Saturday 25 August 2012

NEWS FROM THE REGISTRATION MEETING

JUST TIME FOR A QUICK UPDATE from the registration meeting.
We have ten teams for the 2012/13 season which we split into two divisions of five each.
Obviously with two of last season's B Division teams PJ'z Ripley No 2 and Jaxx Q Club Belper No 2 not taking part this time around, this meant we needed one extra team for the section.

The only possible candidates were either Gladiators Social Club which is the bulk of the old Bolehill No 2 team from last season who finished next highest in A Division over the relegated teams or Jaxx Q Club Belper No 1 who finished runners up in the second tier last season.

Anyhow after a vote it was decided that Gladiators play as a B team this season as Jaxx had further re-enforced their team (including a certain J Gratton as a reserve!) and had already been multi trophy winners to boot last season.

It shouldn't make a whole load of difference anyhow as all teams will play each other home and away during the season this time around with just the individual sections treated separately for prizegiving purposes.

As mentioned on facebook, last seasons team from PJ'z No 1 will at least initially be playing from Marehay Miners Welfare with their usual club having been closed for a period and set to re-open in nearby premises (but not now expected until the New Year).

After this the handicaps were discussed and agreed for the forthcoming season, again mainly updated automatically from last season with one or two minor adjustments elsewhere.

It was again agreed to hold the Christmas Shootout Night at Jaxx Q Club, Belper, the establishment permitting, theres a date in early January which might suit, most likely being a clear week, but will discuss it with Scott the owner and see how it fits in.

Also all were in agreement to revive if possible the old regular inter league clash between ourselves and the Derby League; at present a date in late May looks favourite when both leagues are completed but will see what comes out of discussions with our big-city neighbours regarding how it will be played and when and where (I'm particularly looking forward to the J Gratton (Darley Dale) v J Gratton (Derby) clash, especially if one of them has to give a start!).

Regarding this season's B Division Individual Handicap, with the loss of the two teams and only a small entry last season (as tends to be the case with most restricted events in todays age) we decided that it should also be open to all those players handicapped as scratch or below whichever division they are registered in, which should hopefully help to boost the numbers.

As mentioned on our facebook page, you may have noticed that the old pairs trophy the Presidents Cup has been re-discovered after being presumed lost. Rather than just leave it in limbo, we thought it would be a good idea to use it for the forthcoming season and in keeping with the pairs theme, it will now be awarded to the scotch doubles pairing which make the highest break during the season in all competitions (therefore incorporating the Bob McCartin 6-red Cup, the George Mills Christmas 6-red Pairs on Shootout Night and also the Hartshorne Cup 2-man team event, where the format comes into effect in the event of a deciding frame).

We decided not to hold any formal meetings during the season due to general lack of attendance, so the competition draws will now take place at a date and time stated on this website, providing more than one person is present (most probably at Bolehill in the main).

The end of season Play Offs for the Jaeger Trophy will still be contested between the four top teams in each Division, so eight in all, with home advantage firstly to the highest placed team in the regular season.
Should any of the matches in the next stage involve teams who have not had a home fixture however, they would be granted this privilege over a team who had already hosted in fairness to participating clubs.
As usual the final will be played on a neutral table.

The draws were also done for the qualifying stages of the OMYA Individual Scratch competition played in-house firstly down to one qualifier per team, along with the Bob McCartin 6-red team event.
The latter will again be run initially on a group basis as those at the meeting enjoyed the format last year so this stage enables all matches to be played to their completion.

Plus it gives a chance for teams who don't hit the ground running to find their form later on in the knockout stages, as most teams should at least be in with a chance of qualification going into the final batch of games.

Obviously with two less teams this season, the end of season prize fund will most likely have to be adjusted accordingly though it may be that only a couple of the more minor competitions are affected (depending on overall income after competition entries).

The Presentation Evening next Saturday September 1st looks roughly on course for the same number of attendees as last season, tickets are still available at £5 each. A reminder that Alan is requesting team captains bring along a raffle prize if possible.

Finally thanks to all teams for entering the League for the 2012/13 season and hope you all have a good 'un.
I know quite a few were scrambling around to get hold of that elusive fourth player so thats something we appreciate and will keep an eye on over time as regarding numbers - there may eventually be a stage where we send out a 3-man and a 4-man entry form and see which works best as obviously there aren't quite so many people hitting the clubs as there used to be just from popping in and out of some of the local haunts.

But sometimes dropping down a man doesn't always result in an automatic extra team as we seem to run into   the problem that no-one wants to take the responsibility to run the team, even though there doesn't seem a whole lot to it to alot of those that actually do the job!!

Plus of course, we are living in an age of multiple choices and some youngsters seem to be venturing into pool over snooker nowadays as the option with the lesser degree of difficulty!

All the best and you will note the OMYA Individual and Bob McCartin 6 red team draws are now up on this website, the leaguesnooker.co.uk site will also swing back into action over the next couple of weeks and once some minor details are rubber-stamped and known, the league fixtures can be sent out, cheers!!