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ACADEMY LEAGUE - DIVISION RULES

 

 

These rules are specific to the Academy League only, they are a supplement to the main Sim Speedway game rules which can be found by clicking here.

 

 

RIDER ELIGIBILITY

 

1. The Academy League is different to the Ultimate League and the Power League in that it does not allow any foreign riders to ride in it at all, it is set up as a place for young British riders to gain full speedway team racing experience.

 

2. No foreign riders at all are allowed in the Academy League. The only nationalities allowed are English, Scottish, Irish & Welsh.

 

3. Academy League riders with only one exception must be 24 years of age or under, the exception is :

 

Any rider on the Power League transfer list who has a Power League average of 4.50 or less and who does not have a team place may sign for an Academy League team on double his Power League average. There is no age restriction on the rider but managers may only sign one rider via this method per season.

 

4. The minimum age limit for riders in the Academy League is 15, although any exceptional 14 year old riders from the DL may be allowed to ride as guests, this would be at the NSSPA's discretion.

 

 

RIDER COACH

 

1. Each Academy League team is allocated a rider / coach, the main function of the coach is to pass on their experience to the other riders.

 

2. The rider coach can provide a manager with valuable feedback on the riders in the team through the season, twice a season a manager can request a coach report on up to THREE riders, this must be requested by the manager and will not happen automatically.

 

3. The manager may request the rider coach to look at a rider he has invited to the track to have a try-out, the coach will then report on the rider to the manager. If the rider is not an asset of any club, the manager can invite the rider by informing the NSSPA, if the rider is an asset of another club, then the manager must obtain the permission of the riders club before inviting the rider. This can only be done three times a season in total.

 

 

TEAM BUILDING

 

1. General Academy League team building rules in Sim Speedway are as follows :

 

Teams built to 40.00 point average, with a minimum limit of 38.50
Teams made up of seven riders
Top averaged rider in the team to ride at position 1
Bottom two riders in the averages to ride at positions 6 & 7
Other four riders to ride at positions 2, 3, 4 & 5 at the managers discretion

 

At the start of the season, at least one rider in the team must have come up from last seasons Development League and start on a 3.00 average unless he gained an average doubling up the season before. No riders who gained an average of over 9.00 in the previous season are allowed to ride, they must move up to the Power League but do so on reduced averages, any rider who averaged between 8.00 & 8.99 does not have to move up, but can still go up on a reduced average.

 

After the first average change (6 league meetings) in the Academy League, all teams can be strengthened to a minimum 45.00 point average limit. If a team has gone over 45.00 points in the first 6 meetings, then they do not have to weaken, whatever they have achieved is their new limit.

 

2. At the start of each season, all teams will have some retained riders from the previous season, these riders may be kept, loaned out, released, sold or re-signed (in accordance with the rules). The manager has the option to do whatever they please with the retained riders, but must make every effort to get riders a team place somewhere else if they, themselves, are not offering them a place.

 

3. The retained riders from the previous season, if they are being kept, must be signed to new contracts (all contracts in Sim Speedway are for 1 year) and you must agree new terms (points money) with them and consideration should be given to offering the rider a signing on fee.

 

4. You may sign a rider for the purpose of immediately loaning him out to another team, if the rider fails to gain a team place, he may be removed from your team.

 

5. You may at any time during team building, or during the season place riders on the transfer list – either for loan or for outright sale, but you must make every effort to make sure any riders dropped can find another club.

 

6. If you wish to sell or loan a rider, then please let the NSSPA know and they will circulate his availability round other team managers. His value can be set by the selling manager although must be cleared with the NSSPA first to prevent overly high or low values.

 

 

 

AVERAGE CONVERSION BETWEEN LEAGUES

 

1. Average conversion between the Academy League and other leagues will generally work as follows :

 

Academy League average halved = Power league average

 

2. No Academy League riders can drop down into the Development League at all, once a rider has ridden in the Academy League (with the exception of guesting or doubling up) he cannot drop down and ride in the Development League. All Development league riders coming into the Academy League start on an average of 3.00

 

 

 

SIGNING OF RIDERS

 

1. There will be a separate transfer list for each division, although any manager can buy from any transfer list although to use that rider in the team, the average conversion rule must not be broken.

 

2. The transfer market will open as soon as possible once the previous season is finished - and will open in blocks of 1 week at a time, the bidding window will open from Sunday - Thursday, with bids & proposals being analysed on a Friday, the riders will be allocated on a Saturday and transfer markets will re-open on the Sunday with the process starting all over again. There will be 2 transfer windows before pre season friendlies start.

