I think the Ladder has been a great success! Fulfilling its remit to provide a competitive yet sociable format; in which players of all standards (especially new/lost players) can enjoy regular Fives with the minimum of organisational fuss and hassle. I say "competitive" because one of the highlights of the Ladder has been a great many nail biting games! Playing against the clock has proved an excellent format to focus a player's grit and determination - just a brief lapse in concentration can make the difference between moving up or tumbling down a court. This competitive element has been enjoyed from top to bottom and I believe many players have relished the challenge of trying to "move up"...where a tougher challenge awaits!

I have been delighted to see a number of new faces appear at the Ladder this year and many have become regular players. I hope we can really build on this foundation and generate a stronger field next year - encouraging many of our established players to get involved from the off. The Ladder is designed to be a "nursery" for Fives players...an easy way for them to get back on court, regain their skills, meet the community...and from there get involved in other Club Contests...Barber/League/EFA/tournaments etc...I call on all Clubs to put it to good use and take positive action prior to next season to recruit lost and young players as outlined in the EFA strategy...

The Ladder was competed over 12 fixtures this season. (which worked well) The best 8 results for each player count towards his/her final score.

The full Leaderboard can be seen here (exact results from each fixture are recorded on the site automatically). http://www.fivesonline.co.uk/ladder_leaderboard.php

This year's Competition results...

Three Player Competition: (each club's leading three participants - head to head)
1st Place: Old Olavians 2005 points
2nd Place: Old Salopians 1365 points
3rd Place: Westway 1295 points

All Players: (strength of numbers helps!)
1st Place: Old Olavians 4420 points
2nd Place: Old Salopians 1865 points
3rd Place: Westway 1385 points

Ladder Statistics for Season 2006-2007
• 103 different players competed (at least once) representing 20 different Clubs.
• Average number of Players per evening: 25
• Total number of games played: 3,478 !

Turn out at each fixture...
Ladder 1 Highgate 9 Courts used
Ladder 2 Eton 5 Courts
Ladder 3 Aldenham 4 Courts
Ladder 4 Eton 5 Courts
Ladder 5 Highgate 7 Courts
Ladder 6 Eton 6 Courts
Ladder 7 Highgate 5 Courts
Ladder 8 Eton 6 Courts
Ladder 9 Highgate 9 Courts
Ladder 10 Aldenham 5 Courts
Ladder 11 Highgate 8 Courts
Ladder 12 Highgate 5 Courts

The initial good turnout to fixture 1 was due to a great deal of "ringing around" and cajoling to get things off the ground. It was great to see that later in the competition we achieved the same numbers without any recruiting at all. The competition certainly gained a stable of fairly regular players, though I was a little disappointed that the turnout was not more evenly representative across all our clubs.

E.O.T.