Archive | Competition News

EGM and Competitions

By Roger Nichols on 4th July 2024 in Committee Meetings, Competition News, Newsletter, Summer League Reports

On Tuesday evening the planned EGM to discuss the outstanding 2024 Competitions was held and was reasonably well attended.

The Chairman outlined the purpose of the meeting and why it had been called which was primarily because of the lack of entries received, which in turn, had led to the planned team Competitions that were due to be held in June having to be postponed. The extension of the entry date had marginally increased the number of entries, but at the date (2nd July) the Committee still felt there were insufficient entries to justify holding the Competitions. The cost of trophies for limited numbers was also a consideration, but it has always been recognised that the cost of competitions, an essential part of our Association since it’s conception over 60 years ago are never going to pay their own way.

One of the reasons it was felt necessary to call an EGM was to try and establish the reasons for the lack of entries.

A number of thoughts were put forward by the club representatives which included the problem of holding the Competitions on Sundays (agreed at the 2024 AGM), lack of knowledge of the Competitions by the players, assumed ability to compete with the Premier/A section sides, lack of handicaps to incentivise teams from lower sections and several others.

The number of entries for each competition received to date which, with the exception of the Singles and Pairs was still considered insufficient to run the remaining Competitions this season unless more entries could be generated and a number of teams represented said they would be prepared to enter teams.

After much discussion the following points were discussed and agreed.

No Competition will be held in 2024 unless a minimum of 8 entries are received
The entry date for all Competitions will be extended until July 18th. If less than 8 entries have been received by hat date that Competition will not take place this season.
Wednesday September 10th (week 19 as it were) will be set aside as the revised date for the team 3’s, 4’s, and 5’s competitions. All entries MUST be received by July 18th either via the Team Support link on the website or direct to Roger Nichols (roger.nichols@hotmail.com) together with the entry fees £1 per person per competition. Team members should be named where possible, but it is not essential at the time of entry. Venue and timings will be confirmed after July 18th.
The planned introduction/re-introduction of Competitions for both teams and players from the lower sections needs to be re-launched in 2025 as there has been little or no interest this year.

The Singles and Pairs Competitions will be held, as planned, on Sunday August 11th at Abingdon United FC. The draws will be made on the day. Assuming sufficient entries the Captains and Secretaries Competitions will also take place on that day.

A number of other suggestions received at the meeting will be included for discussion and, if appropriate agreement, at the 2025 AGM. These include the introduction of handicapping the team based competitions, the increase of registration fees to include automatic entry some of the Competitions, and the extension of the Summer season to free up some Wednesday’s for Competitions (this could involve reducing the number of teams in sections).

Well, I think that about summarises the discussions and outcomes from Tuesday’s meeting.

The Committee would like to thank the attendees or their contribution on the night and their commitment to share the outcomes with their team mates to boost the entries in the next couple of weeks. We really want all of these Competitions to take place, but it will only happen if we get he minimum entry numbers by July 18th.

Registration forms are still on the website so please let’s get those entries in and make our Competitions both valued and competitive!!

Singles World Championship 2024

By Paul Stone on 1st July 2024 in A Chairmans musings, Competition News, Newsletter, Special Events

The intrepid 8 from AASL

Glasses at the ready! Half pint souvenir glasses complete with beer vouchers.

Someone thought we ought to enter into the World Open Singles Aunt Sally Championship which is held each year at the Charlbury Beer Festival held at the Cricket Club.

So Paul Barrett organised our entrance, registration for the Aunt Sally and a mini-bus to get us there and, more importantly, back. We started off with breakfast at the Beans and Blends cafe at Peachcroft at 9.30 and the bus came for us at 11am getting us to the Charlbury Cricket Club just before opening at noon. This early entry allowed us to bag some of the covered seating next to the no.1 pitch, which was nice, as the draw for the matches would take place at 1pm.

This festival is in its 26th year and the Singles competition has been going since 2011 so this was the 12th year (due to covid omissions). Of course we were following in the footsteps of the greats of Barry Parker (2016) and Phil Adams (2019) as champions from the Abingdon league and other league winners like Trevor Dyer, Steve McAteer, Henry Johnson, Roger Goodall, Kevin Powney and latest champion for the last two years Rod Bradford.

League Players in capitals

Our contestants were Bob Duff, Ian Brook, John Miles, Micky Neal, Paul Barrett, Paul Stone, Steve Enoch & Tom Baldwin.

With the League players and walk-ins we got to the magic 64 contenders for the challenge.

The draw allocated 32 each side of the ‘board’ – this allowed the organiser (Nick) to split the sides of the board over the two pitches.

(The league players are in capitals the tryers in lower case)

We were the furthest away from the Beer tent which wasn’t such a bad thing as we still had to be able to see the doll! Beer vouchers were £10 for 4 halves and the bartender just crossed off your sheet. You can take your own pint glass but the half pint must be used to it fill up.

