ACADEMY LEAGUE - DIVISION RULES

 

SIM SPEEDWAY FORUM

 

1. The forum is seen as a marker for your management skills, a 'media outlet', things you would normally send to the local press, or say on local radio etc. Anything you post on here is read by the NSSPA. While it is not compulsory to use the forum and post, the NSSPA gives benefits to clubs for regular and good posts. These can be anything from a crowd increase due to good advertising and / or improving your riders form when a post count is taken at the two GSA in season and end of season changes. As in life the more you put in, the same in Sim Speedway, the more you get out of it.

   

MISSED TACTICS

 

We are all aware that a holiday, no internet or an unexpected situation will give us times when a manager misses out, providing you advise early we may understand your predicament, or sometimes just forget to do so, we do our best to send out reminders to managers, often without a response.

SO EVERY MANAGER WILL GET ONE STRIKE EACH before the FINES kicks in.

We will be keeping a chart on the FORUM which will be updated with each failure to submit your tactics. This is twofold it gives us and the offending managers the realism of the situation.

As always we are available to help if you are struggling to post your teams and tactics, but will not continue the practice, unless you have a real reason for us to do so.

THE FINES WILL BE (for each occasion apart from the first time you miss tactics)

UL - £4.5k

PL - £3.5k

XXL - £2.5k

AL - £1.5k

COMPETITIONS - RULES & FORMAT

1. As mentioned in the main Sim Speedway rules, the NSSPA will stage a League championship, a knock out cup, a pair’s tournament, a fours tournament & a three team tournament. There will also be a Academy League rider’s championship held, the rules and format for each are as follows.

 

League Championship
all teams will play all the other teams twice over the season, once at home and once away. In each meeting teams will score 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and no points for a loss. The team scoring the highest aggregate score over the two legs will gain a bonus point, in the event of a tie; there will be a run off held comprising of the top scoring rider from each side, the winner of that race takes the bonus point for their team. The prizes for the League Championship are as follows: the winners get £15,000 Sim money, the runners up get £10,000 Sim money, the third place team get £4,000 Sim money and the fourth place team get £2,000 Sim money.

 

Knockout Cup
All 10 teams will be entered into the KO Cup, although only 4 will take part in the first round, the two winners of the first round ties will go through to join the other 6 for the quarter finals. All rounds are played home and away, with the team having the highest aggregate score progressing to the next round, in the event of a tie, there will be a run off held comprising of the top scoring rider from each side, the winner of that race takes their team into the next round. Teams in the first round gain amnesty from the first round the following season as long as they are in the same division. The prizes for the Knockout Cup are as follows: the winners get £10,000 Sim money, the runners up get £6,000 Sim money and the two losing semi finalists get £3,000 Sim money.

 

Pairs Tournament
Only 8 teams will be allowed into the Pairs event and this will be decided on the rider averages after the second average change, the top two riders from each team will have their averages added together and the 8 highest will qualify for the one off event. The event itself will be a 28 heat spectacular with all 8 teams involved and all riding against each other, each rider having 7 rides on the day. Managers name their top two riders in any order, plus one other rider to act as a reserve in case of injuries - no reserve replacements are allowed for 2 minute or tape infringements, they result in exclusion from the heat. The Pairs Tournament will be held at a neutral track. The prizes for the Pairs Tournament are as follows: the winners get £8,000 Sim money, the runners up get £4,000 Sim money, the third place team get £2,500 Sim money and the fourth place team get £1,500 Sim money. 5th to 8th get £1,000 for qualifying.

Four Team Tournament
ALL 10 teams will be allowed into the Four Team tournament. Teams must be submitted to the NSSPA one week before the event, a manager can choose any 4 riders from his team, plus one other rider to act as reserve in case of injury.
The NSSPA have calculated out the top 4 riders in each team after the recent GSA change, the FOUR lowest averaged clubs will contest a Qualifying Round with the TOP TWO TEAMS moving into the group stages.  The Qualifying Round and each GROUP will consist of 8 heats with each rider getting to ride in 2 heats, with the top TWO TEAMS from each GROUP contesting the GRAND FINAL which will be a 12 heat event, where each rider will get to ride in 3 heats. The Four Team Tournament will be held at a neutral track. The prizes for the Four Team Tournament are as follows: the winners get £8,000 Sim money, the runners up get £6,000 Sim money, the third place team get £3,000 Sim money and the fourth place team get £1,500 Sim money. 5th to 8th get £1,000 for qualifying.

