OPEN AA AT CRCs REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE OPEN AA TASK FORCE PRESENTED BY: GEORGE McKENZIE, TASK FOR

1
OPEN AA AT CRCsREPORT ON THE WORK OF THE OPEN
AA TASK FORCEPRESENTED BY GEORGE McKENZIE, TASK
FORCE CO-CHAIRJUNE 2, 2007
2
AGENDA

• Task Force Mandate
• The Work of the Task Force
• Survey Results Overview
• Other Factors Considered
• Core Recommendations
• Supplementary Recommendations
• Rationale and Disadvantages
• Conclusion and Questions

3
MANDATE

• Evaluate the Open AA Division at CRCs
• Evaluate the concept of having the NRL
  Championship coincident with the Open AA Division
• Consult with stakeholders
• Provide vision, long term outlook
• Consider marketing, athlete development and
  competitive factors

4
MANDATE ABOUT US

• Members
• George McKenzie, Co-Chair
• Chair, NRL Committee
• Marion Clark, Co-Chair
• National Team Assistant Coach, PEI Athlete and
  Coach
• Jennifer Gaudet
• NRL Player - Ontario
• Karine Seguin
• NRL Player - Quebec
• David Myers
• Executive Director, Ringette Alberta

5
WORK OF TASK FORCE

• Initial Meetings (2)
• Survey deployment (150 responses)
• Survey digestion discussions
• Meeting to develop recommendations
• Meeting to refine recommendations
• Meeting to finalize recommendations

6
THE OPEN AA SURVEY

• Deployed electronically
• Via email to provincial associations and to NRL
  teams
• Over 150 responses
• With an Open AA community of 500, confidence
  interval is 6.7, ideal would be 5
• Deployed in both official languages

7
THE OPEN AA SURVEY

• Results were in Six sections
• General Information
• NRL at the CRCs
• Host Issues
• NRL Championship Tournament
• Cost of the CRCs
• Open AA at Provincials

8
THE OPEN AA SURVEY

• General Information
• 50 were NRL Athletes
• 90 had CRC experience
• 77 like CRCs currently
• Over 80 like the Wild Card system
• 88 think the NRL needs a true national
  champion

9
THE OPEN AA SURVEY

• NRL at the CRCs
• 70 thought there should be 8-10 teams _at_ CRC
• 45 thought there should be provincial reps.
• 42 thought it should be the best teams
  available
• 56 thought it was OK to qualify for CRCs w/o
  playing in the NRL
• Number above dropped to 45 when considering only
  NRL athlete responses

10
THE OPEN AA SURVEY

• Host Issues
• 67 think it is important to have host team
• There is no agreement on how to select the host
  team

11
THE OPEN AA SURVEY

• NRL Championship Tournament
• 44 thought there would be enough interest in
  this tournament
• 89 thought it is important to generate media and
  fan interest in the tournament

12
THE OPEN AA SURVEY

• Cost of the CRCs
• 61 thought the event is just right in terms of
  length
• 28 thought it was too long
• 25 were willing to have fewer teams in order to
  shorten the event
• 53 reported a financial hardship in terms of
  CRCs
• 68 reported a time hardship (work/school) in
  terms of CRCs

13
THE OPEN AA SURVEY

• Open AA Provincials
• 58 thought provincials could be eliminated if
  the NRL replaced Open AA at CRCs
• 23 would welcome this elimination
• If that happened, 76 would favour lengthening
  the NRL schedule
• 74 favoured conference playoffs to replace
  provincials
• Provinces with a 2-3 week gap between
  provincials and CRCs were happiest

14
THE OPEN AA SURVEY

• Overall Lessons
• There is no consensus on this question or even on
  the NRL in general
• There are concerns about the cost of the CRCs
• There is little desire to shorten the week
  significantly
• There are concerns in reference to Atlantic
  provinces
• Shared, includes concerns from non-Atlantic
  respondents

15
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• LTAD
• The LTAD project is ongoing
• Could be some overlap between projects

16
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• NRL Business Plan
• The NRL must work on its second business plan
• The business plan will vary greatly based on this
  decision

17
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• CRC Host Committees
• Hosts would have to book less ice if the NRL
  became the championship, or if the event was
  otherwise shortened
• Scheduling of the event may change
• Impacts on marketing and ticket sales

18
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• The Open Level and Nomenclature
• There is some wide disagreement on what AA
  means
• Many Teams in Open AA would not be able to attend
  CRCs if the NRL became the event

19
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• Media Coverage and Interest
• Media coverage has gone up, reflecting the growth
  of the brand of the NRL lately

20
CORE RECOMMENDATIONS

• Eliminate the Open AA Division
• Replace same with the NRL Championship Tournament
• Ensure a host slot
• Ensure a slot for Atlantic Canada (provincial
  champ or all-star)
• Do this now, in time for 2008 CRCs
• Do not allow NRL teams to have pickups
• Evaluate the change after 1, 3 and 5 years

21
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

• Consider offering Open A at the Westerns/Easterns
• Co-Locate conference playoffs with provincial
  tournaments, to maintain connections with
  grassroots
• Create a two-pool format for the NRL championship
• Each pool would be seeded based on the results
  Conference Play-offs with the host team in one
  pool and an Atlantic Provinces Team in the other.

22
RATIONALE

• Qualifying for CRCs should be a big deal
• Having one Championship at the Open AA level
  gives the League and the Sport more credibility.
• Atlantic would have one slot, the amount they
  used in 2007
• Saskatoon vs Halifax has more media impact than
  SK vs NS
• NRL athletes could then still coach _at_ CRCs
• The CRCs are an elite competition, regardless of
  AA or AAA designation. So is the NRL.

23
DISADVANTAGES

• This is a big change!
• Provinces would no longer be guaranteed a spot at
  CRCs
• Teams would no longer wear the colours of their
  province
• There is no groundswell for this move as yet
• LTAD is ongoing and could require an adjustment,
  especially on Open A recommendations

24
CONCLUSION

• We can lead this change or follow it
• It is believed that this format will further
  improve the Open AA Championship and continue to
  promote Ringette
• This recommendation will help with costs and time
  restrictions
• The CRC-NRL connection has been fruitful and will
  continue to be
• The NRLs growth can help lead Ringettes growth
• One national champion is vastly superior to two

25
OPEN AA AT CRCsREPORT ON THE WORK OF THE OPEN
AA TASK FORCEPRESENTED BY GEORGE McKENZIE, TASK
FORCE CO-CHAIRJUNE 2, 2007