Greater Southern Cricket Association

[smithy]

With the gradual demise of the Southern Cricket Association, would those who play in that competition support a merged competition with the Great Southern CA ?
WOuld GSCA players welcome the SCA teams?
Is travel a problem?
North and South divisions ?

I'll put forward some thoughts to think about.

Travel - Often mentioned but with enough clubs to have 10 sides per grade, you would only have to travel far distances once every 2 seasons.
Juniors - Parents coaching their kids in Flagstaff Hill and having to p[lay seniors at Victor Harbour could be a problem, maybe a North/South senior competition would work with the winner of each at seasons end playing off in the final.
A merger with GSCA might not help the clubs furthest away like Cove and Flaggies, would they join or go into other comps ?
Are you currently happy with a 6 team A Grade with only 4 of those strong teams?
What are the GSCA players thoughts?

Fire away.............

[Super Fred]

With the gradual demise of the Southern Cricket Association, would those who play in that competition support a merged competition with the Great Southern CA ?
WOuld GSCA players welcome the SCA teams?
Is travel a problem?
North and South divisions ?

I'll put forward some thoughts to think about.

Travel - Often mentioned but with enough clubs to have 10 sides per grade, you would only have to travel far distances once every 2 seasons.
Juniors - Parents coaching their kids in Flagstaff Hill and having to p[lay seniors at Victor Harbour could be a problem, maybe a North/South senior competition would work with the winner of each at seasons end playing off in the final.
A merger with GSCA might not help the clubs furthest away like Cove and Flaggies, would they join or go into other comps ?
Are you currently happy with a 6 team A Grade with only 4 of those strong teams?
What are the GSCA players thoughts?

Fire away.............

Yeah, its time for a merge. If that doesnt happen soon you will see teams like Noarlunga look at joining the GSCA. A half decent team in the SCA is going to walk into finals action as compared to over 5 years ago when dropping any more than 3 games would have you on the brink of the 4. At this stage you could almost say Porties, Noarlunga, Cove and Seaford will be contesting A & B grade finals. I have noticed over the last couple of years the standard in the lower grades has dropped remarkably and i do not think its going to get any better. I think the two divisions could go like this:
South
Encounter Bay
Goolwa
Mount Compass
Myponga
Aldinga
Willunga
North
McLaren
Noarlunga
Porties
Seaford
Cove
Morphettvale or Kangarilla
The top 2 in each div play off for the right to meet the other division champion

[Bag The Points]

Voted for "North and South" option, but then I looked at the breakdown ----- you'd basically be saying to McLaren "go back to SCA"
Don't think they'd want to do that
It would have to be "all in" for the full season or split the conferences on some other criteria

[Offcutter]

Have to agree BTP. Being a "senior player" from the GSCA, I don't reckon any merger would get up. Firstly, the North/South scenario would srtuggle - I mean you've clubs like McLaren and Aldinga who left the SCA to join the GSCA.. I don't reckon they'd want to go back to a "Pseudo" southern comp again.

And the "all in" scenraio wouldn't be too popular either. Travel the big factor there. I don't reckon so much for the seniors, but the juniors would be a concern. And let's face it, we want youngsters playing the game.. if they don't then there won't be any clubs going around in a few years. And as we all know, a lot of senior cricketeres are involved in the juniors.. imagine finishing a colts game at say the Cove at 11-11.30, and then having to go to Rapid Bay for a senior game start at 1... makes it pretty hard.

I reckon the GSCA have got it just about right at the moment.. 8 A Grade teams (all fairly competitive), 8 B Grades, and 14 odd C Grade sides (split into 2 divisions), and heaps of junior sides.
Whether the GSCA would want to mess around with that i doubt.

[MrTeach]

Have to agree BTP. Being a "senior player" from the GSCA, I don't reckon any merger would get up. Firstly, the North/South scenario would srtuggle - I mean you've clubs like McLaren and Aldinga who left the SCA to join the GSCA.. I don't reckon they'd want to go back to a "Pseudo" southern comp again.

And the "all in" scenraio wouldn't be too popular either. Travel the big factor there. I don't reckon so much for the seniors, but the juniors would be a concern. And let's face it, we want youngsters playing the game.. if they don't then there won't be any clubs going around in a few years. And as we all know, a lot of senior cricketeres are involved in the juniors.. imagine finishing a colts game at say the Cove at 11-11.30, and then having to go to Rapid Bay for a senior game start at 1... makes it pretty hard.

I reckon the GSCA have got it just about right at the moment.. 8 A Grade teams (all fairly competitive), 8 B Grades, and 14 odd C Grade sides (split into 2 divisions), and heaps of junior sides.
Whether the GSCA would want to mess around with that i doubt.

I agree with you entirely Offcutter, there is no way it would work. The GSCA is going very well at the moment and all A grade sides a very competitive, as opposed to the SCA with only 4 sides in contention. Dont get me wrong those 4 sides are very good sides but i dont think the GSCA would go 4 it.

The travel would be ridiculous and the North/South wouldn't work because McLaren and Aldinga would never want to go back.

There has to be a few things wrong with the SCA at the moment when i see results and mr Nathan Ritter is taking 4 wickets for Morphett Vale's A grade. Jeez from memory he couldnt get a wicket in McLaren's B grade last year.

[Jimmy Recard]

as a player in the gsca i dont think a full on merge would work for all the reasons mentioned b4, too much travel, and i believe the gsca is in a good state at the moment, and is very competitive all over the board. how has the sca become so poor??

