Snooker Academy / Sheffield!!!!!

[madman]

I have just been talking to a few of the players that regularly attend the 'World snooker academy' in Sheffield. I was very surprised to learn that it costs professional players £30 a day to practice there. I was even more surprised to learn that it can also cost some players, mainly amateurs, £40 a day to practice there.

How come? I thought this academy was sponsored by Sheffield council, and world snooker were getting the facilities for free, as part of the agreement in place for holding the World champioships in Sheffield. I thought the idea of this facility was to help grass rout snooker, and also a top class training facility for the professional ranks.

Now, first of all, can anybody put me right as to whether world snooker have to rent/lease this space at the institute of sport?? Then i can go on more about the fee's.

I also heard rumours that whoever runs this accademy, and i think thats 2 people, they are on salaries of between £30,000 to £40,000 per year each. Now these are only rumours, and i hope they are wrong, because if its true, it would be a bloody disgrace, if world snooker are paying these salaries. When you think about the players ranked 65-96 who do not earn a penny unless they win 2 matches in every event.

So can anybody please enlighten me as to whether these persons are paid this type of salary and by whom. Because if it is out of world snookers budget, that would mean that the players are paying this amount out of there funds and then also being collared for the fees to practice there.

If Sheffield council are paying there salaries, thats a different matter, but if there salaries which are rumoured to be this amount, are met by world snooker, it looks like most players would be better off giving up snooker and taking up running the academy, where you are guaranteed a basic, decent, very decent salary.

At the end of the day, why should the professional players have to pay to practice at world snooker academy. Surely a perk for them is to at least get free practice facilities. At the very least, players ranked from 65-96, as they are not guaranteed a penny by world snooker. The Ebdons and Ding can afford to cough up a few bob if they are that desperate, but hey, are World Snooker taking the P--S!!!!!!!!!!!

[snawaz]

Totally agree with all your sentiments mate.

I had been to the snooker academy before to have a look around and the one time I went there was only one person playing on the tables. I'm not saying it is like this all the time, but with this kind of attitude and these prices it would put off most people from prctising there. When I got to the academy after phoning to arranging a viewing, the reception radiod up to the academy but they were not picking up. She then had to go up to get the ok for me to go in. This in its self took 15 minutes. When i finally went upstairs to the academy there was a guy there just sat in his office doing what looked like nothing. I'm not a sensitive guy, but this guy was giving one word answers and made me feel uncomfortable to the point I felt like I had disturbed him.

I recently contacted them to organise some practice time and spoke to someone there who really did not seem at all interested. He wanted £80 a day for practising which included a coaching session. He also said I could not not just go there for practising but had to have coaching as well. I asked to speak to the boss there as I felt he was being rude and I could not believe that a so called academy would charge these kind of ridiculous prices. He said he was the boss there!!! I am so ****ed off but he sounded like he had the final say in what goes on in there and I could like it or lump it.

If this guy gets that kind of money he must be in bed with someone.

[djyates]

Hi

Just some extra information:

I live in Sheffield and was planning to go to the Snooker Academy for some coaching with some friends. They had quoted us £50 for a half day (4 hours, including 1 hour one-to-one coaching) or £90 for a full day (10 - 6 with 2 hours one-to-one).

Is there anyone on the forum who has had coaching at the Academy who could give a short review? At the moment I think we are going to go in April some time so I will report back to the forum on how it went.

Cheers,

Donny.

[madman]

It looks like i will have to try and contact World Snooker and find out first if any of this is accurate or not. I cannot see Barry Hearn going along with this.

Snawaz:

Thats a disgrace. The cost for starters, then the attitude you received. By all accounts though, thats not the norm, as i think most of players seem to enjoy it there. If you are not happy, contact World Snooker. They are the ones that are officially in charge and the people working there, are i presume, employees of world snooker. If they are not, they must work for the council. I need to look into this further first,then i will come back with some answers.

Does anybody else on here have any info on the subject????

World Snooker: 0117-317-8200

[ferret]

As far as I know the academy is run like a franchise, the people renting the franchise have to give world snooker x £'s per year plus a percentage in top of that.

Rumor has it that the academy will be closed down shortly anyway.

[madman]

You are Joking, surely. What after the great fanfare of when it opened. I am not surprised at these rates if they are to be believed.

[cazmac1]

I was thinking of taking a trip down there but after reading this post, I think I'll give it a miss.

[themayorofflair]

Another example of World Snooker shooting itself in the foot. The Acadamy had a real chance of doing something special in Sheffield but it looks like that chance is going to be squandered.

I can only hope that Mr.Hearn takes a look at Snooker from the grass roots upwards as it is not only the main tour that needs attention.

A good building is built on solid foundations !

