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Post by Rajiv on Feb 1, 2015 20:53:32 GMT 8
From the "Filling places & choices" thread: Other than the 5-a-side game on Tuesday at The Cage and the 7-a-side game on Thursday at Khalsa, since the start of the year, our other games (which are all 7 or 8-a-side on bigger pitch) having been filling up within a day or two of the schedule thread going up (5 days before the game). However, with withdrawals, there are often places available the day before or on the day of the game, especially for the Wednesday game at Khalsa and Saturday game at The Grandstand, which have taken turns to be the most popular game for some time now. Currently, the Monday game at Macpherson and the Sunday game at The Grandstand are filling up as fast. Although the Thursday game is slower to fill up, it doesn't suffer as much from withdrawals, so we are often left with players on waitlist for that game. Only the Tuesday game at The Cage remains a struggle to fill up. .... On 16 January 2015, we also had our first ever game on a Friday ( excluding public holidays). It was a 5-a-side at The Cage @ Kallang, a standard 9 to 10 pm game. It came about because, as posted on the schedule thread: .... Several players left on waitlist over the past week, and the weekend games are already full, so I'll schedule an extra game for this Friday. .... The week from 10 to 16 January 2015 was also the first time we had games on every day of the week. For some time now, we have had a standard 6 games scheduled a week. Usually, all 6 go on, but occasionally, a game or two are cancelled due to shortfall in numbers or the weather. I have tried on and off to get a regular game going over the past couple of years. I have considered various options, including 7-a-side games at The Rainforest Arena at The Grandstand or the SBSA @ Kallang. Ironically, we have come back to a point made on this thread earlier on: .... ..., if I do get round to introducing a Friday night game, it is likely to be at Kallang, where we only need 8 to 10 players for the game to go on. .... When asking around to fill up the places for the game on 16 January 2015, I received the following reply from Babs: Earlier on this thread, I said: .... Friday night also has a different dynamic from other weeknights. More people try to get out of the office a bit earlier so that they can go out for the evening. If they were to squeeze a game in in between, it may well have to be an earlier slot. .... However, while the dynamic is different from other weeknights, it may not be as I thought. Several of the players who played on 16 January 2015, or who from time to time ask about a game on Friday, regularly work late or overtime. They are therefore not able to play often Monday to Thursday. However, if they are keen to play, they are more likely to try to squeeze in a game on Friday. For now, I will continue to schedule a Friday night 5-a-side game at The Cage @ Kallang. However, the games that fill up fast and have several players on waitlist are the 7-a-side games. The only convenient slot (in terms of day, time and location) is, as previously discussed on this thread, Sunday night, 8 to 9 pm, at Khalsa. Therefore, the extra games in February 2015 will be: - Fridays, 9 to 10 pm, The Cage
- Sundays, 8 to 9 pm, Khalsa
I earlier scheduled an extra game for today (Sunday), for the following reasons: Athough the Wednesday night game at Khalsa was cancelled despite having several on waitlist due to 9 withdrawals, we have had players on waitlist for the Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday games this week, including 8 on waitlist for tomorrow. If there is sufficient interest, we can have an extra game tomorrow night at Khalsa, partly to make up for the Wednesday night game being cancelled. .... However, as the game was scheduled very late on, we didn't get enough players, and it was cancelled, despite my asking around extensively. I'll continue to schedule both extra games. |
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Post by Rajiv on Apr 1, 2015 14:21:01 GMT 8
From the "Filling places & choices" thread: From above: Other than the 5-a-side game on Tuesday at The Cage and the 7-a-side game on Thursday at Khalsa, since the start of the year, our other games (which are all 7 or 8-a-side on bigger pitch) having been filling up within a day or two of the schedule thread going up (5 days before the game). However, with withdrawals, there are often places available the day before or on the day of the game, especially for the Wednesday game at Khalsa and Saturday game at The Grandstand, which have taken turns to be the most popular game for some time now. Currently, the Monday game at Macpherson and the Sunday game at The Grandstand are filling up as fast. Although the Thursday game is slower to fill up, it doesn't suffer as much from withdrawals, so we are often left with players on waitlist for that game. Only the Tuesday game at The Cage remains a struggle to fill up. .... And from the "Weekly schedule & number of games" thread: .... The Tuesday night game at The Cage has continued to be difficult to fill. We only managed to get 10 for the game on 3 February 2015 after a player who ordinarily doesn't play in our 5-a-side games came in later on and brought 2 others after his regular Tuesday night training session for his 11-a-side team was cancelled. The game on 10 February 2015 went ahead fairly smoothly, but the