 

Academy League Riders Championship
this will be a one off event for 16 riders, the top rider from each team will automatically qualify, and the other 6 will be the highest riders in the averages who have not already qualified for the event. The Riders Championship will be held at a neutral track. No prize money is awarded to clubs for this tournament.

 

 

RIDER ELIGIBILITY

1.   The Academy League is different to the other leagues where it allows ONLY ONE overseas rider to ride in the competition.

The overseas rider will be named in the squad at the start of the season, overseas rider will come in on a 6.00 starting average, any rider who fails to achieve his starting average will have to go back HOME, any club losing a rider who moves onto the PL or fails to meet his average will have the opportunity to sign an overseas rider in the next season.

Otherwise the riders will remain an asset of the club. The only other nationalities allowed are English, Scottish, Irish & Welsh, riders who hold dual nationality as long as one of the nationalities is one previously mentioned, or those who have full British Citizenship, as the AL is set up as a place predominantly for young British riders to gain full speedway team racing experience.

 

  2. There is no upper age limit, but we do have a minimum age limit for riders in the Academy League and this is 15 years old, although any exceptional 14 year old riders from the Juvenile Jaunt may be allowed to ride as guests, this would be at the NSSPA's discretion.

 

COACH

1. Each team is allocated a coach, the main functions of the coach is to pass on their experience to the other riders and to give the manager their opinion when asked for.

 

2. The coach can provide a manager with valuable feedback on the riders in the team through the season, twice a season a manager can request a coach report on up to TWO riders, and this must be requested by the manager and will not happen automatically.

 

3. The manager may request the coach to look at a rider he has invited to the track to have a try-out, the coach will then report on the rider to the manager. If the rider is not an asset of any club, the manager can invite the rider by informing the NSSPA, if the rider is an asset of another club, then the manager must obtain the permission of the riders club before inviting the rider. This can only be done two times a season in total.

 

4. There has been a noticeable decrease it the use of our Team coaches, there is provision in the Sim rules for our managers to use the coaches to assist under performing riders. The coach can work one to one with riders to help them improve their form and possibly increase their average. This is something the coaches can do twice in the season.  

 

Any requests for this need to be made to the NSSPA, the coach will make a small charge for his services in the AL it is £1,000, the XXL its £1500 in the EL, the PL £2,000 and in the UL managers and coaches would be extremely desperate to use this function for which the charge would be £3,500.

 

The coaches will assess the rider and pick on weaknesses and over a three day period work with the rider to improve his technical ability. As a consequence the rider may not improve, could improve his performance by 0.1 of a point, to 0.6 in some cases where the coach has implemented some training and ironed out an obvious problem area, a massive improvement is seen.

The charges set out above will be taken for any such request which has to go through the NSSPA.

 

TEAM BUILDING

 

1. General Academy League team building rules in Sim Speedway are as follows:

 

Teams built to 42.50 point average GSA, with a minimum limit of 41.00 point average GSA at the start of the season. After the first GSA change this rises to 45.00 with a minimum of 43.50, but any excesses to the 45.00 points have been earned and are kept (example team GSA 45.78 is the new high for team building purposes)

 

Top averaged rider in the team to ride at position 1
Bottom two riders in the averages to ride at positions 6 & 7 (if two riders have like averages, then the one nominated at reserve must race there until the next GSA changes and team re-dedication takes place).

The other four riders to ride at positions 2, 3, 4 & 5 at the manager’s discretion

Teams must include at least one rider from the previous seasons Juvenile Jaunt

Any rider who did not ride for the entire previous season is eligible for a 5% discount in their average. 