We were also farthest away from the music tent – one band was ‘giving it all’ in my first game and it made me stop and concentrate! There was a wide variety of performers playing through the day. There must have been 70+ beers available so don’t try testing every one. The free programme listed them all with tasting notes and Cider and Wine drinkers weren’t forgotten.

Anyway back to Aunt Sally and Paul Barrett was first up on pitch 2 drawing Tracey Denton and losing a straight 2 legs (2-1, 3-2). Not a great start and one which he got a ribbing for on the bus home. At this point previous champ Henry Johnson had gone through to be beaten by Semifinalist Alan Goodgame who ended up beating his brother Ian Goodgame to get into the final who’d beat me in the last 32 after one of the lowest scoring tight games! Legs 2-2, 1-1, 2-2 and a 3sticker 1-1 then 1 stick 1-1 then 0-1 in what I thought was back to 6 sticks but it was Oxford rules 1 stick! Never mind – I went out to a solid player on sudden death.

I can tell you its SO much different to a league match when its just you, the sticks and the doll and if you don’t enter competitions you’ll never be able to understand how to control your nerves.

Steve Enock couldn’t find form but strung it out against Luke Manning with 1 stick killer – legs (0-1, 1-1, 2-1 3 stick 1-1 1 stick 0-1) so another one bit the dust.

With the luck of the draw Tom Baldwin played Ian Brook in the first round – so we were guaranteed someone in the next 32! However Tom played his socks off with a straight 2 leg win 3-1 and 4-0! I’ll be honest I wouldn’t have put money on that given Ian’s pedigree. Just shows anything can happen in singles. It was just before this game that I got interviewed live on BBC Radio Oxford who were there reporting on all the proceedings with regular ‘updates’ on Aunt Sally.

John Miles went out to Mark Poulter (1-3, 1-2) who was eventually taken out by Roger Goodall. Micky Neal was also taken out in the first round by Dick Walsh over 3 legs (1-2, 3-3, 1-1). Dick was recounting the Black Prince trophy (Woodstock) which is no longer played due to the pub closing last year. Dick eventually went out to Ian McAteer.

Meanwhile on Pitch 1 Bob Duff took out Darren Grant (2-1, 1-3, 2-1) and then John Bradshaw again over 3 legs (1-1, 3-0, 2-1) and then into the quarter final after taking out Dave Fry (3-3, 2-1, 1-1). Unfortunately I didn’t get to see Bob play last year’s champion Rob Bradford as I was queuing for food (for a good 20 mins!) and as you can see I didn’t get a snap of the scores on the board. Suffice to say that Bob did his best and it, as it goes sometimes, was not his best.

World Champion Trophies

Roger Goodall’s winners trophy, sticks and his trademark bottle of talcum powder used on his sticks.

So the final was between Roger Goodall and Alan Goodgame. I did record the event and it’ll be on AuntSallyTV.

Roger became the champion once again (previously 2017) so deserved congratulations to him and a big thanks to the organiser Nick and his team and the bricky (Rob Tudge) who stuck up what seemed like most of the time in the sunshine and set out the pitches!

The Abingdon Eight can certainly recommend going if not for the beer and entertainment then for the Aunt Sally, after all anyone of us COULD have been a winner!

Paul Stone
Chairman

Important Competition News

By Roger Nichols on 21st May 2024 in Committee Meetings, Competition News, Newsletter, Summer League Reports

At a meeting of the Committee on Monday 20th May a number of important decisions were agreed which affect our 2024 Competitions. These affect all entrants already received and those which teams or individuals were about to make about entering.

Despite extending the closing date until yesterday we are still well down on the entries particularly for the team events which were scheduled to take place on Sunday June 9th. With only 2 confirmed entries for the team 5’s, 3 entries for the Team 4’s and 5 entries for the Red Drive 3’s competition the Committee decided to postpone the Sunday June 9th competitions until later in the Summer. We really can’t justify staging competitions where the number of entries do not make the Competitions meaningful.

We decided to extend the entry date with a new closing date of Sunday June 16th (Father’s Day) for all Competitions and subject to the number of entries received by that date we hope that we can re-arrange a suitable date and venue to hold these team competitions which have been held annually for over 50 years!!

Entries for all Competitions will remain open until this mid June date and we already have a better level of entry for both the pairs and singles competitions which, together with the Captains and Secretaries Competitions will take place in early August as planned. All Competitions will, as agreed, at the AGM, earlier in the year still be held on Sundays.

The Committee also discussed the planned competitions exclusively for teams in Section B and below for which no entries have yet been received. Again we are keen to hold at least pairs and singles competitions for players in Sections B, C, D , E and F to encourage as many people as possible playing Competitions and we are proposing new trophies for these this year.

