My club currently operates a standard peg-board system for club nights. However, the idea of grading members has been suggested. Members would be given a grade (A for best, then B, C etc). The club night would still have a single peg-board, but no-one would be allowed to play more than 1 grade apart. In other words, no game with an A in it could have a C etc. For example, a B would have to choose a game made up of A and/or B, just B or B and/or C. Has anyone had any experience of this, particularly where there is a single peg-board with segregated grades?
hmm, not sure if thats a particularly good idea, surely the idea of the peg board is everyone plays everyone else and it all gets mixed up ? (seeing as its club nights) also, say if there is 3 "A" people and 1 "c" person, they have enough for a game yet they can't play ? might get a bit messy ... also, who decides which grade people are ? might cause mayhem in a club!
It's a good idea. But there should be a system of promotion and relegation, eg, the best 2 be promoted and the worst 2 be relegated. But initially, how will each players be graded? by who?
Here is an alternative you could try, used successfully in our club, this is based on 3 courts but can be adapted to any number available. View attachment Badminton Rota System.pdf
Regarding 'who decides', we have a selection team who are elected at the annual AGM. Not perfect, as some form of politics/incompetence is inevitable, but the least-worst option. I've seen the 'top court' system before (possibly in another thread). I can see it working for clubs where there are lots of members per court, but don't think it would work for our club. If each court effectively has its own pegboard, you would require 4 sets of people sitting off all the time in a 4-court hall. Courts could 'run dry' & some members would always pick one-sided games to ensure they stay on the 'A' court. For the record, I think the idea will not work in practice, even with unbiased, performance-based promotion/relegation. Plus, you're not helping the weaker members to improve if they get no matches with the better players what-so-ever. Segregation with multiple peg-boards 'works', but again you will have numerous sets of people off court at any one time. However, I think this would only be acceptable for large clubs who can be divided to 2 or more groups of sufficient size. Thank you all for your comments.