 

AVERAGE CONVERSION BETWEEN LEAGUES

 

1. Average conversion between the Leagues will work as follows:

Academy League to:

	UL	PL	NEW	AL	Euro 1	Euro 2
UL	x100%	x125%	x156%	x195%	x111%	x174%
PL	x80%	x100%	x125%	x156%	x89%	x139%
NEW	x64%	x80%	x100%	x125%	x71%	x111%
AL	x51%	x64%	x80%	x100%	x57%	x89%
Euro 1	x90%	x113%	x141%	x176%	x100%	x156%
Euro 2	x58%	x72%	x90%	x113%	x64%	x100%

The good news is the Transfer lists will already be calculated for you.

 

Exceptions to this rule are detailed below.

 

1.   No riders who gained an average of over 9.50 in the previous season are allowed to ride in the Academy League, they must move up to any of the Leagues above where their Academy League CMA fits.

 

2.      Any other rider whose average suits can still go up to any other league so long as the average converts.

 The AL average will take precedence, so if 3 riders in one team come in on (say) 4.00 averages; the one with the top average from the AL will ride in the main body of the team.

 

3. A rider from the Evolution League failing to achieve his assessed 3.00 point average may only drop down to the Academy league. He will drop down on an assessed 3.75 point average. Even if the rider is averaging 2.00 points, he must still drop down on a minimum point’s level of 3.75 to the Academy League.

 

RIDER STATUS AT THE START OF THE SEASON

  1. At the start of each season, riders will give teams an indication of their plans for the upcoming season, as follows:

 Riders listed under Squad Riders Section

Teams will be allocated a maximum of 4 riders from last season’s squad who have indicated that they wish to stay with the club, along with any riders signed late in the previous season who were bought in for the following season, but who did not ride for the team they were bought by, other than as a guest, or riders returning from loan from other teams. For the first week of team building they are open to receiving contracts from that club only. If they do not receive a contract in this time, they may look at other options.

 

Riders listed under Other Assets as "Open to Offers"

Riders who are listed as Open to Offers will appear on the transfer list also, they may stay at the club, or they may move on. Managers interested in a rider who is Open to Offers (including their parent club) must send their offer for the rider to the NSSPA only, not to the parent club. Out of courtesy, the NSSPA will

inform the club that their rider has received another offer. It will then be up to the rider to decide whether to stay or go, this will be decided at the end of the weekly transfer window. The parent club must set an acceptable value for the rider before transfer window 1 closes, or the NSSPA will set the value.

 

Riders listed under Other Assets as "Wants to move on ..."

These riders have decided to make a break from the club they are at, for various reasons. If managers are desperate to keep them, they may try and persuade them but the chances are quite slim that they will change their mind. These rides will appear on the transfer list and any offers for these riders must again come to the NSSPA, but can be discussed directly with the selling club first, the buying and selling club can then just confirm the transfer to the NSSPA. The parent club must set an acceptable value for the rider before transfer window 1 closes, or the NSSPA will set the value.

 

Riders listed under Other Assets as "Wants to go on loan to ...."

These riders have decided to stay with their parent club as an asset, but want to go on loan to another club, whether in the same division or another division, this will be indicated in their status. These rides will appear on the transfer list and any offers for these riders must again come to the NSSPA, but can be discussed directly with the loaning club first, the two clubs can then just confirm the loan to the NSSPA. The parent club must set an acceptable loan value for the rider before transfer window 1 closes, or the NSSPA will set the value.

 

 

SIGNING OF RIDERS

2. The transfer market will open as soon as possible once the previous season is finished - and will be open as long as clubs need riders, the bidding window is continuous with daily updates. Managers can only MAKE ONE BID A DAY for NSSPA riders and use the transfer forms as normal with bids & proposals being analysed daily.

3. Each NSSPA and Overseas rider will have a price next to them, this is the value of the rider and any interested clubs must meet this value and this value only (bids above or below will be rejected). For riders for sale from other clubs, managers are always free to negotiate.

 

4. All riders must be signed to new contracts (all contracts in Sim Speedway are for 1 season) and you must agree new terms (points money, signing on fee) with them.

