Thank you to everyone who has expressed an interest in entering the SW League for next season (2020/21) and answered the questionnaire. We had 25 responses giving us a possibility of 14 ladies teams and 11 men’s teams next season.
Here is a summary of the responses to the key questions:
- When do you feel you are most likely to be ready to start matches? Both ladies and men had a significant majority wanting a November start (86% ladies, 82% men)
- What type of matches would you prefer to play? This was also dominated by teams wanting to play normal 5 set league matches (100% ladies, 91% men)
- How many match dates can you play assuming a January start? This was much more evenly split with a small majority voting for more matches (57% ladies, 55% men)
- How far are you willing to travel for a single header? This had a very wide range of responses from 25 to 150 miles with some teams having no limit.
- Are you dependent on VE decisions before committing to SW league? This appears to only affect a small number of teams (29% ladies, 9% men)
- Can you offer a two court venue? Only 4 out of the 17 clubs have access to a two court venue.
Given the fantastic response in terms of the potential number of teams and the dominant wish to play normal five set matches, this gives a very real likelihood of having two divisions in both ladies and men, with 5 to 7 teams per division.
We are looking at various possibilities and therefore these may not be traditional ranked divisions. We will be looking for a format which ensures that all match dates and venues will be known at the start of the season.