 

3. Each NSSPA rider will have a price next to them, this is the value of the rider and any interested clubs must meet this value and this value only (bids above or below will be rejected). For riders for sale from other clubs, managers are always free to negotiate.

 

4. When making an offer for a rider, you must tell us ALL the following information :

 

a) How much you are offering the rider as a signing on fee
b) How much you are willing to pay the rider per point, also take into account if he moves up or down the team, so an offer of points money for top average in the team (position 1), 2nd - 5th average in the team (positions 2 - 5) & reserve (positions 6 & 7) is needed.
c) Anything else you consider relevant to offer the rider, but mainly why he should sign for your team instead of the rest.

 

You are making a proposal to the rider and selling your club to him, much like what happens in real speedway.

 

5. You can now set a status for any rider at your club, this will be displayed on your team page in the squad table, the status' you can assign are as follows :

 

Sale - Rider is up for sale or loan.
Loan out - Rider is on loan from your team at another club
Loan in - Rider is on loan to you from another club
Keep - You want to retain the rider

 

At the start of each season, your assigned riders will all be listed as 'Keep' - you can of course change this.

 

6. You can release riders from your squad at any time you wish, but you must pay them 33% of their value as severance for terminating their contract.

 

 

 

DOUBLING UP

 

1. Sim Speedway allows riders to double up from the Development League to the Academy League. Each team may have 2 or more riders doubling up with them, but they must share 1 team place, a maximum of 1 team place is allocated for doubling up riders.

 

2. Double up riders are permitted at the start of the season, to replace an injured rider, or to replace a rider who has been dropped due to poor form.

 

3. The riders parent club, the club he is an asset of will have first call on the riders services and the team wishing to use him, must make the agreement with the team as well as the rider. The rider MUST be an asset of the lower league team, otherwise this would be doubling down, which is NOT allowed. The Development league club will have first call on the riders services.

 

4. The club the rider is an asset of may cancel the agreement (with a valid reason) by giving the NSSPA and the club the rider is doubling up with, two weeks notice.

 

5. The rider doubling up will be allocated an average in accordance with the average conversion rules above.

 

6. The cost to use a double up rider is £500, and this is payable to the lower division team, although this is not paid if the rider is an asset of the higher team and on loan to the lower division team.

 

 

 

INJURIES, GUESTS & RIDER REPLACEMENT

 

1. Injuries are part of Sim Speedway. If your rider is injured in a meeting you will be informed of the number of meetings he will miss and you must arrange cover for that rider.

 

2. Guests are available for the top two riders in the averages and reserves but not for riders 3rd - 5th in the averages who must be covered by rider replacement. If you are using rider replacement, you must specify which rider you want to replace the injured rider for each heat that the injured rider would have been in.

 

3. Guests for reserve riders in the Academy league will run as follows :

 

If either of your reserves are injured, they can be replaced by any rider from the Development League. You can also use any eligible rider from the transfer lists.

 

4. Guests for the top two riders in the averages in the Academy League will run as follows :

 

Any top two average rider injured must be replaced with another rider from the Academy League who has an average the same or less than the rider he is replacing or by a rider from the Power League, who when his average is doubled is less than or the same as that of the rider he is replacing. You can also use any eligible rider from the transfer lists.

 

5. Rider replacement for riders 3rd - 5th in the averages will run as follows :

 

Any rider below the injured rider in the averages, and the one rider immediately above him in the averages can cover his rides. Reserves (riders at number 6 & 7) can take as many rides as necessary as long as they don't take more than the maximum of 7.

 

6. To use a guest, you must contact the NSSPA stating three riders who you would like to use. The NSSPA will then confirm availability of those riders and give you the choice of the available ones. If none of the riders you select are available, then the NSSPA will allocate you a guest rider. Be realistic in choosing guests, taking into account where they are riding for their own team on the same round of meetings, the closer they are to where you want them to ride, the more chance they will accept the booking.

 

All riders in Sim Speedway can be used as guests (including riders on any of the transfer lists) by other managers unless you specifically say at the start that you do not wish your riders to guest.

 

Cost for guest riders are :

 

Guest from Power League - Academy League - £200
Guest from Academy League - Academy League - £200
Guest from Development League - Academy League - £100

 

Riders who are an asset of the club they are guesting for, ride for that club at no cost.

