• Men
• Women
• Under 21 men (1986 + Males)
• Under 16 boys/Under 18 girls (1990 males/1988 females Mixed)
• Under 14 boys and girls (1992 Mixed)

Here are the clubs I believe will enter teams in the Leagues. Can you all please confirm these nominations at the committee meeting on Thursday.
Men
Dunfermline - Menzieshill/Whitehall - Warrender - Western Baths
Portobello will participate by playing friendlies
Women
Teams will be made up of the National squad split into 4 even groups and remaining female players graded and allocated evenly amongst the 4 teams, geographical preference will apply if possible
                Dunfermline - Menzieshill/Whitehall - Warrender - Western Baths
Under 21 men
                Dunfermline - Menzieshill/Whithall - Warrender
Under 16 boys/Under 18 girls
                Dunfermline - East Dunbartonshire - Menzieshill/Whithall - Warrender (need to check with Portobello)
Under 14 boys and girls
                Dunfermline- Menzieshill/Whitehall - Warrender (need to check with East Dunbartonshire and Hamilton)

The Structure
Last Year the National Leagues were played as a round robin tournament and for the Junior’s finished the Leagues with play offs and a Finals day. This year I would like to just have a Finals day and no play offs. So the top 2 teams from the round robin will play the final. As you know it will not be practical to run the Men or U21 Leagues at weekends, due to the commitment of teams to the ASA Leagues and, for the U21s, the lack of teams. So for all Leagues, bar the Women, I suggest 1 or 2 round robins then a Finals day.
Portobello will be included in the Men’s draw but these games will not count towards the League result.
I have just found out that Dunfermline pool is closed in November.

The Games

• Men
  There are 5 teams here. One round robin will have each team play 4 games with a total of 10 games being played. Two rounds is 8 and 20.
  The games will be played as mid week home and away games with the Final played at a central deep water venue.  Due to time constraints it may be difficult to play two complete rounds 20 games in total. I suggest 1 round robin Home and Away then the Final
• Women
  Last year it kind of worked how I had hoped, but we didn’t get enough players along for all the sessions so had to do a bit of mix and match to have even games. This year we have entered a team in the NWWPL Division 3 as Caledonia. This will involve the bulk of the Women’s team players travelling to England for four weekends up till January, thus conflicting with some of the pool time booked for the SNL. A few people would rather have had the teams based around the clubs only. I still feel that we need to level out the teams based on player skill to allow more competitive games. It also makes it easier to adjust teams on the day depending on who is able to turn up on the day. These teams will be made up of the National squad split into 4 even groups and remaining female players graded and allocated evenly amongst the 4 teams, geographical preference will apply if possible. Clubs, can you collate a list of players with a rough grading. I’ll arrange a “Selection committee” to allocate the players to the teams. The main aim is to foster the development and participation of women in Water Polo. The games will be play at central deep water venues over a number of weekends. With 4 teams we can play 2 round robins and then a Final. That’s 6 games per team and 12 games in total.
• Under 21 men
  With only 3 teams max this should be run as a mid week round robin set of games and play each other 3 or 4 times. I suggest 1 round robin Home and Away then the Final
• Juniors
  Irene McCann from East Dunbartonshire has kindly agreed to assist me in organising the 2 junior leagues.
• Under 16 boys/Under 18 girls
  There are 4 teams here. One round robin will have each team play 3 games with a total of 6 games being played. Two rounds is 6 and 12. I suggest 1 round robin Home and Away then 1 round robin central then the Final
• Under 14 boys and girls
  There are 3 teams here. One round robin will have each team play 2 games with a total of 3 games being played. Two rounds is 4 and 6. I suggest 1 round robin Home and Away then 1 round robin central then the Final.

The Schedule
There are only 9 weeks before the Finals. I have pool time booked at Stirling for SNL on
November 4 - 5 : November 25 – 26 : December 3 (Finals)
October 28 - 29 is also booked for National squad training but some of this time could be used for SNL games.
Learning from previous Competitions I would like everybody to notify me of any possible events or prior commitments that will conflict with any games I try and organise. I am aware of the ASA timetable and the National Squad commitments. Could all clubs let me of any other times when your teams will not be available to play? This includes swimming/football/rugby/Uni /boys nights out/birthday events that all their players will be at making them unavailable to play Water Polo that day. Joking aside, THIS IS VERY URGENT. I need to know ASAP so that I can cancel pool time that cannot be used.
Please email or call me on my mobile with any questions or information.

Ken Fussell, Domestic Coordinator