Sep
9
As some of you know, participation in Women’s Div. 1 was down last season. A variety of reasons for this drop were suggested and in response to these suggestions the VSL held a Women’s Div 1 Spring League with a new format. Teams were created based on skill level rather than club affiliation and this made for fun, competitive matches for all players. Hosting was made optional and all teams were able to share players, when necessary, from a “spare pool”.
Based on overwhelming positive feedback from the trial, the VSL has decided to move forward with a trial version of that new format for the 2015/16 season.
This season will be a trial period and the league will assess near the end of the season whether to continue with this format for future years.
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HOW DO I SIGN UP?
Send an email to info@vancouversquashleague.com BEFORE September 15, 2015 and we’ll do the rest. Let us know:
1) Your preference for playing:
a) full-time,
b) part-time or
c) spare?
2) Would you like to be a team captain?
3) Does your club have a Women’s Div 1 team?
a) If you are a member of JER, EVE or VRC you must also register with your club and pay the appropriate fees to join league in addition to letting us know about their desire to play in Div 1.
b) If your club is not listed above that’s okay, we’ll place you with a team! Sign up by emailing the league coordinator at info@vancouversquashleague.com. There will be a registration fee for these players that will be distributed to their team’s club that season as per a regular league participant.
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WHAT IS THE NEW FORMAT?
(i) Who can play?
As a general guideline, players should have a minimum of 1,000 ranking points. However, some players (such as juniors) may not have points that reflect their skill level, so they should check with the squash pro at their club before signing up.
Players below 1,000 ranking points who would like to play in Div 1 will likely be placed in the “spare pool”. If you would like to play full time in league, then we strongly recommend you register as a regular player for Div 2 and register as a spare for Div 1.
The VSL will pool players that have signed up and create a minimum of four equitable teams.
You can sign up choosing to play a) full-time; b) part-time or c) spare.
Spares will be available to all teams.
New this season: Players that don’t have a Div 1 women’s team will sign up by emailing the league coordinator at info@vancouversquashleague.com. There will be a registration fee for these players that will be distributed to their team’s club that season as per a regular league participant.
NOTE: All players must register for league with their club as normal in addition to letting us know about their desire to play in Div 1.
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(ii) Teams and Team Captains
The team line-up will be 4 or 5 players depending on participation and there will be at least 4 teams.
We’re hoping to have people volunteer to be team captains but we may ask players if there aren’t enough.
Players will be kept with their respective clubs, as much as possible, but the priority is to have balanced teams so that all players have competitive matches. It will be important for captains to communicate with one another to coordinate matches to ensure players are as closely matched as realistically possible.
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(iii) Host Clubs
Just like last season, each week teams will play at the host clubs on a rotating basis. The clubs participating are Vancouver Racquets Club, Jericho and Evergreen.
The VSL will determine the designated HOME team and the designated visiting team for each night in the league schedule. The HOME team will be responsible for reffing that night.
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(iv) Scoring
Teams have the choice of playing PAR 11 or PAR 15. Both captains must agree on the scoring system or play PAR 15. All matches should be played with the same scoring system.
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(v) Team Responsibilities
The HOME team is responsible for refereeing matches and entering scores into SportyHQ. Team hosting is no longer a requirement in this division but players are encouraged to socialize after the matches.
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(vi) Player Costs
Players must register with their clubs and pay the appropriate fees to join league. There is no additional cost, such as club drop-in fees, to play in the new format.
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ANY QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK?
Please email the League Coordinator: info@vancouversquashleague.com.
If you know of anyone who might be interested in participating, who isn’t currently playing in the VSL, please let them know about this.