Finally on Competitions we are encouraged by the number of newcomers to our league this year and to recognise that we are looking to possibly hold another couple of Competitions (you will note that we are never put off entirely despite the lack of entries) so later this year we are looking to stage a ladies pairs competition open to all registered lady players (mixed from any team) and an under 25’s competition again open to all registered players. We will post entry forms for these two proposed new competitions together with the very flexible rules in the next few days.

Finally Competitions are an essential part of our heritage and we don’t want to lose them, we actually want more not less hence our discussions and decisions taken at Committee tonight.

So please get your entries in too many is not a problem too few is!

It’s the old adage it you don’t enter, the Competitions may not be viable this year and into the future, and they are a significant part of our heritage!

The trophies both team and individual also represent a very sizeable cost to the Association so that has to be justified because it’s your money we spend! So, the more entries the merrier is certainly true in this case.

Remember entry costs only £1 per person for all of our competitions so buy your ticket to enter now!!!

(Chairman’s Remarks: – it’s a cliche but competitions can test your mettle so much more than a weekly game, as Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor from the darts world said “You can’t practice ******** yourself” – to be a better player practice only goes so far, competitions sorts the cool from the collapsing which also means it can be anyone’s win. Get your entries in and see if you have the ‘right stuff’.)

Team and Individual Competitions- Closing Date

By Roger Nichols on 18th May 2024 in Competition News, Newsletter

A reminder to all teams entries for the Competitions close tomorrow night. We can extend the entries for the Singles, Pairs, Captains and Secretaries until late June as the date for those Competitions to take place is not until early August however entries for the Team events do need to be in this week as the date for those Competitions are only 3 weeks away. At the moment we have a very limited number of entries so team captains and secretaries get your entries in before it is too late! Entry is open to all teams in all sections for these events.

We also intend to hold pairs and individual competitions exclusively for teams in section B and below later in the Summer and more details will be available over the next couple of weeks. The main singles, pairs, captains and secretary competitions are open to all sections so if individuals fancy their chances or simply just want to take part they can enter both singles and pairs competitions!

We know that Sundays are not universally popular as a day to stage Competitions, but the Committee and those clubs at the AGM supported the move to Sundays. Whilst we do have some dissenters the past 2 years since we switched to Sundays have been pretty successful and particularly beneficial that most who entered turned up and competed unlike with our previous system there were many no shows and those who did turn up didn’t always get to play on the night because of the “no shows”

The important thing it is a personal choice as to whether individuals choose to enter or not and we respect that, but we also want to create the opportunity for everyone to take part and to make the Competitions easy to organise and administer and most of all competitive and enjoyable for all of those involved.

Remember the great British tradition…………….it’s not about the winning, it’s about the taking part so let’s have as many us taking part even though our expectation of winning the Competition may not be great!

2024 Season Underway

By Roger Nichols on 3rd May 2024 in Competition News, Newsletter, Summer League Reports

8’s Knockout Handicap

Well, the Summer Season is underway with the First Round of the Team 8’s competition providing the first competitive games of 2024. Many other sides have also made a start with friendlies and team practice nights on what, has been, a fairly chilly start to our Summer.

The 8’s Competition saw 4 games played on Wednesday night and the victorious sides were Abingdon United@Con Club who easily dispatched the challenge of a 7 player side Croft Nomads in 2 straight legs, Berinsfield SC A whose visit to The Bell Grove saw them progress by 2 legs to 1 on what was reported to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening, Steventon Sports B with a massive 10 doll advantage saw off Premier side Bystander A 2 legs to nil and in the other game played last night was another local derby between Abingdon RBL took the honours with a 2 -1 victory over Abingdon United C.

So the draw for the next round sees

Berinsfield A at home to Abingdon Con Club with the Con Club getting a 6 doll leg advantage
Ab Utd@Con Club at home to The Fox Denchwoth who will get a 4 doll per leg advantage
Steventon Sports B 0f the E section will entertain The Bell Grove B and will have a 4 doll advantage
Abingdon RBL will have home advantage against Harwellian B and as both teams are in the B section there will be no handicap advantage or either side.

These games need to be completed by the end of June on a date mutually agreed by both sides.

