Plan B

The primary objective of all the teams competing in our competitions is to win. Ours is no different but from the end of 2008 we were faced with the challenge of increasing numbers. In Maastricht ’08 we had two teams for the first time.

In 2009, numbers at training continued to grow but it was touch and go in terms of fielding two teams when we travelled to some tournaments. We’d go with somewhere between 22 and 25 players which meant two very tight panels, when you consider how draining a tournament day can be and the high likelihood of picking up injuries.

This often meant the A team would have the bare 11 or maybe 12 players for a whole day. The likes of Paris and The Hague would often come with 18 or 19 and that allowed them freshen up their team as the competition progressed.

We persisted because it meant it encouraged greater numbers at training and also because the club should aim to promote participation. To do this, you must give guys games. The pain was short lived as numbers continued to grow and we got to the stage where we had too many for two panels of 15.

The next challenge we faced was that our second string were regularly facing off against some big hitters in Benelux. Frankfurt and Amsterdam are two of the top Shield teams, surely with Championship ambitions in the future. Furthermore, The Hague, Belgium A and Luxembourg have won the last four European Championships between them.

Only on very rare occasions between 2008 and 2010 did another club enter a B team in Benelux. This made for long days often punctuated with some heavy defeats for our lads. Last year, we saw some light and a third place in the final Benelux round in Luxembourg was testament to the undiminished commitment of all those involved in the team.

During the first half of the season, it’s the thought of the Pan-Euro Shield that gives lads the drive. The team knows it will be more competitive at that level and last year proved it with some sterling performances, especially in Budapest.

In 2011, there has been a growth of numbers in the other Benelux clubs. Luxembourg and Amsterdam have regularly fielded a second team. However, similar to the struggles of our B team in recent years, they have to scrap for every positive out of the regional rounds.

Looking ahead to 2012, I think there should be a push to run a Shield competition at each Benelux round. This competition would include the second teams of each club (with a provision that there are at least three teams) and run along side the ‘Benelux Championship’ round on the same day.

The competitions would be broken up along the following;
Championship; Belgium A, The Hague A, Luxembourg A, Amsterdam A and Frankfurt.
Shield; Belgium B, The Hague B, Luxembourg B, Amsterdam B, Dusseldorf.

I named The Hague B and Dusseldorf. The Hague have rarely fielded a B team but considering the close proximity of the Benelux tournaments and the fact that we don’t all go at them as intensely, they could use it as an opportunity to get more players involved.

Dusseldorf is a club who came to the Maastricht 7’s so there is clearly some interest there. The Shield would be a suitable standard for them to find their feet. I’d even suggest that this competition could have the option of playing games 9-a-side in cases where one club is a few short on the day. As a start anyway.

For a club to take off, it needs to capture as many players as possible. There are a lot of things that need doing during the year and many hands make light work. To get people involved, you need to give them an opportunity to play. Beyond that you need to give them an opportunity to improve and then ultimately, have a chance to feel the buzz from winning.

In the current Benelux structure, we don’t encourage that growth so we risk losing players and club members. Of course, the logistics of it all would need to be considered but I hope this is something which is progressed over the winter.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section.