The Five
Towns Quiz League – Mid-Season Meeting Minutes Venue: Olde TavernMeeting opened at 20:30Committee
Present: Simon Curtis, Ian Moore, Simon Topps, Helen Topps Teams Represented: Featherstone Phoenix | Y | Upton Bees | Y | Carleton Grangers | Y
| Kippax British Legion
| Y
| Flanagan’s Army
| Y
| The Vic |
Y
| Olde Taverners
| Y
| Kippax Legionnaires |
Y
| Lofthouse Lions
| Y
| The Other Team
| Y
| Olde Tavern Allsorts
| Y
| Golden Lion Dudes
| Y
| King’s Arms
| N
| | | | | Apologies from Chair, Dave Bill, were given and Stuart Topps opened the meeting
acting as Chairman. There was no set agenda for the meeting so the floor was opened up for comment and questions. Agenda Item | Heading
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Details | 1 | Questions
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There was an open question around how teams had found the questions this year. It was generally
agreed that the questions had been of overall good quality although there were a few specific issues raised: a. There have
been a couple of times duplicate questions had been used in the same quiz (or even the same round). b. Some question categories are a bit narrow.
Examples given were Netflix and ballet, as opposed to TV or the arts. c. ‘Lazy’ question setting whereby a round is the same
question throughout. An example would be the postcode round we had recently where each question was ‘Name
the postcode area from the town or city provided’. It was felt that these types of question should
be used sparingly rather than the more frequent nature they currently appear. There
was also a more general comment that we need to ensure we do not shut out more modern subjects that may appeal to younger
quizzers just out of tradition. SC to raise these issues with the question setter. | 2
| Website | There are continual problems with the website loading
up an older homepage. The issue is known about and SC is trying to resolve with the host.
SC agreed to re-send out the website details in future question packs to ensure everyone had the correct, more up-to-date
information. (FYI: http://www.ftql.com/welcometothefivetownsquizleague/index.html). Type this a first time and then add
where it takes you to your bookmarks/favourites. | 3
| Handicap Cup | IM presented some analysis on the differences between
Division 1 and Division 2 to calculate a sensible handicap for the Handicap Cup. The first difference was the current league
standings, indicating D1 teams score on average around 5 points more than D2 teams. The second difference is the question set.
Handicap cup matches will use D2 questions which are slightly easier. This has been calculated
to be worth around and extra 8 points for D1 teams. The third difference is the relative strength of the players (a D1 team playing
a D2 team will be facing lower strength players on average). This is very hard to quantify. The Committee’s recommendation was to
have a 13 point starting handicap for D2 teams, accounting for the first and second points above, as well as the points
difference from the league tables. This was put to a vote and was agreed with 10 teams voting in favour.
| 4 | WhatsApp Group | Since
the AGM held in September, a WhatsApp group has been set up to help teams communicate better. It was
generally agreed that this is a good addition however some concern was raised about the frequency and timing of some messages. It was agreed that we should follow two main
principles: i. Only use the group for league business. Please message people personally
for other business.ii. Please
use it sensibly and do not message late at night unless necessary, especially taking in to account point i above.
| 5 | Professional Players |
Concern
was raised about a few instances whereby ‘professional’ quizzers have participated in the league this year and
there was a suggestion that they should be banned. The general feeling around the room was that this
goes against the ethos of the league where all players, regardless of ability, are welcomed and it also generates good
publicity for the league. There
was agreement that there is potential to play ‘professional’ players in cup matches and this could be seen to
be abused however the decision was to not make any changes to the rules at this time but would be under constant review,
if it feels the integrity of the competition is jeopardised. |
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| Mid-Season Meeting Timing | The question was asked as to whether having
the mid-season meeting on the penultimate week of the calendar year was ideal and whether closing the year with the meeting
would be better, especially with the Christmas season making pubs busier and quizzing more difficult. It was mentioned that the historic reason
for this was to allow teams to have adequate time to prepare for cup matches that used to be the first week back in the
new year, however this has changed recently with the cup matches taking place on the second week. The proposal therefore was to make the final
week of the calendar year the week for the meeting and to keep the first round of the Knockout Cup the second week of
the new year. This was approved with 11 teams voting in favour. |
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The
draw for the Knockout Cup was made. The ties are to be played on the 15th January 2024. Olde Tavern Allsorts v Flanagan’s ArmyGolden
Lion Dudes v Olde Tavern Kippax Legion v The Other Team
Upton Bees v Carleton Grangers Kings Arms v Kippax Legionnaires
The Vic v Lofthouse Lions Bye - Featherstone Phoenix It was reiterated that any team receiving a bye would not be eligible for a bye in the next round.Winners
plus bye to play in the Knockout Cup Rd.2 and runners up to play in Knockout Plate Knockout Rd.1.
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