is snooker dying out in uk?

[matt926_uk]

Yeah, i like it when its quiet when the players are playing, the silence is more dramatic, might not come across on tv so much but then its nice when the crowd get involved and cheer in between shots and frames

[matt926_uk]

A young lady cheering on ding in Coventry is not quite what I meant about crowd atmosphere

The atmosphere was great, but then it was ronnie v ding

[itsnoteasy]

I totally agree it has to be about getting youngsters involved, and if that means noise and excitement from the crowd, so be it, for me it would destroy the game, but I have had my time at being young and things change so it might have to be the answer.
I'm not sure if it's other distraction, or more how hard the game is, we had five or so young lads play for a while, they all pushed each other on and all improved but I don't see them now ,a couple went to play pool, because it was easier and they were instantly at a higher standard, one very rarely comes and gives me a few frames of snooker and the most annoying thing is, he has it, if he stuck in he could be a decent player, but he's winning and getting into pool finals now, so that's more interesting to him, but I keep chipping away at him to come over to the large side lol, and I think in a couple of years he will.

[Leo]

I went to the champion of champions last year in coventry, and it wasn't like that at all. I sat next to a young lady who was cheering on Ding!, it was a great experience and i will be going again this year. Granted most smaller tournaments aren't like that though

A young lady cheering on ding in Coventry is not quite what I meant about crowd atmosphere

[jim evans]

I think matt hit the nail on the head the keenness of youngsters today is the key for progress in all areas,the problem arises that they soon get fed up because they have so much choice of what to do with there time.

[matt926_uk]

you not going to change snooker unless you change the non-existent atmosphere you get at tournaments,look at darts in the 80's where the crowd used to have to be quiet and look at it now, with groups of lads with their wife's etc shouting and getting behind the players, you look at the crowd at snooker events and see just lonely sad looking men who don't look like they belong to the real world.
Snooker needs a new following IMHO

I went to the champion of champions last year in coventry, and it wasn't like that at all. I sat next to a young lady who was cheering on Ding!, it was a great experience and i will be going again this year. Granted most smaller tournaments aren't like that though

[Leo]

you not going to change snooker unless you change the non-existent atmosphere you get at tournaments,look at darts in the 80's where the crowd used to have to be quiet and look at it now, with groups of lads with their wife's etc shouting and getting behind the players, you look at the crowd at snooker events and see just lonely sad looking men who don't look like they belong to the real world.
Snooker needs a new following IMHO

[matt926_uk]

If someone has the minerals to go and try something like this, the very best of luck to them, my club is right next door to a ten pin bowling place, that's always packed with young uns surely we should be able to siphon off a few of them, they pay two pound a game for pool at the bowling yet it's only three pound an hour for it in the club, and only two pound before six, yet we still don't get them in, I don't know if it's an image thing, that young folk think a snooker club just isn't the place to be, I hope it a cyclical thing and we are just going through the slump that darts did and we will bounce back.

I think young people just aren't wanted in snooker clubs by a lot of people, they think they are going to ruin the tables and cause disruption. Until very recently there were a few clubs in my league who didn't even allow women into the snooker room!! i mean how backwards is that!?.

At the club i play at my game is often ruined by ignorent adults, mostly intoxicated, shouting at the top of their voices and behaving worse than children. To be honest i would much rather be in an atmosphere with keen youngsters who just want to have a bit of fun and learn, as long as it doesn't descend into drugs etc.

Mostly i have found that if you give young people respect and priviledge they will repay you the same. Teach the kids how to play the game with some cheap coaching and they will enjoy it a lot more and would be more likely to perservere, lets face it its not the most immediatley gratifying game such as bowling for example.

I have met a lot of very successfull people through snooker, either it encourages good qualities in people or these good qualities are necessary to succeed at the game, like patience and perserverence. I'm sure u could get schools involved, i used to go to the driving range and play golf in sports lessons for example, however schools wouldn't go near snooker clubs that are licensed.

Thanks mike for the idea about the sports commission and lottery funding, i will look into that.

[thommo335]

The exchequer gets more than half of it but that's an aside really, it's not about money at grass roots level, it's about participation at something that's enjoyable, something that you're good at.
Even football is failing at grass roots level in the UK, 90% of the top players are from abroad and the england, scotland, welsh and irish national sides have done sod all since 1966.
The education system has an awful lot to do with that with the emphasis on academic achievement and a competition between the politiical parties as to which one is best serving the educational needs of our children. This has led to no child being left out of the academic field and grades of below A in tests that have become easier and easier over the past thirty years being allowed to gain university places.
This has led to those of average intelligence bypassing industry and sport altogether and doing meaningless subjects in university and going straight to call centres and public service jobs that give no satisfaction at all.

