2023 Season Release Announcement
Overview of 2023 Changes
Following the CTFL’s inaugural season, we are happy to announce our return for the 2023 season. However, this season is setting up to be much larger as we continue to innovate and add new dimensions to the league.
We will be adding two new events which are the sprint hurdles and 5,000m. In addition the league will undergo a restructuring as it will utilize a new point system and create a playoff like format on the way to the championship. Lastly, we aim to get our athletes and content creators much more involved this season with opportunities arising throughout the season.
New Events
Beginning with the two new events, the CTFL has elected to add the sprint hurdles and the 5,000m for the 2023 season. This was a tough decision as the league wants to grow its event offerings slowly in order to avoid straining itself as it begins to grow. The decision to add the sprint hurdles and 5,000m events were based on a multitude of factors including elite athlete interest, media analytics and the leagues available resources. The league will continue to add new events in future seasons to our immediate schedule. That being said, with the new league system, the CTFL will be allowing utility athletes to compete in any outdoor track and field event. This means that even if an event is not one of the ten primary CTFL events, those athletes will still have the opportunity to compete for a CTFL team as a utility athlete.
New League Format
This year the CTFL has elected to change up its point system and add a playoff format with real stakes to create intrigue at all levels. Whether you’re following your favourite athlete who’s vying for a medal or just seeing if they’ll make the championship, this new format is setting you up for an exhilarating season. The first major adjustment is that all final points for the CTFL season will no longer be predicated on the IAAF point system. Instead, the league has drawn inspiration from NCAA and Formula One implementing a standardised point system with head-to-head matchups being the focus as opposed to individual marks. The CTFL has done this in order to standardise our point system which now allows for all disciplines to score the exact same amount of points as opposed to last season where some disciplines ended up being more valuable than others. This new point system should also be easier for newcomers to the sport to follow all while making finishing positions much more important.
The second adjustment to the leagues format will be the addition of four new core athletes per discipline. Now each discipline will have 12 athletes as opposed to 2022 which saw each discipline having 8. The reason for this is two-fold. The first is because it reduces the amount of pressure on the league when athletes get injured which we learnt is inevitable in sport. The second is to create intrigue starting from the medal contenders all the way to the 12th place finisher. Under this new format only the top 8 athletes from each discipline will qualify for the championship meet. This means that positions 9 through 12 will most likely not make the championship unless there is an injury or another unforeseen reason why someone ranked in the top 8 cannot make it. In addition, the bottom four athletes will be at risk to being released from their team and potentially the CTFL. With all of this going on, this creates a lot of intrigue which our sport desperately needs to be able to thrive.
Final Remarks
Following what we call our beta test season, we look forward to providing an amazing experience for all fans and athletes alike in 2023. Though some may not like our decisions, the league’s primary objective is to grow the sport, and ultimately, it is our belief that our course corrections will set up the league and the sport for massive levels of growth.
Thank you for your support,
Quinn Lyness
CTFL Founder
