25 Sep 2014 at 08:28 | Published by: mindthegap | Views: 13047 | News search

New Bundesliga league system  (Photo by DMV)

New league system decided

The German Minigolf Association (DMV) has decided dramatic changes of the national minigolf sport in Germany. From 2015 on the season is equal with the calendar year from January to December. This means there will be no league matches, particularly no Bundesliga matches, this Autumn. The next league matches will start in March next year.

In addition the national league system in Germany will be formed completely new. A brief overview at the beginning:

1. There will be 3 levels of Bundesliga, with 2 to 6 divisions each.

2. The 1. Bundesliga will be split into two divisions and the German team champions will be decided at the German Championship for men/women in Summer.

3. Each division is only formed of 5 teams.

4. New rules for the team structure and scoring from the 2. Bundesliga downwards:

4.1. Teams are mixed with women, men, juniors and even kids.

4.2. Teams do no longer have substitutes. All players are treated equally and the worst score of every team round is cut off.

4.3. In order to support the integration of juniors and kids in the teams the worst two scores are cut off if a junior or kid is part of the team.

There are some differences between the 3 levels of Bundesliga. To give you a rough idea whereabouts in Germany the clubs participating in the divisions are located I've partly put a hint in brackets behind the club name. The system of the 3 levels in more detail:

1. Bundesliga

The 1. Bundesliga will be split into two divisions with 5 men's and 5 women's teams each, formed of the following teams:

North division:

Men:

BGS Hardenberg (Velbert, near Wuppertal)
Niendorfer MC (Hamburg)
MGC Dormagen-Brechten (near Düsseldorf)
MGC Göttingen
MSC Wesel (Lower Rhine River)

Women:

MGC Göttingen
MC Cuxhaven-Sahlenburg
BGC Hannover

Unfortunately there were not enough women's teams for the North division. Maybe next year ...

South division:

Men:

SG Arheilgen (Darmstadt)
MGC Mainz
MGC Künzell (Fulda)
BGC Singen (near Lake Constance)
NMC Kelheim (near Regensburg)

Women:

MGC Mainz
MSK Olching (near Munich)
MSC Bensheim-Auerbach (near Darmstadt)
SpG Schwaikheim/Ludwigshafen
MSK Olching II

Men and women play together on the same course, and courses are generally neutral. Only teams promoting to the 1. Bundesliga can have a home match. Actually this will be the case for most of the teams next year, but it's a unique exception for the start of the new system. Hannover, Wesel and Göttingen will have a home match in the North division, Olching, Kelheim and Singen in the South division.

Only 4 matches are run, due to the fact that the German Team Champion for men's and women's teams will be decided at the German Championship for men/women in Summer, what is, so to say, the 5th match. The best three teams of each division and category qualify for the German Championship.

The size and structure of teams will not change in the 1. Bundesliga: Men's teams still consist of 6 players + 1 substitute, women's teams of 3 players + 1 substitute. The old system is kept because it is the same as that of international championships and the top players shall be used to that system. In order to avoid a clash of the team structure for the team champions, qualifying for the European Cup, the old system must be kept.

2. Bundesliga

The 2. Bundesliga will be split into a Northern and Southern part with two divisions each. Every division is formed of 5 mixed teams of 6 - 8 players each. Women and men as well as juniors and even kids can be part of a team, and there is no limit for any category in a team.

There will be no substitutes for the teams. All players are treated equally, and only the best 6 scores of each team round count. So a team can consist of 6 players and all scores count. But a team can also consist of 7 players, and the worst score of each team round is cut off. In order to support the integration of juniors and kids in teams in higher leagues, teams with at least one junior or kid in it can be formed of 8 players, but only the best 6 scores of each team round count, the worst two scores are cut off. This is also thought of as a reward for clubs with a good support of the youth section.

