2021 GB Player of the Month Thread Jul to Dec

TTMan · Intermediate Club Player

RE: 2021 GB Player of the Month Thread Jul to Dec

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Didn't mean to TT, and sorry if I did.
But you had said that "As for this thread, it looks very bad that Jo's title at Nottingham was not recognised" and it was mainly that that I was disagreeing with. For reasons above.

TTMan · Intermediate Club Player

JonH comes home wrote:

Very bad, really?
I have gone back to the June poll, which this seems to be about.
https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t67699851/june-2021-player-of-the-month-poll/
Jo came 3rd but got 4 out of 31 votes cast. Katie got several times as many votes. NO ONE at the time of the poll commented that this looked bad on us or wrote to provide support and the like for Jo.
Which is a shame. I am assuming you and Gameover voted for Jo, TT Man, 2 other folks it seems as well - which is great. I am sorry it looks so bad on the other 27 folks who voted for someone else.

Why would anyone but the bravest, when they know what response it gets?

I entered the fray to give Gameover much needed support but recognise our cause is a lost one on this forum. If you Jon, had lived through the battles Jo's had for recognition throughout her career you might be more understanding. It is though a shame your polls didn't exist when Jo was at her peak.

flamingowings · All-time great

TTMan wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:

Very bad, really?
I have gone back to the June poll, which this seems to be about.
https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t67699851/june-2021-player-of-the-month-poll/
Jo came 3rd but got 4 out of 31 votes cast. Katie got several times as many votes. NO ONE at the time of the poll commented that this looked bad on us or wrote to provide support and the like for Jo.
Which is a shame. I am assuming you and Gameover voted for Jo, TT Man, 2 other folks it seems as well - which is great. I am sorry it looks so bad on the other 27 folks who voted for someone else.
Why would anyone but the bravest, when they know what response it gets?
I entered the fray to give Gameover much needed support but recognise our cause is a lost one on this forum. If you Jon, had lived through the battles Jo's had for recognition throughout her career you might be more understanding. It is though a shame your polls didn't exist when Jo was at her peak.

It's not just up to Jon - anyone on the board could've had this idea or any other ideas and ran with it. It's great that such a poll exists now as it's great fun.

Edited: there could be other polls by other members during the slow period of December. If you've got an idea do make a poll to keep us occupied whilst we eat leftover dinners and go for the quality streets! biggrin

-- Edited by flamingowings on Monday 20th of September 2021 10:10:03 AM

TTMan · Intermediate Club Player

Coup Droit wrote:
Didn't mean to TT, and sorry if I did.
But you had said that "As for this thread, it looks very bad that Jo's title at Nottingham was not recognised" and it was mainly that that I was disagreeing with. For reasons above.

Accepted. As someone said the polls are supposed to be fun but in many cases will mirror individual's regular preferences. Me included.

There are many faults with the poll format, which is fine given its "just a bit of fun". But it was perhaps unfortunate that Jo's significant success of the year coincided with other significant successes and I don't think Cam, either, got top votes in the month of his maiden title achievement? In any case, as Gameover said, we know who will be player of the year and there is no denying, Jo has had a torrid 2021 with injury and illness.

I also agree that GB's many doubles and wheelchair successes have, in general, been under appreciated.

brittak · Pro player

Please folks, this seems to be getting out of hand. We should all be in a positive space right now given the last few weeks and not arguing about something that is meant to be a bit of fun.

Jon has put huge amounts of work into setting up and organising these monthly polls and this negativity is not fair to him. I am sure he is not doing them for the benefit of his health but from things he has said he enjoys doing them and has encouraged all of us to get involved as well. So please can we enjoy them for what they are and move forward.

Thank you

Jan · Hall of fame

brittak wrote:
Please folks, this seems to be getting out of hand. We should all be in a positive space right now given the last few weeks and not arguing about something that is meant to be a bit of fun.

Jon has put huge amounts of work into setting up and organising these monthly polls and this negativity is not fair to him. I am sure he is not doing them for the benefit of his health but from things he has said he enjoys doing them and has encouraged all of us to get involved as well. So please can we enjoy them for what they are and move forward.

Thank you

This. Thanks!

indiana · Tennis legend

TTMan wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
Didn't mean to TT, and sorry if I did.
But you had said that "As for this thread, it looks very bad that Jo's title at Nottingham was not recognised" and it was mainly that that I was disagreeing with. For reasons above.
Accepted. As someone said the polls are supposed to be fun but in many cases will mirror individual's regular preferences. Me included.
There are many faults with the poll format, which is fine given its "just a bit of fun". But it was perhaps unfortunate that Jo's significant success of the year coincided with other significant successes and I don't think Cam, either, got top votes in the month of his maiden title achievement? In any case, as Gameover said, we know who will be player of the year and there is no denying, Jo has had a torrid 2021 with injury and illness.
I also agree that GB's many doubles and wheelchair successes have, in general, been under appreciated.

IMO there are certainly not many faults with the poll format. In fact I wouldn't say anything is a "fault". I'd guess that at most for most people here they might do minor things slightly differently but that would just be individual particular choice.

To me, it is very fit for its purpose of allowing folk to vote for their PoMs and PoS for this year, 2021.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Hey, guys, its fine - I am not in an upset space over it; and am quite cool generally. Let's move on as said.

One thing though - and this is not defensive - it is mentioned that there are many faults with the poll format. I am keen to ensure we learn and develop as I do want this to be authentic. If there are any suggestions on how to improve it, please, please do shout - we have adapted and tweaked before and can again if the adaptations make sense.

