HoS and Peter (and John): one of the things that we demanded (and got) in negotiations was that there would never be a requirement to be CAT'ed to an existing club. The WCOTSL is mostly made up of teams in exactly this same situation. Only a few (Westside, Firefighters, Columbus, ICSF, Cliff Avenue, PCOV, Meralomas, Lobbans, SFU) exist in
VMSL as well. Does Sarge know he's signed?
Yes, we'd welcome your aging, wonky-kneed, geriatric old ex-
VMSL crew - they'd fit right in with the rest of our aging, wonky-kneed, geriatric old ex-
VMSL players and teams.
The CAT system will only be applicable for players over 35. WCOTSL has allowed some grandfathered players under 35 in the league - these were guys playing in the league between 30 and 35 when we were told by
BCSA that we had to go Over 35. We also allow teams to carry 3 guys on their rosters (in addition to this) between 31 and 35 as "underage players." Anybody under 35 doesn't get to play in the Provincial Cup.
Peter: In terms of who starts where, this is kind of up in the air. Realistically, it's going to depend first on how much interest there is. Willy was talking about Surrey U. coming over (although I'm sure that's news to their guys
) and for a case like that, it wouldn't be fair to either the existing 3rd div teams or the new one coming in to start at the bottom. On the other hand, previous new teams haven't burnt up the league either (see Meralomas, Bulldogs, Vancouver United, Paddlewheeler, Sierra, PAOK, etc). Most have either taken a while and built up gradually, or just kind of settled at a level. None have been regularly blowing out the opposition.
I expect that there will be a fair number of exhibition games over the summer to try to help sort things out, but what I can see happening is the following: you can expect that any new teams comprised mainly of premier (
VMSL) players will be carefully vetted against existing premier (WCOTSL) teams. We have talked about the possibility of expanding divisions if needed, too.
Stay tuned to this Bat-channel for the answers for all your questions.....
Uncle stew
