From britdisc-owner@csv.warwick.ac.uk Wed Mar 3 16:26:32 1999 Received: by pansy.csv.warwick.ac.uk (8.9.1/8.9.1) id QAA06940 for britdisc-outgoing; Wed, 3 Mar 1999 16:21:43 GMT Received: from daffodil.csv.warwick.ac.uk (daffodil [137.205.192.30]) by pansy.csv.warwick.ac.uk (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA06919 for <britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk>; Wed, 3 Mar 1999 16:21:39 GMT Received: from mailgw.chelt.ac.uk (mailgw.chelt.ac.uk [194.81.184.203]) by daffodil.csv.warwick.ac.uk (8.9.1b+Sun/8.9.1) with ESMTP id QAA09048 for <britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk>; Wed, 3 Mar 1999 16:21:22 GMT Received: from exchpk02.chelt.ac.uk (exchpk02.chelt.ac.uk [194.66.194.6]) by mailgw.chelt.ac.uk (Integralis SMTPRS 2.0.15) with ESMTP id <B0000006216@mailgw.chelt.ac.uk>; Wed, 03 Mar 1999 16:09:57 +0000 Received: by exchpk02.chelt.ac.uk with Internet Mail Service (5.5.2232.9) id <GF3GVS07>; Wed, 3 Mar 1999 16:11:49 -0000 Message-Id: <8102C4585310D211858D0060B01A41337ED30C@exchpk02.chelt.ac.uk> From: "HUGHES, Chris" <CHughes@chelt.ac.uk> To: "'Taylor, Ruth (Bass PLC)'" <Ruth.Taylor@bass.com> Cc: "'Britdisc'" <britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Indoor Regionals Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1999 16:11:46 -0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2232.9) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Sender: owner-britdisc@warwick.ac.uk Precedence: bulk The reason for the format change in the now so called regionals really came about because last year no-one in the south-east region organised a qualifying competition. I could foresee this happening again. In organising regionals I need to get a sensible number of teams to each qualifying tournament to make it financially viable to run (why should a TD foot a 200gbp loss to allow you to play?) So if I have fewer tournaments then they are cheaper and people don't complain about the cost. But then they start complaining about how far they have to travel, and why can't they go to another regions tournament because it's a more suitable weekend - so now you have free choice. This is also complicated by determining the location of indoor teams - some are spread over a number of regions, some are close to the edge of a region, eg - Oxford; traditionally in the South-west region would have to travel for five hours to Plymouth instead of the 45 mins to MK. Now you have free choice. I will also be allocating the qualifying slots - before this weekend the first qualifying tournament - depending on tournament size and relative strength. Eg (and this is just an example - not finalised yet) Plymouth has 12 teams - they get 3 slots; MK has 24 teams - they get six slots since they have twice as many teams, Scot, 16 teams - 4 slots, North 24 teams - 6 slots. That makes 19 qualifying slots. Nationals can cope with 24 teams, so I am left with 5 slots to award to the different regions based on their relative strength - so you have an equal chance of qualifying in which ever region. Yes, you could go to Plymouth and see if you can increase your chances of qualifying, but irrelevant of how the system works there will never be an equal strength in regions. All the teams in the MK tournament are reasonably local (i.e. don't have a closer tournament). I would like to have held traditional regional events - but that can't happen if very few people (4) can be bother to organise a tournament. Chris DoC -----Original Message----- From: Taylor, Ruth (Bass PLC) [SMTP:Ruth.Taylor@bass.com] Sent: 3 March 1999 15:11 To: 'HUGHES, Chris' Subject: Indoor Regionals Chris, Just a little question!! Why has the format for the Indoor Regionals been changed? The reason for this question is this: We (RED) have put a team in to the Milton Keynes regional because we felt it was probably the easiest to get to from our nice central position. However, when I say, "we (RED)" I'm not talking about our RED first team, I am talking about a team of similar standard as has been fielded so far this season, made up of a couple of first team players, but also a few beginners. Now, I know that this team cannot expect to qualify for the Nationals under normal circumstances, but having seen the line-up for the MK tournament, our chances are even smaller, I would even go as far as to say that we would probably get shat on from a great height by almost every team on there. "Where's the problem?" I hear you ask. Well, there wasn't really one, until I saw the line-up for the Plymouth qualifier, and it has to be said, that we would have a much bigger hope of getting a few points on the board and probably even winning a few (no disrespect to those teams intended) if we had entered this tournament instead. I know we would certainly enjoy that tournament more, even if we still couldn't qualify, because there is nothing fun about losing in such a way as is likely in MK. Next year, if the format stays the same, I will definitely be considering changing the tournament we enter (I thought about it for this one too, I dunno how possible it would be having already entered) in order to avoid playing all the big teams. I don't know if anyone else has spotted this flaw, but if they do, it will end up being separate tournaments for each standard as people cotton on to the fact that they have a better chance of qualification at an event further away, therefore making the qualifiers a bit of a farce and the Nationals not a true a representation of the best teams. I think it will be like that anyway this year to be honest. I realise that you will allocate places taking this into account, but you can't not allocate places to teams in a particular qualifier can you?! Also what will the winners of each qualifier be? It used to be that they were Regional Champions, this can't be the case now. Ruth (RED)