[magicman]

This sounds quite shocking tbh. I'm tired of generally hearing negative stories like this about snooker. When a fabulous resource like the Academy opens you just want to hear good things, it's surely not that much to ask is it?

[madman]

The trouble is, somebody is trying to make a few bob out of this, and if its not world snooker, who is??

[cally]

I was looking at the half day/full day at the academy,their selling on ebay..

I thought the half day/full days at the academy were'nt too badly priced for the 'average joe' like, 1 hr coaching and a few hours to practice, and on a star table right?...1/2 day at the academy for 50 odd quid, full day for 89 quid..i though it was an ok (ish) deal tbh......

But if pro's have to pay as much as stated up there^^ earlier.......

[matoski]

I think most of you are ****ed of for no reason. If you want to accomplish something in such individual sports such as snooker or tennis..... you have to invest a lot of money for coaching and first class training conditions. Take tennis as an example. Even in a poor country such as Macedonia they charge 10 euros per hour for some crappy tenis coach who had never achieved anything in his career. How much do you think it costs to train in Miami or Valencia? Probably >10 000 euros per month. 30 pounds per day for such a great facility is not much if you are talented and promising player. With so much practice in such a facility only some very untalented player will not achieve the results. Even where i live 1hour of snooker (on the only snooker table in the country) costs aproximately 4 pounds per hour, or 32 pounds for 8 hours of practice. And the conditions are probably uncomparable with the ones at Sheffield. Yes, i'm aware it's expensive, but that's probably an institute that provides training for proffesionals that may afford it, and for very talented youngsters who actualy have bright future in snooker. Amateurs can stick to their local amateur clubs and play 5-6 hours per week. Sad but true.:snooker::snooker::snooker:

[madman]

Fair enough matoski, i understand your arguement. And i feel sorry for countries like yours and the prices involved. But for a start, we are talking about in England. We are trying to encourage youth and talent into the game. There is a lot of poverty also in the UK that you may not be aware of, and many families in our country are claiming a benefit from the government of some sort.

To get players interested to take up the sport and then pursue a career in it, can cost a lot of money that the average family just cannot afford. Obviously, at your local club you can get some special deals.

But although the academy is at the top end of practice facilities, a lot of semi-pro's and full time pro's would like to train there regulary. Even if you can get a deal on say £100 per week without coaching is very reasonable, you have still to find living accomodation, food travelling expenses. Remember also, players ranked 65-96 do not earn a penny also unless they win 2 matches in an event, so they also have to work and take time off and lose money.

For amateurs, and players without sponsors, its a nightmare scenario. How can they afford to practice at place with the best facilities if they cannot afford it.

What i was trying to say at the start of this thread was, that if we want more players coming into the game, especially at grass root level, surely world snooker need to do something to encourage this. They done a good job by providing the World academy, but now most players cannot afford to play there because it is too expensive. And a one poster has said, it looks like it might now be closing down.

The other point was, if the people running the academy were on the rumoured quoted salaries, then no wonder it is most probably losing money if they are taking out between £60,000 to £70,000 salary per annum between them. Until we find out for sure if these figures are true, there's no point yet speculating and criticising.

Also i know the costs involved with sports such as tennis, golf etc, but at least they have national governing bodies who put up thousands of pounds to help towards their most talented players costs. Unlike snooker. :snooker:

[cazmac1]

Another example of World Snooker shooting itself in the foot. The Acadamy had a real chance of doing something special in Sheffield but it looks like that chance is going to be squandered.

I can only hope that Mr.Hearn takes a look at Snooker from the grass roots upwards as it is not only the main tour that needs attention.

A good building is built on solid foundations !

Couldn't agree more, so many clubs are closing and the ones that are around a run poorly with bad playing conditions. There is also a cost issue, their used to be a few youngsters at my club but they vanished, I can only put it down to when they raise the table prices. Barry should try and get some kind of partnership going with local clubs. I don't have a clue how it would work but surely he can come up with some thing. My worry is that it may become an elite sport were only people with money can afford to take up the sport.

[themayorofflair]

Great points cazmac1. I agree with your idea that World Snooker should start working more closely with local clubs. I would suggest maybe specific clubs in each region should be turned into 'centres of excellence' with approved coaching, quality equipment, regular competitions & visits from top pros etc all at a reasonable price. Maybe a scholarship scheme could be introduced for talented youngsters ?

This would enable everyone to be able to attend such a club without having to travel too far & at not too greater expense.

I would assume that sponsorship could take care of a significant portion of the costs ?

There are too many clubs at present charging the earth for extremely poor playing conditions & it is slowly turning more & more people off to Snooker.

I think our sport is at a major crossroads at present, there is still widespread interest but it needs to be handled well. My hunch is that Barry Hearn is the man for the job (he has been involved with Snooker since it's glory days) & am looking forward to him taking a firm grip on the reigns & steering our beloved sport in the direction it deserves.