels, especially when it is purely to seek an advantage and not just to ensure a team play with 16. Take the moral high ground and enjoy your victory even more if you win.
5 Catering
Do away with it. Clubs are offering less and less after matches on Saturdays. It's gotten to the stage where the whole league will need to go into a sandwich and sausage roll detox in September when the season finishes. I know there are a number of clubs who do still put out a proper meal and a few of them have expressed their unhappiness at their fellow clubs over the years. Sandwiches and sausage rolls on a Saturday after a match are a complete waste of time and money as people will then go home to have a proper meal. I know the argument from some clubs is that they want the money over the bar and catering encourages people to stay. Does it? Home players are paying between £5-£10 to cater (I know some smart arse will say "we only pay £4.50", but you get the idea). Visting players may or may not buy a drink back after the game, so extra bar revenue isn't guaranteed. The money paid for catering rarely goes to the clubs, so why not remove that cost to the home player and free up that £5-£10 to spend over the bar. I don't buy that argument that teams will leave straight after the game and catering makes them stay. We had a team where only 4 players from the visitors stayed after the game. It was a nice night and most of them had plans that night. They let us know a bit in advance and we certainly bear them no animosity. I'm sure next time we play them we will all catch up over a pint.
The other frequent cry against the removal of catering is "I'm coming straight from work, feed me." We have these brilliant things called shops, you can call in and buy yourself food. I have done it plenty of times when going straight from work to play that night. What about the home players? They have to rush home and make sandwiches in some cases (against health and safety legislation I think) or the home players are again levied by their clubs to pay the caterers.
6 IBA yearbook
Do away with it. This is the one thing I will be raising a Notice of Motion about. We don't need it anymore.
Make it a requirement for Associations to have all the information of their websites and if needed that each club has a copy of the IBA and their Association rules printed off and accessible. Pinned to a notice board would suffice.
For those who are sensitive about any contact information being on the web, I would remove the need for addresses for Secretaries and would recommend only telephone numbers are included.
Doing away with the yearbook would remove the need for the per player levy imposed to cover the cost of producing the IBA yearbook and would enable the associations to levy their members to pay the webmasters who update your results. Information on a website can be updated very quickly whereas the IBA yearbook is frequently out of date by the time the season starts as telephone number have changes or even fixtures.
And just in case you aren't convinced already, think of the environmental impact!
7 Delegates and Committees
This is in no way a dig at the PG General Purposes Committee. Rather it's calling on the younger members of the PG (by that I mean under 50) to put their hands up and get more involved. I've been to loads of Management meetings and AGMs where I'm the only one under 50. Dunbarton have sent a few younger reps recently but other than that there is barely any other hair colour in the room other than grey.
8 PG Competitions
I would go open draw and would look to shake up the schedule slightly to try and create the odd break. I'd most likely move the Junior singles to the place of the early round of the Fours just to eliminate those ties that finish in darkness.
9 Calendar
I would close Inter Association and International weekends for top division only. I know many think that we should play more bowls in September, I totally disagree. Let September be for Club Finals and one of the only chances a player can take a holiday before the indoor starts. Yes Saturdays in September can be good, but if you have to postpone for whatever reason then its dark by 8pm.
10 Social Media
I'm not sure whether the PG should have a Facebook page or not. On the plus side it would help raise the profile of the PG, but on the flip side it could give players a chance to shoot their mouth off in frustration. Their have been several cases in many sports where players have posted comments they have subsequently been disciplined for. I would probably be banned by the PG right now if I had posted anything after our match on Saturday but that is another story.
As I said these are only my thoughts not NoMs. What would you like changed?
!!