bartman
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Being new to Forum Sevens (Rhinos debutante in Possibles v Probables), and having recently read through a lot of the previous threads and F7s history in here, to me it looks like the concept is probably the healthiest it has been for a long long time! Congratulations to all involved. My idea may help to continue F7's positive development, and is outlined below.
Seeing as the "possible" teams have been functioning well in the current Possibles v Probables tournament, come time for 2005 F7s invitations there'll probably be a few headaches involved in working everything out? If (and that's an "if") the general wisdom is that F7s flows at its best when there is some limit to the number of teams (matched to the available management and referee resources), then it follows that some current or possible teams/people may end up feeling disappointed as well come the start of next F7s season?
In reading the previous threads I've also noted that quite a number of enquiries about F7s come through while a season is in progress? People (like me) are hearing about F7s and are keen to have a go. But sometimes the people making the enquiries don't follow up six months later, and promises that a team might be created/resurrected sometimes fall to nought. As a rookie, I can understand how an interested person may sometimes find it hard to debut with confidence in a real macth situation (if drafted into an F7s team mid-season), or may find it hard to join up or get actively involved in an existing or potential team now (in the "off-season").
One way that both of these situations could be addressed is by setting up a small system of trials during the next F7s season - a development league! This would be similar to (but less work than) the current Possibles v Probables, and would offer different benefits. (This idea may have been floated before, but please hear me out...)
You could have 9, 10 or 12 (or whatever) teams officially invited to F7s for your next season, resources pending. Then any remaining teams (maybe two to four?) could be invited to take part in a development comp, in the form of a round robin during that next season (maybe timed for a mid-season break alongside F7 City v Country, State of Origin rep games?).
The advantages of this small development league would be:
With thirteen squads of around 13 players currently in operation/contention for invitations next season, there's a lot of talent around - people that have put their hands up for Forum Sevens and want to start/continue their writing development. Say one or two of these operating squads are deemed unable to be invited to join the 2005 F7s... that would leave 26 players that are interested on the shelf, in danger of walking away.
They could form the basis for this mid-season development league, maybe along with any underutilised F7 sqaud members (under captain's discretion) who could also use the hit-out? Throw in any people who enquire about F7s mid season (who could come in and out of a Barbarians-style squad), then you'd be looking at say 28-32 players, split into a maximum of four teams of 7 or 8 for games. The round robin itself would then only be three rounds of two games at a time (total of six) and then a final!
I'm sure there are holes in and problems with this idea too! People that have been part of F7s for longer would be able to spot those problems much better than me! One that comes to mind is the temptation for aN F7 level team to try and snatch a talented player from a team in the development league mid-season (just like in real league!), but you could have rules in place to deal with that (like a June 30 deadline?) - especially to make sure a new signing couldn't come at the expense of an existing F7 team's squad member.
This development league idea wouldn't replace the successful PvP pre-season formula, but perhaps means there'd be something similar available at the rookie level twice per year? In time (years to come), if F7s is able to grow like it is currently growing now (with the referee development, the publicity for the concept, player interest), you may be able to look at the possibility of this small round robin eventually growing into a smaller second division, with promotion/relegation? But that's a dream for another day...
Anyway, just offering all of this up as food for thought, while it was buzzing around inside my head! Not really looking for answers or replies to this thread or anything. Just throw it into the mix in all of your considerations. I'm just in a caring, sharing mood... or some would call it insomnia :lol:
Cheers,
Bartman (Rhinos)
Word Count: 910 oops
Seeing as the "possible" teams have been functioning well in the current Possibles v Probables tournament, come time for 2005 F7s invitations there'll probably be a few headaches involved in working everything out? If (and that's an "if") the general wisdom is that F7s flows at its best when there is some limit to the number of teams (matched to the available management and referee resources), then it follows that some current or possible teams/people may end up feeling disappointed as well come the start of next F7s season?
In reading the previous threads I've also noted that quite a number of enquiries about F7s come through while a season is in progress? People (like me) are hearing about F7s and are keen to have a go. But sometimes the people making the enquiries don't follow up six months later, and promises that a team might be created/resurrected sometimes fall to nought. As a rookie, I can understand how an interested person may sometimes find it hard to debut with confidence in a real macth situation (if drafted into an F7s team mid-season), or may find it hard to join up or get actively involved in an existing or potential team now (in the "off-season").
One way that both of these situations could be addressed is by setting up a small system of trials during the next F7s season - a development league! This would be similar to (but less work than) the current Possibles v Probables, and would offer different benefits. (This idea may have been floated before, but please hear me out...)
You could have 9, 10 or 12 (or whatever) teams officially invited to F7s for your next season, resources pending. Then any remaining teams (maybe two to four?) could be invited to take part in a development comp, in the form of a round robin during that next season (maybe timed for a mid-season break alongside F7 City v Country, State of Origin rep games?).
The advantages of this small development league would be:
- 1. F7 admin could use it to identify and train potential referees for the next F7s season (using players not playing in the rep game at the time);
2. mid-season rookies could be invited to use it to feel their way into F7s, and see if it's something they want to try fully in the next season;
3. F7 teams (or potential teams) could use it as a basis for recruiting individual players for the next pre-season, seeing evidence of a person's style/talents first;
4. it may keep any team squads and players that don't get an F7 invite at this attempt involved (instead of dissolved).
With thirteen squads of around 13 players currently in operation/contention for invitations next season, there's a lot of talent around - people that have put their hands up for Forum Sevens and want to start/continue their writing development. Say one or two of these operating squads are deemed unable to be invited to join the 2005 F7s... that would leave 26 players that are interested on the shelf, in danger of walking away.
They could form the basis for this mid-season development league, maybe along with any underutilised F7 sqaud members (under captain's discretion) who could also use the hit-out? Throw in any people who enquire about F7s mid season (who could come in and out of a Barbarians-style squad), then you'd be looking at say 28-32 players, split into a maximum of four teams of 7 or 8 for games. The round robin itself would then only be three rounds of two games at a time (total of six) and then a final!
I'm sure there are holes in and problems with this idea too! People that have been part of F7s for longer would be able to spot those problems much better than me! One that comes to mind is the temptation for aN F7 level team to try and snatch a talented player from a team in the development league mid-season (just like in real league!), but you could have rules in place to deal with that (like a June 30 deadline?) - especially to make sure a new signing couldn't come at the expense of an existing F7 team's squad member.
This development league idea wouldn't replace the successful PvP pre-season formula, but perhaps means there'd be something similar available at the rookie level twice per year? In time (years to come), if F7s is able to grow like it is currently growing now (with the referee development, the publicity for the concept, player interest), you may be able to look at the possibility of this small round robin eventually growing into a smaller second division, with promotion/relegation? But that's a dream for another day...
Anyway, just offering all of this up as food for thought, while it was buzzing around inside my head! Not really looking for answers or replies to this thread or anything. Just throw it into the mix in all of your considerations. I'm just in a caring, sharing mood... or some would call it insomnia :lol:
Cheers,
Bartman (Rhinos)
Word Count: 910 oops