5. When making an offer for a rider, you must tell us ALL the following information:

 

a) How much you are offering the rider as a signing on fee
b) How much you are willing to pay the rider per point, also take into account if he moves up or down the team, so an offer of points money for top average in the team (position 1), 2nd - 5th average in the team (positions 2 - 5) & reserve (positions 6 & 7) is needed.
c) The minimum pay per point in the Academy League is as follows:

 

Top average rider - £45 per point
Riders 2nd - 5th in the averages - £40 per point
Reserve riders - £35 per point

 

d) Anything else you consider relevant to offer the rider, but mainly why he should sign for your team instead of the rest.

 

You are making a proposal to the rider and selling your club to him, much like what happens in real speedway.

 

6. You may at any time during team building, or during the season drop riders, but any rider dropped is immediately placed on the transfer list for outright sale or loan. For any rider who is dropped, the manager must make every effort to make sure they do their best to find the rider another club. You can also release riders from your squad at any time you wish, but you must pay them 33% of their value as severance for terminating their contract.

 

7. If you wish to sell or loan a rider, then please let the NSSPA know and they will place him on the transfer list, it is then up to the manager to 'advertise' the rider for sale. The riders value can be set by the selling manager although must be cleared with the NSSPA first to prevent overly high or low values.

 

8. Academy League clubs only option for overseas riders is at the start of the season when the NSSPA draft a rider into the team into the team, or if that rider was an asset in the previous season and his CMA still fits the AL criteria. Any foreign rider coming into the Academy League starts on an 8 point CMA.

DOUBLING UP

 

1. Sim Speedway allows riders to double up from the Juvenile Jaunt to the Academy League. Each team may have 2 or more riders doubling up with them, but they must share 1 team place. Managers must make every effort to share the meetings between their double up riders. Double up riders are NOT permitted at the start of the season, only to replace an injured rider, or to replace a rider who has been dropped due to poor form.

 

2. The rider’s parent club, the club he is an asset of will have first call on the rider’s services and the team wishing to use him must make the agreement with the team as well as the rider. The rider MUST be an asset of the lower league team, otherwise this would be doubling down, which is NOT allowed, the only exception is that any other League manager loaning a rider to the Academy League can use him as a double up rider, but the Academy League team will have first call on his services.

 

3. The club the rider is an asset of may cancel the agreement (with a valid reason) by giving the NSSPA and the club the rider is doubling up with, two weeks’ notice.

 

4. The rider doubling up will be allocated an average in accordance with the average conversion rules above.

 

5. The cost to use a double up rider is £1,000, and this is payable to the lower division team, although this is not paid if the rider is an asset of the higher team and on loan to the lower division team.

  

 

GAME PLAY - MANAGER OPTIONS OF CHANGES TO SCHEDULED HEATS

 

1. Sim Speedway do not allow any kind of tactical ride or tactical substitute for double points, however, we do allow tactical substitutes to be used for normal points, with the following conditions.

a) Only three tactical subs per team in any one meeting
b) No tactical subs allowed until after heat 7
c) Tactical subs can only be used when a team is 8 or more points down

 

2. All riders in the 1 - 7, regardless of score are eligible to ride in heat 15.

 

3. Riders missing the 2 minutes in Sim Speedway do NOT have the option of going off 15 metres; they must be replaced by a reserve.

 

4. Reserves are eligible to replace any rider in the team, after heat 7, no changes are allowed until this point, and the only exception to this is changes for an injury. Each rider must take a minimum of 3 rides (unless injured) and a maximum of 7 rides.

 

 

 

INJURIES, GUESTS & RIDER REPLACEMENT

 

1. Injuries are part of Sim Speedway. If your rider is injured in a meeting you will be informed of the number of weeks he will miss and you must arrange cover for that rider.

 

Some injuries will carry a mandatory period out of the side, however for certain longer term injuries, the NSSPA will place the range of weeks the rider is likely to miss on the site; it is up to the manager to inform the NSSPA when he wishes to bring the rider back. If the rider returns early this could increase the likelihood of him being injured again, also he may not be 100% fit which may affect his performance. It is down to the manager’s discretion if he wishes to take the risk.

