29-04-2016, 02:08 PM
In response to Jonathan:
In fact I conducted this survey last year, between early May and July. I emailed every club secretary, including non-members of CS, and every team captain of Richardson and Spens teams that entered the 2014-15 events. Secretaries and captains were asked to consult with their club and team members. On 1st July I wrote again saying:
“I received direct replies from 4 clubs, two team captains and one club member:
One club offered no opinions as it does not, and will not, play in either competition;
One club prefers knockout format, 8 boards;
One team captain and the club member (from different clubs) prefer knockout format and would have semi-final and final played on the same day;
One team captain prefers two groups, 6-board teams;
One club prefer to combine Richardson and Spens with fewer boards.”
[I then received replies from one Richardson and one Spens team]
“In addition some discussion took place on the CS forum with regard to the Richardson and a series of polls were conducted. The results in brief” [and in respect of issues discussed in this thread] “were:
Format – No change, i.e. knockout (73%)
KO Format – As 2014 (85%)
Players per team – 8 (87%)
Venue – option of the home (first-drawn) team except for final (67%)”
Of course the forum polls were limited in reach but were nevertheless valid as indicators of opinion.
January
Regarding the difficulties finding free dates in January it seems to me there has been a bit of 'over-focus' on this month.
The answer is simply to find a date between November and mid January, which covers about 8 – 9 usable weeks allowing for a 3 week break at Xmas/New Year. Set the start as the first weekend in November and a date in January as the latest by which a match must be played.
This time span affords plenty of flexibility to find mutually acceptable alternatives to the first date that don't clash with any other important events. If the start date is set well in advance then all teams will know to prepare for it. Last year there were 3 major events in Scotland in November – Glasgow Allegro, Oban Congress, SNCL - and nothing in December.
In fact I conducted this survey last year, between early May and July. I emailed every club secretary, including non-members of CS, and every team captain of Richardson and Spens teams that entered the 2014-15 events. Secretaries and captains were asked to consult with their club and team members. On 1st July I wrote again saying:
“I received direct replies from 4 clubs, two team captains and one club member:
One club offered no opinions as it does not, and will not, play in either competition;
One club prefers knockout format, 8 boards;
One team captain and the club member (from different clubs) prefer knockout format and would have semi-final and final played on the same day;
One team captain prefers two groups, 6-board teams;
One club prefer to combine Richardson and Spens with fewer boards.”
[I then received replies from one Richardson and one Spens team]
“In addition some discussion took place on the CS forum with regard to the Richardson and a series of polls were conducted. The results in brief” [and in respect of issues discussed in this thread] “were:
Format – No change, i.e. knockout (73%)
KO Format – As 2014 (85%)
Players per team – 8 (87%)
Venue – option of the home (first-drawn) team except for final (67%)”
Of course the forum polls were limited in reach but were nevertheless valid as indicators of opinion.
January
Regarding the difficulties finding free dates in January it seems to me there has been a bit of 'over-focus' on this month.
The answer is simply to find a date between November and mid January, which covers about 8 – 9 usable weeks allowing for a 3 week break at Xmas/New Year. Set the start as the first weekend in November and a date in January as the latest by which a match must be played.
This time span affords plenty of flexibility to find mutually acceptable alternatives to the first date that don't clash with any other important events. If the start date is set well in advance then all teams will know to prepare for it. Last year there were 3 major events in Scotland in November – Glasgow Allegro, Oban Congress, SNCL - and nothing in December.