How do you rate.... the woman's division?
At risk of overblowing the opinion of those two idiots on Sky Sports, seeing Michaela Tabb on breakfast TV talking about this situation got me thinking. Adrian Chiles introduced her as the leading female referee in snooker. And then, more as a throway comment said; "Now there's a male dominated sport if there ever was one."
At first, it struck me as an odd comment. Snooker doesn't strike me as being full of men trying to be macho aggressive. But he's right really. The only female player I can name is Reanne Evans. And though she was won plenty of female only tournaments, she hasn't had a great season in qualifiers. Obviously there's some form of discrepancy between the female game and the male game. I mean, didn't Reanne win a world title when heavily pregnant? That says more to me about the quality of the opponents, then it does her skill.
I'll admit to not watching any of the female games, but only due to lack of opportunities to do so. Is this itself the problem? If it's not going to be promoted, people aren't going to watch it. There won't be the money or the publicity in it. So those who do know that women play snooker professionally, can't afford to do so because they get paid pittance.
Is there a way out of this? The only reason that I can see that women would be less good at a game like snooker then men. It's a game of skill, not strength. So theoretically a top female player shouldn't be at a disadvantage against a top male player, and the games should be pretty even.
It's a chicken and egg problem. If the people that play aren't very good, people aren't going to be enthusiastic about publicising them. With publicity, they won't improve to be worth watching. Or am I being too harsh here? Without watching too much of it, or ever having watched it all am I giving them to little credit? I know Monique knows a lot about the female game, maybe she could chip in.
If given the opportunity, I'd certainly watch some. How do people think we can give women the opportunity to play this professionally, and get paid properly, and improve so the fact they are female isn't a hinderance?
At first, it struck me as an odd comment. Snooker doesn't strike me as being full of men trying to be macho aggressive. But he's right really. The only female player I can name is Reanne Evans. And though she was won plenty of female only tournaments, she hasn't had a great season in qualifiers. Obviously there's some form of discrepancy between the female game and the male game. I mean, didn't Reanne win a world title when heavily pregnant? That says more to me about the quality of the opponents, then it does her skill.
I'll admit to not watching any of the female games, but only due to lack of opportunities to do so. Is this itself the problem? If it's not going to be promoted, people aren't going to watch it. There won't be the money or the publicity in it. So those who do know that women play snooker professionally, can't afford to do so because they get paid pittance.
Is there a way out of this? The only reason that I can see that women would be less good at a game like snooker then men. It's a game of skill, not strength. So theoretically a top female player shouldn't be at a disadvantage against a top male player, and the games should be pretty even.
It's a chicken and egg problem. If the people that play aren't very good, people aren't going to be enthusiastic about publicising them. With publicity, they won't improve to be worth watching. Or am I being too harsh here? Without watching too much of it, or ever having watched it all am I giving them to little credit? I know Monique knows a lot about the female game, maybe she could chip in.
If given the opportunity, I'd certainly watch some. How do people think we can give women the opportunity to play this professionally, and get paid properly, and improve so the fact they are female isn't a hinderance?
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SnookerFan - Posts: 150643
- Joined: 13 December 2009
- Snooker Idol: Michaela Tabb
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