game on 17 February 2015 was switched to a 7-a-side at the SBSA @ Kallang, and the game this week (24 February 2015) was cancelled, stuck on 3 players. On the other hand, other than the two Khalsa games last week being cancelled due to Chinese New Year ( Wednesday, 18 February 2015 being the eve, and Thursday, 19 February 2015 being the first day of the Chinese New Year), all our other games have been filling up fast or with several players on waitlist. Since the Monday game (previously at The Cage @ Kallang) and the Tuesday game (previously at Sports Planet @ East Coast) were switched round in October/November 2012, there have been occasions when Tuesday game at The Cage has filled up well, but mainly it has struggled. It is frustrating that despite all my efforts, it is the only longstanding game that does not regularly fill up on the forum without requiring a lot of asking around on my part. It is clear that most of our regulars prefer playing 7 or 8-a-side on a bigger pitch, and there are many regulars who are not interested in playing 5-a-side on a small pitch. And from the "Days, times & locations" thread: I think we do need to have a game on a big pitch every day of the week (other than Friday). For March 2015, I will switch the Tuesday game to SBSA @ Kallang, from 9 to 10 pm. There is an issue of whether we should play 6 or 7-a-side there, but it is still a bigger pitch than the The Cage @ Kallang. The game at The Cage will be on Friday. .... We'll see how it goes. and: Rajiv, the Cage regulars were discussing the other day and the consensus was that it would be difficult for most to play on Friday nights. As far as possible, the preference is to keep to Tuesday which has been worked into our routines. Unfortunately, Tuesday night at The Cage only has a handful of regulars. There are others who play from time to time but over several years, even players who may play regularly for a few months then stop for long periods. We do not have a big enough pool of regulars. There is still a regular game on Tuesday night, 9 to 10 pm, at Kallang, except that it is at SBSA instead of The Cage. I hope that some of the players who only want to play on a big pitch give it a try and become regulars, so that the pool is bigger, and the game becomes more sustainable. The games on Tuesday went ahead at SBSA @ Kallang on 10 March 2015 (5-a-side), 17 March 2015 (7-a-side to the side lines), 24 March 2015 (7-a-side off the nets) and yesterday, 31 March 2015 (5-a-side). After some discussion, for the last game yesterday, numbers were limited to 12, but it didn't fill up, so we went ahead 5-a-side. We only had one game on Friday in March 2015, last week (27 March 2015), a 5-a-side at Khalsa. The game was switched to Khalsa as no pitch was available at The Cage. However, this was only our second ever regular Friday night game. From the schedule thread for the game this Friday (3 April 2015): This Friday is Good Friday, and all the games since the weekend have been slow to fill up. From the "Public holidays & seasonal factors" thread: .... In the circumstances, I won't schedule a game on Good Friday itself (3 April 2015). .... As we had a game last Friday, Azmi today asked if there is a game this Friday. I will go ahead and schedule a 5-a-side to see if there is sufficient interest. As there is no pitch available at The Cage, I will schedule it at Khalsa. .... I will stick with the following for April 2015: - The game on Tuesday will be at SBSA @ Kallang, 9 to 10 pm, 6-a-side.
- The game on Friday will be at The Cage @ Kallang, 9 to 10 pm, 5-a-side.
Despite requests from several regulars to move the Tuesday night game back to The Cage, I am reluctant to do so for the following reasons, several of which have been addressed previously on this thread or on the "Filling places & choices" thread: - Not enough of our players are willing to play 5-a-side on a regular basis. Some may not be willing even to play 6-a-side, but of those not willing to play 5-a-side, some might play 6-a-side.
- Over the years, one of the main reasons given to me by players for not wanting to play at The Cage is that with each pitch enclosed by walls, it is too stuffy (even with the industrial fans). This is not an issue at SBSA @ Kallang.
- I have tried for 4 and a half years to make a game at The Cage in the early part of the week self-sustaining, even to some extent at the expense of other games, but it never regularly filled up on its own.
- The Cage management requires me to cancel by Sunday night if the Tuesday game is not going ahead, and The Cage game in the early part of the week (whether on Monday or Tuesday) hardly ever filled up or even reached the minimum number by the weekend, with even regulars waiting to see what the work week will be like before committing. Therefore, I bore the risk of waiting until Tuesday to see if the places filled up. With the possibility or even the likelihood of withdrawals on Monday or Tuesday itself, the risk was even greater. I was often left scrambling on Monday and Tuesday asking around for the second or even third time. I am no longer willing to take on that risk, and that extra burden.
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Post by Rajiv on Apr 26, 2015 11:58:18 GMT 8
From above: ... I will stick with the following for April 2015: - The game on Tuesday will be at SBSA @ Kallang, 9 to 10 pm, 6-a-side.
- The game on Friday will be at The Cage @ Kallang, 9 to 10 pm, 5-a-side.
