Canadian Amateur Championships

[Catch 22]

I play ice hockey for a local rec team and in Ayrshire where I live ( a region made up of over 20 towns ) there are only 3 ice rinks . 2 of them are falling apart and only half the size of a proper rink and the other is new and Olympic sized , the rinks treat hockey as a last thought after public skating and figure skating . We are luck to get on the ice once a week . Some teams take a midnight slot just to get some practice . Needless to say the Canadians can't believe how terrible we are when they come over to play lol. I used to be very jealous of you Canadians and your ice rinks .......BUT WE HAVE SNOOKER CLUBS . The score is Canada 1 - Scotland 1 lol

[thelongbomber]

Mayur - totally disagree with you on 2 points. When the "Official governing body for snooker in Canada" makes no mention of a Canadian Amateur Championship - then they clearly are not interested in promoting snooker. They are only interested in promoting their version.

Also - too few good snooker players in Canada, especially on the west coast. Bring on the Americans. The more competition the better for you as a player and snooker as a sport.

Cliff

You have a point about more competition. Regarding the Amateur Championships, the official amateur competition is being held by CBSA I suppose and in that competition, USA players would not be entering.

Snooker Canada recently ran the "Richler Cup" which I assume now is a privately run and funded tournament, so they can do as they please, including inviting USA players. But then, if they are doing that, why would they propose to be self-proclaimed as the Official governing body for snooker in Canada?

[thelongbomber]

Here's the problem with the present organizations of snooker in Canada. The first one is they have no sponsorship or very little. The second is the CBSA is the ONLY official organization in Canada recognized by the IBSF and therefore is the only organization who can send players to the world champs.

Thirdly there is a 'clique' running things and they seem to pay more attention to pool with not much support for snooker and this might be rightly so as right now there are a lot more pool players, including a lot of younger players, who are playing competitive pool.

In Ontario we have the Ontario Snooker Association, which I ran as President and Treasurer for 5 years until I disagreed with the other 2 members of the board on distribution of entry fees as prize money as they re-vamped what I had been doing and decided to bring in a system where the top 10 players received 95% of all the entry fees. I disagreed with this and was voted down 2-1 so I had to resign. Since then they have never held an AGM and have appointed a new President without the member's approval and have also changed the prize pool yet again to make it worse so there is nothing left for those players who make up the bulk of their members, the AVERAGE players who they will need the support of if snooker is to thrive and grow.

I used to collect the entry fee for the Canadian Champs and pay for 12 to 15 players to enter the Canadians, but now the prize money goes to the top players only in the one Ontario Championships and everyone has to pay $350 to enter the Canadians. I also used to pay down to the 1/4-finals which helped encourage those AVERAGE players to come back whereas now they pay minimum prize money and hold it all back for the Ontario Champs which distributes even more of the money to the top 4 players, never mind the top 10.

Terry

What a shame reading that. CBSA needs to be overhauled and taken over, which I think Patrick is working hard at doing. I believe at some point, he must have tried to work WITH the CBSA, but in failing that, started his own organization. If Patrick can show that his tournament is a success, then he may be able to convinced IBSF and World Snooker, that he is the preferred organization. I, for one, wanted to be compete in the CBSA for a ticket to the Worlds. In fact, I had that opportunity a few months ago, but couldn't come up with the 100 entry fee in time.

[bob1]

I play ice hockey for a local rec team and in Ayrshire where I live ( a region made up of over 20 towns ) there are only 3 ice rinks . 2 of them are falling apart and only half the size of a proper rink and the other is new and Olympic sized , the rinks treat hockey as a last thought after public skating and figure skating . We are luck to get on the ice once a week . Some teams take a midnight slot just to get some practice . Needless to say the Canadians can't believe how terrible we are when they come over to play lol. I used to be very jealous of you Canadians and your ice rinks .......BUT WE HAVE SNOOKER CLUBS . The score is Canada 1 - Scotland 1 lol

You are right. It comes down to level of interest in whatever sport.

Even with the number of rinks we have and the cost of ice time the adult men's leagues are still fighting for ice time and also late at night. The kids leagues ,as they should, play early. Not as many kids are playing hockey because of the costs for equipment and
ice time, very expensive. But as you know Hockey will always be huge in Canada.

