9-Ball
Topic: What Do You Want In A New Tour

Less events, spread evenly around the country please.

Just change the name of the EPT to the British Pool Tour. Have 9Ball and 8Ball as the main two disciplines.

Don't promise things you can't deliver.

I think everyone would be happy?

I'm not convinced about a tour running more than one discipline of pool, after all, each of the disciplines is a different sport just played on the same table.

I believe there should be seperate tours for 9 ball, 8 ball, 14:1 etc, just my opinion

should clarify what i mean i think, it is probably a good idea to have one "association" to over see american cue sports in the uk, but to have a seperate tour for each discipline.

If ranking points are to be used (and i believe they should be), then it should be a different ranking system for each discipline, not just one ranking table for all american pool. So it would be possible to have different players ranked number 1 at 9 ball, 8 ball, 14:1, this would surely make selection for the european championships etc easier.

Also any registration fees that aren't used for prize fund should be used to finance our representatives in events such as the european championships and world championships, wasn't it the case in the last european championships that some of the top UK players didn't play due to having to fund it themselves with no prize money on offer, that has to be bad for the game.

Yeh I agree. Seperate rankings for seperate disciplines obviously.

Here here Jim......

Seriously yes I agree with Jim. Ranking points that mean you get to gain free entry into bigger events around the world. I'd support that, everyone plays to see who's best, the best goes around the world with the our blessing. The pool don taking on others on our behalf.

Ranking points should mean something - anything, whether it's getting a free Cake on your Birthday or a free keyring with the legendary pharse 'Top 20 pool pro' It encourages loyality.

I think a problem with the current UK American Pool setup is that there is no clearly defined long term goals for a player.

The rankings used to matter on Doug's Tour as World Championship spots were up for grabs each year, but currently there is no real incentive for players.

The two tier or County structure I believe is a good idea as it would encourage players to strive to break into the first tier, or into some sort of County team.

I like the idea of a organising different levels of teams. However I don't see the usual levels of involvement that is evident in other sports.
Internal leagues at each club where you play matches and strive to get into the top league.
Club teams playing other club teams. In teams of 3, 4 or 5 say. Played weekly during the 'season'.
No regular club nights that run consistently come rain or shine.
No consistency for internal competitions.
No end of year internal closed tournaments to help promote the club as a group of like minded individuals.
The best players then go on to play in regional squads where they train together as well on regular basis. Where the very best then goes on to represent their region or country.
I suppose I mean more grass roots development to generate interest right the way through from top to bottom.
I may be wrong. But not in my area.

I don't want to cast a downer but I thinkstrong foundations are the key to a successful and long term promotion of a sport. If we get it right at the bottom we may have a larger support base for the guys at the top. Like getting internal sponsors? Only on the moral front to start with and then finding ways to induce sponsorship from this.

This is why Iam asking a this question as I have a sponsor but need to decide weather to put it into one or two big ones including the 2008 Grand masters or the Grand Masters 9 in November or to start a complete new 9-ball tour and I tried to contact the PS of the BPPPA a call so how on earth does the BPPPA expect to get sponsors like that, I have even thought about putting it into and starting a county champioship instead

I hear that, Mark. Something ocurred to me whilst reading your last post. '1 or 2 big events or starting a new tour'. The saying give a man a fish and he will feed for a day. Give him a net and he can feed for a lifetime. i.e. A big event or two may bring people in to play those events on the day but building a whole county structure may help ensure a longer term goal is met. Namely bigger crowds, Strength in depth etc.
Is it possible to copy a format from other sports like badminton and tennis? Or Snooker , even?

I am not involved in playing pool as much as I used to be and now mainly play for recreation so perhaps this allows me to post a view as an onlooker with a keen interest in pool rather than being a player on the tour.

Starting with the obvious, I think all players want to see the sport grow in all senses and for this to happen there needs to be a tour that is constantly expanding and raising it's profile. To start with though in the big scheme of things it has to be accepted that at the moment Pool is not a big sport in the sense that nationally there are few players that can play comfortably for a living and most lower ranked players spend a lot of money travelling and entering events just to play the sport they love.

When I began playing pool in my teens and played semi-seriously, entering tour events occasionally and playing tournaments one thing that always came to mind was stagnation. The tours, most notably the pro 9 ball tour run by Doug Gordon, never seemed to advance and grow, it was the same thing every single year and few improvements were made. Forgive me if this is wrong, but this is how it seems to me.

To start with I think the most important thing is to have the players on board and to have their full confidence in the tour. Meetings should be held regularly between player representatives and tour managers. Players need to be kept fully informed of all plans and decisions and should feel that if they think there is a problem that they will be heard.

A long term vision needs to be created and most importantly GROWTH needs to be factored in each and every year. To start with things will maybe be low key or the same as now but say after the 1st year of a fully credible tour with staff and players behind it, investors and sponsors will be more keen to invest.

At the start I envision tournament prize money being formed mainly from tournament entry fees but each year the tour should strive to get more sponsors and bigger sponsors on board. If the tour grows each year, year upon year, even month upon month, then each advancement opens up a new level of investor and sponsor that will be interested.

Image I also believe is important. As I mentioned 'Stagnation' before I feel that even the little things were missing with the old pro tour, the website for example was terrible. It may sound silly but I believe little things like this matter and even things like a 'modern' website and an up-to-date feel about everything adds credibility to the tour both from a player's point of view and potential investors. A modern, fully democratic tour will gain momentum once it has gained the confidence of long-suffering national players.

Sorry if I have rambled on and also apologies if my views on the old UK tours are incorrect but I love pool and am passionate about wanting to see all forms of the game grow and for the UK players to play in a tour where every single player feels they have long term pool goals that a tour can deliver

I feel that prize funds need to be guaranteed if possible and that EVERY year they need to be raised. Prize monies I feel are the best indicator of growth both to a player in that they gain confidence in the tour and to sponsors (which I see as an integral part of real growth) as they see that the sport is heading in the right direction, UP!