.... And from the "Venues, pitches & team sizes" thread: Just as I thought the Tuesday night game was settling down at SBSA @ Kallang, ... I got a message from the guy at SBSA that Sport Singapore (who presumably licence SBSA to use Kallang Fields) will not be allowing football there for at least the rest of April 2015 in order to plan for the 2015 SEA Games, to be held from 5 to 16 June 2015. I'm not sure how that works but no one is going to argue with Sport Singapore. Anyway, I have been left scrambling to to find an alternative venue for the next few Tuesdays. With a view to keeping the game at 6 or 7-a-side, I tried HYFA @ Macpherson, Premier Pitch @ Khalsa, Premier Pitch @ The Grandstand (uncovered pitch), Stadio at Balestier and The Rainforest Arena @ The Grandstand. No pitch available between 9 and 10 pm. Although pitches are available after 10 pm, I am not keen on changing the timing, as our weeknight games are routinely from 9 to 10 pm. While no big covered pitch is available at The Premier Pitch @ The Grandstand (on which we play 8-a-side at the weekends), a small covered pitch is available. We used to play 6-a-side on the small pitch there when we first started playing at The Grandstand (then known as Turf City). I've booked the pitch for the next few weeks. Although my own view has been that 5-a-side is preferable on the small pitch, when Elvin's Wednesday night game used to be on Monday nights on a small pitch, they used to play 6-a-side on the small pitch as well. The minimum number is 2 less than the maximum number. If we cap numbers at 12 ($9 per player), we can still go ahead with 10. If we cap numbers at 10 ($11 per player), we would need to be able to go ahead with 8 (4-a-side), which is tough. I'll allow up to 12 to begin with. .... So far, we've had 3 games on a small pitch at The Grandstand for Tuesdays - 14 April 2015, 21 April 2015 and 28 April 2015. They have all filled up well, and apart from the first game, have filled up on the forum without the need to ask around extensively. They have all been 6-a-side, apart from the last one, where two late withdrawals left us with a 5-a-side. It would appear that a Tuesday night game on a small pitch at The Grandstand is sustainable in the longer term, so I will make this game a permanent fixture. I will also resume the Tuesday night game at SBSA @ Kallang in late June or July 2015, after the SEA Games are concluded. Therefore, we will have two games on Tuesday nights, both 6-a-side. I think between now and then, the pool of players for each game will evolve to become fairly separate, thus allowing for both games to become sustainable. As it is, those who play Tuesday nights already indicate a preference for one venue or the other. The Grandstand game will cater more for those who live in the west and north while the Kallang game will cater more for those who work in the city or live in the East. Before then, to bring back more of those who used to play regularly on Tuesday then Monday nights at Sports Planet @ East Coast, I aim to have a game on Tuesday at East Coast for a few weeks before resuming at SBSA @ Kallang. Unfortunately, the 7-a-side pitch at East Coast is not available from 9 to 10 pm on Tuesdays. We can either have a 5-a-side game on a small pitch from 9 to 10 pm, or a 7-a-side game on a big pitch from 10 to 11 pm. I would rather try the former than the latter, as it requires fewer players, and is at our regular time slot. Going back to the first quote above, we didn't manage a Friday night game in April 2015, but mainly because when it came to time to ask around (which I need to for a new game to take off), I got busy at work. It's Labour Day next Friday (1 May 2015). I'm not sure what numbers will be like. After good numbers in the two weeks after Easter, numbers have been down over the past week, with every game other than Monday at Macpherson and Saturday at The Grandstand a bit of a struggle to fill in. Nevertheless, I'll go ahead and schedule the usual game at The Cage next Friday, and continue to schedule a Friday night game at The Cage through May 2015. I wil schedule a Friday night game at The Cage for the rest of May 2015. However, as no pitch is available on 8 May 2015, the only other pitch available from 9 to 10 pm is the 5-a-side hockey pitch at Khalsa, which the Premier Pitch @ Khalsa allow to be used for football. We have previously played on that pitch on Thursday, 5 March 2015. The game on 27 March 2015 (Friday) was also supposed to be on the hockey pitch, but we managed to get a 5-a-side football pitch shortly before the game was due to start because it became available due to a cancellation. |
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Post by Rajiv on May 12, 2015 9:34:44 GMT 8
I received a call from the Premier Pitch @ Grandstand on Saturday (9 May 2015) to inform me that the pitch is not available in two weeks time (Saturday, 23 May 2015), as the owners have booked the pitch for a whole day event that day. The alternative for that day is a 7-a-side pitch at Premier Pitch @ Khalsa. As the 7-a-side pitch there is uncovered, 5 to 6 pm may be too hot, so I have booked 6 to 7 pm instead. As the weekend games by and large continue to fill up fast (with the odd game struggling to fill up), I am again looking at having an additional game on Sunday evenings at Khalsa. Previously, on this thread: Both Sunday games went on today, the 4 to 5 pm game at The Grandstand, with 14, and the 8 to 9 pm game at Balestier Road, with 12. This is the first time we've had 2 games on Sunday since June 2012, when we had back to back games at The Grandstand from 4 to 5 pm and 5 to 6 pm. Although we only had the minimum number for both games, it is remarkable we managed two games, as not only were a lot of players away (with Tuesday being a public holiday, Vesak Day, people take Monday off for an extra long weekend), but today is Mother's Day, so a lot of players had additional family commitments. I will continue to schedule both games indefinitely. The only question is whether the afternoon/evening game at The Grandstand should be 4 to 5 pm or 5 to 6 pm. .... The best way to decide this is through a poll. The voting will be applied in the future. For this month, the game will remain from 4 to 5 pm. .... .... From the poll thread: The poll has been locked. 