QSP Series @ South West Snooker Academy-£25,000 prize fund*

[eminel]

Money money money and greed.

[Sarah Mount]

THE PRIZE IS ONLY FOR PLAYING SNOOKER....................WHAT ABOUT THE ACCOMODATION THAT THE YOUNG PLAYERS WILL HAVE TO FIND THOUSANDS OF POUNDS NOT TO MENTION FOOD AND TRAVEL. VERY MISLEADING NOT ALL PARENTS WILL NO ABOUT THE HIDDEN CHARGES THAT WILL COME WITH MOVING TO THIS VENUE.

There are no hidden costs as the winners are not required to attend the venue and are certainly not expected to move to the venue. We are merely offering it as a way to further assist them in their preparation for Q School and their attempt at turning Pro. You mention parents not knowing about the hidden charges (of which there are none) but this series is not primarily aimed at children. The majority of entries and interest we have had so far are from adults. It is a fact of life that you get what you pay for. It costs around £3000 to get the tables prepared for an event like the QSP to have cloth replaced and tables fitted etc. This is done to provide the best conditions possible and give those who use them the chance to practice on tables fitted the same as what they will be playing on in the Q School which will hopefully prove beneficial.

Money money money and greed.

You have got us completely wrong! It is not about the money and we are certainly not greedy. I don't think you could accuse anyone who has invested £2m of their own money into something with the intention of adding something to the sport, knowing full well they will never recover that investment, as greedy!

[Sarah Mount]

I forgot to add also eminel, that the Academy is a company set up to be limited by guarantee. That means that any profit we do make is all donated to charity. This really is not a project for personal financial gain. It is simply a project for satisfaction in working within an industry which we enjoy! It seems some people find that difficult to believe!

[eminel]

well i hope you do lookafter the players. only time will tell. the thing is your getting£64000 in entry fees and paying out £25000+ this has never sat well with snooker players and im sure when all the players find out they will have some strong views on this. BUT ALL IN ALL SOME TOURNAMENTS TO PLAY IN IS BETTER THEN NO TOURNAMENTS AT ALL.

[magicman]

I think you've answered his points excellently Sarah. I used to organise tournaments, and found players expectations of what gets paid in and out are farcical.

[Souwester]

The Academy's QSP series has to be looked at in context. It is a means of having a £1000 entry paid for World Snooker main Q-School event. That event offers NO prize money, the only 'prize' being 12 places up for grabs on next season's Main Tour. If they get 300 entries then that's £300,000 straight into the coffers of World Snooker, for which they are paying out a mere fraction of that in direct costs associated with the event.

In comparison, what the Academy is offering is far more generous, and having seen the facilities on offer at Gloucester, it's well worth the money for those who believe they have a good chance of qualifying for next year's Main Tour. Even if they don't qualify, the lucky winners from QSP will surely gain an advantage in their own NGB tournaments?

For those (in England) who think that £500 really is a bit steep, then maybe they should consider EASB's Q-School Satellite events, initially marketed as 'turn pro for a tenner' because it cost just £10 to enter stage 1. Stage 1 has already come and gone, but entries are now being taken for Stage 2 at just £40 a time, and you can enter up to three times (at £40 a throw) to improve your chances. Stage 2 is being held in three regions: north, south and midlands. The lucky 8 qualifiers from each region will then go through to Stage 3, which others can enter at £100 a time (again up to three entries), the eventual winners having their £1000 entry fee paid for them for World Snooker's Q-School event. The number of places at stake will be dependent on the level of entry fees received: for every £2500 entry fees, one £1000 entry fee to Q-School will be paid.

[the legend]

I accept that you have a high class facility,my concerns are still that your going down the road of using these tournaments to subsidise a facility that looks to me has very little chance of breaking even.
It may well be that snooker needs your academy,but i still feel the amount of money your taking away from the players entry fees is not justifiable.Obviously time will tell if the players will support you,my gut feeling is that your going to have to find some other means of funding.
One more question which may be unfair or hard to answer but do the well known players who are managed by you pay the same fees for practice etc. and if they dont should young amateur players be subsidising the likes of Jimmy White.

[eminel]

One more question which may be unfair or hard to answer but do the well known players who are managed by you pay the same fees for practice etc. and if they dont should young amateur players be subsidising the likes of Jimmy White.[/QUOTE]
very good question but i dont think you will be getting a honest answer.

[paul.mount]

without going into contractual details I can assure everyone that anyone who practices at the academy pays to do so including all the players I manage. being honest is not difficult!

[Sarah Mount]

well i hope you do lookafter the players. only time will tell. the thing is your getting£64000 in entry fees and paying out £25000+ this has never sat well with snooker players and im sure when all the players find out they will have some strong views on this. BUT ALL IN ALL SOME TOURNAMENTS TO PLAY IN IS BETTER THEN NO TOURNAMENTS AT ALL.

You are right, only time will tell. We will work to provide the best tournament we can and we sincerely hope that those who enter feel the benefit when they play in the Q School and any future events. I appreciate your view of some tournaments to play in being better than none and of course only those who wish to enter this, based on all the information, will.

I think you've answered his points excellently Sarah. I used to organise tournaments, and found players expectations of what gets paid in and out are farcical.

