Nov 30, 20153 min
The current state of pool has no set calendar; events are scheduled at the last minute, and when dates are decided, no one seems to check the calendars to see if it clashes with another event in another country — let alone the same country.
Pool today, it seems, is a free for all: Do what you want, when you want.
This would not happen in a successfully organized sport.
Pool is a global sport and could be in a much better state than it is now with the proper marketing and organization. The potential market is huge, but it needs to get in order. For me, to achieve what we want pool to be starts at the top with the WPA, and they should be running everything from amateur to pro level.
At the moment, the WPA is being controlled by independent organizers. These organizers have no contracts or rules in place in order to sanction an event, so they get to run the event how they see fit and the WPA has no say in this.
Not only is the WPA mistreated, but it also falls onto the players. We as professional pool players receive last minute notice of when events are scheduled because of the lack of communication.
The only events I feel are properly organized are the Matchroom Events; World Cup of Pool, World Pool Masters, and Mosconi Cup.
Matchroom does everything right — from marketing, to communicating with the players —hence why they have been so successful. People working for Matchroom understand how to run a successful event, and therefore there is a mutual respect between the players and Matchroom Sports.
Sadly, the organizers of many events worldwide have no respect for the players in regards to rules or communication, which is why there is so much conflict.
To improve the game, the WPA should be starting at a grassroots level to make the game grow.
In my opinion, if every league and/or player in the world paid a small (one dollar) membership fee per year to the WPA, it would generate millions of dollars to pool for the top level.
At the same time it would benefit grassroots and league players because they would become members of the WPA. In return, they could get news feeds, see the top professionals, follow their favorite players, see a unified tournament calendar, get local professionals from their region/country for presentation nights or exhibitions, clinics, etc.
The game would be easy to follow, and would give an incentive to players that want to improve and to aspiring players that wish to be professionals. The game would be more relatable, and everyone would work as one.
If I asked 100 league members who the current world champion is, the majority probably wouldn’t know, and this is extremely sad.
Like I said before, the sport needs to be marketed properly, starting from the top. When I was a league player at one point in my life, I paid league fees every year. I would be happy if just one dollar was going to a world association, because it would open many doors for pool. Especially at a beginner’s league level, where there are thousands of leagues worldwide and millions of players.
I hope one day someone with the right vision, hunger, and ambition will do this type of thing. It’s the only way to make pool a big sport and give the next generation a chance to make a living playing pool.
Sponsored by POV Pool and Jacoby Custom Cues