Wild wrote:interesting thoughts from mark ..
one question id like to ask him regarding woman's snooker....wouldn't it be better to get more girls playing snooker if it was seeing as a SPORT for all Rather than mens Game v Woman's Game ?
It would be better to get more females playing the game and be able to establish an organisation which could bring through players to compete against each other and inspire each other to improve. Role models are very thin on the ground in the ladies game cerainly in the UK. I personally dont think that there will ever be a day when the amount of ladies playing globally will be of a sufficient quantity to match the numbers of male players. There are many reasons for this which I am too tired to go into now but because of this the ability level of the ladies is and will continue to be significantly less overall than the men apart from the few that at the top that can compete at amateur level with only Reanne at the moment with a realistic chance of getting on tour in the next couple of years through Q School. Ideally I would like men and women to compete together but the reality is that if we don't have a seperate organisation and provide opportunitues for women to playand be comfortable then we risk reduced opportunities for potential future generations of female snooker players of taking up the game.
I see alot of females playing pool and snooker in my local club. I see them bringing younger girls in to practice. It is a small start but a necessary one. I need to run some local ladies tournaments through which I can publicise the national tournaments for women and then hopefully there will be more uptake. This needs to be done in every snooker club, not a small task to achieve.
Hannah, if not for the WLBSA, would be playing once a week at the junior snooker club. The WLBSA gave her the opportunities to play in ranking events through which she needed to practice to improve which gave her confidence which made her seek better players in the lads tournaments which made her want to improve through practice etc etc.
Wild wrote:you got 2 talented 12 year Olds one a boy other a Girl if their Goal was the same whats to stop both being crucible World Champions.
Shouldn't be anything to stop them but there are so many reasons why not every male snooker player, however talented they may be percieved to be or how much they want to be World Champion, makes it as a professional let alone crucible World Champion. In the same way that girls, however talented, may not reach the heights that people assumethey will. There are so many reasons through coaching, social and economic obstructions, interest, opportunities, perception of the game, relationships and support which can change through a young persons life and make them change their goals. It takes a unique person and a unique set of opportunities and support to even get to the heights of their chosen sport. Hopefully one day there will be a serious female challenger to the men but think of it this way, if there is there will only be 1 or 2 females that is how hard it is going to be and going back to your previous question that alone makes seperating the men from the women as a sensible option.
By the way I so unbelievably tired from today so I will review my answer tomorrow and may edit it into something coherent. :)