 

7. You do not have to use a guest for your top 2 average riders, you can always use your rider coach.

 

8. If a team has more than 1 rider injured, then the following comes into effect :

 

INJURY	SOLUTION
Both reserves injured	Both riders replaced by guests
1 reserve and 1 rider 3rd - 5th in averages injured	Guest for reserve, rider replacement for rider 3rd - 5th
2 riders 3rd - 5th in averages injured	Guest for lowest average rider, rider replacement for the other
1 rider 3rd - 5th in averages, 1 top two average rider injured	Guest for heat leader, rider replacement for rider 3rd - 5th
Both top two average riders injured	Guest for both, or guest for one and rider replacement for the other

 

 

 

GAME PLAY - MANAGER OPTIONS OF CHANGES TO SCHEDULED HEATS

 

1. Sim Speedway do not allow any kind of tactical ride or tactical substitute for double points, however, we do allow tactical substitutes to be used for normal points, with the following conditions.

 

a) Only three tac subs per team in any one meeting
b) No tac subs allowed until after heat 7
c) Tactical subs can only be used when a team is 6 or more points down

 

2. All riders in the 1 - 7, regardless of score are eligible to ride in heat 15.

 

3. Riders missing the 2 minutes in Sim Speedway do NOT have the option of going off 15 metres, they must be replaced by a reserve.

 

4. Reserves can replace any rider in any heat as long as each rider takes a minimum of 3 rides (unless injured) and a maximum of 7 rides.

 

 

 

COMPETITIONS - RULES & FORMAT

 

1. As mentioned in the main Sim Speedway rules, the NSSPA will stage a League championship, a knock out cup, a pairs tournament, a fours tournament & a three team tournament. There will also be an Academy League riders championship held, the rules and format for each are as follows.

 

League Championship
All teams will play all the other teams twice over the season, once at home and once away. In each meeting teams will score 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and no points for a loss. The team scoring the highest aggregate score over the two legs will gain a bonus point, in the event of a tie, there will be a run off held comprising of the top scoring rider from each side, the winner of that race takes the bonus point for their team.

 

Knockout Cup
All teams will be entered into the KO Cup, starting with a quarter final, then semi final and then a final. All rounds are played home and away, with the team having the highest aggregate score progressing to the next round, in the event of a tie, there will be a run off held comprising of the top scoring rider from each side, the winner of that race takes their team into the next round.

 

Pairs Tournament
The Pairs event is a 28 heat spectacular with all teams involved and all riding against each other, each rider having 7 rides on the day. Managers name their top two riders in any order, plus any other rider to act as a reserve incase of injuries - no reserve replacements are allowed for 2 minute or tape infringements, they result in exclusion from the heat. The Pairs Tournament will be held at a neutral track.

 

Four Team Tournament
Teams must be submitted to the NSSPA one week before the event, a manager can choose any 4 riders from his team, plus one other rider to act as reserve incase of injury - no reserve replacements are allowed for 2 minute or tape infringements, they result in an exclusion from the heat. The eight teams will be split into two groups of four. Each semi final will consist of 8 heats with each rider getting to ride in 2 heats, the top two from each semi final will go through to the grand final which will be a 12 heat event, where each rider will get to ride in 3 heats. The Four Team Tournament will be held at a neutral track.

 

Academy League Riders Championship
This will be a one off event for 16 riders, the top two riders from each team will automatically qualify with reserves being the top two averaged riders not taking part automatically. The event is an individual meeting. The Riders Championship will be held at a neutral track.

 

 

 

AVERAGES

 

1. Averages will be calculated after 6 meetings during the Sim Speedway season, and the rider will then keep that average until the end of the season, where his end of season average will be the riders next season average. A rider must have completed at least 6 meetings to get an average. Guest scores do not count towards averages nor do pairs, fours, individual rider championship or any KO cup scores– averages are only counted on league meetings.

 

2. After the average change, all managers will have to re-declare their new line up to take into account riders moving up and down the team.

 

3. No matter how many meetings he does, the rider coach is always assessed as a 7.00 average.

 

 

 

PROMOTION / RELEGATION

 

1. The top two teams in the Academy League at the end of the season will be promoted to the Power League, conversely the bottom two from the Power League will be relegated to Academy League.

 

 

 

FINANCES

 

1. Each team pays their own riders, regardless of being home or away, so be careful what you offer each rider for points money, also be very careful when you spend your money as it will go up significantly after a home meeting, but that profit will have to pay your riders when they are away from home, when you have no income.

 

2. Each team starts with the cash they finished the previous Sim Speedway season with, in addition to this cash they will also receive a cash boost from the club sponsors, this will be £3,000 or more.

 

3. The minimum pay per point in the Academy League is as follows :

 

Top average rider - £20 per point
Riders 2nd - 5th in the averages - £15 per point
Reserve riders - £10 per point

 

4. Other costs in the Sim Speedway game this year for the Academy League are :

Insurance, this costs £250 per HOME meeting
Medical cover, this costs £250 per HOME meeting
Stadium upkeep, this costs £350 per HOME meeting

 

5. Income generators in the Sim Speedway game this year for the Academy League are as follows :

 

Bar takings, Fast Food takings, Track shop takings

 

Bar, Food & track shop are all worked out as an average spend depending on the size of your crowd.

