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Fresh league tables (after Round 9 of play) available again on familiar places, in the first page of both Official HGL Threads!

If someone is still unsure/don't remember how official league positions are determined for teams with equal number of wins, I remind that the winner of their Regular Season match will be ahead in the league table for the rest of the Regular Season if teams end up with same number of wins after Round 15. So scoring difference makes no difference in this comparison, as there can be only one winner in the match between these two teams (because there's only one regular season meeting against each opponent).

As an example, we had a match LMS-BUC on Round 9, and as LMS won, both teams have now record of 2 wins and 9 losses. So if LSM and BUC end up with similar Regular Season record, LMS will always be ranked higher than BUC on Official Regular Season Rankings ('ORSR'), no matter what is these teams' scoring difference at the end of the season.

And as a further example, as BUC and TRO are now tied in wins, if these teams keep on winning at least almost as many games on Rounds 10-13, a Round 14 match between TRO and BUC will be likely very important in determining their relative position in the league table. (These examples of course assume, that no forfeit losses will be given to each of these teams, but I'd be very surprised if that would happen).

I realize most if not all of you already know and remember this classification system, but I just wanted to remind that kind of system exists instead of the "typical" one which relies solely on wins, and after that uses scoring difference as a method of secondary comparison when organizing teams to correct order on a league table.

Hey Wagner and everybody else. I expressed a rough future interest for the HGL some months ago and I think next season my first team would be at the point, where I could be able to fully go HG. Therefore, should you have a spot open, I would love to put myself on the waiting list and potentially join the HG league for the coming season. Though, I guess we will see how many current participants will continue in the second HGL season and I would totally vouch for all of them to be preferred, while filling the league for the new season.

Thanks very much for your message and interest, LennuK.! As you might have noticed, 2 current HGL managers have withdrawn from Season 2 of HGL, and 4 of us haven't stated their intention in terms of Season 2 as of yet.
However, even if all those 4 current managers would continue, and yourself and Spela (Hårdboll) would join HGL for Season 2, we would still be at 16 teams which would actually be quite ideal number of teams from many points of view.

While I naturally couldn't know how many new to HGL homegrown teams could possibly announce their interest of joining HGL Season 2 in future weeks, and while qualification criteria/method haven't been decided/locked in place (should there be lots more applicants than there are open places for Season 2), intuitive thought would be that it'd feel natural choice to accept you both for Season 2 to replace withdrawn teams.
What do other HGL managers think of this?

Right now I still have 3 non-HG players on my roster. But as my season is not going quite well in the Estonian second division, I am most probably looking at a relegation at the end of the season and then I would get rid of these three remaining players. Until then I would hold onto them, as I am already below the salary cap and so I can distribute the playing minutes and train my draftees more effectively. Just let me know if this would be feasible for you. My current top-8 salary without the non-HGs right now is at 190k and it's bound to be a little higher for the coming season :-B

And again, many thanks to you (and the others) for creating this initiative and putting so much time and effort into coordinating it.

What do you think about your plans for next season in terms of getting rid of those HGL ineligible players, are you going to do it anyway, or only if you're not able to avoid relegation from Estonian second division?
And I can't recall if I already asked this some months before, but have you already familiarized yourself with the content on both Official HGL Threads (main thread and scores thread, practically first 10-11 posts on both threads include almost all necessary/essential information and links) so that you've got the idea how league runs and what's demanded from participating managers? And by two threads neither of what I mean naturally isn't Homegrown Teams II-thread.. :)

Your team would actually have rather optimal salary for our league, as middle group is very even in salaries (and current Regular Season success, as league table shows) and few wins in tight games against your biggest/closest rivalries can change your Regular Season success quite dramatically. Especially if it's going to be little higher next season, I think you're going to have a shot at win against some teams in HGL even with a bit bigger top8 salary...

Thanks very much, I really hope people enjoy HGL as much as I do, and I hope it helps getting homegrown community even stronger and lively in the long run, and that it would become for some a one more good reason for becoming a homegrown team... :)

Yes, some good northern rivalries upcoming. :D I'm not aware of any other HG teams from Estonia, neither have I encountered one in the leagues of the cup. But maybe there's another one out there...
Yes really looking forward to becoming HG and perhaps having a few good draftees at the end of the season.

Absolutely, I'm also really looking forward to them!