7:3 in favour of reverting to the 5 to 6 pm slot. So it shall be. I thought the 5 to 6 pm slot was still available, so I scheduled this Sunday's game for the later time slot. Unfortunately, it is not available until July 2014, so I have to bring the game forward to the earlier time slot of 4 to 5 pm for the rest of June 2014. The Sunday evening game at The Grandstand returns to the 5 to 6 pm slot from July 2014 onwards. .... While the Sunday evening game at The Grandstand has picked up and has been filling up well over the last couple of weeks, we only managed one more Sunday night game at Balestier Road, a 5-a-side the following week (18 May 2014). Once players feel that the game is not going to go on, they stop putting their name down for the game, and we have had no names down for the Sunday night game at Balestier Road since the game scheduled for 8 June 2014. It hasn't helped that the friends of Nic F and Nic G who formed a core group of players for the Sunday night games at Balestier Road between 11 May 2014 and 1 June 2014 have largely left Singapore. With the Sunday evening game at The Grandstand filling up on its own,I'll make more of an effort over the course of the third quarter of 2014 to fill the Sunday night game at Balestier Road. .... .... to give players more opportunity to try out this new venue, I'll switch the Sunday night game from Khalsa to the SBSA @ Kallang for the time being. .... The SBSA @ Kallang game finally settled on Tuesday by the start of April 2015, but the pitch is currently not available due to the SEA Games. Also earlier on this thread: .... However, the games that fill up fast and have several players on waitlist are the 7-a-side games. The only convenient slot (in terms of day, time and location) is, as previously discussed on this thread, Sunday night, 8 to 9 pm, at Khalsa. Therefore, the extra games in February 2015 will be: - Fridays, 9 to 10 pm, The Cage
- Sundays, 8 to 9 pm, Khalsa
I earlier scheduled an extra game for today (Sunday), for the following reasons: Athough the Wednesday night game at Khalsa was cancelled despite having several on waitlist due to 9 withdrawals, we have had players on waitlist for the Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday games this week, including 8 on waitlist for tomorrow. If there is sufficient interest, we can have an extra game tomorrow night at Khalsa, partly to make up for the Wednesday night game being cancelled. .... However, as the game was scheduled very late on, we didn't get enough players, and it was cancelled, despite my asking around extensively. I'll continue to schedule both extra games. .... I resumed scheduling a Sunday night slot at Khalsa in February 2015. We haven't managed a game yet. As there was no response, and 22 February 2015 was a long weekend for the Chinese New Year, I did not schedule a Sunday night game at Khalsa on 15 and 22 February 2015, nor have I scheduled one for 1 March 2015. I will resume scheduling a Sunday night game at Khalsa, 8 to 9 pm, on 8 March 2015. We'll see how it goes. .... I tried on Sunday, 8 March 2015, but again, there were no names down, so the game was cancelled. We then had the one week school holidays from 14 to 22 March 2015 (inclusive of both weekends) when players might be away, and then the Easter period, when again, many players are away, so I didn't schedule the game. In particular, the Saturday and Sunday games have not been filling up fast, and we even went ahead 7-a-side the last Sunday (29 March 2015). For April 2015, I will be focusing on stabilising the Tuesday and Friday games, so I will not try the additional Sunday game before May 2015. .... This time round, a 6 to 7 pm slot is available at Khalsa on Sundays. This time slot is closer to the 5 to 6 pm slot players are familiar with for the weekends, as both the Saturday and Sunday games at Grandstand are from 5 to 6 pm. I will schedule a 6 to 7 pm game on Sundays at Khalsa for the rest of May 2015. |
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Post by Rajiv on Jul 16, 2015 22:52:50 GMT 8
On 3 June 2015, I got the following message from the person I deal with: I have been trying to find out more about the new company. From the "Public holidays & seasonal factors" thread: ..., as the international schools and those who follow an international calendar have summer vacations between June and September 2015, numbers don't usually pick up until late August 2015. The Tuesday night game at the Grandstand has been cancelled 3 weeks in a row - 23 June 2015, 30 June 2015, and 7 July 2015. The last occasion was a pity, as we were only one short. The game on Saturday, 11 July 2015, was also cancelled, one short. Also from the post above. .... The Friday night game is currently part of the regular schedule, so I will continue to schedule it through the June holidays. We've only had one Friday night game so far, on 27 March 2015. I stopped scheduling the Friday night game with effect from 26 June 2015 (http://giffas.proboards.com/board/11/schedule-system-playing-rules?filters[]=label_id:eq:43). This Friday is Hari Raya Puasa. Although it is a long weekend, I will schedule a game. I've asked around and two slots are available:
