League subs.

Having squads instead of teams will make polo more cliquey, I'd rather play more matches against teams of 3 than deal with the "tactics" of playing less games with 4/5 people per squad.

Stop fecking around and get good in your own teams, no need for more players per team, just more plays.

Snoops, some of us chatted about this on the ferry back from Rouen. The idea of rolling subs or teams of 4 or 5 players was put forward by a couple of us as it linked in well to other team games we've played in the past (not just football, but basketball, cricket etc).
Obvious advantages would be when players couldn't make it and a sub was needed.

But the idea also revolved around a squad of players who would all be equal, removing the stigma of being the 4th man warming the bench, and players would be used more tactically within matches.

For example, a team could have one top class goalie, a couple of good finishers and a player who is strong and physical and can keep the ball. If the team had lost their first game they might want to use the most attacking players in the next game to secure a win, or conversely they might have won the first 2 games and will then use the more defensive players in the final game to get the points. Obviously this is just an example.

Ideally, teams are always made up of top class players who can play in any position and are always playing to win, but as the sport progresses, players will develop skills more suited to different styles of play and positions and they would be best used tactically within a squad.

no polo no talk

no polo no talk

hardly fair... i think lockett has had other commitments.

secret polo in North London

Exactly!

Teams of this quality are duty bound to disband, simply to maintain a sense of fairness for less able players.

Our lack of goals was sheer martyrdom to the cause of bettering polo, to have played to our full potential would have shattered the dreams of so many and ultimately signaled the end of polo.

Best polo post ever.

I heard Lockett move to Peckham.

Having squads instead of teams will make polo more cliquey, I'd rather play more matches against teams of 3 than deal with the "tactics" of playing less games with 4/5 people per squad.

Stop fecking around and get good in your own teams, no need for more players per team, just more plays.
Top quality post.

we can't change the league rules now, so this discussion is futile.

so. i can be a sub?

If the league split into two divisions (providing there is one or two new teams) next year then wouldn't this be less of a problem?

If the league split into two divisions

?

i think thats a rubbish idea!

I like it - relegation/promotion is way more interesting than mid-bottom table mediocrity.

you play football, therefore your opinion doesnt count ;P

I like it - relegation/promotion is way more interesting than mid-bottom table mediocrity.

I think there is something in this.

And I don't play football. Or soccer.

Why is everyone so obsessed by football?

Its a good idea simply because at some point there will be too many teams in the league for everyone to play each other.

Nothing to do with football just common sense.

I like it - relegation/promotion is way more interesting than mid-bottom table mediocrity.

+1

Only way anyone improves is by playing teams that are more experienced than them. Splitting the league would only slow down progress (personally and as teams).

Why is everyone so obsessed by football?

Its a good idea simply because at some point there will be too many teams in the league for everyone to play each other.

Nothing to do with football just common sense.

Shut it, Rooney.

Only way anyone improves is by playing teams that are more experienced than them. Splitting the league would only slow down progress (personally and as teams).

I'm not sure I buy this. Explain Geneva?

The team that is; not the canton.

Only way anyone improves is by playing teams that are more experienced than them. Splitting the league would only slow down progress (personally and as teams).

You are correct in saying that you get better by playing with better people.
However, within any league there will always be better and worse teams to play against each other.
Hypothetically, if i were in a new team and felt that i deserved to be playing in a higher league i would relish the opportunity to work my way up and prove my worth.

Only way anyone improves is by playing teams that are more experienced than them. Splitting the league would only slow down progress (personally and as teams).

Yes and no. It means that the 2nd division would not play the top teams in their league season but it's not like London's polo scene is a wasteland with no throw-ins, tournaments or team nights.

your use of colourful post-graduate language is fumbling my understanding of your question..Geneva? canton?

Pesonally.
As someone who feels confident playing with/against some of the more experienced players in the league but who realises they they have more improving to do I find that I have to push myself, physically and tactically each time i play a more experienced league team. Every goal I score feels like a little victory and it makes me want to push my game play even harder.

Team wise.
Playing as one of the new teams in the league this year, who have only played together for a total of 7fixtures (technically 5 as 2 we had subs) and currently sit at the bottom of the table. I feel like i have learnt so much by having to play the more experienced teams. Each match makes us work more fludidly together and think tachtically in a defensive way as well offensivly. We progress as a unit each game and although it could be argued that the table speaks for itself i think we have had some awesome games and have improved both as a team and as polo players because of being a new team.

I think if there was a slipt in the league (ie devisions like i football) then there will be very clear devide between the more experienced teams and newer teams...and the risk arrises that any movement of players between seasons will happen within those devisions. I don't think this is a major concern right now anyway...if the laegue booms then maybe its something to be considered at a later date but this whole conversation is very pre-emptive.

I dunno i've been up too long, my head hurts...im giong to go write my dissertation.

I just really like looking at the 'Best of the West' (and reminding myself that we have a game in hand over Tap-Out and that Cogs are not a real West team now).

thats different though to splitting the teams that have played in the league before and new league teams in two.