HERE IS AN Q & A - from a Player in TBPL.

Don’t know if it’s not brought up at the captains meeting Gail is but the consensus we get at pool is nobody wants the two weeks practice and would rather start the regular season and end two weeks earlier..you might want to check into it as I’m sure you get the same response from your league players

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HELLO – YES..IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP A COUPLE TIMES DURING TBPL 21 YEARS.

I UNDERSTAND YOUR POSITION. I FEEL THERE IS SO MUCH ‘VALUE’ IN THOSE 2 WEEKS. THAT IS WHY I STARTED MY BUSINESS STRUCTURE LIKE THAT.
THOSE 2 WEEKS ALLOW THE CAPTAIN’S AND TEAMS TO COLLECT THEMSELVES, AND GET ORGANIZED, NEW TEAMS/PLAYERS TO ACCLIMATE TO TBPL.
A LOT CAN HAPPEN – OR – NOT HAPPEN IN THOSE 2 WEEKS.

IT ALLOWS FOR THAT BREATHING ROOM FOR THE TEAMS, SCHEDULING DIFFICULTIES TO BE AVOIDED, PLAYERS AND TEAMS GETTING ORGANIZED AND UNDER WAY. ALSO, IF ALL PLAYERS CANNOT MAKE IT THE FIRST 2 WEEKS,. WHICH OFTEN HAPPENS, THEY CAN ‘WORK AROUND IT.....
TAYLOR’S TEAM IS ALWAYS PREPARED, BUT MOST ARE NOT. (THE TEAMS THAT ARE NOT PREPARED....CAN STILL COME OUT...SO AS NOT TO DISRUPT THE TEAMS THAT SHOW UP....BECAUSE....EVERY BODY CAN PLAY. SHORT, BORROW PLAYERS, ETC.)

WE CAN ALSO LOSE OR GAIN A TEAM OR 2 = IN THOSE 2 WEEKS, WHICH WOULD BE PROBLEMATIC, BUT SOLVABLE WITH THAT ‘2 WEEK MSL’ LEE-WAY.
FROM MY EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER LEAGUE’S, THEIR FIRST 2 WEEKS GETS PRETTY F...D UP! THEN EVERYONE IS PLAYING CATCH UP, OR COMPLAINING THAT THINGS ARE NOT STARTING WELL.....EVERY YEAR!!

WHICH ALLOWS ME TO GET ORGANIZED AND HELPS A LOT. IT’S WORKS BETTER TO HAVE THAT EXTRA LEEWAY. THE WHOLE LEAGUE SEASON – FROM BEGINNING TO END – IS IN THE BALANCE, AND CALCULATED IN THAT TIME. THAT TIME ALLOWS ME TO STRUCTURE THE WHOLE SEASON, AND TRY TO AVOID SCHEDULING ERRORS. USUALLY AT THE END OF THOSE 2 WEEKS, I KNOW THE EXACT SET UP, TO STRUCTURE THE REST OF THE SEASON.

AS FAR AS ENDING THE SEASON EARLY....I END THE SEASON ACCORDING TO A FORMAT. THE REGULAR SCHEDULE, PLAYOFF SCHEDULE,#TEAMS, ETC. IT’S ALL ABOUT TIMING – HOW MANY WEEKS/TEAMS...FORMAT...ETC. WHEN ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED EVENLY, ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF TEAMS. SCHEDULING IS BASED ON THAT. IF WE HAPPEN TO GAIN OR LOSE A TEAM....THAT FIRST 2 WEEKS, I WILL KNOW. I WOULD RATHER START LATER, THAN END EARLIER, GIVEN ALL THE STUFF THAT HAPPENS AT THE START...IT CAN BE CHAOTIC.

HAVING SAID ALL THAT, AND THERE’S MORE....I CAN & DO EXPLAIN @ EVERY CAPTAIN’S MEETING HELD, MY REASONS/FORMATS I BELIEVE ARE BEST, INCLUDING THESE 2 WEEKS - WHEN ANYONE INQUIRES.

IT WOULD BE A HARDSHIP FOR ME & A LOT OF TEAMS TO NIX THE ‘MSL’. IT WAS, AS I SAID, CREATED FOR MANY REASONS.
ANOTHER REASON IS “SPORTSMANSHIP”! MY MISSION STATEMENT - - -....THE FIRST 2 WEEKS IS FOR SOCIAL/SPORTSMANLIKE PLAY’.

THANKS FOR YOUR INQUIRY. IF YOUR CAPTAIN’S /TEAMS – REALLY DON’T WANT IT........I WILL TRY TO DO IT. BUT AFTER I HAVE EXPLAINED THINGS, THEY DO UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR IT. WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS AT THE CAPTAIN'S MTG. IT DOES COME UP ONCE IN A WHILE.

P.S. – I NEVER START – RIGHT AFTER THE LONG WEEKEND....BAD IDEA! THE OTHER LEAGUE DOES. THIS WEEK I NEVER JEOPARDIZE.
- PLAYOFFS/ END OF SEASON - COMPLETED BEFORE PICKEREL SEASON!!
- I’LL HAVE ANOTHER LOOK AT IT THIS YEAR. WE DO HAVE A LOT OF ‘REGULAR TEAMS’ – BUT SOME NEW PLAYERS, THAT ‘MSL’ BENEFITS.
- ONE REASON PEOPLE LIKE TO PLAY HERE IS THE ‘SPORTSMANLIKE’ TEAMS, WHICH STARTS WITH THE FIRST 2 WEEKS!!

I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME TO READ THIS! HOPE IT HELPS!

-GAIL