I'll schedule both and see whether either gets a response. Both games ( the one at East Coast as well as the one at the Grandstand) have been cancelled with no names down. With the long weekend, we didn't get enough players for the regular Thursday night game even. And with the Barclays Asia Trophy, numbers are not looking good for Saturday. Anyway, over several weeks now, an increasing number of the Saturday regulars have been switching to Sunday. Not sure what that is all about. The Premier Pitch @ The Grandstand is not available on Tuesday, 4 August 2015. With several games cancelled over recent weeks, I won't schedule the Tuesday game at the Grandstand again until 11 August 2015. I have 2 hours on a small pitch at Sports Planet @ East Coast which I have to use. I'll schedule the game next Tuesday (21 July 2015) there. |
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Post by Rajiv on Sept 26, 2015 20:10:53 GMT 8
From the "Filling places & choices" thread: Since the start of August 2015, the games on Monday @ Macpherson and Wednesday @ Khalsa fill up fast, with several players on waitlist within the first 48 hours after the schedule thread goes. However, a steady trickle of withdrawals on the day of the game, sometimes starting the evening before, means we usually only have just enough. The Tuesday night game on a small pitch at The Grandstand resumed on 18 August 2015 and has been filling up well since then. On the other hand, we haven't had a Thursday night game at Khalsa since 18 August 2015. ... . .... ..., there is a general trend of players rushing for the more popular Wednesday game, while the Thursday game is a struggle to fill. If enough players kept an open mind, we'd find that both games were similar. However, I've given up trying to ask players to switch from oversubscribed games to games that are slow to fill up, as the responses are very poor. When prepayment was first introduced in November 2010, I considered using price influence numbers between more popular games and less popular games. This was last discussed on the "Payments, credits, penalties & usage" thread on 18 May 2014 (see more generally here giffas.proboards.com/thread/1429/payments-credits-penalties-usage?q=demand). For next quarter, I am considering the following: - If within 48 hours of the schedule thread being put up, there are more than 4 players on waitlist, the price per player will be $1 more. If, however, by the time the payment information is put up, there are no players on waitlist, the price per player will return to the original.
- For each game that is charged $1 extra per player, a game that is struggling to fill up will be reduced by $1. If there is no game struggling to fill up not already subsidised, I will create an extra slot, with the price per player reduced by $1 for that game.
However, if the game at East Coast on 24 September 2015 fills up, I will consider keeping the Thursday game at East Coast for October 2015, instead of implementing the above. .... The game at East Coast on 24 September 2015 was cancelled with no names down. However: - The Thursday night game at Khalsa has been struggling for a while.
- Many of the players who used to play at East Coast are no longer playing. I would like to see if they are interested in playing again.
- I have one slot left from my previous block booking with Sports Planet at East Coast, which I need to use.
I will keep the game this Thursday, 1 October 2015, at East Coast. |
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Post by Rajiv on Jan 3, 2017 10:00:51 GMT 8
From the "Public holidays & seasonal factors" thread: The next two Saturdays are Christmas eve and New Year's eve. We haven't had a game on Christmas eve or New Year's eve for several years now, not in 2015, 2014, 2103 or 2012. I won't schedule games for the next two Saturdays. I currently do not have bookings for Sunday. From the "Alternatives for a regular Sunday evening game" thread on the "Stand-Alone Polls" board: .... When I called the Premier Pitch @ Grandstand on Friday evening (2 Dec 2016) to cancel at least 48 hours before as required by the current management, the manager, Zul, said that since I had only used one Sunday slot on the big pitch since 2 October 2016, he would cancel all my Sunday bookings on the big pitch, so that other customers had an opportunity to book a 2-hour slot between 4 and 7 pm. If we get enough players, I can check to see if any one-hour slot on the big pitch is still available between 4 and 7 pm. I can't really argue with that. .... I scheduled games with "flexi-time" for the next two Sundays - 11 December 2016 and today. With some effort, we got to 16 for 11 December 2016. However, today's game has been cancelled, with only 4 names down. I'll do the same for the next two Sundays - Christmas Day and New Year's Day - to see if there is enough interest. As the next two Mondays are also public holidays, I will schedule games on a big covered pitch at The Grandstand for those days as well. Only 6 to 7 pm is available for 26 December 2016, but 5 to 6 pm is available for 2 January 2017. I will not schedule games at Macpherson on those days. And from the "Weekly schedule & number of games" thread: .... Even though the Sunday game at Khalsa has not taken off, I'll continue to schedule it as an extra game until the end of the year. However, to make it more akin to a weekend game, I will schedule it from 9 to 10 pm, and see if that works better. I will skip Khalsa the next two Sundays, and resume on 8 January 2017. Both the Monday public holiday games at the Grandstand were cancelled ( 26 Dec 2016 and 2 Jan 2017), but we did manage a Sunday game at the Grandstand on 1 January 2017 (although the game on 25 December 2016 was also cancelled). I'll continue to schedule both a Sunday evening game at the Grandstand and a Sunday night game at Khalsa until the end of the month. The Sunday evening game will continue to be "flexi-time" until it becomes regular enough for me to make the bookings in advance. |
