no-one listens

in SA

- get rid of north/south pools (ridiculous concept)

- Go back to olden days - summer league, and winter league. No pools.

-Top 2 to 4 teams in lower div play bottom 2 to 4 teams in higher div for grading system.

-state champs, get rid off. This should be made from Summer league and Classics qualifications. You are called the state champ for winning a 4 to 5 game tournament, sounds pretty silly. Champions should be able endure a whole season and win the GF. We put a huge empahsis on the Winter Season, so if you win that perhaps you should be called state champs.

- umpiries or stadium manager sweeps the floor before every game. They use to do this, well at least every second.

-spectators get in for free. Very expensive sport, perhaps more people will be attracted to it if it didnt cost so much. With what is paid you'd hope to play on non-slippery floors (see previous point).

mmm, i think you are the only one who wants to get rid of State Champs.

As someone who has experienced state champs from every angle (Playing, coaching and refereeing) It is one of the best weekends in SA Basketball and is a lot of fun to be involved with.

I do agree with your other suggestions though.

The only other thing that i would point out is that Clubs need to be a lot more realistic in the grading of their teams, to put in a div 2 team that is clearly div 3/4 standard is unacceptable and really needs to change.

To answer Anon's question my view is that in Victoria associations are largely ambivalent to their state association. the independence of the various competitions helps - VJBL and BigV are one step removed from what other states are.

There does seem to be some angst about BSA, but I hear very little about the others - NSW maybe a few grumblings.

On the whole though, people who like what their governing bodies do don't tend to come on forums and say it, so the negatives are highlighted.

VJBL - pros and cons:

THE GOOD
Allows country associations to compete with Melbourne metro ones.

Gives opportunity to play the game from a young age through to leaving school age.

Generally well run and organised with teams in the right divisions for competative games.

Gets kids off the streets on Friday nights.

THE BAD
Lack of support for country associations when great distances are presented (4 hour one way trips for 11 year old kids exposes a duty of care).

Lack of support and acceptance for country referees qualifying as panel to do VC games.

Lack of player statistics on the web site.

No electronic team sheets (why do managers still have to write down player's names before each game?)

Stadiums can charge different entry fees and this cost is sometimes too much to bare.

Level playing field is often a perception, not a reality with the Melbourne Tigers and other certain associations getting looked after all the time while other lesser associaitons have home games taken away from them and grading games are scheduled poorly.

Venue supervisors and venues are not always on the same page, sometimes not supporting visiting teams by doing what they are obliged to and falling back into home town mode.

There is a lack of evaluation and correctness, a lack of improvement in officiating, with lots of inconsistent refereeing, not following the recomendations of the VJBL and a lack of identifying home town officiating and bias...

Got to stop there, seems the cons are winning.......!