2006-2007 Season Format

The following is copied — and modified for display — from a document issued by Lynn Broman. Rick Kochanski

Where we were:

For the last several years Vancouver Doubles League has operated with 4 clubs and just last year Sport Central joined the league.
Each club put out 8 pairs an evening (16 players in all) ranked from #1 to #8.
Four pairs played at home and 4 pairs played away.
The season was 15 weeks of play. 3 of those weeks were byes, and 12 weeks of play.
Season opened Sept 28th. Dec 7th last match of year. Resumed Jan 4th until Feb 15th.
Three weeks of playoffs (Feb 22, Mar 1 & 8th.)
No league play during doubles tournaments such as Gamble 100, Western Cdn, BC Open.
One of the five clubs was idle each Wednesday.
Play was restricted to one evening per week, Wednesdays.
Play was scheduled at one hour intervals on the hour beginning at 6pm.
The teams were essentially the best 16 (8 pairs) available on the night.
The goal of winning the trophy motivated each club to field its best players.
The five participating clubs have varying strengths and numbers of players and each club has its own difficulties organizing a competitive team each week.
Generally the pool of spares was confined to members of the club (with the exception of Hollyburn using Evergreen players and Sport Central doing a great job of drawing players from several sources).
Team line ups were established as soon as possible but that often drifted to a very late date and for some clubs not until the matches began.

Compared to the VSL:

For comparison, the Vancouver Squash League (singles) is divided into several divisions and it has evolved so that players of a certain skill level play at or about a particular division.

Although quite weak players are not really competitive even in the lower divisions, the majority of keen players are able to find a spot in singles league play.

The VSL has many more clubs and courts available for play than the five doubles clubs. A 5 man teams stay together as a group to play at home or away. Clubs generally schedule the matches on multiple courts over a relatively short time compared to doubles on one court over 4 hours.

Way back when:

Historically, for both singles and doubles (not from personal experience but comments from real old timers) there was a structure that tried to ensure all players had a chance to make a team. It was the AB and CD leagues. Players needed to be of the appropriate category to qualify for a position on the team.

It�s good, but could be better:

There are some advantages to the present doubles league arrangement and there are some weaknesses. One weakness is that some matches are not well matched teams. A weakness identified by some captains is that it is a large task to organize 16 players. There is not always a tight team dynamic with half the team at another club. The league has not done a good job in attracting new players as it is difficult to break into the �set group� of league players at a club. There are no restrictions regarding the skill level and the position ( #1 through #8) of the current system although it was meant to be that the best played #1 and so on to #8. Most clubs have doubles members keen enough to play in tournaments (or at least capable of playing at that level) and keen to play doubles league but there is not an appropriate spot for them. One of the clubs sits idle every week. Only the very best ladies are included in teams (as is the case for men but extends further down the spectrum of skill level). There is slow or poor communication among clubs regarding team make up and sharing of spares to get the best match.

Part of the plan for next year:

To address some of the weaknesses and improve the quality of matches some changes will be tried.

The 16 member team will be broken into smaller units.
Teams will consist of 4 (2 pairs) players. The team will stay together as a group to play at home or away.
There will be 4 groups or divisions.
Players will be restricted by their skill level to appropriate places within a team.
It is assumed from discussions that the five clubs will continue to offer the 6, 7, 8, and 9 pm court times on Wednesday. In addition, some clubs may offer court times on Thursday.
The season may be extended further into the spring.
It may be that a team is not scheduled to play each week.
The aim will be to keep a team on one night for the season, but that may not be possible.
A league wide system of spares will be organized. If a club does not wish to use outsiders, fine, but suitable spares are to be found to have good matches.
The competition over the year will be for individual player awards as well as for Group I, II, and III.
Depending upon the organization of Ladies teams, the trophies may be restricted to individuals but will include Team awards if appropriate.
Point systems have not been designed as yet.

The groups are:

Group I: One pair of solid open level caliber players. Weaker players not eligible.; One pair of very good division 1 tournament standard or perhaps a lower open level (the intent is NOT to have a team of 4 open level players); likely played at position 2, 3 or so last year league.
Group II: 4 Tournament division 1 players; likely played in middle positions last year league. Open level players not eligible.
Group III: One pair equivalent to lower levels of last year league; Tournament division 1 or good division 2; may or may not have played league last year.; One pair division 2 or lower level division 1; someone with little or no league exposure. Open level or upper divison 1 players are not eligible.
Ladies only: Likely a mix of open and lower level players. May evolve into less of a club based team to more of getting the best match ups for competitive encounters.

Clubs may request placement of teams from any mix of the above groups.

Keep in mind that with 4 hours of court time last year, we could accommodate 16 players. For the new format that would be equivalent to 4 teams. Vancouver Lawn and Sport Central seem like good candidates to make some time available on Thursdays.

Most clubs will probably make 4 hours on Wednesday available. That would entitle them to four teams. If additional time on Thursdays comes available, a club may be able to go over their 4 team limit.