TickleMeYandle
Not so fast,
- Dec 19, 2011
- 1,297
- 0
Out of curiosity - how does your league/rink deal with ringers? Or do they?
I haven't been playing all that long (just over a year) but I do have experience playing in several different leagues. And I've seen the issue of ringers come up multiple times, and dealt with (or not) in a variety of ways. It seems like nobody really likes a ringer, unless they're on YOUR team. But if the league wants to keep people coming back and paying money to participate, it makes sense to deal with the issue.
In one league that I'm in, it is specifically a developmental league. They make it very clear up front that it is for beginners, and it's not a typical league where you pick a team and register to play together. Each season the teams are shuffled via a draft, although this is something that did not happen until the most current season. The earlier seasons were very lopsided with one team ending up with the majority of truly new players and another having the more experienced players, and a third team somewhere in the middle. I would not say that ringers are a big problem in this league. There is one player who is very good and could definitely play up a league or two but he plays this league because his son is a brand new skater. Nobody minds him because he is friendly and helpful, but mostly because he tones back during the games - we all know he could take it coast to coast and probably score at will, but he chooses not to because he knows that is not fun for anyone.
Another league that I'm in sometimes tells ringers they can no longer play in that level, sometimes not. We had a guy playing against us last night that was quite obviously at least B level. Even the refs skated by and told us he didn't belong there. And it was quite clear what his role was - get the puck and score a bunch of goals, because the rest of his team wasn't going to be able to do so.
Another league of organized drop-in that I do has lines drawn up and divided into the top line and the slower line. So you're never up against people who are completely out of your league. Sure, you'll have slower and faster people on each line - but at least you're not a D-leaguer playing against A or B level players. Since it's just for fun, even the opposing players will let the real beginners skate with the puck sometimes and take a shot, and it seems to work out fine. I wouldn't say people are ringers here at all.
A fourth league of organized drop-in is less organized than the above; there are rosters set up each day but they aren't particularly even - often we'll end up with 15 against 9, or if it is 10 against 10, the skill levels aren't necessarily similar. Again, since it's not a serious game for the most part, people are pretty cool about not going coast to coast every time they are up against the beginners, etc. There are exceptions - I have played in a game where the same person seemed to make it their goal to take the puck from me any time I got close to it. It didn't matter my position or theirs, I never got to skate even 2 feet with it before it being taken. But this person is that way towards lots of people - not necessarily stripping the puck, but definitely not passing to anyone deemed unworthy and taking long shifts (4-5 minutes). That's just an @sshole thing, not really a 'ringer' thing.
Out of all of these solutions, the 1st and 3rd ones seem to work the best for everyone involved and to be the most fun. You don't end up with people getting frustrated, but beginners still get to play with people who are more advanced and have a chance to improve their game by a bit of a challenge. The 2nd and 4th are the most frustrating, because it often seems that little is done to address problems when they arise. People do get tired of situations where they simply can't win no matter how much effort they put forth, and that pushes people away.
So how do other rinks and leagues deal with the issue? Is it a huge issue, or a minor one? And what is the best solution for these sorts of situations?
I haven't been playing all that long (just over a year) but I do have experience playing in several different leagues. And I've seen the issue of ringers come up multiple times, and dealt with (or not) in a variety of ways. It seems like nobody really likes a ringer, unless they're on YOUR team. But if the league wants to keep people coming back and paying money to participate, it makes sense to deal with the issue.
In one league that I'm in, it is specifically a developmental league. They make it very clear up front that it is for beginners, and it's not a typical league where you pick a team and register to play together. Each season the teams are shuffled via a draft, although this is something that did not happen until the most current season. The earlier seasons were very lopsided with one team ending up with the majority of truly new players and another having the more experienced players, and a third team somewhere in the middle. I would not say that ringers are a big problem in this league. There is one player who is very good and could definitely play up a league or two but he plays this league because his son is a brand new skater. Nobody minds him because he is friendly and helpful, but mostly because he tones back during the games - we all know he could take it coast to coast and probably score at will, but he chooses not to because he knows that is not fun for anyone.
Another league that I'm in sometimes tells ringers they can no longer play in that level, sometimes not. We had a guy playing against us last night that was quite obviously at least B level. Even the refs skated by and told us he didn't belong there. And it was quite clear what his role was - get the puck and score a bunch of goals, because the rest of his team wasn't going to be able to do so.
Another league of organized drop-in that I do has lines drawn up and divided into the top line and the slower line. So you're never up against people who are completely out of your league. Sure, you'll have slower and faster people on each line - but at least you're not a D-leaguer playing against A or B level players. Since it's just for fun, even the opposing players will let the real beginners skate with the puck sometimes and take a shot, and it seems to work out fine. I wouldn't say people are ringers here at all.
A fourth league of organized drop-in is less organized than the above; there are rosters set up each day but they aren't particularly even - often we'll end up with 15 against 9, or if it is 10 against 10, the skill levels aren't necessarily similar. Again, since it's not a serious game for the most part, people are pretty cool about not going coast to coast every time they are up against the beginners, etc. There are exceptions - I have played in a game where the same person seemed to make it their goal to take the puck from me any time I got close to it. It didn't matter my position or theirs, I never got to skate even 2 feet with it before it being taken. But this person is that way towards lots of people - not necessarily stripping the puck, but definitely not passing to anyone deemed unworthy and taking long shifts (4-5 minutes). That's just an @sshole thing, not really a 'ringer' thing.
Out of all of these solutions, the 1st and 3rd ones seem to work the best for everyone involved and to be the most fun. You don't end up with people getting frustrated, but beginners still get to play with people who are more advanced and have a chance to improve their game by a bit of a challenge. The 2nd and 4th are the most frustrating, because it often seems that little is done to address problems when they arise. People do get tired of situations where they simply can't win no matter how much effort they put forth, and that pushes people away.
So how do other rinks and leagues deal with the issue? Is it a huge issue, or a minor one? And what is the best solution for these sorts of situations?