[Bag The Points]

Losing Reynella didn't help

[DILLIGAF]

as an agrade player in sca i wouldnt want to travel to victa for a game how would we get home after a couple pales

[Jimmy Recard]

as an agrade player in sca i wouldnt want to travel to victa for a game how would we get home after a couple pales

thats is one of the most influential posts on this topic...

[heyyouinthebushes!]

i think the travel factor is exaggerated i travl down to victor harbour most weekends and it is only a 45 minute drive at most. If people are smart about it and make the trip in two oe three cars then the people who want to drink after the game will be able to and the others can drive back. You would only have to do the long trips ( cove to victor/goolwa) once or twice a season anyway. If we made it just the a grade then those who are a bit more serious about their cricket shouldn't have a problem with it. Keep the lower grades where they are and just play the a grade in the one league. Halett cove is only 20 minutes from the vale, willunga and aldinga anyway.

[MrTeach]

i think the travel factor is exaggerated i travl down to victor harbour most weekends and it is only a 45 minute drive at most. If people are smart about it and make the trip in two oe three cars then the people who want to drink after the game will be able to and the others can drive back. You would only have to do the long trips ( cove to victor/goolwa) once or twice a season anyway. If we made it just the a grade then those who are a bit more serious about their cricket shouldn't have a problem with it. Keep the lower grades where they are and just play the a grade in the one league. Halett cove is only 20 minutes from the vale, willunga and aldinga anyway.

i hear wat ur saying HYITB but the GSCA A grade comp is very strong at the moment and i dont see why they should merge with the SCA just because there are only 4 competitive teams.

[Shake n Bake]

i think the travel factor is exaggerated i travl down to victor harbour most weekends and it is only a 45 minute drive at most. If people are smart about it and make the trip in two oe three cars then the people who want to drink after the game will be able to and the others can drive back. You would only have to do the long trips ( cove to victor/goolwa) once or twice a season anyway. If we made it just the a grade then those who are a bit more serious about their cricket shouldn't have a problem with it. Keep the lower grades where they are and just play the a grade in the one league. Halett cove is only 20 minutes from the vale, willunga and aldinga anyway.

i hear wat ur saying HYITB but the GSCA A grade comp is very strong at the moment and i dont see why they should merge with the SCA just because there are only 4 competitive teams.

This is true, it's only coming from the SCA people, GSCA is in a healthy position without requiring any extra teams. If teams from SCA want to join then put in a bid and we'll go from there. Stuff the merger. Have a look at Morphies, 3 cricketers who couldn't make A grade in GSCA are in A's...

[smithy]

This is true, it's only coming from the SCA people, GSCA is in a healthy position without requiring any extra teams.

Sadly its true, but I'm trying to get a perspective from players of both comps

If teams from SCA want to join then put in a bid and we'll go from there. Stuff the merger. Have a look at Morphies, 3 cricketers who couldn't make A grade in GSCA are in A's...

Put in a bid,,,,no teams are that desperate....
As for Morphies, you can't compare as they aren't a very strong club at the moment and appreciate the numbers.

[Jimmy Recard]

we will start to see more and more southern players coming to gsca clubs in the next few years... maybe sides like mclaren, aldinga, willunga and compass might seem attractive prospects for some players who want to play in a stronger league as these clubs are no more than 20 mins or so away from most of the sca clubs.

[shoe boy]

It amuses me to see these posts re the GSCA is a higher standard of cricket?
Having been involved with both SCA and GSCA in a seniour capacity for many years the standard of cricket in the SCA has always been of a higher standard. I will put it this way if H/Cove PT/NOARLUNGA/Noarlunga played in the GSCA today they would dominate that comp! NO ARGUMENT.
In saying that I would agree the Comp has slipped in past years and the administration has not reacted to the changes in society and the ever changing culture of the youth of the day who dont/cant commit to 2 full days of cricket. We need change and it is healthy to see debate regarding the future of cricket in the South and I am sure we will all benifit from open discussion about what is best for all.

[MrTeach]

i think the travel factor is exaggerated i travl down to victor harbour most weekends and it is only a 45 minute drive at most. If people are smart about it and make the trip in two oe three cars then the people who want to drink after the game will be able to and the others can drive back. You would only have to do the long trips ( cove to victor/goolwa) once or twice a season anyway. If we made it just the a grade then those who are a bit more serious about their cricket shouldn't have a problem with it. Keep the lower grades where they are and just play the a grade in the one league. Halett cove is only 20 minutes from the vale, willunga and aldinga anyway.

i hear wat ur saying HYITB but the GSCA A grade comp is very strong at the moment and i dont see why they should merge with the SCA just because there are only 4 competitive teams.

This is true, it's only coming from the SCA people, GSCA is in a healthy position without requiring any extra teams. If teams from SCA want to join then put in a bid and we'll go from there. Stuff the merger. Have a look at Morphies, 3 cricketers who couldn't make A grade in GSCA are in A's...

Hey Shake n Bake who are these 3 A graders that couldnt get a gig in the GSCA im intrigued to know. I think i know one of them, the famous Nathan Ritter am i right.

As for your post Shoe Boy i am not saying the standard is better than GSCA what i am saying is it is a much more competitive competition with more than 4 sides capable of making finals. I agree that certainly Hallett Cove and Noarlunga would be very strong in the GSCA especially Cove. I know a lot of their players and guys like the Reavill boys, Sam Titterton and Comer are all very handy cricketers not to mention others.