At the beginning of March 2008 a consultation process was initiated to gauge opinion on the 5 Set Rule which is used in the lower divisions of the National League. An introductory paper which outlined the situation and history of the 5 Set Rule was Emailed to all member clubs, all Registered Coaches, members of the Referees Commission, and other key personnel.
The recipients of this mail were encouraged to forward it to other members of their Clubs and Commissions, to ensure as wide a coverage of views as possible. There was a two week deadline for submissions, which ended on March 16th, The quality and breadth of the responses from members of the Scottish Volleyball Association was extremely encouraging.
- In total there were 27 responses.
- The responses were personal views from individuals, and collective views from Clubs and teams.
- Some of the responses were detailed, systematic and logical (and compelling)
- Some of the responses were more orientated towards a general feeling
- 9 of the responses wanted to change the current system to a ‘best of’ 5 set format
- 3 of the responses wanted to retain elements of the current 5 Set Rule, but introduce rules to govern the eligibility of players for the ‘extra’ sets
- 15 of the responses were robustly in favour of retaining the 5 Set Rule as it is.
The ‘retain’ lobby are clearly the majority, and therefore the 5 Set Rule will continue to apply in all National League matches in Division II and lower. The ‘best of’ 5 set process will continue to be used in Division I matches and all National Cup matches.
On behalf of the SVA I would like to thank all those who participated in this exercise. Not only for meeting the (fairly tight) deadline which was set, but also for the quality of the processes they used to gather opinion in their clubs. Well done to all who contributed.
Telephone 0131 556 4633 - Fax 0131 557 4314 - Email : Scottish Volleyball