5 matches are run on the home courses of all participating teams. In order to let the teams collect more experience on the felt system, at least one match on a felt course is compulsory. If there is no team in the division having a felt course as their home course, an additonal 6th match is held on a neutral felt course. By a mutual agreement of all participating clubs the additional match can be cancelled.

The 4 divisions will be formed of the following teams:

North-West division:

MGC Dormagen-Brechten II
TSV Salzgitter (near Brunswick)
MSK Neheim-Hüsten (Arnsberg, Sauerland)
BGSV Kerpen (near Cologne)
BGV Bergisch Land (Velbert, near Wuppertal)

North-East division:

Tempelhofer MV (Berlin)
MGV Spandau (Berlin)
MGC Olympia Kiel
VfM Berlin
Reinickendorfer MGC (Berlin)

South-West division:

MGC Mainz
TG Höchberg (Würzburg)
KC Homburg (Saarland)
BSV Inzlingen (Weil am Rhein, near Basel)
MGC Ludwigshafen

South-East division:

BGC Neutraubling (Regensburg)
BGC Heilbronn
BGC Singen II
OMGC Ingolstadt
MSK Olching III

3. Bundesliga

This is the former Regionalliga and will be renamed into 3. Bundesliga. It's split into a Northern and Southern part with three divisions each. Every division is formed of 5 mixed teams of 5 - 7 players each. The system is the same as in the 2. Bundesliga, only the size of the teams is one smaller. Teams only consist of 5 or 7 players with no, 1 or 2 scores cut off. And there is no compulsory additional match on a felt course.

North-West division:

MSC Bad Godesberg (Bonn)
Bochumer MC
HMC Büttgen (Neuss, near Düsseldorf)
VfM Bottrop (Ruhrgebiet)
HMC Büttgen II

North-Central division:

BGC Bad Nenndorf (near Hannover)
Niendorfer MC (Hamburg)
MGC Göttingen
MC Künsebeck (Halle, Westfalen, near Bielefeld)
BGC Goslar (at the Harz mountains)

North-East division:

MSV Berliner Bär
BGC Leipzig
MV Lankwitz (Berlin)
BGC Wolfsburg
MGV Spandau (Berlin)

South-West division:

KC Homburg II (Saarland)
MGC Mannheim
TV Niederstetten (near Rothenburg ob der Tauber)
BGC Heilbronn II
FZC Bliesen (Saarland)

South-Central division:

MC Schriesheim (near Heidelberg)
MSV Bad Kreuznach (near Mainz)
BGSV Bad Homburg (near Frankfurt / Main)
SG Arheilgen
MGC Traben-Trarbach (Mosel valley)

South-East division:

MGC Schwaikheim (near Stuttgart)
MGC Murnau am Staffelsee (near Oberammergau, Bavaria)
MGC Ravensburg-Weingarten (near Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance)
BGC Bad Füssing (near Passau)
BGC Bad Berneck (near Bayreuth)
MGC Tuttlingen (near Lake Constance)

You may realize that there are 6 teams in the South-East division. By mistake the application of Tuttlingen wasn't taken into consideration for the set-up of the divisions and the planning of necessary relegation matches, so it was decided by mutual agreement with Tuttlingen that they can take part in the South-East division but won't have a home match. There will be only 5 matches.

It's surprising that, in spite of the new organization of the league structure with an increased number of divisions but reduced number of teams per division, there was only one relegation match necessary to form the divisions of 3 levels of the Bundesliga, and that was for the 3. Bundesliga North, held in Hannover on the 6th and 7th of September. 8 teams were competing for 6 places in the 3. Bundesliga.

Regional leagues in the Federal States

The German Minigolf Association (DMV) has decided the new system only for the national leagues above the regional leagues run by the minigolf associations of the Federal States. The Federal States can keep the old system or take over the new one. It looks like most of the Federal States will take over the new system with only 5 teams per league division, mixed teams and teams without substitutes but cut-off scores. For example Lower Saxony, Northrhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate will take over the new system. In other Federal States it's being discussed and negotiated.

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