What we are left with are the really stupid finding no work at all, those of average intelligence doing jobs that the below average intelligent should be doing and eastern europeans getting all the low paid menial work that the really stupid should be doing because the really stupid now believe that they are cleverer than they actually are (because a C+ is a pass) and that what the eastern europeans are doing for minimum wage (which is five times what they would earn in their own country) is beneath them.

In a nutshell the heirarchy of the working classes have been destroyed by the meddling of politicians seeking re-election and lying about the standards of education.
I have lost count of the number of university graduates that I have worked with who cannot do simple maths without the aid of a calculator, read a tape measure or spirit level, have poor spelling, terrible grammar and look up everything they need to know on the internet. And somehow these simpletons manage to get on POINTLESS every day where they can show their distinct lack of knowledge about everything to the whole country.

When I was at school you had to be brilliant to get to university if you didn't have rich parents that could send you to public school and keep the old boys network going.

Now there are a lot of young people out of work in this country who need something to do during the day other than knocking up more kids or taking drugs or getting hammered on White Lightening. You would think that a snooker club would provide an avenue of escape from this dead end lifestyle for those with a natural sporting talent who have been overlooked by the educational system and a club should be able to attract such a clientele during the day for rates of £1 per hour when things are quiet just to keep it ticking over.

I fear that the fact that most of the young dissaffected people today were raised without discipline and couldn't be trusted in such an environment to even look after the tables and balls etc, without said club also dissolving into a den of crime and drug taking, especially with the police of this country now not seeming to give a damn about any crime that is outside the public interest and needs some real on the ground detective work other than looking at CCTV footage.

'Here's a crime number mate, call us if you see anyone riding your stolen motorbike and we'll see if there's an officer free' knowing full well that said bike was taken by a gang, has already been dismantled and the parts listed on ebay already and if they don't look into it it doesn't count as unsolved against their statistics.
Meanwhile at Ilfracombe bike show last week two coppers were taking photos of all bikes that had small number plates.
Ring any bells ?

Everythings gone in the UK not just snooker.

Post of the year, regardless of what forum it was posted on......
I copied this from bill gates rule no. 8 ......it's not just the uk it seems, the sentiment seems the same

Your school may have done away with winners and losers,
but life has not. In some schools they have abolished
failing grades and they'll give you as many times as
you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the
slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Google bill gates rules if you've not seen it before. I'm a golfer really with a real passion for snooker as well but both sports require constant effort, concentration and perseverance to even vaguely master and the ability to realise that results come slowly as skills take time to develop and that there'll be inevitable set backs along the way, something lacking in today's instant gratification society.

[ADW147CUEMAN]

when the ship went down so did the captain :snooker:

[ADW147CUEMAN]

captain pugwash springs to mind when his ship sunk

[ADR147]

even pool tables are getting rarer here, these days pubs are all about food.

[itsnoteasy]

Matt, I believe if we ignore negative whining characters, and there will be plenty of. You know the types, we see them around us, including in clubs.
Everyone knows we have a crisis in our hands. Action is required. Its not going to be easy. If one person does this club thing and draws in the youngsters, it should not be difficult to replicate the formula across the country? Perhaps a few 5 by 10 tables with others regular size? I know I would have loved an opportunity like that. Perhaps if someone like you went with a proposal to the Sports Commission and asked for some funding from the lottery sports fund?

This is where the negative complainers chime in and rubbish the idea.......

If someone has the minerals to go and try something like this, the very best of luck to them, my club is right next door to a ten pin bowling place, that's always packed with young uns surely we should be able to siphon off a few of them, they pay two pound a game for pool at the bowling yet it's only three pound an hour for it in the club, and only two pound before six, yet we still don't get them in, I don't know if it's an image thing, that young folk think a snooker club just isn't the place to be, I hope it a cyclical thing and we are just going through the slump that darts did and we will bounce back.

[blinky88]

Snooker absolutely dead in Australia, Foxtel are no longer televising it due to a lack of interest .... clubs have replaced tables with pokies. 40 years ago every leagues club in Sydney had tables, now there are none.

[ADR147]

good time to plug-in :snooker: sales store......when a thread is getting loads of hit, clever you are.

touch cynical aren't you!