We have now completed the first 3 weeks of the Sussex Super League. In order to try to ascertain how successful this has been so far, I set up a survey and sent it out to my distribution lists. I ended up with 19 survey responses, another reply and my own thoughts.
Of the 19 responses, 12 had played in the event at least once and 7 had not played.
The Conditions
| Top Quality | Good | Average | Poor | Response Count |
|---|
| Floor | 33.3% (4) | 41.7% (5) | 8.3% (1) | 16.7% (2) | 12 |
| Lighting | 8.3% (1) | 66.7% (8) | 25.0% (3) | 0.0% (0) | 12 |
| Tables | 75.0% (9) | 16.7% (2) | 8.3% (1) | 0.0% (0) | 12 |
| Nets | 66.7% (8) | 33.3% (4) | 0.0% (0) | 0.0% (0) | 12 |
| Balls | 50.0% (6) | 33.3% (4) | 16.7% (2) | 0.0% (0) | 12 |
| Facilities | 33.3% (4) | 66.7% (8) | 0.0% (0) | 0.0% (0) | 12 |
| Organisation | 16.7% (2) | 75.0% (9) | 8.3% (1) | 0.0% (0) | 12 |
| Paperwork | 18.2% (2) | 63.6% (7) | 9.1% (1) | 9.1% (1) | 11 |
| Quality of competition | 16.7% (2) | 25.0% (3) | 50.0% (6) | 8.3% (1) | 12 |
| Result information | 27.3% (3) | 36.4% (4) | 18.2% (2) | 18.2% (2) | 11 |
So as can be seen, the people that took part found the conditions overall pretty good. It would be hoped that the table and nets should be considered to be top quality as they are brand new top of the range Butterfly tables, as bought from Tees Sports with our grant funds. The balls being used were Stiga Competition balls that had been kindly donated by Thorntons.
The K2 Centre is quite modern and the lighting is quite good for a sports centre. The floor was also quite good although it could get a little slippery from time to time. Overall the K2 Centre is a good venue with changing facilities and a nice bar facility. It was an excellent opportunity for people not involved in table tennis to actually see decent quality play and there was certainly some interest from participants of other sports who watched the games in passing.
The only downside of the hall was that there were some martial arts sessions going on and they could be quite noisy at times.
The Competition
The lowest marks from participants were for the quality of competition. The variation in standards on display was quite wide. This was certainly not what people expected of a Super League. The league was partly designed to encourage the development of the best juniors in the county. There were a lot of juniors playing and it would be counted as a success in that respect. Due to the need for numbers of teams, some of the senior players were rather weaker than would be expected in what should be the top league in the county.
Non-Participants
It has been noted that no players were likely to come across from Hastings to play the event in Crawley on a week night. Even with the later start of 7.30pm, this is still tight for people to come across after a working day. Geography will always be our enemy in this respect.
Otherwise, reasons for not participating were as follows:
Did not know about it: 0
Was not invited to play: 1
I did not think that it was set up for players of my standard: 2
Could not come on selected dates: 5
Could not come because it was too far to travel: 1
Did not like the concept: 0
Did not like the format: 1
Feedback
People want to play in consistently good conditions.
People want a Super League that is "Super". They do not want just another league. Top players want to play against players close to their own standard and preferably players that they have not played regularly.
Most people like the multi-table venue approach and the social aspect afterwards.
Conclusion
The Super League has started. It was never going to be perfect from the outset and will need some fine-tuning. It really needs buy-in from the leagues to support the timetable. We also need to be more ambitious in inviting top players from the local area to really take off.
Whilst we have all our new tables at K2 and The Triangle, we should be aware that we cannot hold all our events at these venues due to the geography of our county. We need to consider holding some of the evenings on Tuesdays or Wednesdays in April in Hailsham, which has sufficient room and new tables. This would enable the Hastings contingent to take part.
