Dear WMVL team captains
The 2017 season ran on into 2018 as a result of the bad weather in December, with promotion places and the final match not resolved until mid-February. Aside from the bad weather, the league ran smoothly, there were few administrative issues to deal with during the season and player turnout was good - with just four matches conceded and eight occasions on which only one pair was fielded across over 200 matches.
The only issue on which I needed to intervene as League Secretary was in relation to difficulties in agreeing a date for postponed matches. In a couple of cases (both after Christmas) the match in question had a bearing on promotion places and it seemed that each of the clubs involved was seeking to field their strongest two pairs, rather than having a problem of court availability or being able to field four eligible players. This was disappointing as it has not been a problem in past years. My guidance was that the match should be fixed on the next free weekend at the normal day/time for the home team. I propose to follow this same principle in future seasons (but with the weekends around Christmas and New Year excluded).
Past WMVL AGMs have had a very low attendance from member clubs, so I am not intending to call one this year. If anyone feels strongly about this, or wishes to raise a significant issue, please let me know. I will be in touch separately with Divisional winners to arrange for handover of trophies from the 2016 season winners.
I plan to make contact again with all teams/clubs in late June to confirm your participation in the 2018 WMVL season. However, if you any of you already expect to add or withdraw a team, please let me know.
Best regards
Bob Harris
WMVL League Secretary