After consulting with members in relation to the competition structure for 2012/13, the following shall be implemented as change to competitions for this coming season. The SVA understands that for any change to work effectively there had to be a period of consultation involving the views from the members regarding their competitions. I am very pleased with the response from members as this demonstrates the passion people have for their sport therefore ensuring that you have more of a say in the type of competition you require from the SVA.

•    Division 1 Playoffs

A final 4 tournament with the top 4 teams from the Regular Season will compete over 2 days to become the playoff champions. Saturday will be the Semi Finals and the Sunday will be the 3rd Place Playoff and Finals.

Please Note: The term of National Champions will be given to the team finishing in 1st place after the regular season (14 matches).

•    Division 2 Women’s Playoffs

A 4 way playoff between the 7th place team in Division 1 and the Top 3 teams in Division 2 will occur at the end of the season with the team winning the playoffs winning promotion to division 1.

•    5 Set Rule

The consensus was that everyone who has been playing in Division 2 and 3 really enjoy playing all 5 sets as it gives them more competition play but also allows for development. The ruling for this season will mean that teams in divisions other than division 1 will continue to play all 5 sets but only the live sets will be recorded towards the championship. Scoresheets will continue to be updated as previous years but the Competitions Administrator will ensure the match is entered as the correct result on the SVA website.

•    Division 2/3 Men

After consultation, it has been decided that these leagues will be split into 2 and creation of a Division 2 East and a Division 2 West league. The Competitions Advisory Group will decide which teams will fall into which division. We will be splitting the leagues on match venue and not the address of the training venues.The top 2 teams from each division will meet in a playoff semi-final series and then a playoff final. The team winning the playoffs will automatically receive promotion into Division 1. The team finishing runner up will the compete in a playoff series with the 7th place in Division 1.

The main points discussed at the Competitions Review meeting, held on Saturday 16th June 2012 was that the lower leagues needed to play more matches. We believe that introducing these playoffs will allow for more matches to be played and also produce an end of season playoff system for the lower leagues to compete towards.

As you can see from below information the results were clear and others were very tighter in their opinions. The results gave the SVA a strong direction from the majority of members in the potential new structure in relation to their competitions.

QUESTION 1

5 SET RULE - DIVISIONS 2 AND 3 ONLY

Option 1 – Play all 5 Sets – 29%
Option 2 – Best of 5 Sets – 18%
Option 3 – Play all 5 sets but only count Live Sets – 38%
Option 4 – Play best of 5 sets and 1 Development Set – 15%

QUESTION 2

DIVISION 1 PLAYOFFS

Option 1 – No Change to 2011/12 Playoffs – 13%
Option 2 – Final 4 Weekend – 73%
Option 3 – Best of 3 Series – 14%

QUESTION 3

DIVISION 2 WOMEN’S PLAYOFFS

Option 1 – No Change to Playoffs – 20%
Option 2 – Top 4 Teams In Division 2 compete in playoff series – 20%
Option 3 – Teams Finishing 2nd to 4th and Team finishing in 7th in Division 1 in Playoff Series (2 matches) – 60%

The response rate was excellent and I thank everyone who took the time to try and improve the competitions structure of Scottish Volleyball.

If you have any questions in relation to this survey I would be happy to answer them. If you would like a discussion on any competition matters, please contact myself on the details below.

Martyn Johnstone
Competitions and Performance Administrator

email - competitions@scottishvolleyball.org
Office - 0131 556 4633
Mobile - 07815533236