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Post by Rajiv on Feb 14, 2017 10:43:34 GMT 8
From the "Filling places & choices thread: .... For Chinese New Year, numbers do not pick up until after the 15th day of the Chinese New Year ( Chap Goh Mei). For February 2017, I will only schedule the Sunday evening game at The Grandstand, as "flexi-time", and I won't schedule the Sunday night game at Khalsa. If we get to 16 each Sunday in February 2017 without requiring a great deal of effort on my part, I will resume the Grandstand bookings in March 2017. The games at The Grandstand over the last two Sundays ( 5 Feb 2017 and 12 Feb 2017) both went ahead, albeit with some effort on my part. I've resumed the Sunday booking, 5 to 6 pm, at Grandstand, from 19 February 2017 onwards. The Tuesday game has been struggling for a few weeks, cancelled on 24 January 2017 and 31 January 2017 (perhaps due to the Chinese New Year period), then struggling to get to 10 on 7 February 2017 and 14 February 2017. And from the "Venues, pitches & team sizes " board: Apart from not having a game on Friday, the Tuesday game is the only one played on a small pitch. There is a clear preference for 7 or 8-a-side on a bigger pitch over 5 or 6-a-side on a smaller pitch. Also from the "Venues, pitches & team sizes" board: Subject to availability, I am considering moving the Tuesday game to the Arena. |
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Post by Rajiv on Feb 25, 2017 10:31:13 GMT 8
From above: And from the "Venues, pitches & team sizes" board: The Tuesday night at the Grandstand game is currently the only one on a small pitch. I will be moving that game to the new venue from March 2017 onwards. Therefore, we will have a 7-a-side game every weeknight, from 9 to 10 pm, except Friday, on which we have no game. However, it is always hard to get a new game started at a new venue. To start at a new venue, it might be easier to move a popular game to the new venue. Surprisingly, after struggling for a couple of years, the Thursday night game at Khalsa is currently one of the more popular games. Further, I am currently subsidising the Thursday night games, having reduced the price by $1 per player since October 2015 in order to get the games going. The Arena are offering a good introductory rate for March and April 2017, so I am considering moving the Thursday night game there for March and April 2017. I can keep the price per player for both games at $9 per player without the need for me to subsidise. |
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Post by Rajiv on Jul 4, 2017 7:29:56 GMT 8
From the "Regular venues & pitches" thread: The game on Sunday, 21 May 2017, was played at Rainforest Sports Hub, Pitch D. We tried Pitch D once before, on Saturday, 28 December 2013. It is an uncovered pitch. Although the pitch is designated as 7-a-side, those who have played on it have said that 8-a-side is better on that pitch. And from the "Venues, pitches & team sizes" thread: .... When the covered small pitch at Premier Pitch @ Grandstand (on which we allow up to 6-a-side) was not available on a couple of Tuesdays recently, we tried the uncovered small pitch at the side of the covered pitch (Premier Pitch Indoors), on 25 April 2017 and 2 May 2017, and limited numbers to 5-a-side. However, several players found it a bit small, even for 5-a-side. The covered small pitch at Premier Pitch is not available next Tuesday (6 June 2017). Instead of switching to the adjoining uncovered pitch this time, I've booked an uncovered 5-a-side pitch at Rainforest Sport Hub instead, which is bigger. Although it is bigger, I'll still limit numbers to 5-a-side. It would ordinarily work out at $11 per player, but as this is the first time we're trying this pitch, I'll subsidise the game, and reduce it to $10 per player. We tried the 5-a-side pitch (Pitch B) at Rainforest on Tuesday, 6 June 2017. No comments about the pitch, except that it is smaller than the covered small pitch at Premier Pitch Indoors. It's not clear if it is bigger than the uncovered small pitch at Premier Pitch Indoors. We do not have the covered pitch at Premier Pitch Indoors for this Saturday, so the game will again be switched to Rainforest Sports Hub, Pitch D. It will be 8-a-side as usual. And from the "Alternatives for the Sunday game at the Grandstand" thread on the Stand-Alone Polls board: The new manager at the Premier Pitch @ The Grandstand has informed me that another group want a 2-hour slot on the big covered pitch between 4 and 7 pm on Sundays. As we take the 5 to 6 pm slot, he is unable to provide the 2 hours to them. He has asked us to move to either 4 to 5 pm or 6 to 7 pm, so that he can let the other group have a 2-hour slot. I said I would get back to him by National Day (9 Augusts 2016). .... .... .... ..., for June 2017, I will switch the booking to 4 to 5 pm. .... Ironically, after giving in to the pressure from the manager at Premier Pitch Indoors @ Grandstand to move out