The UPA and the players.

[Celtic]

Do the players have any concern or care about the UPA organization at all? With the recent events in Calgary and the tournament ousting the UPA sanction due to a lack of UPA members bothering to play in a UPA event, and one even demanding an appearance fee to show up I have to wonder if the players think nothing of the UPA. The added money was great, the UPA and WPA both sanctioned the event, the event ran without a hitch last year and had a great field, and the players figured they would skip it anyways. It seems like a real slight to the UPA and any prestige or respect they bring to a event IMO. And a member of the UPA demanding a appearance fee to show up to a UPA sanctioned event? That is just wrong. What do you all think?

 

[manlyshot]

Celtic, independent promoters of Great Whites Billiards in Calgary are to be commended for keeping the tradition of this tournament going. Looking at the reports from last year, it was a complete success, even without the UPA.

The UPA is a young organization with a good-intentioned mission, to promote men's pool. One of the strong features of a UPA-sanctioned tournament is that the monies are GUARANTEED to be there.

The TD, on the other hand, wants to get players signed up ahead of time, rightly so, and apparently, because of the lack of commitment by UPA players, he decided he could not guarantee that added money. I kind of don't blame him either, looking at it realistically.

This puts the UPA in a bad spot, to be fair. It is a common occurrence for players to wait until the last minute to pay entry fees, and it is not fair to the TD (IMO). Imagine if this TD were to guarantee the $20,000 added and only a handful of UPA touring pros show up.

There are some pro players who do request "special appearance" fees, and it is up to the TD and/or promoter if they want to honor that request. If I was this TD and only had 8 players signed up, I would be worried and would not desire to pay out any fees unless I knew I was going to have a full field of those UPA touring pros. Why should he guarantee $20,000 without the return guarantee of the world's best players, those wonderful UPA touring pros?

Some of the UPA touring pros, at least who I have spoken to, are upset about this withdrawal of UPA sanctioning and now have to change travel plans. There are others who are going to this tournament, anyway. It is a nice event.

It's a Catch 22 and a stalemate. There is no new monies coming into this sport, and the struggling pro players (UPA and non-UPA members), the cash-strapped independent promoters, and a young men's organization end up being the losers. The cancellation of UPA sanctioning for this tournament is a lose-lose situation to all.

ManlyShot