Ranking system for Squash BC and how it works.
www.quick-draws.com

In 2007 Squash BC introduced a new ranking program for the members of Squash BC. Quick Draws is a web based program where you will be able to view your rankings right after the match has been entered. The program is integrated with a league organization program and a tournament draw program which is also web based. When viewing your rankings you will now be able to click on your name and you will be able to see all your wins and losses for up to a year. The points you won and lost will also be displayed. We at Squash BC are very excited about having this program on the web for all to view and it should take a lot of the mystery out of the rankings.

We have not removed any of the criteria or policies for being on the ranking list. We have added one rule that you must be active every four months or you will lose points. See below for the definition of “Inactivity.”

Rankings are one of the most talked about subjects in the squash community. A good percentage of the calls to the Squash BC office are about rankings and these calls are usually passionate. “How do they work,” “what’s wrong with them,” and “why aren’t I ranked higher” are the major topics. The ranking system can be confusing, but only if you do not have the basic picture of how it works. We will endeavor to explain the system below. Before you phone Squash BC to enquire about your ranking, there are a few things you should take into consideration.

1. There is not a conspiracy to keep your ranking low. The ranking program doesn’t care who you are, it uses the same mathematical formula for everybody.
2. You will remember the matches you won against higher ranked players, BUT you also need to remember those losses???
3. Just because you beat somebody once does not necessarily mean you will be placed in front of that person. You must win on a consistent basis, at the higher level, to build up your points and go ahead of somebody.
4. In most cases, when points are gained by one individual, the other is likely to lose points. One of the major complaints about the system is, “why should I LOSE points?” If nobody ever lost any points, we’d all have over a million points. People would be so far apart it would be pointless to keep using it. If you don’t want to lose points, don’t lose matches!

The Rules for the Ranking System:

• To be on any Ranking list, you MUST be a “PAID UP Member of Squash BC by October 31st of each year.” To check your membership status, go to the "SQBC Members Alpha" list and this will tell you whether you are paid up or not.
• To be on the Competitive list we require a minimum of one sanctioned league or tournament match for the Nov. 15th rankings. For the Feb. 1st rankings, a minimum of 2 sanctioned matches and for the May 1st rankings, a minimum of 3 sanctioned matches.
• The first Defaulted Match will be entered as a loss. If the defaulted player is supposed to move on to the next round, the next match will not be counted as a loss. Appeals of defaulted matches must be backed up and verified by Doctors, Lawyers, etc. A note from your mother will not work.
• You will start loosing points for “Inactivity” by not having played a sanctioned match that qualifies for ranking points in four months, (not counting May to September,) and by not playing somebody within your competitive area. Your competitive area means somebody ranked above you or no more then 40 points below you. Anybody below that you should win the match. You can no longer “Protect” your ranking.
• We enter games won or lost IF we receive them.
• We will not change a result after two weeks of being posted.

Explanations on how the Rankings Work:

There are two ways to look at your ranking.

1. The first one is where you stand in relation to the other current individual members in B.C. who, at that time, have met the criteria to be on the active ranking list. In other words, "Your B.C. Ranking". This is usually more important to people ranked in the top 30 positions in the Province. For players ranked from 30th to the end, your position is apt to change dramatically from one posting to another. An example of this might be Joe Blow on Nov. 5th will be ranked in the 145th position, on Nov. 15th he will be 220th, and on Dec. 1st, 375. The reasons for this are that people renew their memberships and play the required number of games at different times, more people meet the criteria later in the season and there are always a number of new members at various levels coming on the system.
2. The second way is the best for most players. THE NUMBER OF RANKING POINTS IS BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURE TO REMEMBER. In Joe Blow's case it is likely that he will find that his ranking “points” did not change throughout that month of November so, in actual fact he did not go down. What happened was that there were 230 people who had more ranking points than Joe that renewed their membership or played matches between the November 5th and December 1st.
   Now that we have determined that it is the ranking points we should be tracking, it is time to talk about gaining or losing points. There are several factors that influence the number of points gained or lost when a qualifying match is played.

The Rating:

• Each event is rated with an "A", "AA", "AAA" or "AAAA" rating. The more "A's" attached to the event, the more important the event and the more ranking points that can be gained or lost. League matches are given an "A" rating.

Upset Win or Loss:

• When an individual defeats another that has more points, it’s called an upset. These kinds of victories or defeats will affect your points to a much greater degree than by defeating an individual with fewer points or losing to an individual with a greater number of points.

Big Upset or Little Upset:

• The number of points separating you and your opponent will have an effect on the number of points gained or lost as well. A person defeating another who has 150 points more will gain a much larger number of points and the person losing would lose more points. This is what we would term a “Bad Loss!” This is what the player who lost would term “a sleepless night!!”

Expected Win or Loss:

• A person defeating another who has fewer points may gain some points or may not gain any. If there are very few points separating them, the winner will gain a few points and the loser will lose a few, but if there are a number of points separating them, the winner is not likely to gain any. (The computer is saying that you were supposed to win anyhow).

Sending in Results:

If the league or tournament you play in do not use the Quick Draw program they will have to send their results to Squash BC in a timely manner. (Within one week of the last match.) Remember that matches are entered into the system in the order they happen. Potentially much can change in the way of points between the first round of a tournament and the final round of the same tournament given the right set of circumstances. If you compare your points to another before an event and then after the event, remember that the other person may have results against additional players that may affect their points. This ranking system is a “head to head” system. It doesn’t matter what side of the draw you’re on, just who you play. The key is whom you play and where they are in relationship to you in points, what the spread in points are and the rating of the event. Here is an example:

• Mary and Joan have the same number of points and they meet each other in the first round of a tournament. Mary wins, thereby increasing Mary's points and decreasing Joan's points. After the tournament is complete and the results have been recorded the two of them look at the rankings and find that Joan has more points. They immediately pick up the phone and phone Squash BC and want to know “how this can happen.” Well, in the consolation, Joan's next match was against a competitor who had way more points than her and she managed to win, thereby gaining points. She lost the following round to someone who had lots more points then her, thereby not losing any points. Meanwhile Mary's next round was against someone with fewer points which she won but did not gain anything from it. She went on to win the finals as well, also against someone with fewer points than her, again not gaining any points. Mary won three expected matches while Joan had one minor unexpected loss and had one major unexpected win. Joan will now probably be slightly ahead of Mary at the end of the tournament on the ranking list.