4NCL - The Four Nations League - www.4ncl.co.uk/pre2010

4NCL Newsletter

March 2004

Welcome to the first Newsletter of the year......in theory it is Spring but as I sit here with snow falling all around me it certainly doesn't feel like it!

Anyway just some points for you to consider:

1/ As you will recall, it was decided some time ago to tidy up the old constitution for the League and work on the new one is now nearly complete. The main purpose of this revision was to increase representation and involvement from teams in the league's activities. If you would like more information on what is proposed, please feel free to contact Mike Truran.

2/ Richard Furness will be unable to attend any more weekends due to his illness. However he will still be overseeing any appeals that arise and will still be contactable via e-mail. The existing team of arbiters will continue to be in place at all forthcoming weekends, led by Steve Boniface.

3/ At the next Board meeting we will be reviewing entry fees and prize-money but our current thinking is that entry fees will stay the same whilst prize-money may increase slightly, subject to the number of entries received for the forthcoming season. This is good news for the league and, in our opinion, will continue to attract more entries.

4/ The deadline for entries next season will be the 31st July 2004 and, like last year, it will be strictly enforced. Please remember that the main criterion for whether an entry is accepted is receipt of the appropriate entry fee.

5/ It appears that some Captains are block-booking rooms at the various hotels but then not taking up all the bookings. Please could I ask that any Captain that does this then informs the hotel as soon as possible when he knows his exact numbers and in any event, as soon as he becomes aware that he is not going to require all of the block-booked rooms. This will free up rooms for other players and hopefully avoid awkward booking problems.

6/ The Board is constantly on the lookout for new venues and would certainly consider suggestions. However, it is important that any proposal matches or improves on the arrangements with our current hotels, i.e Are there sufficient playing rooms available? Will there be subsidised accommodation? Will the playing rooms be provided free of charge? Will the hotel pay the league commission based on the number of rooms booked? Will the hotel provide free accommodation for the arbiters? If anyone feels that they have a potential "lead" that delivers this, please contact Mike Truran or me and we will be very happy to take things further.

7/ Finally it was suggested that we might consider renaming the 4th Division. Any strong thoughts on this would be appreciated. A couple of "opening gambits" are The Conference or The Challengers.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,
Paul Littlewood (4NCL Chairman)