Just wish there were more Snooker Clubs or for that matter people to play against on my own table!

[bob1]

It's a catch 22 situation, the players won't travel if the prize money isn't there, but the prize money will never be there unless players travel to enter.

The problem is there are no NEW players to the sport of snooker in Canada, so that is why there is little to no sponsorship and then not much prize money. People can try as hard as they want to organize associations but if there are not any young people playing it
then that is the Main problem.

[robertmac]

The soon to open pool hall in Toronto looks impressive.
Does anyone have an estimate of what a Shender or similar
table would cost?

[the montrealer]

The soon to open pool hall in Toronto looks impressive.
Does anyone have an estimate of what a Shender or similar
table would cost?

They would cost under $4,000 with cues and rest and snooker balls

Cheers Leonard

[bob1]

They would cost under $4,000 with cues and rest and snooker balls

Cheers Leonard

Maybe Jim Wych may know people and can get a deal for 8 tables? Or maybe as
Leonard has stated that is the price. That seems to be the table of choice right now.

In past years I thought the BCE tables were the ones that were used in the big show in England.

I know in my case I have a BCE Westbury with the steel rails which I got 3 years ago for around $3,000.
installed.

[the montrealer]

Maybe Jim Wych may know people and can get a deal for 8 tables? Or maybe as
Leonard has stated that is the price. That seems to be the table of choice right now.

In past years I thought the BCE tables were the ones that were used in the big show in England.

I know in my case I have a BCE Westbury with the steel rails which I got 3 years ago for around $3,000.


installed.

HI Years ago the Bce Tables were used in Pro Events however the Star Tables are now used in the Pro Events in England these tables are very expensive around $8,000.00 or more also made in China and are a better table than
the Schender Tables which are also made in China.

[bob1]

HI Years ago the Bce Tables were used in Pro Events however the Star Tables are now used in the Pro Events in England these tables are very expensive around $8,000.00 or more also made in China and are a better table than
the Schender Tables which are also made in China.

I am now not sure what tables will be at the Corner Bank. They state on there site " the very same table that is used in the IBSF World snooker championships...." And that they will have Hainsworth Cloth. I have that type of cloth on my table but the more
expensive Cloth is the Strachan Cloth. Granted I have heard over time in a club setting Hainsworth is a fine product.

I guess it looks like they are using the cheaper table from China? And not the Star Table. If you want Leonard, or maybe you
have already looked? Take a search under Corner Bank they show a picture of the snooker tables they will have. They call them
Shender and I guess not the "Star Tables"?

[bob1]

I am now not sure what tables will be at the Corner Bank. They state on there site " the very same table that is used in the IBSF World snooker championships...." And that they will have Hainsworth Cloth. I have that type of cloth on my table but the more
expensive Cloth is the Strachan Cloth. Granted I have heard over time in a club setting Hainsworth is a fine product.

I guess it looks like they are using the cheaper table from China? And not the Star Table. If you want Leonard, or maybe you
have already looked? Take a search under Corner Bank they show a picture of the snooker tables they will have. They call them
Shender and I guess not the "Star Tables"?

I guess either way they are made in China. I have heard that they have 60 million registered Snooker players in China. So it looks
like they have or soon will have taken over the Sport.

[the montrealer]

I guess either way they are made in China. I have heard that they have 60 million registered Snooker players in China. So it looks
like they have or soon will have taken over the Sport.

Hi Yes the Chinease are taking over Snooker in the World.

I checked the tables at www.thecornerbank.ca and they are Schender Tables similar to the tables that are being issued by the ibsf

Do not know when this Billiard Room will be open hopefully this year

[bob1]

Hi Yes the Chinease are taking over Snooker in the World.

I checked the tables at www.thecornerbank.ca and they are Schender Tables similar to the tables that are being issued by the ibsf

Do not know when this Billiard Room will be open hopefully this year

Thanks for looking. They were to open this month June 2014. The building is in my area East Toronto, not far away. And they have
done some of the Drywall, but they have a ton of work to do. It is a 14,000 square foot room. I went over to look last week and
like I say they have a lot of work to do with putting in a kitchen , bar , washrooms, they have a shell and everything has to be done.

