New Grading System

• A key point to help understand the difference between our old and new grading system is we no longer have grading ‘points’ that are won or lost. Each player has a ‘Level’ which is a ratio that measures your current playing form. SquashLevels adjusts your Level after each match based on the full game scores and how well you did against how you were expected to do against your opponent.

• If you do much better than expected, you can move up a lot. Of course, that probably means your opponent did much worse than expected and can move down a lot too. If you both played as predicted, there would be little movement.

• SquashLevels are calculated using game scores as well as match scores for greater accuracy. Having a more mathematical approach means players can increase their Level merely by getting more points than they are expected to, and they don’t need to win the match to go up. This incentivises the lower ranked players to try their absolute hardest, even if they know they will likely end up losing the match.

• The system is completely based on math, with some behavioural modelling included to increase the accuracy. If Player A is Level 500 and Player B is 1000 then Player B is twice as good as Player A and therefore expected to get twice as many points and win their games by around 11-5/11-6. The behavioural modelling includes certain behaviours that we know to be true, such as that a professional player would not try their hardest against a club player that they could beat extremely easily. This behaviour is factored into the algorithm so that the Level changes do not occur in these types of matches.

• A key part of the SquashLevels algorithm is calibration. This compares pools of players such as between clubs, regions and even countries and makes continued small adjustments to ensure that a 1000 player in one club or region is equivalent to a 1000 player in another club or region. This is performed globally and is a unique feature of SquashLevels. This solves a major flaw in the current points system where there are known inaccuracies between different silos of players such as juniors and masters, men and women, and within districts.

• SquashLevels also can weight the results of different match types. With new competition features being developed to allow for casual competitions to be created within a club or among friends, due to be released at the start of 2025, Squash New Zealand will investigate how to best weight these more ‘social’ types of matches compared to open tournaments and interclub matches.

• Players will have a richer and more engaging squash experience by using a dynamic and more accurate rating system that measures their current performance and playing level rather than points accrued over a long period.

• A more accurate rating system is beneficial to everyone to ensure fairness in seeding events, selecting teams and playing order, and for rankings at all levels. The ultimate goal of any rating system is to give an accurate depiction of every player’s playing level at any given time rather than focusing on past performance. SquashLevels does this extremely effectively.

• From 2025 non-competitive players are able to get a Level even if they don’t play in leagues or tournaments. They simply need to play against another player with a Level and they get a provisional Level. The fact that box matches and club matches can be included also help to include non-competitive players of all abilities.

• Around a third of graded players will have gone up or down a grade in the new grading system. This is because all players have had their level calculated based on all their previous match history. The number of players within each grade has been kept as close as possible to what there was under the grading points system, with the exception of the C Grade men's band which had become too large under the old system so we have used the opportunity to correct this (a third of all men's graded players were C grade).

• Because SquashLevels will ingest historic match results and is weighted towards more recent results, some players may notice a shift in their initial SquashLevels rating compared to others who were on similar points in the current points system.  However, with the more dynamic nature of SquashLevels, these variations will represent a truer representation of each player’s current level and any inaccuracies will be corrected in only a couple of matches.

• Remember SquashLevels is more dynamic than the grading points, so once players start playing matches they will adjust quickly to their current playing level.

• Following feedback and observations of how the new grading list system is working in real-time since the launch on 31 January, we have been exploring solutions with SquashLevels to improve how some Level changes are being calculated.

• SquashLevels have been able to come up with solutions which will require adjustments to be made to player Levels and the grading bands, which will be pushed through into the live system and MySquash over the next 24 hours.

• View the full changes here.

Club administrators will be able to give new players a placeholder rating, which allows for new players to be seeded correctly for their first competition. As soon as they play their first match, their Level will automatically update to where SquashLevels calculates they belong and they will receive their grade. The more matches the player plays, the more confident the algorithm will be in the accuracy of their Level - a player should have an accurate Level after having played four matches.

A review of the Superchamps eligibility rules has been undertaken by SNZ and the districts, including an analysis of other potential options for calculating grade eligibility. However, the current grade eligibility rule will remain in place and be determined by a grading list published on 7 June 2024 as per last year.

Following this season another review will take place to determine whether changes are required for 2025.

The SquashLevels rating system has been established in the UK for the past 10 years, with World Squash recently partnering with them to deliver the official World Squash Ratings. Currently there are over 30 countries connected to SquashLevels including England, Australia, South Africa, India, Scotland, Sweden and the Netherlands, with other countries soon to follow suit. A player on a level of 1000 should have a very close match with another player on a level of 1000 anywhere in the world!

• SquashLevels has a comprehensive FAQ’s on their website and will also provide a comparison document that can be sent out to the clubs for their members.

• If players have any questions related to SquashLevels they can contact Jaclyn Kemp at jaclyn@squashlevels.com

• Players are able to get a 3 months free Gold trial in SquashLevels which gives you access to features that will help you understand how the system works better, such as reviewng your matches to see how the level changes have been calculated. To get your trial, log into MySquash, go to MySquash Resources and click on the SquashLevels link.

Due to the use of three systems to bring together the new grading system, results may take slightly longer to appear in your match history that previously. The current timeframes are,

• SquashLevels – picks up results daily around 4pm from iSquash

• MySquash – receives new Levels and updates grading list around 3am

• Full match history updated in MySquash every 14 days

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SquashLevels and Squash New Zealand Poipātū Aotearoa will lead on education and communication to all players around what changes they can expect with the new system. A key will be ensuring players understand why their Level has changed. Experience from other countries is that players just need to see the new system in action and through that will begin to recognise and understand how the changes come about.

• A major component of being able to enjoy squash at any level is having a sense of your own level, so that you can match up with other players of a similar ability and enjoy the intense workout and adrenaline rush a good, close squash game gives you. SquashLevels is the tool to make that a reality by enabling anyone to be able to record match results and see how they stack up, and we are embracing that to enable greater quality participation in squash across the country which will ultimately lead to participation growth.

• Being part of a global rating system is such an important part of growing our sport not only locally but also globally. So far there are no sports that have an effective rating system that measures players from a very beginner to the best in the world with the ability to transcend borders.