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Case study: Internal squash leagues
Club
Metheringham Squash Rackets Club
Summary
The internal leagues have provided club members with regular competition throughout the season. The leagues are delivered in a box league format and updated monthly via the club Leagues Officer.
How is it delivered?
Initially the leagues were started with a sign-up sheet on the club notice board.
All members were invited to sign-up to the box leagues, providing their grade (based on if they play competitively / county leagues etc) and contact details, enabling the names to be sorted into a rough playing order based on standard. Leagues were assigned based on this information.
The rules of the leagues are displayed next to the league tables, with players responsible for organising their matches and booking courts.
The box leagues consist of 5 players and points are awarded thus:
Result | Points |
3-0 | 8 - 2 |
3-1 | 7 - 3 |
3-2 | 6 - 4 |
2-2 | 5 - 5 |
1-1 | 5 - 5 |
1-0 | 6 - 4 |
2-0 | 7 - 3 |
2-1 | 6 - 4 |
Six bonus points are awarded to any player who has played all 4 matches in a month, making the maximum available points 38.
League Player of the Year prize
One element that has worked really well in incentivising players to play all of their matches in each given month is a ‘League Player of the Year’ prize which gives all members the chance of winning a year’s membership. This is calculated by totalling all of the points that each player has gained each month. This table is also updated and displayed monthly on the notice board so that players can track their progress. This initiative allows players of all standards to have a chance of winning the prize, not just those playing in the higher leagues.
Cost
The cost of running the internal leagues is minimal as they are run by volunteers.
Workforce
The Leagues Officer is responsible for updating the leagues with any promotions and relegations as well as assigning new members wishing to enter the leagues.
We advocate that the leagues are self-regulated by the members and any queries are taken up with the club Leagues Officer or other committee member. There is a commitment of 1 hour per month to take in the results, publish them and email them out.
Additional Information
The internal club leagues have enabled Metheringham Squash Rackets Club to provide their members with competitive games, as well as facilitating regular activity at the venue. The box leagues are an ideal method to introduce new members to the club. Two years ago the club introduced a similar structure for squash 57 which has proved to be very popular.
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