[VMSL 2007/08] Divisional Setup

[bandcamp]

Agreed Peter in that it will be so messy to unravel CAT and get rid of the a,b,c divisions that exist in open. The notion that players won't want to play in a division 4 because the #4 is so far down from Premier is a joke. Putting 10 teams in each division creates parity and consistent competition in each division...while pushing all of the talent up into the 10 Premier teams...creating a stronger top tier. If the league has the balls to unravel the current mess then the future of the league would be much brighter!

 

[dr.j]

The first step in the right direction was to reinstitute the third division. It helped eliminate some of the guaranteed blowouts from the schedule and probably allowed those who were on the short end of the stick enjoy their games as well. It has also served to make a more competitive 2nd division. The amount of ties and a lack of blowouts supports this. As concerns the CAT set up, The primary issue seems to be a lack of cooperation and dedication of all involved to adhering to the spirit of the system as it was intended to be. The "stacking up" of CAT teams for cup play is an example. The intent, I assume, is to develop those who might require a season or two prior to playing with the big boys. Those that do not develop as expected would then find somewhere else to play. Presumably with a team befitting their own skills and abilities.Unfortunately, it seems that things become skewed once egos are factored into the mix. Since I am not directly involved with the CAT system, my opinion is based on what I see have been told from guys who I see at Westside functions and who play with us in summer ball. One would think that the system has merits if followed closer to the way it was meant to be.

 

[the insider]

Well, speaking hypothetically, as it is unlikely this will happen... theoretically, where there is a will there is a way to change to any format the clubs want. The league would need to set out a plan to restructure at least one season before it actually happens. Simply put, an agreement would have to be ratified by the membership to assign teams a position in the new structure according to their league position at the conclusion of the next season.

A straight VISL style with 90 teams would obviously mean 9 Divisions of 10 teams each (Premier to Div 8). So prior to the season it would be agreed that who finished, say, 1st to 10th in Premier would make up the Premier Division in the new structure the following season. So 11th to 14th in Premier (working under the current set-up) plus the top 6 teams in Div 1 (1st and 2nd in each of A, B and CAT) would be placed in the new Div 1... etc.

It would be a lot of work to get it done but if you get a binding agreement you might end up with one of the most exciting seasons in the VMSL ever. Every point would be crucial to your placing in the new system.

Then again you would have to get the membership to agree on switching in the first place. Some with long memories might consider it a step backwards to the days of the Mainland League.

 

[BlazeArmy]

We have a Div2 team, Div 2 CAT team and a u21 team in our club.

The U21 team is where the guys who will be playing for our club team in a few years are playing. The CAT team is basically a team of guys not good enough to play for our club team. The CAT players will come and play for our club team when short and we have club players go and play CAT when they are short. There is no development of players going on in our club adn to be honest the 3 or 4 guys who were close to playing on our club team a few year ago have actually gotten worse playing for the CAT team in the CAT league. Last year CAT B was a terrible league and our CAT team basically had it is way with all but 1 maybe 2 teams. They did not have to even play well to beat them. Our U21 side is now the main development focus in our club and other than the 14 or so guys who play regularly with our club team the next 4 or 5 better players play for our U-21 team. We have had 4 CAT players play with our club side so far and 7 U-21's. The CAT player number would probably be smaller but we have had a few weekends where numbers have been a serious issue. We have had 4 different u21 players start for the club side as well. The CAT team is in all honesty the 3rd tier team in our club and while it would be nice to see them do well, we could care less if our club team and u21 teams both win.