Decision on season’s end

London’s executive votes on crisis’ consequences

This is the text LVA executive members voted to send out no later than Tuesday 7 April 2020

London Volleyball Association has taken the decision to cancel all LVA volleyball activity for the remainder of the 2019/20 season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This action has been taken by the majority of the elected officers of the London Volleyball Association and comes in light of government measures to fight the spread of the virus.
It means the following activities are cancelled:
– any unplayed London league matches
– Easter Volleyball futures workshops
– Junior Grand Prix tournaments
– Inter-regional competition

The London Volleyball Association is here to serve and protect its members. We hope that the volleyball community appreciate the gravity of the current worldwide situation and realise that our decision was not taken lightly. We know that many of you will be disappointed with the cancellation, but we have to do what is right for the greater good of the country, to help stop the spread of the virus. We are very grateful for your support on this matter.

We have discussed various options and have decided to award 2 points to each team for every game that remains unplayed. The League Republic tables will be updated by 14th April 2020. Please visit the following FAQs to answer your queries.

FAQs

Why was this outcome decided as the fairest way to conclude the 2019/20 season?
We understand that our teams have invested a huge amount of time, effort, passion and finance into the season and for the final standings to be decided anywhere but on the court is tough to accept. Unfortunately, that is not an available option right now.
As over 90% of league fixtures had already been concluded and most teams only had 3 or 4 games remaining, it felt unfair to void the season entirely.
Equally, if we had based the standings on just the first half of the season when teams had only played once, this would have required voiding many games that had already been played from the 1 January.
The method we have used allows as many games as possible to be counted towards the final standings.

How do teams receive points for the games remaining?
As we can’t 100% predict who would have won any game still left to be played, the fairest way to allocate the points from these fixtures was to base unplayed matches as a draw.
For all remaining unplayed matches teams will receive two points each.
These points will be added to the league tables by the 14th April and the standings displayed are final for 2019/2020.

When teams are tied in points, how is this decided in the final standings?
If two teams are tied on points, games between just those two sides will be used. If tied on wins then sets for/against and then points for/against between the 2 teams will determine the winner.
For ties between three or more teams, a mini-league table involving just the results between the sides involved will be used.

How will promotion and relegation and championship work for 2020/21?
Prem –Div 1 – Bottom 2 teams in Premier division will be automatically relegated to Div 1.
Div 1 to Premier: Only the winners of Div 1A and Div 1B will be promoted to the premier division.
Men Div 1 – Div 2: The bottom team in Div 1A and Div 1B will be relegated to div 2. The 7th placed team in div 1A (*) will be relegated to div 2.
Women Div 1 – Div 2: The bottom team in Div 1A and Div 1B will be relegated to div 2.
Men Div 2 – Div 1: Top team in divs 2A,2B and 2C will be promoted to div 1.
Women Div 2 – Div 1: Top team in Div 2 A/B will be promoted to Div 1.

Will there be an awards ceremony?

When things have settled down and when the government informs us that gatherings are allowed again, we will arrange an awards ceremony for the presentation of the trophies.
Please address any questions you may have to lvasec2019@gmail.com

(*) In Div 1A, VPS Men have pulled out of the competition.

We thought we would share the information published on 31 March by Volleyball England.

Our decision to end the league was taken following the latest advice from Volleyball England, our governing body, copied below. Even if the situation changes and the lockdown is lifted, we cannot hold the playoffs in May or indeed June.

All Volleyball England camps, competitions and courses that were due to be held before July 2020 have been cancelled.
This decision has been made in line with current government advice that the public should only leave their house for very limited purposes.
There is no knowing for certain if this guidance will change by June, but we hope that by providing members with clarity on events this far ahead that we can minimise the financial impact on all involved.
Should the situation change, we also feel it would not be appropriate to host these events as athletes are not currently able to suitably prepare for camps and competitions.
Volleyball England is also recommending that no club volleyball activity – including matches, training, and tournaments – take place up until 30th June. Athletes representing England will also not be sent to international competitions.

Contributor, Douglas Barr-Hamilton
Source, LVA Executive