- Introduction

The Squash Minileague is a "ladder" system which has been modified by dividing it into poules and specifying a deadline by which the matches in all of the poules should be completed. At the end of the period the match results are used to calculate which players should be promoted from their current poule into a higher one, and which players should be relegated into a lower poule. Players may also be added or removed from the Minileague as part of the recalculation. This avoids the common problem with "ladder" systems which may stagnate if there are players who are unable or unwilling to play.

At the start of each period (every six weeks or so) a new Minileague is published. It is divided into poules of five or six players. All players should endeavour to play all of the other members of the poule before the end of the period, and record the results using the Leagues tab at the top of the online booking system. The organiser isn't psychic: if the results aren't recorded in the system, they can't be used in the calculation of the next period, and as the Minileague Fable shows, even one point can make a big difference,

Players must complete a minimum of two matches during the period to ensure automatic inclusion in the next period. This is to safeguard against players remaining in the Minileague who are unable to play due to injury, missions, leave, or as is more often the case, having left ESTEC completely.

The current rules by which the Minleague are run and the new positions are calculated are far from ideal, but then, as Abraham Lincoln said: "You can’t please all of the people all of the time." Constructive comments are always welcome.

The Squash Minileague is open to all members of the ESTEC Squash Rackets Club and caters for all levels of ability ranging from "social" players at the bottom to more competitive players at the top. At the start of each period the Minileague provides you with a new list of like-minded people who are eager to play squash. The Minileague offers you the chance of meeting players against whom you might not otherwise play, and playing against different styles and tactics helps to improve your own game. A ranking list showing the "average" positions over the last three periods is produced at the start of each period against which you can measure your own progress.

Further information is available concerning Joining the Minileague and also the current set of Rules of the Minileague The current Minileague player listing and the ranking list are updated at the start of each new playing period.

Details of the actual steps taken to calculate the current Minileague can be found on the Calculation page.

For more information please contact the Organiser, Duncan Gibson by email or on extension 54013.