So as August draws to a close and the seasons gets ever closer, we get a better picture of what we can look forward to for the upcoming year.
Junior DBA
The Junior DBA was a brilliant competition last year, and coming out as U12 and U14 Champions was great result! 7 Rounds of competition over the 5 months Nov - Apr. saw every team and player improve... But this year is going to be bigger and better.
First off we see Bridport Evolution and Dorset Storm join the other 3 clubs, to take us to 5 teams. We also have decided to expand by splitting U17 so we know have 4 age divisions: U12, 14, 16 & 18. This means more game time for all!! We can fill our rosters more, Y10&11 players will see more match time, and the U18s can be eligible for both Junior matches and Senior games, (although we are still using it as development). We can put out stronger teams all round I think!
Players can still play up, as normal, but also new inexperienced players, can also play down if coaches agree. i.e a 15 yr old with no match experience can gain playing time in the U14's if all agree.
Teams will face each other twice over the season, Home and Away, with teams only matching up against each other that month. For Example, Seahawks are away to Piranhas in October. The 12's play first in the day, then 14's, then upwards. In November we play Evolution.... Equals, longer games for all, more "proper" rules, less
So a guaranteed 10 games, during the season.
It starts on Oct 2nd!!! Thats 4 and a bit weeks away.
It finishes in April with a Play-In, 4th vs 5th, then Playoffs, 1st vs 4th, 2nd vs 3rd, etc.
Senior DBA
There was a LOT of discussion about how the season should be run. First off the DBA welcomes 5 new teams, Bournemouth Razors, Salisbury Suns, B4L Titans, and Weymouth Legends, as well as the Bandits splitting into 2 teams.
The Razors are the Bears "B" team, so will still be strong, Suns have played in Solent League and we know are strong, the Titans are a new team but I've seen the roster - and its strong. Where as the Legends are all over 40 and are just playing for fun, and the Bandits2 will be a weaker Bandits team, including more of their U18 players.
This left the league with a decision of how to split the league in divisions, not wanting big blow out games, but also wanting fair competition for the titles.
Conferences:
Again the season will start with 4 conferences, selected on seeding. A,B, & C have 4 teams each. They play each other twice to decide their placing. 1st 2nd 3rd will go on to play Div1, whilst 4th will drop to Div2.
Conference D, was decided to include the 5 "weakest teams" including us, to stop wasted games, like Seahawks vs Bears last year. This means those teams basically will start the games in Div2 early, playing each other twice. They will then be joined by the 3 bottom teams of the ABC once they are sorted, and will play them twice. Giving a total of 8 teams in the Division - 14 games over the season.
So we have drawn:
BCS Seahawks
Southbourne Blazers - beat twice last year
BG Suns - almost beat
Weymouth Legends - old and slow, but skilled
Storm U18s - have lost almost all their players
and my predictions are we will be joined by Classics, Weymouth 2, and the South Coast Tigers.
We will also be the Playoffs in April, 1v8, 2v7, 3v6, 4v5...
Friendlies
We are also organising as many friendlies as we can. There is a new Junior set up in Wareham, the Jurassic Coast Raptors, who weren't ready for full competition yet, but want matches. We will aim to play more Solent based teams, like the Whiteley Warriors, Winchester Royals, etc. plus more school matches along the way too.
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