I see... Do you have active forums in Estonia by the way? At least you have almost double the amount of active teams as we have here in Finland (168 vs. 305), so who knows, maybe there could be some team we're just not aware of... Just like in Finland. I know only 3 homegrown teams from Finland, but I suspect there could be some more, at least new teams who haven't still purchased anyone, ever.

I'm glad to hear you're looking forward to it, and same goes with me - to explain what I mean a bit further, I'd actually skip playing my regular BB league altogether if that would be possible, and focus solely on HGL. :D To put it short, and to refer to your message (in terms of draftees), frankly only good/rewarding thing I get from playing regular BB league nowadays are draftees (which haven't been too much to brag about in the recent years).
Anyway, even though my team is likely on a (steep?) declining path on coming seasons (due to aging), I'm still very much looking forward to future seasons in HGL!

I won't return for season 2. Appreciate all the efforts. Just has become an afterthought for me and the scheduling and communication is too much. If we transition to a PL then I'd be interested. Or just a ladder competition. Maybe later on down the road once my team is more built then I'd be interested in competing for a trophy. But I think losing by 20 most games also reduces my interest levels.

Thank you for your participation anyway, and especially for your willingness to do the necessary/required things to keep things running properly for your team and for the whole league, even if you at the end found them too much to handle in the long run. Naturally decisions haven't been made on which basis teams will be selected to HGL in the future (or how many open positions there will be for each season), but as an initial thought, you're of course welcome to return later on.

I know and totally understand it's not ideal to lose by a lot, and everyone would hope mostly for close games (or wins) for their team to keep it as exciting as possible, but I guess it's sometimes beneficial if one finds also another ways that keep it interesting for them despite the score. While there's no point of trying to compare managers, which I won't do here (nor do I say how one "should" do things/think about them), I could use MrJ as a positive example: scores wise it's been a very hard season for him, but he still wants to stick with the HGL and with the project, and I admire that sort of commitment. Your decision is of course also totally understandable, and I respect that, and thank you for appreciating the efforts made for HGL.

But again, you're welcome back later if you want to "compete for a trophy, when your team is more built" as you mentioned!

i am out for season 2. this was fun but i just want a chill game.

I should've known this, the clue is kind of in your name ;)
But in a more serious note, thank you for participating to Season 1 - your team name is forever carved into the HGL history... :)

I know only 3 homegrown teams from Finland, but I suspect there could be some more, at least new teams who haven't still purchased anyone, ever.

To quote myself above, and to continue question about possible new "naturally homegrown teams" (teams that have never purchased anyone, as they have just started in BB a while ago) I was wondering if someone knows if there's any easy way to find out newest registered teams for each country?

Hey Wagner, my plan is to get rid of the 3 non-HG players on the roster independent of the outcome of the regular season. So, I am basically guaranteeing that I will be fully HG with my roster for the next season. Although, ideally, I hope to survive the second division from a low league rank this season and the next one I would then tank, as I would still need this one extra season to get some of my players trained to a higher level before getting my hands on some real jewels (hopefully) from the draft. But we will see how this works out

I followed the HG-threads at the beginning of your current HGL season, so I theoretically am familiar with these. Though at some point before the next season begins, I would go through them again just to refresh it. I truly believe that playing with a HG team is a fun challenge, especially if you still try to stay competitive to some degree and maybe even have some U21 or even NT players in the roster at some point.

The Estonian forums are unfortunately (almost) completely inactive apart from the NT forums. We ourselves call us “lone tinkerers (omaette nokitseja)” so that’s why I guess. However, I could try to make a thread there on HG teams and ask around for anyone interested for the HGL if you would like. Maybe such an active approach would give some potential HG managers some motivation.

The draft week tends to be one of these that I anticipate the most as well, always refreshing the roster page just to see if I got my preferred picks. And I am sure that you can rebuild your team around the couple of nice-looking young guns in your roster after your top players start aging.

Fresh batch of HGL Offensive and Defensive (Opponent) Team Stats, reflecting team performance in HGL matches after Round 9 of play have just been "taken out of the oven", here you are: (326590.9)!

Again, naturally some changes in team positions (not to mention values) have occurred since last update (which took place after Round 6), so please check out how your team is doing in some of the most common, or in some of the special/advanced stats categories!

