All
I promised recently to circulate the Draw for this season’s Cup competitions, so here it is. Please refer to the spreadsheet attached to this post (excel and pdf copies provided). I will advise of any changes to format, should they become necessary.
PRELIMINARY ROUNDS
Men: There is a preliminary round which will determine the semi-finalists (same format as last year). The winners from round 1 will progress to the semi-finals of the Stan Hastie Cup, while the losers from the first round will contest the semi-finals of the Plate competition.
Ladies: As we have 6 teams in this season’s Ladies Cup, it has been necessary to hold a preliminary round to determine the semi-finalists.
- The 6 teams have been split into 2 pools of 3:
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Pool 1
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Pool 2
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Rainham-L
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Dartford-L
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Strood-L
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Tonbridge-L
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Medway-L
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Maidstone-L
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- It will be necessary to play a triangular fixture for each Pool as it would otherwise be cumbersome to try to fit all 3 matches in on separate match dates. This will also ensure that all teams have at least 2 cup matches before they can be knocked out.
- The format of each triangular shall be that the winner of the first match will stay on court to play match 2. This will help ensure that the final match is not a ‘dead rubber’. (If the losing team from match 1 stays on and loses their next match, too, the last match might become less relevant, other than to determine which team will go through to the semi-finals as pool winners).
- I will leave it to you to decide between you which teams will play first in each triangular. The non-playing team in each match will ref and score the match being played.
- Points scoring format for each Pool will be the same as in Kent League i.e. 1 ‘match’ point per set won. The top 2 teams in each Pool will progress to the semi-finals. In the event of a tie on match points between 2 teams, the team to progress will be determined by the result of the match between the 2 teams. In the event of a 3-way tie on match points, progression will be determined in the following sequence: (i) sets difference (ii) set points difference (iii) total set points for.
Men’s Round 1 matches and Ladies’ triangular fixtures are to be played during the week ending 14th April. If both teams are agreeable and available the fixture may, of course, be played ahead of this date. Please just go ahead and keep me posted on the alternative date you have agreed.
SEMI-FINALS
- Semi-finals for all 3 competitions (Stan Hastie Cup, KCVA Plate and June Morgan Ladies Cup) are to be played in the week ending Sunday 5th May.
- If necessary, KCVA will allow an extra week to Sunday 12th May, to complete the semi-finals if necessary. This must obviously be with the agreement of both teams and please keep me informed if it is necessary to rely on the extra week to complete your semi-final.
- Equally, if the teams in any of the semi-finals wish to play their match earlier than 6th May, that will be perfectly acceptable (assuming it is agreeable to both teams). Again, please just keep me advised if you decide to do that.
Finals Day is provisionally booked for Sunday 26th May at Dartford Science and Technology College, from 11:00 to 18:00. This is the only day which will work for Finals Day as there are other dates in June which we also need to avoid.
You can work out from the draw who you will meet in the next round (one of 2 teams, depending on who wins and who loses, of course!). But at least you will know whether you are due to be home or away, depending on your own result. Please make early enquiries of your sports centre to check you have home availability if you are drawn at home for your semi-final.
Please make sure you get your Round 1 results through to me no later than the day after the match as I need to keep all teams posted on who they will be playing in the semi-finals. It would also be helpful if you could text me the match result immediately after the match has finished.
As ever, I will be seeking volunteers to help on Finals Day (refs/scorers/line judges). Finals Day participants will be expected to help out, of course, but it would be great to have as wide a pool of volunteers as possible. If you want to get involved (or have someone in your club who wants to), please let me know as early as possible so I can try to accommodate everyone.
I hope I have covered everything, but please ask if there is anything about which you are not clear.
Ian Ruddock
Secretary, Kent County Volleyball Association
