question about UPA "touring pro" status

[vapoolplayer]

i was/am going to write the UPA asking them about this, but i figured that someone on here has already asked them.

why can you just pay the 100 or so bucks and get a "touring pro" status?

i personally like the way the wpba makes you work your way into that group. to me it makes this status a little watered down. for the women its quite an accomplishment to achieve touring pro status in the wpba. if you're not a touring pro you have to win qualifiers to get into the tournaments. wouldn't this format do better for the promotion of the men's game? i would think you would see more people coming out to a tournament if they knew it was the only way to get on a tour stop. where now if someone wants to play in a "pro" event, just pay the dough and get in. i'm not saying that its not a good thing that you can go play in the tournaments with the pros and they should keep a few tournaments like the DCC around with that format.

the only thing i could come up with on my own is that when the UPA really gets its feet off the ground they were planning on changing this. as they really don't have a pro "tour" per say yet.

thanks

 

[sjm]

why can you just pay the 100 or so bucks and get a "touring pro" status?....i personally like the way the wpba makes you work your way into that group. to me it makes this status a little watered down. for the women its quite an accomplishment to achieve touring pro status in the wpba. if you're not a touring pro you have to win qualifiers to get into the tournaments. wouldn't this format do better for the promotion of the men's game?

Nice post. Count me among those that approve of the WPBA system. A semipro must win qualifiers to get a shot at the tour, and when they get there, they need four top-half-of-the-field finishes to become a pro. Still, the system has its limitations, too. Some of today's best were qualifying the hard way for the tour by playing the qualifiers not long ago. Some on the forum have observed that the rigorous and expensive process of playing the regional qualifiers has dissuaded some of the best European and Asian women from trying to qualify for the WPBA tour, which has in turn resulted in a WPBA talent pool that, although deep, could be deeper.

The men's system of selling touring pro status seems a bit silly, but at least it doesn't lock out internatonals who choose to play just a few events on American soil.

This subject is a little trickier than it may sound.

 

[cardiac kid]

Why can you just pay the 100 or so bucks and get a "touring pro" status? The only thing i could come up with on my own is that when the UPA really gets its feet off the ground they were planning on changing this. as they really don't have a pro "tour" per say yet.

Very observant. Some players, like myself, will never reach true "touring pro" status. The UPA needed help getting going and several players, again like myself, chose to support them. In the days of the MPBA, I had to qualify to reach the same status (I earned it that time). If you went by only qualified players, each event would probably have thirty participants! Even they need cannon fodder (field fillers to us). Got any better ideas? Please tell the UPA BOD about them!

 

[Michael Webb]

Giving ideas is not the problem, getting them to actually listen. There's an issue.
If your knowledge is a full glass of water, you can't listen or learn.