Over the last few years we have heard comments from the membership such as: Why can't we compete in tournaments where teams at our level? Why do we always have to travel? Why won't teams of good caliber come to our tournament? Why did we end up seeded where we did at Provincials when we beat teams seeded higher than us? In an effort to address these types of questions, we developed the “Super Series”.
The Super Series is a competition system run over 3 weekends in the combined 15U/16U and 17U/18U age categories for boys and girls. There is approximately one event per combined age category and gender every 3-4 weeks leading to Nova Scotia Championships. Each event is hosted in a region of the province by local clubs. Points are awarded at each event based on the team’s record and those points are then used to seed and place teams in subsequent tournaments including Nova Scotia Championships.
This is our first year running this type of competition and there have been some growing pains. We have welcomed feedback from the membership and we are committed to constantly evaluating and improving our program. Based on the post event survey from the first Super Series we wanted to provide some clarity to aspects of the competition that we now understand were not adequately communicated by developing this FAQ.
Why are the 15U and 16U as well as the 17U and 18U age groups combined? We felt that the more teams you have competing in a division the greater the chance of playing against teams of similar ability in the second and third Super Series. We want our competition system to pit teams of similar ability against each other as often as possible and we felt that combining the age groups would help achieve that result. We know there were concerns that some very strong teams played much weaker teams in the first Super Series and we are committed to finding better ways to seed the first event so that we can avoid that next year. We also know there are some concerns that 15U teams play by different rules and that we need to look seriously at that issue.
Why are 15U teams not allowed to use a Libero? We began the Super Series by using only 1 set of rules for the use of a Libero position and limited 6 substitutions, which is the case for the 16U age level. It seemed to confuse some 15U teams who are competing with 16U rules while preparing their season to conclude in the 15U Provincial Championships where a Libero is not permitted and 12 limited substitutions is permitted. For the remainder of the 2015 Super Series we will apply the 15U rules to 15U teams and 16U rules to 16U teams. We will track the substitutions being used by 15U teams during the remainder of the season and revisit this rule for next season’s Super Series.
Why are there no playoffs? The decision to move to large pool play tournaments as opposed to pool play- playoffs was done so for the following reasons:
- Pool play allows us to ensure that no teams play or rest more than 2 matches in a row. We can also limit the number of matches per day to 3-4 which helps maintain a high level of performance and reduces the wear and tear on the players.
- Having scheduled matches makes it easier for teams to plan for the event. Teams know when they'll have a break to eat and rest, and parents know exactly when the tournament will finish making pick up their child a little more predictable.
- Pool play tournaments ensure every team plays the same number of matches. In tournaments with playoffs the best team often plays the most matches and the weakest team loses early and plays the least. Over time the better teams compete much more often and the gap between strong and weak increases.
Why are events hosted in these regions? We know travel is a major concern for everyone and we are striving to be as fair as possible when determining where events will be held from year to year. It's important to note that the club competition system includes Nova Scotia Championship, and because Championships are held in the HRM we felt that dispersing events around the province was reasonable. It also provided hosting opportunities for regions that have typically had high drop out rates at their tournaments. In future years, we are committed to moving events around to all regions and developing a hosting application process.
Why have some adjustments to the pools been made? We used serpentine seeding as outlined in the Competitions Guide to place teams in pools but we made the decision to make some small changes in order to accommodate the distance some teams would need to travel. The changes were reviewed by the Competition Committee and have been deemed to be minor and not diminish the integrity of the competition. We are doing our best to apply our policies consistently, however we feel that we need some flexibility to make minor adjustments when our rules generate less than ideal outcomes. We are constantly reviewing our policies and procedures thoroughly so that we will be able to avoid making changes at all in the future.
One survey question asked whether the Super Series was a step in the right direction. The 112 respondents answered in the following way:
Yes - 26%
Yes with modifications 55%
No 18%
This shows that we've made progress but need to continue to evaluate and fine tune our program. It is our hope that the Super Series can develop into a sophisticated nation leading competition structure that meets the growing needs of Nova Scotia’s athletes, coaches and officials.
For more information about the Super Series please contact Technical Director Shane St-Louis at volleyballtd@sportnovascotia.ca
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