2. Two options are available to cover injured riders, guests and rider replacement. The table below summarises your options depending on which rider in your team is injured:

 

Rider Position	Guest	Rider Replacement
Top two riders in averages	Yes	Yes
Riders 3rd - 5th in averages	No	Yes
Either reserve	Yes	No

 

The rules below give details as to your options regarding guests and rider replacement.

 

3. Guests for reserve riders will run as follows:

 

If your top average reserve is injured you may select any rider from the Academy League not exceeding 6.00 points to guest for you, if your lower average reserve is injured then you may select any Juvenile Jaunt rider (from your area) or any rider off transfer list whose CMA fits the criteria.

The rider coming in can technically have an average higher than the rider he is replacing. If both riders at reserve have the same average then the manager can select any rider from the Academy League to guest. You can also use any eligible rider from the transfer lists to guest.

 

4. Guests for the top two riders in the averages will run as follows:

 

Any top two average rider injured must be replaced with another rider from the Power League who has an average the same or less than the rider he is replacing. You can also use any eligible rider from the transfer lists to guest.

 

5. Rider replacement for any eligible injured rider works as follows:

Any rider below the injured rider in the averages and the one rider immediately above him in the averages can cover his rides. Reserves can take as many rides as necessary as long as they don't take more than the maximum of 7.

 

6. To use a guest, you must contact the NSSPA stating three riders who you would like to use. The NSSPA will then confirm availability of those riders and give you the choice of the available ones. If none of the riders you select are available, then the NSSPA will allocate you a guest rider. Be realistic in choosing guests, taking into account where they are riding for their own team on the same round of meetings, the closer they are to where you want them to ride, the more chance they will accept the booking.

 

All riders in Sim Speedway can be used as guests (including riders on any of the transfer lists) by other managers unless you specifically say at the start that you do not wish your riders to guest.

 

There is no cost for guest riders in Sim Speedway, other than points payment - the rider coming in receives the same points money as the rider he is replacing.

 

7. If a team has more than 1 rider injured, then the following comes into effect:

 

INJURY	SOLUTION
Both reserves injured	Both riders replaced by guests
1 reserve and 1 rider 3rd - 5th in averages injured	Guest for reserve, rider replacement for rider 3rd - 5th
2 riders 3rd - 5th in averages injured	Guest for lowest average rider, rider replacement for the other
1 rider 3rd - 5th in averages, 1 top two average rider injured	Guest for heat leader, rider replacement for rider 3rd - 5th
Both top two average riders injured	Guest for both, or guest for one and rider replacement for the other

Both top two average riders injured

Guest for both, or guest for one and rider replacement for the other

 

 

 

 

AVERAGES

 

1. Averages will be calculated every 6 meetings during the Sim Speedway season, this will be three times a season, although the last average will be gained in the last meeting and will be the riders next season average. A rider must have completed at least 6 meetings to get an average. Guest scores do not count towards averages nor do pairs, fours, individual rider championship or any KO cup scores– averages are only counted on league meetings.

 

2. After each average change, we have a week’s downtime to give mangers the opportunity to make any changes, during this week ALL managers will have to re-declare their new line up even if they have NO CHANGES.

 

 

 

PROMOTION / RELEGATION

 

1. The top three teams from the Academy League will be promoted to the Ultimate League, conversely the bottom three teams in the XX League at the end of the season will be relegated to the Academy League.

  

FINANCES

 

1. Each team pays their own riders, regardless of being home or away, so be careful what you offer each rider for points money, also be very careful when you spend your money as it will go up significantly after a home meeting, but

that profit will have to pay your riders when they are away from home, when you have no income.

 

2. Each team starts with the cash they finished the previous Sim Speedway season with, in addition to this cash they will also receive a cash boost from the club sponsors, and this will be £5,000 or more.

 

3. Other costs in the Sim Speedway game this year for the Academy League are:

Insurance, this costs £250 per HOME meeting
Medical cover, this costs £350 per HOME meeting
Stadium upkeep, and this costs £400 per HOME meeting

 

4. Income generators in the Sim Speedway game this year for the Academy League are as follows:

 

Bar takings, Fast Food takings, Track shop takings

 

Bar, Food & track shop are all worked out as an average spend depending on the size of your crowd.

