We do not think it is sensible to rely on the usual approach to Nationals 2021. Nonetheless we fully intend to run a club national championships, and to have 2021 National Champions in the Mixed, Women's and Open divisions.
We plan to trial a NEW National Series that will be open to all teams in each of the three divisions - Mixed, Open & Women’s. There will be 4 different components of the National Series, with the culmination of the season being the National Championships event at the end of August.
National Cup
National League
Championship Playoff
National Championships
For the first time ever, we will trial a limited ‘invite only’ National League for a select(*) group of clubs in each division. In 2021, there will be 6 teams in each division so they each play 5 National League games throughout the season across 4 fixture dates from mid-May to July.
We are setting out with the following in mind:
It will provide the opportunity for high level of competitive play for the top teams that would not necessarily be possible at the level of individual, local/regional fixtures
There will be the same number of teams in each division
It will be one of two pathways for teams to qualify to UKU Nationals 2021.
The Cup is another pathway for teams to qualify to the UKU Nationals 2021. It will be run in a series of knockout rounds that will lead to a Playoff round for bids at the Championships. This will be open for ANY team*.
The exact format for each division’s National Cup games will change depending on the number of entries and the number of Championships bids available in that division. However, it can generally be assumed that:
Knockout rounds will ultimately determine two finalists who will compete in a Cup Final, as well as the teams who will compete in the Playoffs against the team(s) relegated from the National League.
There will be some grouped seeding to reduce the chances of the strongest teams playing each other in an early round.
Within each round, games will be drawn, where possible, within the pre-existing North/South regions.
The top 3 teams from the National League, and the 2 Cup finalists will all automatically qualify to the National Finals.
The remaining bids will be resolved in the Championship Playoffs between the 3 teams relegated from the League and the next placing teams in the Cup.
[The PDF of this infographic can be downloaded HERE]
The pinnacle event of the season will be hosted at the University of Nottingham’s Highfields Sports Complex on the bank holiday August weekend (28th-29th August).
There will be 8 teams per division, with qualification through the two pathways as outlined above - the National Cup and the National League. In summary, a number of teams from each pathway will qualify directly to the National Championships, with the remaining spaces to be played for by League and Cup teams in a Championship Playoff round.
There will be a separate entry fee cost to attend Nationals, as in previous years. The team fee is yet to be determined, but it will largely depend on if we need to implement any additional requirements for coronavirus. We expect that the entry fee will be slightly higher than in previous years.
This event will also be the qualifying competition for WUCC 2022.
* The final format of the National Championships weekend will partially be determined by any government event requirements that are in place at the time of the competition. However, we are hoping that the competition will run as a 2-day weekend event. If necessary the competition will be played out over several weeks in August/September.
