It’s the end of another season and the NDCXL volunteers have been beavering away on the final league tables. Unfortunately, they encountered some anomalies, which have delayed their publication.
The issues arise from the combination of applying rule 5.1, which states:
To be eligible for a League prize, a rider must have raced a minimum of 5 point scoring rounds.
and rule 4.8.1.2, which states:
If there are fewer than 10 events in the League programme, the two lowest scores will be disregarded.
With 6 rounds in the 2021-2022 season (including the regional championships) there are only 4 to count towards the final point score, once the 2 lowest have been disregarded. Because 5 point scoring rounds are needed to be eligible for a prize, it is possible to have the 4 point scores needed to get a high league placing, but not the 5 needed to be eligible for a prize.
This has meant that in some categories, riders with the highest number of points have only 4 point scoring rounds, which means that they would not be eligible for a prize if rule 5.1 was applied.
Following some long and involved discussions (see minutes from general meeting on 8th February – item 5) the League has agreed to:
- Include events where average points were awarded, and not ‘raced’, when determining eligibility for League prizes.
- Award prizes to the top three riders who have the highest number of points and have five counting rounds.
- Award up to three prizes to riders who have 4 counting rounds when their total number of points exceed the third placed rider with 5 counting rounds.
While this solution is more complex than a normal year it rewards the strongest riders, both those that complied with rule 5.1 by having 5 point scoring rounds, as well as those with more points who would not be eligible for a prize if the 5 point scoring round minimum was applied. By including averages as ‘point scoring rounds’ it also avoids penalising riders who couldn’t race because they were volunteering at an event.
This may be a strange season conclusion, but the NDCXL rules were not written with a global pandemic in mind, and we hope that this compromise rewards the strongest riders in the fairest way possible that is also within the ‘spirt of the League’. Therefore we are pleased to present the final League Table for all categories (updated 13-Mar), the Team Awards and the Harry Gould Participation Award for the 2021-22 season.
Thank you for your continued support and congratulations to those riders who have won prizes as well as those that raced during this odd season.