Last edited by Wagner at 5/7/2025 6:10:36 AM

Hey Wagner, my plan is to get rid of the 3 non-HG players on the roster independent of the outcome of the regular season. So, I am basically guaranteeing that I will be fully HG with my roster for the next season. Although, ideally, I hope to survive the second division from a low league rank this season and the next one I would then tank, as I would still need this one extra season to get some of my players trained to a higher level before getting my hands on some real jewels (hopefully) from the draft. But we will see how this works out :D

Excellent to hear, it's great your plans are already locked in place in terms of becoming a HG team! Sounds like a good plan, and I hope those jewels you ordered are being delivered... I have also ordered some, but Finnish postal company has done a lousy work recent years in delivering them xD

I followed the HG-threads at the beginning of your current HGL season, so I theoretically am familiar with these. Though at some point before the next season begins, I would go through them again just to refresh it. I truly believe that playing with a HG team is a fun challenge, especially if you still try to stay competitive to some degree and maybe even have some U21 or even NT players in the roster at some point.

Also, nice to hear about this, as you're probably well aware of the league practices/rules already. And of course we will be here to give guidance on some of the practices. Having a one year experience on getting the league up and running should make this even easier experience this time, especially as most managers are returning ones (and for instance you seem to have familiarized yourself with main HGL rules/practices already).

It's absolutely a fun (and at those moments when it necessarily doesn't feel only fun, then at least challenging and rewarding in a good way) challenge to play with a HG team, and I'm always very glad to hear when some people share this same view! And like you said, if you can remain homegrown and have at least decent success in your regular BB league and HGL and at the same time even have some U21NT/NT players, that's quite a nice achievement... So much so, that there should be some official BB achievement available for that! :D

The Estonian forums are unfortunately (almost) completely inactive apart from the NT forums. We ourselves call us “lone tinkerers (omaette nokitseja)” so that’s why I guess. :)

I have a strong feeling that there's a high probability you already know that we Finns also share the same mentality in general, so I think I know exactly what you mean... And our forums have gone almost dead nowadays in Finland as well, after most of the discussion has (apparently and) very unfortunately moved to discord.

However, I could try to make a thread there on HG teams and ask around for anyone interested for the HGL if you would like. Maybe such an active approach would give some potential HG managers some motivation.

I've had that same thought earlier in terms of active forum approach (and if my memory serves me, actually suggested that earlier on Homegrown Teams II thread I think), as I was thinking how to raise more awareness and interest on HG style of play/mentality. So basically I think that's a very good idea, and you're definitely welcome to do so if you want to make the effort.

Actually, all us HGL managers, especially us who play in countries where the first official language isn't English, would be very welcome to do that, as I suspect that would raise more interest towards HGL, and some players might not even be aware of HGL due to not being able to read English on a sufficient level. (Of course, if such manager would then join and if I couldn't write on their language, they would be then dependent on this referring/tutoring HGL manager to explain rules and practices to them, which is of course an added layer of challenge - but I was just throwing an idea out, that might help creating more awareness/interest).

It's just that currently we have somewhat limited capability to expand (due to extreme increase in manual work if amount of teams would increase significantly), but ground work/raising interest levels/awareness levels never produces a 100% return in terms of creating future HGL participants, so I think it's safe to do that kind of ground work (in terms of raising awareness levels and asking of potential interest levels on each countries forums) to see if there's even bigger interest that hasn't yet come into light.
One example could be manager of Home-Grown team Hårdboll, Spela, who is a very long term HG manager, and still apparently just recently found out about our Official HGL Threads. So if not even all HG managers know of HGL, there must be some potential with this active forum approach. :)

However, this is the kind of league that demands certain level of commitment, and takes some amount of work even from a regular manager (especially before the season setup, and organizing playoff matches each week), so it's not ever going to be suitable for just about anyone who just simply wants to set up everything once and then forget it. And commitment and willingness to stick with rules/practices is also necessary in order to keep HGL fair and fun to play for all, and "not make it wrong kind of play field" as I've wrote before.

The draft week tends to be one of these that I anticipate the most as well, always refreshing the roster page just to see if I got my preferred picks. And I am sure that you can rebuild your team around the couple of nice-looking young guns in your roster after your top players start aging.

I hope you're right, but to be honest with you, I don't think my economy would take it well if I'd be relegated (I'm currently going for 100 own draftees in a team!), so I've definitely had to prioritize surviving in the league and not getting the best draft picks possible, as I can't afford to be relegated... And as I'm playing on second highest level, being able to draft on positions 6-12 doesn't give you many "jewels" in average, I'm afraid. I would've needed 2-4 of those jewels already 3-5 seasons ago... :/