I'm quite sure that any moves to do enforce squad limits would be detrimental to the growth of the game & to the quality of our ultimate in this country.
Teams have the choice of coming to a tournament with 12, 16, 25 or any number of players and there are trade-offs in the different approaches. A small squad lets the players gel more, getting benefits from increased understanding and momentum; whereas a larger squad has more depth giving fitness benefits and a larger sideline. No squad size is better than any other as general rule, it depends on what an individual team wants to do. I've won tour tournaments in teams of 10-11 players against much larger squads, and equally won with squads of 20+. It will be detrimental to the growth and quality of ultimate teams because teams wouldn't be able to build for the future if only some could come to tournaments - there wouldn't be room for younger, newer players who have potential, and quality-wise we'd be back to the standards of 4-5 years ago where even tour finals were horrible turnover-ridden error-fests. It might be more exciting to watch (I actually don't think it would be), but on a world stage our teams would get out-classed. We're closer now to north American teams than ever before because we've finally able to assemble squads with a depth to match theirs. The bottom line is that teams should be able to choose squad composition and numbers as they think best - we shouldn't be trying to impose constraints on this. alex -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 18 September 2006 11:31 To: [email protected] Subject: [BD] Reducing squad sizes Ok, so for those of you that helpfully pointed out that I had offered nothing to the debate either, pot/kettle etc accepted. I think Bens idea of reducing squad sizes to 16 (or some other arbitrary number) is a good one, here's why: I would like it to happen because: 1. Presently squads have risen to the point that many top teams have players who rarely play more than a few points in a game. Having benched players just doesnt seem right to me (but yes its up to them) 2. At international level the squads have reached the point at which some countries are reportedly bringing "sun-Wed players" to get them through early rounds before moving on to the later rounds. 3. Would create more of a level playing field for everyone 4. May stop superteams hoovering up all the emerging talent and lead to more growth in the sport. 5. I believe fitness should play a part in the sport. When you get tired, Ultimate is harder because your brain goes before your legs, hence more "interesting" choices, more turnovers, more excitement. Does anyone really find no turnover ultimate exciting? Granted we arent there yet but world ultimate is getting there. Heres why it wont happen: 1. International tournaments require more players than that (Personally I would cap these at 20, 21, or 23). 2. WFDF have not shown any interest in changing this rule 3. Tough on teams who have 17 players? Play in 2 squads. 4. Schedules are too tough at the moment. I think we should be pushing WFDF for bringing in some ruling about the squad sizes at international tournaments to level the playing field there (Japanese brought 35 I think to Worlds), have lower levels for weekend long events, and bring the same principles down through the structure at home. I think the sport has gone too far, with several players playing less than 20 points over a weekend (less than 2 per hour), despite the scheduling alledgedly being "too tough" with back to back games etc. In actual fact I think the top players wouldnt notice any difference, cos they all pitch hog anyway and the "domestiques" on the team would enjoy everything a lot more. Any thoughts? Constructive only please. Dave. ___________________________________________________________ Tiscali Broadband from 14.99 with free setup! http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/broadband/ __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.ranulf.net/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp The contents of this message and any attachments to it are confidential and may be legally privileged. If you have received this message in error you should delete it from your system immediately and advise the sender. dunnhumby may monitor and record all emails. The views expressed in this email are those of the sender and not dunnhumby. __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.ranulf.net/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/informed.asp