 

6. Attendance figures, these will be published for every home meeting you have and will be affected by :

 

Normal home support
Local rivalry (bigger crowds for closer opponents)
Game rivalry (teams who have built up a game rivalry)
Traveling fans support (if your opponents are doing poorly, then this will be reduced, also if the fans have to travel a long way then this will impact on numbers too)
How well your team are doing
How good your facilities are
In the Academy league, each person will be deemed to spend on average £8 to gain entrance to your ground, so a crowd of 1000 people will generate £8,000 gate income.

 

7. Travel to an away meeting in the Academy League costs £280 (£40 per rider)

 

8. If a team goes into the red (debt) and the NSSPA feel that they cannot trade their way out of that debt by the end of the season then it will have a rider placed on the transfer list, the rider will be chosen by the NSSPA but the riders value will be enough to bring the team into the black (out of debt). You may appeal against the rider chosen, or you may appeal against this decision if you feel you have had a number of away meetings and have lost money, but have home meetings coming up where you hope to recoup the money.

 

For repeated poor financial management, we reserve the right to sack the manager and / or relegate the team to a lower division where we feel it can operate within it's means.

 

 

 

STADIA, RIDER AND SPECTATOR FACILITIES

 

1. Sim Speedway has a lot of focus on the stadium and the set up of each team, not only are the managers responsible for the team, they now have the stadium, rider and spectator facilities to worry about.

 

2. Each area of the stadium, rider and spectator facilities are graded on a level from poor up to excellent, the grades are as follows :

 

Excellent
Good
Above Average
Average
Below Average
Poor

 

3. Rider safety is paramount in Sim Speedway and any item involving rider safety at your stadium must be at an acceptable level of average or higher, anything below this will need to be upgraded, any item that is not up to the acceptable standard at your stadium by the end of the season will result in the team being fined and forced to upgrade the offending item and in some extreme circumstances the team could be deducted league points or denied promotion - so if you have a rating of below average or poor on the items listed below then you should look to improve it as soon as possible as anything at your stadium below this level will be considered unacceptable.

 

Changing rooms
Pits
Track
Track lighting

 

4. The safety fences at each track are graded in the following way :

 

Air Fence
Sectioned collapsible fence
Chain link fence
Wooden boards

 

All of the above are acceptable levels of fencing, the only difference they make is in the injury levels, if you have an air fence then injuries will be less than with any other fence, slightly worse with a collapsible fence and slightly worse again with a chain link fence or wooden boards.

 

5. The rider facilities (pits, changing rooms, track, track lighting) at your stadium will have a direct effect on how happy your riders are to stay at your club and how well you can attract other riders to your club. The better these facilities, the more chance you have of riders being attracted to your club.

 

6. The spectator facilities (presentation and centre green, toilets, food outlets, bar, track shop) will have a direct effect on how many people will be willing to attend your meetings, the better these facilities, the better your crowd will be.

 

7. The Sponsors lounge has a direct effect on how much sponsor income your club can generate at the start of the season, the better the sponsors lounge and facilities the better main team sponsor you will be able to attract.

 

 

 

STADIA IMPROVEMENT COSTS

 

1. We now have an NSSPA fund set up to help managers pay for their stadium upgrades, you can request to take a loan from the NSSPA to pay for stadium upgrades and pay it off over a period of weeks to suit both, interest will be paid on the loan and although this is negotiable, it is usually around 20%.

 

If you borrow £10,000 from the NSSPA, your total repayments could be £12,000 but you could pay this back over 6 weeks at £2,000 per week.

 

To use this facility, simply contact the NSSPA detailing your requirements.

 

2. The following are costs for Stadia improvements in the Academy League :

 

Stadia Capacity Expansion

 

To expand capacity by 500 seats costs £6,000
To expand capacity by 250 seats costs £3,500
To expand capacity by 500 standing places costs £5,000
To expand capacity by 250 standing places costs £3,000

 

Car Parking

 

To expand car park by 50 cars costs £2,000

 

Safety Fence

 

The cost to upgrade from wooden boards, chain link fence or a collapsible panel fence to an Air Fence is £20,000
The cost to upgrade from wooden boards or chain link fence to a collapsible panel fence is £8,000

 

 

Stadia Facilities

 

The following tables indicate the costs to build or improve your facilities for other stadia items, the left hand side shows your current status of the item, and across the top is your upgrade options, the rest of the table shows the costs to upgrade.