Fairer Grading.
A Smarter Approach to Early Season Scheduling
A major junior football league noticed a high number of teams needing to be "re-graded" (moved up or down a division) early in the Under 13 and Under 14 seasons.
SchedulOpt delivered an optimised solution that temporarily divided competitions based on previous results, gathering more reliable data to make fairer grading decisions.
The Major Problems
- • Inaccurate early-season grading
- • High rates of mid-season re-grading
- • Unbalanced early matchups
The Grading Dilemma
Early-season grading is crucial for competitive balance, but relying on a small sample size of games can lead to inaccurate placements.
Small Sample Sizes
Re-grading decisions were often based on a limited sample size of just four games, which wasn't enough to accurately gauge a team's true skill level.
False Positives
Sometimes, a team would win all four initial games simply because they played weaker opponents. They would then be moved up to a harder division, only to struggle for the rest of the season.
Temporary Sub-Competitions
Testing teams against opponents of similar strength.
The Key Rules Applied
To solve the grading issue and ensure a fair schedule even within the temporary divisions, the following rules were implemented.
Sub-Competition Setup
Splitting leagues into temporary divisions (e.g., Top 4 and Bottom 4) based on previous season results to ensure teams face comparable opponents during the grading rounds.
Bye Pair Distance Rule
In divisions with an odd number of teams, ensuring that no team suffers two bye weeks in a row, which is crucial for maintaining match fitness during the short grading period.
The Solution: Data-Driven Grading
By temporarily dividing the competitions and applying smart rules, the league could gather highly accurate data on each team's true skill level before permanent divisions were locked in.
Inaccurate & Frustrating
- ✕ High number of teams needing mid-season re-grading.
- ✕ Teams misplaced in harder divisions struggling to compete.
- ✕ Frustration among players and coaches due to mismatched games.
Accurate & Fair
- ✓ Teams tested against opponents of similar strength from the start.
- ✓ Reliable performance data gathered before divisions are finalized.
- ✓ Significant reduction in the need for disruptive mid-season re-grading.
