Season 2016/17 started with a bang in October 2016 with defending 
Premier champions City of Glasgow Ragazzi and Su Ragazzi ending their half seasons top and 2nd respectively in their divisions. Hot on COG Ragazzi’s heels are City of Edinburgh who have had a historical half season competing in the CEV Challenge Cup, but also getting through to the John Syer Grand Prix Final to try and retain their title from last season. City of Edinburgh Women lead the way in the Women’s Premier with a great 3-0 win over their rivals Su earlier in the season. With 3 matches still to go between City of Edinburgh and Su before the end of the season, the league title is far from decided. This year has seen the emergence of Aberdonia and University of Edinburgh, pushing each other hard to gain that top 3 slot to fight for the championship while in the Men’s competition, Bon Accord, Glasgow Mets and South Ayrshire can all still join COG Ragazzi and City of Edinburgh in the Final 3.
NUVOC have powered their way to the top of the Men’s SVL One at the half season, however they are closely followed by Su Ragazzi II. Su managed to beat NUVOC before Xmas, but ranking points are against them at the moment. Lenzie, Dundee and City of Edinburgh II are fighting to get into the top 3 and push for a spot in the playoffs.
Caledonia West lead the way in Women’s SVL One but are only 1 point ahead of their closest rivals Edinburgh Jets after beating them 3-2 in a cracking encounter. With a lot of games to go, Su Ragazzi II, Dundee, and City of Edinburgh II will all be looking to keep the pressure on the teams as they look to make a late charge towards automatic promotion to the SVL Premier.
University of Edinburgh have taken the early lead in the Men’s SVL Two but with matches against their closest rivals Livingston Lizards and Shetland coming up, the team will need to maintain their Win-Loss record if they wish to secure automatic promotion to SVL One in Season 2016/17. With the exception of the University, all the teams are taking victories off each other which makes the outcome of the playoff place unpredictable and highly competitive.
The 2nd half of the season continues on Saturday 14th January 2017 with the SVL Premier and Men’s SVL One sides all vying to make the top 3 of their respective competitions after 10 matches.
Get yourself along to some of these games as the standard between the teams is definitely closing, making each point extremely valuable.
The John Syer Grand Prix takes place on Sunday 12th February at the University of Dundee. To view the matches, click here.
