EBU: European Women’s Team Announcement

Our team for the Women’s European Championship later this month is Sally Brock, Nicola Smith, Heather Dhondy, Nevena Senior, Fiona Brown and Catherine Draper. Because there has been some public comment about recent discussions between the players and the Selection Committee, it seems appropriate to explain to our members what has happened, why it has happened and why the Selection Committee have acted as they have. The Board is fully supportive of the actions of the Selection Committee.

The selectors originally selected our silver medal winning team from Bali en bloc. One player was unavailable for personal reasons and we picked a different third pair. We took some time to come to this decision, the other players expressed their view and we picked a revised team in April with new reserves.

In mid May one of the players made a request to bring her daughter, who was recovering from illness, along to the championship. Our regulations specifically state that members of the team are not usually permitted to have family members attend with them. The request was considered but denied by the selectors on the grounds that this would be distracting both for her and also the rest of the team. Some of the team when consulted for their view, at that point, had reservations about whether she should attend.

After the decision was made the selection committee was asked by all the players to re-consider.

Those players who had original doubts now said that they wished the player to be permitted to attend with her daughter. The selection committee reconsidered but confirmed their initial decision on June 1st. At this point the player withdrew. She was not deselected.

The reserve pair were now asked to confirm their availability and they accepted.

The remaining four players expressed reservations and suggested alternatives. They suggested a team of four or possibly five. The selectors had already debated these ideas at length but felt a team of four left us open to disqualification in the event of illness and to lack of alternative should one pair not be playing well and a team of five left us open to the difficulty of unpractised and unprepared partnerships playing. Shortly after this all four of the remaining players withdrew, stating that they didn’t think the selectors had listened to their request and that the selectors had not picked the strongest team. Under these circumstances they declined to play. Again no player was deselected.

After extensive discussions it was possible to reach an agreement on June 5th which the committee found acceptable and which will allow the originally selected team to participate in the championships. We are glad this has been possible but apologise to the reserves who have had their expectations raised and dashed in the last few days and taken the changes with considerable dignity.

We wish the team the best of luck in Croatia.