An idea to increase interest in Canada

R

rebound

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Note: Sadly, I lack the money to implement this, but if I had it, I am sure it would spark a resurgence in Canadian snooker.

I'd like to see an annual tournament held in Halifax. It would be invitation only for the top 16 Canadian players. I think that with secure backing, the support of World Snooker, television, and sponsors would be possible. First prize (with additional prizes as money allows) would be sponsorship to Q School at the Snooker Academy in Sheffield, England for the following season.

FYI, at the Snooker Academy, 3 tournaments are held with the 4 semi-finalists in each being awarded entry into the professional tour for the subsequent season. There will be 4.5 million Pounds available in prize money on next year's tour. http://www.worldsnookerqschool.com/

I would contact Barry Hearn directly right now if I had even the slightest hope of obtaining financial backing for this. I believe it would create the environment needed to resuscitate competitive snooker in Canada.
 
rebound said:
Note: Sadly, I lack the money to implement this, but if I had it, I am sure it would spark a resurgence in Canadian snooker.

I'd like to see an annual tournament held in Halifax. It would be invitation only for the top 16 Canadian players......
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How would you spark interest if only top 16 Canadian players are invited to play?

When Wu Chia Ching won his first 9-ball World Champion title in Taiwan he was not even in the top 50 in the world ranking before that.
 
icem3n said:
How would you spark interest if only top 16 Canadian players are invited to play?

When Wu Chia Ching won his first 9-ball World Champion title in Taiwan he was not even in the top 50 in the world ranking before that.
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I'm not sure what the first statement has to do with the second. In any case, the point is to provide clear, measurable and obtainable goals. First to make the top 16, then to win the tournament, then to qualify at Q School.
Scaramouche said:
The Canadian amateurs can't beat the old pros. :grin:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=128888&highlight=invitational+cambridge

I suspect that it would take more than just showing up a Q school to have a realistic chance of getting on the pro circuit.
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You are not considering the long term effects. It would take years to engender the kind of support system to make it likely someone from Canada would succeed at Q School. However, it is open to anyone. The experience is bound to be great no matter what. This is not a get rich quick scheme. It will take years to pay off. That's just the point. No one is doing anything like this because they don't want to take on the commitment. That's just plain sad. With the new competitive structure in World Snooker, the game could be big in Canada.

Now, as always, the biggest barrier to establishing world-class competition in Canada is the sheer size of the country. Some system of sponsorships would need to be developed to allow players to travel more. I envision challenge matches as well as additional local tournaments. Absolutely the biggest issue is corporate sponsorship. That's why really deep pockets would be needed, especially at first.
 
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rebound said:
I'm not sure what the first statement has to do with the second. In any case, the point is to provide clear, measurable and obtainable goals. First to make the top 16, then to win the tournament, then to qualify at Q School.

You are not considering the long term effects. It would take years to engender the kind of support system to make it likely someone from Canada would succeed at Q School. However, it is open to anyone. The experience is bound to be great no matter what. This is not a get rich quick scheme. It will take years to pay off. That's just the point. No one is doing anything like this because they don't want to take on the commitment. That's just plain sad. With the new competitive structure in World Snooker, the game could be big in Canada.

Now, as always, the biggest barrier to establishing world-class competition in Canada is the sheer size of the country. Some system of sponsorships would need to be developed to allow players to travel more. I envision challenge matches as well as additional local tournaments. Absolutely the biggest issue is corporate sponsorship. That's why really deep pockets would be needed, especially at first.
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The biggest issue is to get the CBSA to actually do something for snooker. As far as I can tell, they put on one event every year and that's the end of it. The problem is there aren't any new players coming through, they all play pool if they have any interest in professional play. Even with the addition of Q school, pro snooker is still fairly inaccessable for anyone outside of England and China.

There needs to be some effort involved in getting new players involved. And a huge first step is to try and get some coverage on Canadian television. The recent shoot out would be a tv friendly re-introduction to snooker.

I agree with the idea of qualifying tournament to go to England....but I think it would be better to qualify a player for the World Open. That way they can potentially get on tv within a few wins. Having Canadians playing in a major event would do a little for interest, at least amongst connosieurs.
 
We tried to introduce football to America but all we achieved was making it a popular game for girls so logic now tells us to increase the number of male snooker players in the colonies we have to encorage them into taking their daughters to play pool.
 
Wity said:
We tried to introduce football to America but all we achieved was making it a popular game for girls so logic now tells us to increase the number of male snooker players in the colonies we have to encorage them into taking their daughters to play pool.
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All joking aside, I see this as neither difficult nor undesirable. But it needs grass-roots support from pool room owners to have teaching and competitions suitable for juniors.
 
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