Let’s Talk Ratings: Preparing for the 2018-2019 Tournament Season

A message from Lyndee Whitten and Eric Beausoleil, MSVBA Women’s and Men’s Ratings Committee Chairs

As the 2018-2019 MSVBA tournament season approaches, we’d like to take a moment to discuss a few rating-related topics with our membership. Our entire system is based upon individual player ratings, and needless to day, this is important information for all MSVBA members to be aware of.

MSVBA has two Ratings Committees; one for male and one for female players. Each Committee member (Rater) is asked to have a general awareness of our MSVBA membership. They make an effort to observe current and potential players across many different forums, so they can provide feedback during player rating reviews. Raters are NOT expected to constantly watch and evaluate players, not even during their off-matches at a tournament. This is a volunteer position, and their rating duties should not detract from their own tournament day experience. That said, you will often find Raters using their free time to observe players in action, and some they even travel to tournaments they aren’t even playing in to assist with evaluations and ensure each member receives the attention and consideration they deserve. Rating Committee members are listed in the About MSVBA area of the website home page, in the Committees section. We try to keep this as current as possible.

So, what IS the protocol on tournament day?  We start the day with a list of players we would like to observe – this is sometimes called the “Watch List”. This list includes new players who are playing in their first MSVBA tournament (and need to have their captain-assigned rating approved; see The “new player” question: how do they get a rating? section below) as well as any player we think is close to a rating change. As we have time throughout the day, we will watch these particular players and confer. We are not reviewing every single player at every tournament, so please don’t think that each player’s rating at that tournament has our current “blessing”. That would take up all of our extra time, and we should be allowed to focus on our own games and take time to socialize! A hyper-focus on ratings all the time would result in some very burnt-out volunteers; if  you let that happen, you’re definitely doing it wrong!

So let’s work together!

We rely on you, our membership, to help identify inconsistencies and bring it to our attention! At a tournament, any MSVBA member can use the MSVBA Rating Recommendations Sheet to do just that. This sheet can be found on the score tables or sometimes the TD table. The term “written up” is used a lot when it comes to ratings, and really, all this means is that someone has added a player’s name to the sheet (they might be recommending a up-rate OR a down-rate).

Please help us by adding details to the MSVBA Rating Recommendations Sheet:

• Complete the entire row, giving a letter rating for each skill.
• Also add a comment – we read those!
• We also appreciate if you sign your name. Others may also sign next to your recommendation, including Raters!

Please know that we review every single player who gets added to the sheet. Our reviews are impartial and we adhere strictly to the Ratings Worksheet. This calculator is always available on the MSVBA website, under the Rating Changes tab. 

If you have a player in mind but can’t make it to a tournament, that’s okay! Contact Lyndee or Eric, or any Ratings Committee member, and request a rating review. These requests are never denied, although we may ask for more detail/reasoning. You may request a review for yourself or for someone else at any time, for either an increase or decrease in rating.

The “new player” question: how do they get a rating?

We all want to see MSVBA grow its membership, and that means bringing new players into the fold. All tournaments have a designated level (see MSVBA Rules), and all teams must not exceed the number of points allowed for that level. So, what do you do when a new player doesn’t yet have an MSVBA rating?

In this scenario, the Rating Committees will NOT make a ruling ahead of time. As such, please understand it is the team captain’s responsibility to initially assign an appropriate rating for new players when entering a tournament. Captains can use the Ratings Worksheet tool on this website to help decide where a new player lands. We also encourage captains to talk to Raters and other veteran players ahead of time; they can help you make a “best guess” as to the player’s proper rating. 
After utilizing the above-suggested resources, the captain should go ahead and list their “best guess” rating on their team roster. Be aware: this is non-binding. The player will still be eligible for a “spot-rate” during the tournament.

Important: Some players are easy to guess a rating for; however, some players may seem to fall between rating levels. If that’s the case, we suggest you bring them in at the lower rating but leave a point available on your team in case the player gets spot rated.  If you try to sandbag the system by giving your new player a rating that is lower than their skills indicate, do not be surprised if they get spot-rated. Unfortunately, there may be undesirable consequences: if your team was already maxed out on points, this will disqualify your team from playoffs.

Parting words…

The point we’d like to leave you with is this: MSVBA is a non-profit, and just as all board members serve as volunteers, all committees, including both Ratings Committees, are completely volunteer-based as well. Our objective is to keep things fair, without personal feelings or other motivators getting in the way. Accurate ratings result in tournament teams of equivalent strength, and that in turn makes for the best, most competitive tournaments. Raters are your friends! Let’s team up to keep our MSVBA tournaments fair and FUN!