from the 5 to 6 pm slot, and deciding to move to the 4 to 5 pm slot, at least for June 2017, the 4 to 5 pm slot is not available over the next two Sundays, so we'll be back to 5 to 6 pm for the next two Sunday games. After only getting to 14 by Friday for the Sunday game on 28 May 2017 (from 5 to 6 pm), and requiring me to ask around to fill up the game, the Sunday game on 4 June 2017 (from 4 to 5 pm) had 3 on waitlist by Friday, the fastest the Sunday game has filled up in a very long time. Either it was a coincidence, or 4 to 5 pm is a more popular time slot. Anyway, the poll is still open, with only 2 votes, both in favour of being ok to switch to 4 to 5 pm. We're back to 4 to 5 pm for this Sunday (25 Jun 2017), at the Premier Pitch @ Grandstand. As Monday (26 Jun 2017) is a public holiday (for Hari Raya, which falls on Sunday), I'll try an extra game from 4 to 5 pm at the Premier Pitch @ Grandstand. As usual, there will be no Macpherson game on a public holiday. The current state of the poll is as follows: I'll stick to 4 to 5 pm in July 2017 for the Sunday game at The Grandstand. And from the schedule thread for the game at the Grandstand on Sunday, 25 June 2017: There was a mix up over the pitch. My understanding was that when I called on Friday to cancel my booking for tomorrow (Monday), the management mistakenly cancelled my booking for today as well, and when the players turned up, the pitch was no longer available. I was driving when Jason messaged me and Damian tried to call. Fortunately, Damian managed to sort out an uncovered pitch with the management. .... .... I had a word with the manager later that Sunday. I wished him Selamat Hari Raya, but pointed out that it was unfair that he moved my regular booking around to accommodate other customers. Wanting to make pitches available to others to expand the customer base was one thing, but it ought not to be at the expense of regular customers. Last Friday (30 Jun 2017), the manager informed me that the covered pitch is not available in July 2017 for the following regular bookings:
- The small covered pitch on Tuesday, 18 July 2017, from 9 to 10 pm. The game will again be switched to Rainforest Sports Hub, which we used the previous occasion the pitch was not available on a Tuesday, that is, on 6 June 2017. The pitch is slightly smaller, so we have to limit ourselves to 5-a-side (maximum 10).
Going forward, the Sunday game at The Grandstand will be from 4 to 5 pm. Apart from the odd occasion when the pitch is not available, the regular slots are now as follows: - Saturdays, 4.50 to 6.00 pm, Premier Pitch @ The Grandstand.
- Sundays, 3.50 to 5.00 pm, Premier Pitch @ The Grandstand.
- Mondays, 8.50 to 10.00 pm, HYFA @ Macpherson.
- Tuesdays, 8.50 to 10.00 pm, Premier Pitch @ Grandstand (small pitch).
- Wednesdays, 8.50 to 10.00 pm, Premier Pitch @ Khalsa.
- Thursdays, 8.50 to 10.00 pm, Premier Pitch @ Khalsa.
I've amended the "Weekly schedule & venues" section of the GIFFA System thread accordingly.
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Post by Desmond on Jul 4, 2017 23:40:55 GMT 8
Rajiv, as a Saturday regular, I'm not sure what you mean when you say the Saturday game is from "4.50 to 6.00pm". Is 4.50 when you expect players to turn up for the game or do we actually have the booking from 4.50 onwards? Oftentime, we don't get on the pitch until 5.05 and it's close to 5.10 before we actually kick off.
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Post by Rajiv on Jul 5, 2017 18:15:59 GMT 8
From the "Pre-game protocol, cancellations & weather policy" section of the GIFFA System thread: .... As set out above, each session is scheduled to start 10 minutes before the hour. The first 10 minutes are for team selectors to meet the players and consider any changes in line ups, as well as discuss formation, team organization and tactics. The game starts on the hour sharp. .... The reason, from the "Latecoming, late withdrawals & no shows" thread: .... ..., the fact remains that everyone has to make a greater effort to be early, aiming to be at the venue 10 to 15 minutes before the game is scheduled to start. .... With immediate effect, I will resume adding 10 minutes before the game, and adding in the schedule post: .... For Saturday at the Grandstand, we have the slot from 5 to 6 pm. If we start late due to the previous group overstaying, we should ask for the time to be made up at the end of the game. We are entitled to an hour. Every other game is from the hour to the next hour, so the same applies. |
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Post by Rajiv on May 14, 2019 8:50:14 GMT 8
From the "Filling places & choices" thread: Continuing from above, the Monday night game at Macpherson and the Wednesday night game at Khalsa continue to fill up fast, with several players on waitlist within a day on the schedule thread going up. For example, for this week, we had 9 on waitlist for the game on Monday (25 March 2019) and 12 on waitlist for the game today (Wednesday). For both games, there were a remarkable number of withdrawals after the WhatsApp group chat was created. The Monday night game at Macpherson has had at least 9 on waitlist for a few weeks now, reaching 11 for the game on 11 March 2019. The Tuesday night 6-a-side game at Grandstand, and the Saturday evening game at the Grandstand, also fill up well, within 2 or 3 days of the schedule thread going up. The Sunday evening game at Grandstand has struggled to fill up. The game on 3 March 2019 was cancelled, while other games in recent weeks have only filled up on the day itself. For last Sunday (24 March 2019), we were stuck