Thank you magicman. As someone who has visited the Academy and has organised tournaments previously, I appreciate your input into the thread and echo your final point.

The Academy's QSP series has to be looked at in context. It is a means of having a £1000 entry paid for World Snooker main Q-School event. That event offers NO prize money, the only 'prize' being 12 places up for grabs on next season's Main Tour. If they get 300 entries then that's £300,000 straight into the coffers of World Snooker, for which they are paying out a mere fraction of that in direct costs associated with the event.

In comparison, what the Academy is offering is far more generous, and having seen the facilities on offer at Gloucester, it's well worth the money for those who believe they have a good chance of qualifying for next year's Main Tour. Even if they don't qualify, the lucky winners from QSP will surely gain an advantage in their own NGB tournaments?

Thanks Souwester! It does need to be looked at in context. This is not the first of many tournaments to this format, it is specifically designed for it's purpose of creating playing opportunities on high quality tables for those wishing to enter Q school. Your point about it being worth the money for those who believe they have a good chance of qualifying has hit the nail on the head. This tournament is aimed at top amateurs looking to further their prospects of getting on the tour. As you rightly say, this may assist them in their NGB tournaments and they could qualify through that route.

Again, as someone who has visited the facility and has experience in organising tournaments, your comments are greatly appreciated.

I accept that you have a high class facility,my concerns are still that your going down the road of using these tournaments to subsidise a facility that looks to me has very little chance of breaking even.
It may well be that snooker needs your academy,but i still feel the amount of money your taking away from the players entry fees is not justifiable.Obviously time will tell if the players will support you,my gut feeling is that your going to have to find some other means of funding.
One more question which may be unfair or hard to answer but do the well known players who are managed by you pay the same fees for practice etc. and if they dont should young amateur players be subsidising the likes of Jimmy White.

I think perhaps we have got confused through text as the money from this tournament is not there to subsidise the Academy on the whole, it is purely to fund the use of the Academy for that tournament. The costs and expenses we are looking to cover with the entry fees are the costs and expenses we would face by holding the event. Nothing more, nothing less. It just so happens that our costs are higher than other venues due to the quality of the facilities we offer. This is why I have previously said you get what you pay for and the entry fee is paying for those players to get match practice on the best facilities.

As for your last question, it is not unfair and we are more than happy to answer it. Paul has answered that in a previous post though so I won't repeat what he has already said!

One more question which may be unfair or hard to answer but do the well known players who are managed by you pay the same fees for practice etc. and if they dont should young amateur players be subsidising the likes of Jimmy White.

very good question but i dont think you will be getting a honest answer. [/QUOTE]

Happy to answer and an honest answer it was indeed. It's no problem being honest if you have nothing to hide


Another note, away from these quotes, this will be the fourth tournament we have held at the Academy. The first, the Pink Ribbon was a charitable event and cost £20 to enter. The second, a World Open Qualifier which cost £20 to enter. The third, EPTC4 which cost £100 to enter although that entry fee was determined by World Snooker and not us. This tournament is priced in accordance with the reason it was set up in the first place.

[ryanc147]

sounds like a great event just a shame that it clashes with two events from the EASB q school events, and the first event clashes with the prem junior tour where most of the top amateurs are likely to be.

[bazp310]

Sarah - the more I learn about your venture the more i admire what you have set out to achieve. I have been to Gloucester and can commend the facility, the staff and the layout. People need to realise that you have to give in some way in life to yield the reward, you guys have given a lot.

[Sarah Mount]

sounds like a great event just a shame that it clashes with two events from the EASB q school events, and the first event clashes with the prem junior tour where most of the top amateurs are likely to be.

Hi Ryan!

Thanks for your comments regarding the QSP. As a player who has used the facilities at the Academy and who this series is aimed towards it is nice to hear your thoughts. We had been looking to change the date of our first event to allow people to enter after Xmas and if that means we will avoid clashing with the Premier Junior Tour then that is all the better. We were awaiting confirmation from those who had already entered that they were happy to change, which they are.

The new dates will therefore be:

Event 1 - 21-23 January
Event 2 - 4-6 February
Event 3 - 18-20 February
Event 4 - 18-20 March

We did originally clash with two of the EASBs Q school satellite events which resulted in us changing our dates in order to avoid a clash. I have now noticed however that the EASB have changed the date of stage three of their Q School satellite resulting in it now clashing with our event 3. The EASB calendar we used to get our dates had stage three of the Q School Satellite being played on 2nd-3rd April. As we do not have any other weekends that would be suitable, we are going to go ahead with our original date for event three.

Hopefully see you at the Academy again soon Ryan.

Many thanks,

Sarah

[Sarah Mount]

Sarah - the more I learn about your venture the more i admire what you have set out to achieve. I have been to Gloucester and can commend the facility, the staff and the layout. People need to realise that you have to give in some way in life to yield the reward, you guys have given a lot.

Thanks bazp310 for your kind words. I'm delighted to hear that you have been to the Academy and liked what you saw. We are trying to provide the best facilities and events we can and we constantly learn from past events in order to ensure the next event is even better.

Thanks again

[Souwester]

The EASB had to change the date of their final event because World Snooker reneged on an earlier assurance that it would be fine to hold the final event after their official closing date.