The new season is fast approaching and we hope everyone is getting excited for what it may bring. Club Registration closed on Saturday and the Committee met last night to confirm Divisions, promotions, relegations, Cup/Plate Competition and other important issues.
I’m really pleased to announce that we have 13 Clubs and 22 Teams enter the 2019/20 season (11 Clubs and 19 teams last season). We have lost 1 team but have gained 4 new teams.
As mentioned at the AGM, I was unable to confirm promotions, relegations and divisions until all teams had registered. If we had more than 20 teams enter, we couldn’t physically fit in all the matches with just 2 divisions and so a split into 3 divisions would be required.
League Matches
As we have 22 teams, we are splitting into 3 Divisions. There will be 8 teams in Division 1, and 7 teams in both Division 2 and Division 3.
New teams always automatically enter into the bottom division, so the 4 new teams are in Division 3. The Committee considered points scored in 2018/19 season and a fair balance across the Divisions, when determining how to split the Divisions. Every other team has been listed in the order they finished in their respective divisions. The bottom 3 teams in Division 2 are now in Division 3. The bottom 3 teams in Division 1 are now in Division 2 and the top 2 teams in Division 2 are promoted to Division 1.
CONGRATULATIONS to Coalville Rockets and (Hinckley) Hornettes Black on their promotion to Division 1
Here are the Divisions for 2019/20.
Div 1
Ashby Fire
Gracedieu Diamonds
Blaby
Swadlincote Swifts
Ashby Ice (formerly Flames)
Coalville Jets
↑ Coalville Rockets ↑
↑ Hornettes Black ↑
Div 2
↓ Measham Tridents ↓
↓ Gracedieu Pearls ↓
↓ Bosworth Roses ↓
Overseal
Donington Diamonds
Swadlincote Starlings
Measham Mermaids
Div 3
↓ Bosworth Thorns ↓
↓ Whitwick Flames ↓
↓Whitwick Ignite ↓
Ashby Tornados (new)
Hornettes Gold (new)
Melbourne (new)
Sence Valley (new)
Cup/Plate Competition
We know there will be less League matches for each team and unfortunately that is what happens as Leagues grow. We were already considering options for the Cup/Plate Competition as we want to avoid the need for ‘byes’ and round robins, but also give teams more matches.
Therefore we are changing the Cup/Plate Competition into 2 stages (much like the Netball World Cup): Groups stage and Finals stage (Quarter Final, Semi Final and Final).
There are 4 groups of 5, 5, 6 and 6 teams. Each team will play every other team in their group once. 1st and 2nd in each group will move on the Cup Finals stage. 3rd and 4th in each group will move onto the Plate Finals stage. 5th and 6th are eliminated from the Competition.
Teams will play a minimum of 4 additional matches on top of their League matches.
The groups are as follows
Group A
Ashby Fire
Swadlincote Swifts
Bosworth Roses
Gracedieu Pearls
Whitwick Flames
Melbourne
Group B
Coalville Rockets
Coalville Jets
Donington Diamonds
Swadlincote Starlings
Hornettes Gold
Ashby Tornados
Group C
Blaby
Hornettes Black
Overseal
Measham Tridents
Bosworth Thorns
Group D
Gracedieu Diamonds
Ashby Ice (formerly Flames)
Measham Mermaids
Whitwick Ignite
Sence Valley
Fixtures:
I am now working on fixtures. All Group Stage matches and 1st half of League matches will all be included, together with proposed dates for the New Year. First matches are on Sunday 8 September and we will run upto Sunday 15 December before stopping for the Christmas break.
Both Ashby School and Newbridge High School, will host 4 matches each Sunday.
Good luck to all teams this season. xx