LUSL Season review

Season stats 455 teams (incl. 15 cricket) More than 6000 students in leagues 149 Taekwondo entries 91 Fencing entries

Key Orange writing = student responses Red writing = staff responses Black writing = outcomes from the Big LUSL Meeting

Responses 117 (out of ~ 5900 players) = 2% 18/33 institutions represented All sports but Handball, most from Football (46) and Hockey (25) Most from Competitive or Intermediate leagues 14/33 institutions represented Mostly sport admins/coordinators What did Royal Holloway do to promote it?

Worth sharing at the start of the season who operates how Worth sharing at the start of the season who operates how? Is there a good way to do this?

Delegation Google doc or published contact list with preferred points of contact for each institution - could be a regional thing for the different types of staff - refer to where contacts can be found - colour code teams who drop out

Rate LUSL Students: 3.21/5 Staff: 4.33/5 Where does this discrepancy come from? Is it just communication? Is it survey bias?

Number of fixtures Enough: 63% Too many: 7% Too few: 30% Especially M. Football (Sat), W. Football, M. Hockey, M. Rugby M. Rugby, Ultimate, Lacrosse, W. Basketball too few

Unplayed matches 9% had 6 or more unplayed matches: M. Hockey Comp Div 1, M. Rugby Main reasons: 49% - not enough players 27% - miscommunication with opposition Late cancellations/changes seems to be a big problem Player availability, weather and miscommunication with the opposition Player availability – does this mean there need to be bigger incentives to commit or is this ok as part of a flexible league?

Unplayed fixtures More structure in terms of rules and regs, team sheets, especially at Competitive level Institutional responsibility to monitor their teams and check if they are actually playing Introduce more consequences? Minus points for walkovers or fines? Officials’ availability contributes to commitment Clarify the minimum numbers needed for a match in each sport Encourage more unis to combine teams (e.g. Lil Babas) where commitment is questionable Make Rec tier less competitive - remove league aspect - network of teams rather than competition

Problem sports: M. Rugby + Handball

Royal Holloway 1 (w/d 16/09/16) Men’s Rugby Handball Rugby Union Men Intermediate Premier Division 1 Royal Holloway 1 (w/d 16/09/16) 2 Birkbeck 1 3 Imperial 1 4 Queen Mary 1 5 Royal Free (RUMS) 1 6 UCL 1 7 Brunel 1 Handball Men Intermediate Premier Division 1 Brunel 1 2 Imperial 1 3 UCL 1 4 King's College 1 5 Middlesex 1 6 Westminster 1 Handball Women Intermediate Premier Division 1 Imperial 1 2 King's College 1 3 Middlesex 1 4 UCL 1 6 men’s rugby teams this season – 7/47 fixtures played 6 men’s handball teams – 66/132 fixtures played 4 women’s handball teams – 27/81 fixtures played Handball and Men’s Rugby Union – yay or nay?

Rugby and Handball Extended entry period for rugby to engage interest? Open entries and see what happens? Contact handball captains to see what support they need Contact handball NGB to enquire how they are developing interest in London, would be good to get more teams Kings and Imperial handball teams merge Explore handball tournament rather than league matches?

New tiered system Staff response overwhelmingly positive: Might enter more teams next season, especially staff and departmental teams Some leagues definitely more competitive/standard better aligned Frustration around commitment in recreational leagues

Still some work to do to standardise teams Still some work to do to standardise teams. Maybe more communication with teams for entries this summer? Make sure teams are entering the right tiers. How can we communicate this best?

Rule change ideas More notice/better communication around cancellations and rearrangements Clarify any deviations from BUCS rules (e.g. Football substitutions) Preferred fixture date for Badminton, Saturday or Sunday? Rule around late arrival? Duty of payment (e.g. in case of fixture reversal) An FAQ page or captain’s handbook Requirement to inform opposition if Netball will be played indoors or outdoors Team sheets – yay or nay? Walkovers – yay or nay?

Appeals/disputes Clarity on when walkovers can be claimed Clarity on team sheets Tighter on knockout rounds

Competition ideas Centralised referee databases 10 teams per league better than 11? Better communication of cup dates/ management of cup rounds Start ultimate fixtures later More promotion/relegation places? More incentive to fulfil fixtures

Rules and tiers Clarify each tier and associated rules: Competitive - full BUCS rules apply, incl. -3 points for walkovers Intermediate - dependent on number of leagues, more flexible than Comp. Recreational - fully flexible as long as both institutions agree Upload case studies of what kind of teams compete in each tier Clarify standard by sport? Notice period for rearrangements, e.g. outside 2 weeks both teams should try to rearrange, within that framework it’s at the teams’ discretion cut-off deadline for cancellations and rearrangements - e.g. 24 hours Late arrival rule - refer to BUCS Payment cancellations - refer to BUCS at Comp. - most would prefer to work it out Enforce team sheets - clarify that eligibility is wider in LUSL

Officials Struggled to find officials in… Football Lacrosse Netball Volleyball What can we do about this? Concerted effort to organise courses?

Individual events Response overwhelmingly positive! Fencing Taekwondo More one-off event suggestions: Softball, Karate, Judo, Climbing, Cheer, Tenpin Bowling, Cycling, Archery, Tennis, Kabbadi, Table Tennis But what about Golf? Survey responses low…

New sport/ format ideas Swimming Futsal/7-a-side football Rugby 7s Hobby horsing

Communication Students: 68% contact info for opposition is an issue 30% couldn’t find rules and regs Staff: 85% struggled to find contact info for staff Make sure contact details are on BUCScore. How?

Communication Institutions’ responsibility to ensure contacts are on BUCScore - how can this be enforced? A contact section on the LUSL pages Provide captains’ details with team submission Student club emails, how does password not get lost? Identify on BUCScore who looks after BUCS/LUSL fixtures

FAQs/ Handbook/webinar When and how can I claim a walkover? Knockouts - dates, rearrangement rules Inputting scores/changing wrong scores Confirming fixtures with the opposition - deadline? Idiot’s guide to rearranging fixtures, e.g. how many dates do I need to offer? Minimum team sizes Season deadline (why doesn’t the season run into the summer term?) How to find contacts/ how do i contact the opposition What happens if my official doesn’t show? BUCScore How far in advance can i cancel a fixture (24 hrs/ 48 hrs?) e.g. to avoid payments Preferred days for fixtures What to do if opposition is late/doesn’t show What do I do if I can’t get a hold of the opposition to arrange a match? Team sheets Links to key documents, e.g. officials guide Officials guidance, do I need qualified refs?

Social Media 80% have never heard of LUSLBUS – only 10% have watched it LUSL social media delegation – e.g royal holloway take-over Or management Group

Management Group feedback Send round the minutes after meetings Opportunity to submit feedback throughout the season “Meet the team” at the start of the season Share calendar of meetings with region

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