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Once again, we get to that anxious time of the year when they grade the hockey teams in my club.
Back when I started with this club, I'd consistently be graded into the top team. About four years in, they started dropping me down to the next team down. About three years ago, they graded me in the lowest team.
Last year, our team won the grand final in our grade, which was the product of two years keeping the same team together.
This year, things are looking very different. We've lost three or four players from the top team - various women have decided they want children or want time off, or are taking a break, or, in one case, moving away geographically. We've gained quite a few younger players, and some players who are returning after a couple of years, along with a trio of new players (a family).
The gaps in Team 1 will be filled by Team 2 players and probably at least one of the women returning after a few years - she's good enough just to go straight in. Team 2 could get interesting. It's basically a bunch of solid players who are still working out how to play together. They're probably going to be joined by a bunch of players who've come up from Team 3 who the coaches think need a bit of a challenge - or who are good enough to be in Team 2 but were kept in Team 3 last year because Team 3 coach wanted to keep the team together.
Team 3 will take the newbies, and returning players who haven't played in a while. Probably.
Apparently the coaches are changing up how they select the teams - although obviously skill level is still going to have to be a thing. Some players just aren't going to survive in the teams/grades they're in.
And, too, we'll be playing in Grades A, B, and C and not everyone is happy about that.
A-grade has teams with players who've fallen back from the Metro competition: a feeder competition that's probably a step above our little suburban competition. One of the issues is that we have a couple of really good players who like the club and want to play with their team, but...B-grade will probably be too easy for them. And then there are a number of players who just want to play a good game that they have a hope of winning, and which they don't mind if it's not fast-paced action all the way.
I think all the teams will struggle a little this year; after a grand final win they usually mix up the players and everything is unstable for a couple of years before people work out where they're playing and how the team is going to gel.
I don't think Team 1 will have a particularly fun time of it in A-grade; it's a mixed bag of a team, young and skilled players who want to be pushed, along with older, skilled players who just want to play a game that's enjoyable and a bit challenging.
Team 2 had an average last year; things that should have worked didn't, and they never quite managed to get on the front foot in their games. I don't know that it will improve this year.
Team 3 will probably struggle a lot. With 3 players who are new to the game, and several who are new to the team, chances are that it'll be a depressing season: we had 1 new player last year and she was quite willing to throw herself into it - plus, there were only three divisions, while this year there'll be four.
One of the coaches (formerly Team 1 coach) said something to me last night that suggested I'll still be in Team 3 this year: "you have new team-mates who've never played before" and I was mentally, "really? I was hoping to make it out of Team 3 this year - I was only put into Team 3 a couple of years ago because I got graded in Team 2 and offered to stay back to play for Team 3 and scored them two goals, after which Coach 3 decided he wanted me on the team..."
And the club secretary commented that Coach 3 couldn't expect to keep all his players this year - several of the players in Team 3 were too good to stay down.
*sigh*
I'm trying to work out a way to say "I'd like to play a game with people at an equal or slightly better level than me so I can improve on my skills"; but, who knows, I might really just be a Team 3 player...
Mostly, I think, I'm worried that all the 'better' players in Team 3 (and there were quite a few) will get graded up into Team 2, and I'll be stuck in Team 3 waiting for crappy passes from new players (and therefore either having to play a very defensive game from the back or get no passes at all)...
One point of interest is that Shouty Girl (a.k.a. Former President) has decided not to play with us this year - she's going into the Metro comp just to disengage from the club for a bit, because there's a lot of baggage involved for her with the club.
And now I'm just scared that I'm THAT player...
Back when I started with this club, I'd consistently be graded into the top team. About four years in, they started dropping me down to the next team down. About three years ago, they graded me in the lowest team.
Last year, our team won the grand final in our grade, which was the product of two years keeping the same team together.
This year, things are looking very different. We've lost three or four players from the top team - various women have decided they want children or want time off, or are taking a break, or, in one case, moving away geographically. We've gained quite a few younger players, and some players who are returning after a couple of years, along with a trio of new players (a family).
The gaps in Team 1 will be filled by Team 2 players and probably at least one of the women returning after a few years - she's good enough just to go straight in. Team 2 could get interesting. It's basically a bunch of solid players who are still working out how to play together. They're probably going to be joined by a bunch of players who've come up from Team 3 who the coaches think need a bit of a challenge - or who are good enough to be in Team 2 but were kept in Team 3 last year because Team 3 coach wanted to keep the team together.
Team 3 will take the newbies, and returning players who haven't played in a while. Probably.
Apparently the coaches are changing up how they select the teams - although obviously skill level is still going to have to be a thing. Some players just aren't going to survive in the teams/grades they're in.
And, too, we'll be playing in Grades A, B, and C and not everyone is happy about that.
A-grade has teams with players who've fallen back from the Metro competition: a feeder competition that's probably a step above our little suburban competition. One of the issues is that we have a couple of really good players who like the club and want to play with their team, but...B-grade will probably be too easy for them. And then there are a number of players who just want to play a good game that they have a hope of winning, and which they don't mind if it's not fast-paced action all the way.
I think all the teams will struggle a little this year; after a grand final win they usually mix up the players and everything is unstable for a couple of years before people work out where they're playing and how the team is going to gel.
I don't think Team 1 will have a particularly fun time of it in A-grade; it's a mixed bag of a team, young and skilled players who want to be pushed, along with older, skilled players who just want to play a game that's enjoyable and a bit challenging.
Team 2 had an average last year; things that should have worked didn't, and they never quite managed to get on the front foot in their games. I don't know that it will improve this year.
Team 3 will probably struggle a lot. With 3 players who are new to the game, and several who are new to the team, chances are that it'll be a depressing season: we had 1 new player last year and she was quite willing to throw herself into it - plus, there were only three divisions, while this year there'll be four.
One of the coaches (formerly Team 1 coach) said something to me last night that suggested I'll still be in Team 3 this year: "you have new team-mates who've never played before" and I was mentally, "really? I was hoping to make it out of Team 3 this year - I was only put into Team 3 a couple of years ago because I got graded in Team 2 and offered to stay back to play for Team 3 and scored them two goals, after which Coach 3 decided he wanted me on the team..."
And the club secretary commented that Coach 3 couldn't expect to keep all his players this year - several of the players in Team 3 were too good to stay down.
*sigh*
I'm trying to work out a way to say "I'd like to play a game with people at an equal or slightly better level than me so I can improve on my skills"; but, who knows, I might really just be a Team 3 player...
Mostly, I think, I'm worried that all the 'better' players in Team 3 (and there were quite a few) will get graded up into Team 2, and I'll be stuck in Team 3 waiting for crappy passes from new players (and therefore either having to play a very defensive game from the back or get no passes at all)...
One point of interest is that Shouty Girl (a.k.a. Former President) has decided not to play with us this year - she's going into the Metro comp just to disengage from the club for a bit, because there's a lot of baggage involved for her with the club.
And now I'm just scared that I'm THAT player...
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I think I'm mostly just worried that I'm not as good as I think I am.