I am surprised that they thought they could have it opened in June 2014 unless for some reason there does not seem to be much
work going on. I have visited the site twice during work days and nothing was going on. So there seems to be a delay. But if they
start up again I would think they have several months of work to do.

It is going to take a long time, I am not a building contractor but it is a very big project . I hate to guess how much this is going to
cost.

Someone the other day said that only 5% of all Bars/Restaurants are still in business after the first 6 months, in the Toronto area . And this is a Snooker/Pool hall. I guess they are going on the fact that there are not many such establishments like this in Toronto, which would be correct.

One of the Owners, John White, was a previous Part owner and Manager of the Other Club Shooters
which is less then a 10 minute drive from this new club. The big question is will both still be in business say a year from now?

They located this new club near a Campus of a Community College, Centennial College. Maybe with the hope of getting a younger
crowd, which would I guess be the goal for the Sport of Snooker getting younger people involved. Time will tell.

[bob1]

Thanks for looking. They were to open this month June 2014. The building is in my area East Toronto, not far away. And they have
done some of the Drywall, but they have a ton of work to do. It is a 14,000 square foot room. I went over to look last week and
like I say they have a lot of work to do with putting in a kitchen , bar , washrooms, they have a shell and everything has to be done.

I am surprised that they thought they could have it opened in June 2014 unless for some reason there does not seem to be much
work going on. I have visited the site twice during work days and nothing was going on. So there seems to be a delay. But if they
start up again I would think they have several months of work to do.

It is going to take a long time, I am not a building contractor but it is a very big project . I hate to guess how much this is going to
cost.

Someone the other day said that only 5% of all Bars/Restaurants are still in business after the first 6 months, in the Toronto area . And this is a Snooker/Pool hall. I guess they are going on the fact that there are not many such establishments like this in Toronto, which would be correct.

One of the Owners, John White, was a previous Part owner and Manager of the Other Club Shooters
which is less then a 10 minute drive from this new club. The big question is will both still be in business say a year from now?

They located this new club near a Campus of a Community College, Centennial College. Maybe with the hope of getting a younger
crowd, which would I guess be the goal for the Sport of Snooker getting younger people involved. Time will tell.

I just looked at the pictures on the cornerbank site, and they seem to have done a lot recently. Even since I visited maybe when
I think about it two weeks ago. Some pictures show pool tables installed and the floor done with the pictures of piles of soil
etc which I had saw. Some of the pictures are older mixed with the newer set up.So I guess they are moving along, and I am going over again tomorrow to look again, to get the best view.

[the montrealer]

Thanks for looking. They were to open this month June 2014. The building is in my area East Toronto, not far away. And they have
done some of the Drywall, but they have a ton of work to do. It is a 14,000 square foot room. I went over to look last week and
like I say they have a lot of work to do with putting in a kitchen , bar , washrooms, they have a shell and everything has to be done.

I am surprised that they thought they could have it opened in June 2014 unless for some reason there does not seem to be much
work going on. I have visited the site twice during work days and nothing was going on. So there seems to be a delay. But if they
start up again I would think they have several months of work to do.

It is going to take a long time, I am not a building contractor but it is a very big project . I hate to guess how much this is going to
cost.

Someone the other day said that only 5% of all Bars/Restaurants are still in business after the first 6 months, in the Toronto area . And this is a Snooker/Pool hall. I guess they are going on the fact that there are not many such establishments like this in Toronto, which would be correct.

One of the Owners, John White, was a previous Part owner and Manager of the Other Club Shooters
which is less then a 10 minute drive from this new club. The big question is will both still be in business say a year from now?

They located this new club near a Campus of a Community College, Centennial College. Maybe with the hope of getting a younger
crowd, which would I guess be the goal for the Sport of Snooker getting younger people involved. Time will tell.

HI Thanks for the information by the way i know John White and Jim Wych who are opening this snooker club


Here in Montreal Snooker Rooms are bad in the Summer Months but picks up in Sept

Hope it works out for them