Summer League Matches

Looking ahead to the league season which starts next Wednesday just a few reminders for everyone:-

All fixture packs and other information including match cards have been circulated to all team secretaries
Fixture list is also available from the home page
League matches are scheduled to start at 8.15
All registered players are listed on your team listing on the website
Hopefully all names and spellings have been checked and where necessary amended. Click here to review and notify team support if names are wrong.
It is not too late to register additional players throughout the season and all will be confirmed immediately (before they play) unless they are registering for teams in the Premier/A sections who are subject to a handicap.
Competition entries need to be made and fees paid by May 19th. Entry forms are available online
2024 sees the opportunity for teams in the B,C,D, E and F sections to enter Competitions not open to teams in the Premier and A sections. We hope to attract enough entries to hold separate team 3’s, pairs and singles competitions to be held on a date and venue to be confirmed later dependent upon the number of entries. Players and teams in these sections can of course still also enter the regular Competitions scheduled to take place on Sundays in June and August.
All new teams/locations will need access to the website so they can input and check match scores. These will be sent to Captains/Secretaries in the next few days

That’s the official bits and pieces now for the polite reminders…………..Aunt Sally is a game with a lot of history and tradition and over the past 60+ years these have been well respected and observed (most of the time!)

Aunt Sally is a game that is both competitive and enjoyable and full of banter. Most of all it’s intended to be played in a good spirit enjoyed by all regardless of ability or results.
Occasional bad language is inevitable, but continuous swearing and unwelcome abuse although rarely experienced is just not acceptable. Remember we are guests of our pubs and clubs and particularly in garden areas we share the facility with other customers including families often with young children. Let’s not cause anyone any offence or reason to complain!
Beer legs are a long held part of our tradition and let’s wherever possible keep that going. These are played traditionally at the end of the evening and often encourage more fun and banter which are essential to our game, also allow others who do not play regularly to take part. The nature of these legs are agreed by the Captains on the night (last leg vs separate or team vs 1:1) and although inflation has taken it’s toll with the price of drinks beer legs are still an integral part of our Wednesday nights and long may that continue!
Food……..perhaps (for some!!) is another important part of our Wednesday evenings and many pubs and clubs are particularly attractive because of the post match food! We are always grateful to the landlord/stewards for providing this and most home teams do pay for the food provided either in full or part. Football cards are a source of income which helps with the cost so don’t be shy make sure you spend a few bob to support!

None of the above are rules but I don’t think you will find too many teams or individuals who don’t agree with them.

Remember we are looking to maintain and grow our game to do that we need support our pubs and clubs all of whom face real financial challenges and struggle to survive. We want to attract more sides., more players particularly a younger generation, we want our game to be fully inclusive and it is encouraging over the past couple of years to see a significant increase in the number of ladies taking part and maybe it won’t be long before we introduce a bit of discrimination with ladies only competitions!!

To everyone old and new, enjoy the season, be fair, be respectful to each other, share the load with your team mates in terms of setting up calling, sticking up or chalking and packing away, make some new friends, have some laughs and most of all ENJOY!

You know it’s good when you hear the wood!

2024 League Formation and Competitions

By Paul Stone on 5th April 2024 in Committee Meetings, Competition News, Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Your Association Committee met on Tuesday to decide the makeup of the league sections and to introduce the new Knockout Competitions for the B-F sections as requested by our sponsor, Thames Cable, to encourage the lower sections to take part.

COMPETITIONS

The Competition forms are now available on the home page for both Premier/A and the B-F Sections. These now have an extended deadline to Sunday 19th MAY so get your entries in!

The 8s Handicap Knockout continues and is a handicap of 2 dolls per section difference – again allowing lower section teams a great chance to win.

Competitions put you under more pressure than a league match so it’s worth taking part to get used to that buzz.

LEAGUE GROWTH AND FIXTURES

Although we have 55 teams paid we are chasing a couple of teams for their registration forms – the committee will be chasing you this week. You may be aware a couple of venues have closed but the good news is those teams have transferred to other venues – such is the enthusiasm for our wonderful and local game. This is a great uptick from last year’s 52 and it means that the number of byes will be reduced in the sections and, fingers crossed no team drops out like last year.

The fixture list will be finalised and going to the printers at the end of the week so we’ll publish as soon as we can.

It’s worth reminding all teams that positioning in sections is, as it has been for several years, based on the aggregate score of the top 8 players from the previous season assuming they have registered again for the year. In a few cases some teams and some players did not play in the last season, so where appropriate averages from their last full season has been taken into account. This process means that some teams may find themselves in a higher or lower section this year than last and this is simply because either their average determines that or because their registered players have changed. The handicap system used for the Premier and A Section is based on exactly the same principles and aims to create an achievable win for those teams playing their best.

VENUES MAP -All the new venues have been added to our VENUES MAP. if yours is missing email support @ abingdonauntsally.com

KEEP IN TOUCH

If you haven’t subscribed to this website please email support@ AbingdonAuntSally.com and we’ll set you up – we no longer support self registration due to the many rogue registration requests we received as a WordPress site target. This is why we encourage you to have strong passwords on your account – just get your browser to save the password and it’s easy to login.

IF YOU HAVE A LOGIN – please check your profile and make sure you have a valid email address registered.

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and don’t forget Aunt Sally TV

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