on 8 until the morning of the game itself. I expect numbers for the weekend games are down because of two factors: (i) people travelling at the weekends and (ii) the wide range of 11-a-side leagues in full flow, with games played at the weekends, mainly on Sunday. The Tuesday night game at Macpherson continues to struggle. We managed a game last week (19 March 2019) only because no pitch was available for a 5 or 6-a-side at Grandstand, so we instead had Grandstand regulars versus Macpherson regulars at Macpherson. The Thursday night game at Khalsa also continues to struggle, with the games on 14 February 2019 and 7 March 2019 cancelled due to lack of numbers, and the game last week (21 March 2019) cancelled due to players not being keen to play following heavy rain in the afternoon/evening, after we had struggled to get numbers in the first place. .... I have been scheduling the extra game on Tuesday night at Macpherson for some time now, but it has only gone ahead once more, on 2 April 2019, when the Monday night game was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch, and enough players switched to Tuesday. Numbers for Monday night at Macpherson and and Wednesday night at Khalsa have eased up, and the Thursday night game at Khalsa and the Sunday evening game at Grandstand are still slow to fill up. With Ramadan starting earlier this month, and school holidays in June 2019 (families being away), I don't expect numbers to pick up, so I will stop scheduling the Tuesday night game at Macpherson until July 2019. |
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Post by Rajiv on Aug 19, 2019 23:03:27 GMT 8
I re-started the Tuesday night 7-a-side game at Macpherson in July 2019, but it has not resolved the rush for the Monday night game at the same venue. I also stopped the Thursday night game at Khalsa and the Sunday evening game on a big pitch at Grandstand as they were not filling up, and it was taking too much effort to try to fill. In their place, I re-started the Sunday evening game at Khalsa. Later in July 2019, I stated a generic 5 or 6-a-side game on Thursday and Friday nights. There were some modifications to the schedule due to National Day and Hari Raya Haji falling on 9 and 11 August 2019 (Friday and Sunday), with 12 August 2019 also a public holiday. The games that actually went ahead were: - Saturday, 10 Aug 2019, 5 to 6 pm, Grandstand , 8-a-side (covered).
- Monday, 12 Aug 2019, 5 to 6 pm, Grandstand, 8-a-side (covered).
- Tuesday, 13 Aug 2019, 9 to 10 pm, Macpherson, 7-a-side.
- Wednesday, 14 Aug 2019, 9 to 10 pm, Khalsa, 7-a-side.
From the "Alternatives for the Sunday game at the Grandstand" thread:
.... I am not asking you to actively source for players....just put up the thread. If it fills it fills.....if not then dont bother. Not asking you to make an early booking for the pitch or anything.
For this Sunday (18 Aug 2019): .... The game is the usual 3.50 to 5 pm at the Grandstand, on the big covered pitch.
It was in addition to the Khalsa game. The game at Grandstand managed to fill up and the game went ahead.
Going forward, I will schedule both the Grandstand game (from 4 to 5 pm) and the Khalsa game (from 5 to 6 pm) on Sundays. However, as I cannot hold the Grandstand pitch beyond Friday, if it does not fill up by then, there is a risk that no pitch will be available even if we later get enough players.
From the "Venues, pitches & team sizes" thread:
The Cage will take over the management of HYFA at Mattar Road with effect from 15 Aug 2019. The pitch is closed on 19 and 20 Aug 2019 (Monday and Tuesday) for refurbishment, so our HYFA game that week will be on Thursday (22 Aug 2019). ....
From the schedule thread for the game tonight, 9 to 10 pm, Stadio @ Khalsa:
From the schedule thread posted a short while ago: Jeff has asked me to try the 6-a-side pitch at Stadio @ Khalsa. It is available, but I need to confirm and make payment soon. If the game does not fill up by Friday or Saturday, I may have to cancel. ....
Despite many withdrawals, the game has gone ahead.
Going forward, the two 7-a-side games at Macpherson each week can be on Monday and Thursday. If we do not get eough players, one of those two games could be switched to a 6-a-side at Stadio @ Khalsa.
From the schedule thread for the Friday game this month:
.... If there are no names put down for a routine game, I will recycle the thread for the following week, within the same calendar month.
From the schedule thread for the game on Thursday, 15 Aug 2019, at Grandstand (5-a-side):
From the schedule thread for the game on 1 Aug 2019): ....
As the Thursday night game will not be continuing at Grandstand, I will look into moving the Friday night game to Grandstand instead.
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Other than the 5-a-side game on Tuesday at The Cage and the 7-a-side game on Thursday at Khalsa, since the start of the year, our other games (which are all 7 or 8-a-side on bigger pitch) having been filling up within a day or two of the schedule thread going up (5 days before the game). However, with withdrawals, there are often places available the day before or on the day of the game, especially for the Wednesday game at Khalsa and Saturday game at The Grandstand, which have taken turns to be the most popular game for some time now. Currently, the Monday game at Macpherson and the Sunday game at The Grandstand are filling up as fast. Although the Thursday game is slower to fill up, it doesn't suffer as much from withdrawals, so we are often left with players on waitlist for that game. Only the Tuesday game at The Cage remains a struggle to fill up. 