 

5. Attendance figures, these will be published for every home meeting you have and will be affected by:

 

Normal home support
Local rivalry (bigger crowds for closer opponents)
Game rivalry (teams who have built up a game rivalry)
Travelling fans support (if your opponents are doing poorly, then this will be reduced, also if the fans have to travel a long way then this will impact on numbers too)
How well your team are doing
How good your facilities are
In the Academy league, each person will be deemed to spend on average £10.50 to gain entrance to your ground, so a crowd of 1000 people will generate £10,500 gate income.

6. Travel to an away meeting in the Academy League costs £525 (£75 per rider)

 

7. If a team goes into the red (debt) and the NSSPA feel that they cannot trade their way out of that debt by the end of the season then it will have a rider placed on the transfer list, the rider will be chosen by the NSSPA but the riders value will be enough to bring the team into the black (out of debt). You may appeal against the rider chosen, or you may appeal against this decision if you feel you have exceptional circumstances, and can prove you have a way to recoup the money.

 

For repeated poor financial management, we reserve the right to sack the manager and / or relegate the team to a lower division where we feel it can operate within its means. We have to say that this has never happened in Sim Speedway, and we hope it stays that way!

STADIA IMPROVEMENT COSTS

 

1. We now have an NSSPA fund set up to help managers pay for their stadium upgrades, you can request to take a loan from the NSSPA to pay for stadium upgrades and pay it off over a period of weeks to suit both, interest will be paid on the loan and although this is negotiable, it is usually around 20%.

 

If you borrow £10,000 from the NSSPA, your total repayments could be £12,000 but you could pay this back over 6 weeks at £2,000 per week.

 

To use this facility, simply contact the NSSPA detailing your requirements. Loans are ONLY available for stadia upgrades.

 

2. The following are costs for Stadia improvements in the Academy League :

 

Stadia Capacity Expansion

 

To expand capacity by 500 seats costs £6,000
To expand capacity by 250 seats costs £3,500
To expand capacity by 500 standing places costs £5,000
To expand capacity by 250 standing places costs £3,000

 

Car Parking

 

To expand car park by 50 cars costs £2,000

 

Safety Fence

 

The cost to upgrade from wooden boards, chain link fence or a collapsible panel fence to an Air Fence is £20,000
The cost to upgrade from wooden boards or chain link fence to a collapsible panel fence is £8,000

 

EACH SEASON IN WEEK 17 - The NSSPA Inspection Team test and make repairs to your fences for a fixed £1.5k FEE.

 

Medical Equipment

 

To keep your medical room stacked with the latest medical equipment in the Academy League costs £1,500 per season. This is deducted at the start of the season.

 

 

Stadia Facilities

 

The following tables indicate the costs to build or improve your facilities for other stadia items, the left hand side shows your current status of the item, and across the top is your upgrade options, the rest of the table shows the costs to upgrade.

 

 

Presentation / Centre Green

 

 

 

Toilets

 

 

 

 

 

Sponsors Lounge

 

 

 

Track

 

 

 

Track Lighting

 

 

 

Changing Rooms

 

 

 

Pits

 

	Below Avg	Average	Above Avg	Good	Excellent
Poor	£2,000	£4,000	£6,000	£8,000	£10,000
Below Avg		£3,000	£5,000	£7,000	£9,000
Average			£4,000	£6,000	£8,000
Above Avg				£5,000	£7,000
Good					£6,000

 

 

Medical Room

 

	Below Avg	Average	Above Avg	Good	Excellent
None	£4,000	£6,000	£8,000	£10,000	£12,000
Below Avg		£4,000	£6,000	£8,000	£10,000
Average			£5,000	£7,000	£9,000
Above Avg				£6,000	£8,000
Good					£7,000

 

 

Ambulances

 

	Below Avg	Average	Above Avg	Good	Excellent
Poor	£2,000	£4,000	£6,000	£8,000	£10,000
Below Avg		£3,000	£5,000	£7,000	£9,000
Average			£4,000	£6,000	£8,000
Above Avg				£5,000	£7,000
Good					£6,000