Joe T
Well-known member
In case you haven’t heard Mark Griffin of CSI and me (Joe Tucker) are launching a new national pro/am league. Our goal is to unite at least 64 of our better billiard clubs across the nation and to have 8 high level or aspiring players compete weekly out of each club.
The league will serve many purposes for all of us but 2 of the motivating factors are here;
#1 Provide a sensible path for aspiring players to follow. Let’s face it the road to becoming a pro that our sport has been providing younger players with, well let’s just say we can do better. How many wasted talents have we all seen? Even as players ourselves we tell them “don’t do it, go the other way” which is good advice until we have something better to offer them, the ABCL will provide at least one good path. It sickens me that we do not currently have one in place.
Our format is going to be similar to that of a baseball farm system and the players first goal is to get one of those 8 spots at a participating club and then work towards “Making it to the Show” With our structure a person can stay in school, work a job, run a business and tend to family while still being able to compete nationally 42 weeks a year for less than $1,000 annually (we want all of our players playing for free in the near future)
#2 Once in place we believe this is going to be a product our industry can not only be proud of but one that will be worthy of outside attention, we’re building pool version golf’s Nike Tour (now the Web.com tour)
With 64 of our better clubs united we will be able to stream high quality players in live matches practically every day from different locations. With 512 players competing in short 7 week sessions we will be able to offer all kinds of fantasy contests on a daily, weekly and season basis. We will have video lesson available from hundreds of high level players and will have an organization we can all be proud of.
We are asking all participating clubs to host 8 players for 7 week round robins. There will be 4 in house matches held weekly among those 8 players. We recommend that you showcase these 4 matches at a time that is best for you and your customers to enjoy. Each match will take on average 2.5 hrs. We will provide you with scheduling and you will have the task of collecting fees and reporting 4 match scores per week.
We are starting off by guaranteeing to pay back at least 80% of all player fees which are $25 per week for each 7 week session. We want to work that number up to 100%, 150% and keep growing as long as we can.
Mark Griffin and CSI are very committed to making a long term contribution to our sport and our industry, what we ask from you is that you take a little time out of what we know is a busy schedule and invite 8 of your areas best players/people (you choose them) to play out of your club so we are all 1 step closer building something good for our industry.
This is not a get rich off the player scheme, if we ever profit from this it will be because we are providing fans and sponsors with something that offers them value and make them hapy! Mark has already invested a lot of time, money and resources and I have just come off a 6,000 mile 42 day trip away from family in an effort to discuss things on a personal level with players and club owners and we will continue to do so as long as we receive support. I have been involved in many areas of our sport for about 27 years now and have seen nothing that makes more sense than this.
Please contact me at jttenball@gmail.com and I will provide you with everything you need to know.
The league will serve many purposes for all of us but 2 of the motivating factors are here;
#1 Provide a sensible path for aspiring players to follow. Let’s face it the road to becoming a pro that our sport has been providing younger players with, well let’s just say we can do better. How many wasted talents have we all seen? Even as players ourselves we tell them “don’t do it, go the other way” which is good advice until we have something better to offer them, the ABCL will provide at least one good path. It sickens me that we do not currently have one in place.
Our format is going to be similar to that of a baseball farm system and the players first goal is to get one of those 8 spots at a participating club and then work towards “Making it to the Show” With our structure a person can stay in school, work a job, run a business and tend to family while still being able to compete nationally 42 weeks a year for less than $1,000 annually (we want all of our players playing for free in the near future)
#2 Once in place we believe this is going to be a product our industry can not only be proud of but one that will be worthy of outside attention, we’re building pool version golf’s Nike Tour (now the Web.com tour)
With 64 of our better clubs united we will be able to stream high quality players in live matches practically every day from different locations. With 512 players competing in short 7 week sessions we will be able to offer all kinds of fantasy contests on a daily, weekly and season basis. We will have video lesson available from hundreds of high level players and will have an organization we can all be proud of.
We are asking all participating clubs to host 8 players for 7 week round robins. There will be 4 in house matches held weekly among those 8 players. We recommend that you showcase these 4 matches at a time that is best for you and your customers to enjoy. Each match will take on average 2.5 hrs. We will provide you with scheduling and you will have the task of collecting fees and reporting 4 match scores per week.
We are starting off by guaranteeing to pay back at least 80% of all player fees which are $25 per week for each 7 week session. We want to work that number up to 100%, 150% and keep growing as long as we can.
Mark Griffin and CSI are very committed to making a long term contribution to our sport and our industry, what we ask from you is that you take a little time out of what we know is a busy schedule and invite 8 of your areas best players/people (you choose them) to play out of your club so we are all 1 step closer building something good for our industry.
This is not a get rich off the player scheme, if we ever profit from this it will be because we are providing fans and sponsors with something that offers them value and make them hapy! Mark has already invested a lot of time, money and resources and I have just come off a 6,000 mile 42 day trip away from family in an effort to discuss things on a personal level with players and club owners and we will continue to do so as long as we receive support. I have been involved in many areas of our sport for about 27 years now and have seen nothing that makes more sense than this.
Please contact me at jttenball@gmail.com and I will provide you with everything you need to know.
Thank for hopping in the box KK9