Some observations:

Poll limitations - we are limited to just being able to vote for one's favourite/winner etc ie one vote only. Can't change that without going away from a poll. Which I dont think we should - narrative comments wouldnt work

Poll structure - we have changed from having "groups" and "rounds" in the polls to one single poll, using the 50% threshold. I think the latter works better for Player of the Month but can always adjust and amend.

Nominations process - people put names forward as the month progresses; I prefer this as it allows us all to have a say and we all see different things, with no set criteria as to how someone gets on the nominations list. Does this work. e.g I tend to champion the disability players, they generally dont get many votes as others dont necessarily give their achievements the same weight, but at least they always get recognised as a group in our sport

Regularity - I do it monthly as it makes sense in terms of rhythm; it fits in with how we all generally see the progress of a season. We could change this and make it weekly, quarterly, but monthly seems to fit (and is good in terms of managing the workload!)

As for Player of the Season

I set out some criteria on how people get on the list - 1) Winning PoM or being RU - rewarding those who have done well in our monthly polls and also keeping a clear link between PoM and Pos 2) being number one in a category or other - ensuring recognition of our number ones 3) Winning 6 or more tournies - 6 is arbitrary but importantly it tends to favour those playing wheelchair, juniors or doubles and ensuring we get some of those players into the mix 4) getting 6 or more nominations for PoM per annum - some players regularly do well without winning big in a given month, and this is designed to recognise that...

As for player of the season vote - I am conscious there is a very clear favourite - I am also keen to ensure we have a vote and the winner actually, well, wins. So the player of the season vote will be designed to honour that plus allow us to have a say on all the players who qualify. It is 21 players long at the moment, as a list, but it could be more - lets say it ends as 24. My plan would be to split the players into groups of say 6, from those 4 groups ensure that 3 go through to a semi stage of 12; 2 more groups of 6 and then a final 6...

That isnt a firm plan but will allow us to have some voting, ensure it isnt a coronation, hopefully allow us to see who gets a podium place if there is a clear cut winner, and also ensure anyone grouped with firm favourite early on can still find a way of getting through into the latter stages, possibly.

Any amendments or suggestions to any of the above welcomed!

-- Edited by JonH comes home on Monday 20th of September 2021 10:32:21 AM

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

TTMan wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:

Very bad, really?
I have gone back to the June poll, which this seems to be about.
https://britishtennis.activeboard.com/t67699851/june-2021-player-of-the-month-poll/
Jo came 3rd but got 4 out of 31 votes cast. Katie got several times as many votes. NO ONE at the time of the poll commented that this looked bad on us or wrote to provide support and the like for Jo.
Which is a shame. I am assuming you and Gameover voted for Jo, TT Man, 2 other folks it seems as well - which is great. I am sorry it looks so bad on the other 27 folks who voted for someone else.
Why would anyone but the bravest, when they know what response it gets?
I entered the fray to give Gameover much needed support but recognise our cause is a lost one on this forum. If you Jon, had lived through the battles Jo's had for recognition throughout her career you might be more understanding. It is though a shame your polls didn't exist when Jo was at her peak.

Hey TTMan. We generally have a different view on Jo, and that is fine. I have said before I like her and support her, but we will always differ on this I think.

As for no polls existing when Jo was at her peak - possibly, yes. I dont think I was aware of this board in that period so couldnt have done a poll at that time, if I was around the board in some way, I certainly hadnt had the idea! The idea came to me when looking at an old embryonic thread for it (which never took off) and which I then adapted the idea from and ran with it.

TTMan · Intermediate Club Player

brittak wrote:
Please folks, this seems to be getting out of hand. We should all be in a positive space right now given the last few weeks and not arguing about something that is meant to be a bit of fun.

Jon has put huge amounts of work into setting up and organising these monthly polls and this negativity is not fair to him. I am sure he is not doing them for the benefit of his health but from things he has said he enjoys doing them and has encouraged all of us to get involved as well. So please can we enjoy them for what they are and move forward.

Thank you

Couldn't agree more, it always does??? C'est la vie!!!

indiana · Tennis legend

TTMan wrote:
brittak wrote:
Please folks, this seems to be getting out of hand. We should all be in a positive space right now given the last few weeks and not arguing about something that is meant to be a bit of fun.

Jon has put huge amounts of work into setting up and organising these monthly polls and this negativity is not fair to him. I am sure he is not doing them for the benefit of his health but from things he has said he enjoys doing them and has encouraged all of us to get involved as well. So please can we enjoy them for what they are and move forward.

Thank you
Couldn't agree more, it always does??? C'est la vie!!!

Did you write that with a straight face, TTMan? biggrin

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 20th of September 2021 10:53:51 AM

flamingowings · All-time great

I think if/when Jo retires we could have a nice separate thread for her so we can speak of our favourite Jo related memories. I think would be quite nice?

TTMan · Intermediate Club Player

Hey TTMan. We generally have a different view on Jo, and that is fine. I have said before I like her and support her, but we will always differ on this I think.
As for no polls existing when Jo was at her peak - possibly, yes. I dont think I was aware of this board in that period so couldnt have done a poll at that time, if I was around the board in some way, I certainly hadnt had the idea! The idea came to me when looking at an old embryonic thread for it (which never took off) and which I then adapted the idea from and ran with it.

Wasn't a criticism just a simple observation. I do appreciate the effort involved on your part in running the polls.

TTMan · Intermediate Club Player

flamingowings wrote:
I think if/when Jo retires we could have a nice separate thread for her so we can speak of our favourite Jo related memories. I think would be quite nice?

Nice idea. Same for Andy I think?