Monday
Apr212014
MCA Nine Wicket Ranking System
Monday, April 21, 2014 at 6:01AM LEAWOOD, KS -- The MCA has launched a basic nine-wicket ranking system to be utilized for block seeding. The system is based on win percentage and average wickets scored per game. The ranking system is an additional tool to be utilized by tournament managers for seeding blocks at MCA nine wicket events. The rankings system is based on games played within a division, so it is possible for a player to carry a ranking in multiple divisions.
Reader Comments (2)
Interesting system. How many players and data points do you need in the system to get an accurate ranking? It would be helpful to see an example of filled in brackets.
There's not a huge amount of data yet to really target when a ranking really starts to settle in. I think 10 games like the international system is probably about right. And I don't know that I really plan to put too much thought into it. At this point, I'd say we only have one off the chart example and that would be in the Gold Tier of rankings which is essentially about right across the field. Jodi Adams is at 1000 after going 3-0 and pegging out in her only three games. Not sure what kind of defense was being played that day, but I do know that Jodi was on fire because she played both the Pro and Gold brackets and she nearly upset the Pro Champion in Round 1 (lost 26-24 as I recall).
Again, her ranking of 1000 is a Gold level ranking, but if she plays Gold again this year, it will really only take one non-pegout to bring her ranking to a less extreme level.
I will say my own ranking of 625 charts out a bit lower than my international grade. I should be at 650 or 675.
Seeding is completely determined by block play in our events. We would use these rankings to create fair blocks. Either by going:
A / B
1 - 2
4 - 3
5 - 6
8 - 7
or
A / B
1 - 2
3 - 4
5 - 6
7 - 8
"A" being one block and "B" being the other. The numbers represent where they rank. Our tournament manager has a pretty good concept on levels so this is just an extra tool. Oh yeah, and for the Championship in September, actual Series points determine the seeding and qualification.
This is just our version of an RPI. And I should mention that Jim Bast influenced me a bit on this ... from an AC standpoint, he said what your opponent scores really isn't that relevant. It's what you score. I took from that something that a lot of croquet players don't believe -- a 26-24 win is better than a 12-10 win. Most croquet players put net points as the most important factor, but even from the losing side of the scenario above, I'd say the player that scored 24 did better than the one that scored 10.
And, I've found this very helpful for new players. Don't worry about wins and losses -- keep trying to push your wicket count up and eventually that will lead to wins. In the beginning, think of each wicket scored as win. This creates more aggressive play from the get go.