AN OPEN LETTER TO IAN ANDERSON, WPA President
We have been good friends or many years and I know just how hard you work to keep the game alive. You are a good man (honest and conscientious) and I have supported you for many years now. So it is with a heavy heart that I take this action in criticising you.
But what has happened in Qatar with the World 9 Ball is kind of a watershed.
For what is the flagship tournament of our game to go ahead with no international TV
coverage is a travesty and with the announcement about this lack of coverage to be made
public only after the tournament had started is even more ludicrous.
Why was this scenario not taken care of many months ago and an alternative plan put
in place. A World Championship in any sport is the pinnacle of the competitors year and to have their efforts and achievements not made visible to the world makes staging the competition just a complete waste of time and not worthwhile holding.
I know nothing is as clear cut as it seems but this is a basic promotional necessity. I know that sponsors are not beating a path to your door. But notwithstanding that I feel that you have
been setting the bar too low in dealing with potential sponsors and in doing so you are not
getting the respect that is commensurate with the effort that you put in.
Another issue that needs addressing is a WPA Players Individual Membership. You may
have the support of some of the top players but it is only lukewarm.
They need to be enfranchised and have more of a say on matters than some of the
obscure (and irrelevant ) officials who have populated the WPA Board since it’s inception.
You have agreed with me many times in the past about the need for this membership
category. But your back burner must be getting burnt out.
The WPA is not serving the game well and you could compare it to an old jalopy. You are in the driving seat but the engine is missing and the fuel tank is empty.
If the vehicle cannot be serviced then maybe it is time for the Wrecking Yard.
This was an Open letter to the President of the WPA. I received no acknowledgement or reply to it then but I wondered if this is a belated attempt to get this overdue scenario to become a reality.
I hope not because the whole thing is clumsy, misguided and ill timed.
Any player signing up to it now would be well advised to wait for the Next Big Thing to come along.
At this point in time the WPA are a self elected, self perpetuating body that has no mandate to claim that it represent players. Correct me if you think that I am wrong but the last “genuine” player to hold a WPA Board position was Jorgen Sandman almost 20 years ago.
The existing Board includes worthy individuals from Australia, Singapore, Croatia, South Africa which are by no stretch of the imagination Frontline Pool Countries.
Nobody should expect these people to be dynamic, driven industry leaders capable of taking the game into the 21st century.
This contract business should serve as a prompter for what must be done (and done quickly).
The WPA holds a place on the World Confederation of Billiards Sports purely on the basis that they say that THEY SPEAK FOR THE POOL PLAYERS .
THEY DONT?
RODNEY MORRIS Do the represent you?
MIKA IMMONEN Do they represent you?
RAJ HUNDAL Do they represent you?
Is there any pro who would be prepared to say that they have any input into the game that put food on the table for them and their families.
The WCBS is their legitimate answer.
This organisation represents various disciplines of cue sports. It is upwardly responsible to only the International Olympic Committee.
What needs to happen now is for a nucleus of top players to make a binding commitment to each other and form a meaningful Players Organisation capable of challenging the right of the WPA to claim the mantle of Players Representatives.
The WCBS are headed up by World Snooker Chairman Jason Ferguson. He is a well
respected person in the cuesports world and here they could find a sympathetic ear
for such a cause.
Sure we have been down this road before – with Don Mackey (PBTA), CJ Wiley (PCA), Kevin Trudeau (IPT), Johnny Archer (can’t remember the acronym but that was really just a
Dragon Subdivision).
But this time any such organisation would have the political support at a high level.
I have been doing some research on this project for a little while now. But the reason
that I have not pursued it full tilt is that there is no obvious leader to hold them together.
If this seems a harsh judgement on the players then I would be happy to see someone who disagees with me to step up to the plate and take on this task.
This Risk Without Reward Contract is divisive and meaningless and should be winging it’s way to a Wastebasket Near You.
We have been good friends or many years and I know just how hard you work to keep the game alive. You are a good man (honest and conscientious) and I have supported you for many years now. So it is with a heavy heart that I take this action in criticising you.
But what has happened in Qatar with the World 9 Ball is kind of a watershed.
For what is the flagship tournament of our game to go ahead with no international TV
coverage is a travesty and with the announcement about this lack of coverage to be made
public only after the tournament had started is even more ludicrous.
Why was this scenario not taken care of many months ago and an alternative plan put
in place. A World Championship in any sport is the pinnacle of the competitors year and to have their efforts and achievements not made visible to the world makes staging the competition just a complete waste of time and not worthwhile holding.
I know nothing is as clear cut as it seems but this is a basic promotional necessity. I know that sponsors are not beating a path to your door. But notwithstanding that I feel that you have
been setting the bar too low in dealing with potential sponsors and in doing so you are not
getting the respect that is commensurate with the effort that you put in.
Another issue that needs addressing is a WPA Players Individual Membership. You may
have the support of some of the top players but it is only lukewarm.
They need to be enfranchised and have more of a say on matters than some of the
obscure (and irrelevant ) officials who have populated the WPA Board since it’s inception.
You have agreed with me many times in the past about the need for this membership
category. But your back burner must be getting burnt out.
The WPA is not serving the game well and you could compare it to an old jalopy. You are in the driving seat but the engine is missing and the fuel tank is empty.
If the vehicle cannot be serviced then maybe it is time for the Wrecking Yard.
This was an Open letter to the President of the WPA. I received no acknowledgement or reply to it then but I wondered if this is a belated attempt to get this overdue scenario to become a reality.
I hope not because the whole thing is clumsy, misguided and ill timed.
Any player signing up to it now would be well advised to wait for the Next Big Thing to come along.
At this point in time the WPA are a self elected, self perpetuating body that has no mandate to claim that it represent players. Correct me if you think that I am wrong but the last “genuine” player to hold a WPA Board position was Jorgen Sandman almost 20 years ago.
The existing Board includes worthy individuals from Australia, Singapore, Croatia, South Africa which are by no stretch of the imagination Frontline Pool Countries.
Nobody should expect these people to be dynamic, driven industry leaders capable of taking the game into the 21st century.
This contract business should serve as a prompter for what must be done (and done quickly).
The WPA holds a place on the World Confederation of Billiards Sports purely on the basis that they say that THEY SPEAK FOR THE POOL PLAYERS .
THEY DONT?
RODNEY MORRIS Do the represent you?
MIKA IMMONEN Do they represent you?
RAJ HUNDAL Do they represent you?
Is there any pro who would be prepared to say that they have any input into the game that put food on the table for them and their families.
The WCBS is their legitimate answer.
This organisation represents various disciplines of cue sports. It is upwardly responsible to only the International Olympic Committee.
What needs to happen now is for a nucleus of top players to make a binding commitment to each other and form a meaningful Players Organisation capable of challenging the right of the WPA to claim the mantle of Players Representatives.
The WCBS are headed up by World Snooker Chairman Jason Ferguson. He is a well
respected person in the cuesports world and here they could find a sympathetic ear
for such a cause.
Sure we have been down this road before – with Don Mackey (PBTA), CJ Wiley (PCA), Kevin Trudeau (IPT), Johnny Archer (can’t remember the acronym but that was really just a
Dragon Subdivision).
But this time any such organisation would have the political support at a high level.
I have been doing some research on this project for a little while now. But the reason
that I have not pursued it full tilt is that there is no obvious leader to hold them together.
If this seems a harsh judgement on the players then I would be happy to see someone who disagees with me to step up to the plate and take on this task.
This Risk Without Reward Contract is divisive and meaningless and should be winging it’s way to a Wastebasket Near You.