VJBL: The Mysteries of Grading ( curtesy of Bulleen Basketball)

One of the mysteries to new players and is the grading system and how it works ... at the risk of making it even more confusing, here is an attempt to summarise how it all works !!

Of course, the first question is why have a grading system at all ?

And the answer is that every year, every Club forms new teams to compete in the VJBL competition and that over time the relative capability of every team will change. So the VJBL grading system attempts to make sure that every team is "sorted" at the start of every season and allocated to a level of competition where they are competitive and will be able to win games.

The grading system occurs in "phases" over time, as follows:

1. The initial ranking of teams
2. Grading phase 1
3. Grading phase 2

The Team Ranking lists and Grading Maps that are mentioned below for all age groups from Under 12 to Under 20 are available on the VJBL Web site at www.vjbl.com.au - look under the Information menu and then the Grading Info sub menu.

Team Rankings

Initial Team Rankings to create the phase 1 pools are done by the VJBL and are based on where each team from a Club finished in the VJBL competition two seasons ago. A few teams at the bottom and top of the initial pools play a game in the "pre grading" round, just to ensure they start in the correct pool.

From the team rankings, teams are assigned to a Pool for phase 1 and within each Pool are allocated into groups of 4. The group allocations can be seen on the Grading Map for each age group based on the Team Rankings.

Grading Phase 1

Grading phase 1 begins in mid to late November each year and comprises three games, with each team playing each other within their pool group. One game is played on a home court, one on an away court and one on a neutral court.

Following these three pool games, a ladder is formed for each pool group and the finishing position of each team determines how they progress to phase 2. From Pool 1 in each age group, the top teams qualify directly into the Victorian Junior Championship division of their age group. For most teams, the results of phase 1 simply determine how they progress into phase 2 of grading.

As can be seen on the Grading Map, some teams also play what is known as a cross over game as the last game before Christmas - this is just another part of the sorting process to make sure teams end up in the most appropriate pool for phase 2.

Grading Phase 2

Based on the phase 1 results, all teams qualify into a new set of pools for grading phase 2, which begins in late January ... as with phase 1, there are again groups of 4 teams with teams playing each other for 3 rounds.

Following the phase 2 pool games, there are a series of cross over games that complete the final sorting process and determine exactly which division each team qualifies into for the main season.

As can be seen on the Grading Map, following each week some teams will be qualifiied into a division, while other teams will progress to another cross over round the next week.

While this seems complex, the set of cross over rounds in phase 2 are all designed to ensure that every team ends up in a division with other teams that are matcheds as closely as possible in capability. This is the best way to ensure that all teams and players have the opportunity to be competitive in their division and are able to improve their game during the season.

Following the final cross over game in early March, all teams have qualified into a VJBL division, or regional competition, for the main season that begins immediately in mid March.

The one other note is that teams that qualify for their divsion early in grading (especially first teams into the Championship division) continue to play practice games for the rest of grading to ensure they continue to get game time as a team.

Summary

The VJBL Grading system has been in place for many years and has stood the test of time - while no system of this sort can be perfect, it is a thorough process to ensure all teams end up in an appropriate division of the competition for the main season.

Hope this information helps all the new players into our Junior Championship program, especially our new Under 12 players