PRESS RELEASE
Great Britain's Official 9 Ball Tour
www.gb9balltour.com
www.iwansimonis.com
www.samleisure.co.uk
www.barcelo-hotels.co.uk
Download the official press release in .pdf format
Tuesday 10 November 2009
THE NEW ‘SAM LEISURE GB 9 BALL TOUR’
The GB 9 Ball Tour committee has worked tirelessly to secure developments which will take the tour to the next level. For 2010 GB9 will feature:
• Tour stops hosted in 4 star hotel venues
• Preferential rates for GB9 members, family and friends
• Brand new custom specification professional tournament tables
• Perfect tournament conditions
• Exceptional facilities for players, family and friends
We are delighted to announce a 2 year agreement with the Barceló Hotel Group who will host GB9 tournaments during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Barceló operate twenty-one 4 star hotels across the UK, each with excellent dining, meeting & leisure facilities. Barceló will be offering preferential room rates, as well as subsidised menus & drinks especially for GB9 members, families and friends. Each hotel will provide exceptional accommodation & playing facilities for GB9 members.
"Read More..." for the details.
“Barceló are delighted to become a partner of the GB 9 Ball Tour, and are very much looking forward to welcoming players, their friends and family to our hotels. We will ensure that GB9 and its players have access to some of the very best facilities on offer.”
Anthony Cleckner - Association Sales Manager, Barceló Hotel Group
We are also thrilled to announce a new partnership with SAM Leisure. SAM will supply 16 brand new professional tournament specification tables. SAM has worked round the clock designing a new custom table specifically for the GB 9 Ball Tour. This features a custom 1 piece slate construction designed to enable quick installation at GB9 tour venues. It is built to 2010 EPBF match table specifications, with ‘professional’ spec pocket dimensions, and a new completely ‘flush’ corner and side pocket design. It will also feature new Artemis ‘steel response’ cushions.
“The result of over 5 years of consultation with both professional players and associations around the world is SAM’s new tournament standard, KSteel 2 Professional. Now with even further input from the GB9 committee and players, this new professional standard has been further developed to suit the specific needs of the new GB 9 Ball Tour. Hence a brand new full sized American pool table - The SAM Magno Pro - will be providing GB9 players with an unparalleled quality playing experience, previously unattainable in UK events. SAM are proud to have been commissioned to provide 16 of the new SAM Magno Pro tables, for the prestigious and all new GB9 events, commencing in 2010. I am sure GB9 events will benefit massively from all the new developments, of which these new tables are only a part.”
Gary Drage - Managing Director, SAM Leisure UK
NEW GB 9 BALL TOUR TABLE GETS ENDORSEMENT FROM REIGNING 9 BALL WORLD CHAMPION DARYL PEACH
The new SAM Magno Pro table has been tested extensively on behalf of GB9 by reigning 9 Ball World Champion Daryl Peach, at SAM Billiards headquarters in Spain. After his recent trip to Spain, Daryl was pleased to give his endorsement to the new custom SAM Magno Pro table;
“After seeing for myself the quality, precision, and sheer scale of the SAM set up in Spain, I am in no doubt that SAM are the best table manufacturer in the world, with absolutely nothing left to chance. The custom table that we will be using on the GB 9 Ball Tour is a picture of perfection with a super sleek look that is a sure winner. On the playability side of things this table is second to none. Everything possible has been taken into consideration, from the EPBF approved tournament spec pocket sizes, cuts, and shelf depths, to the new and improved Artemis ‘steel response’ cushions. I can’t wait for the 2010 season to start so that every GB9 member gets the opportunity to experience pool table perfection."
Daryl Peach, Reigning 9 Ball World Champion
Each table will be covered in brand new Simonis 860 Professional Cloth supplied by our new cloth sponsor for 2010 & 2011.
For the 2010 and 2011 seasons SAM Leisure UK Ltd will be the principal tour partner. GB 9 Ball Tour very much looks forward to working with both SAM Leisure and Barceló in the years to come.
GB9 ENDEAVOURS TO SECURE SPORT ENGLAND SUPPORT
The GB 9 Ball Tour Committee has lodged a bid for a Sport England Small Grant to support developments in 2010. We very much hope that Sport England will be able to give a small amount of financial support to the tour, and we have done our very best to make the case for such an investment to support the work that GB9 is doing to sustain and grow participation in 9 Ball Pool in the UK.
SCHEDULE AND PLANS FOR 2010
We plan to hold our usual 6 tournament weekends, running from Friday to Sunday and maintaining a geographical spread of venues. In order to finish planning and preparation for 2010, and also to allow tour players to pay their first two tour fee instalments prior to event one, we have decided to move the previously advertised January date for Tour Event 1 to the end of 2010. It has also been brought to our attention that a number of players will be playing in BCA events around the date of Tour event 2, and so we are currently looking at the possibility of moving the date of this event by a week or so. With this in mind, provisional tour dates for 2010 are given below;
Tour Stop 1 March 12th - 14th 2010 (Barceló Buxton Palace Hotel)
Tour Stop 2 May 7th - 9th 2010 (venue TBC) – see note above
Tour Stop 3 June 11th - 13th 2010 (venue TBC)
Tour Stop 4 August 20th - 22th 2010 (venue TBC)
Tour Stop 5 September 24th - 26th 2010 (venue TBC)
Tour Stop 6 Date and venue TBC
We are currently considering options for promotion and relegation between Pro and Challenge divisions in the light of player feedback, and will advise members shortly. We are pleased to say that with the availability of 16 tables for tour events we expect to return to races to 9 in most, if not all matches prior to the final.
2010 TOUR FEES
Our financial projections dictate that we must implement a maximum increase of £100 in annual tour fees. Although we would of course prefer not to do this, we feel that the increase will be compensated for by the guaranteed perfect tournament playing conditions that we will all benefit from next year, and the dedicated environment which we will be playing in. We would also note that players and families will have access to much improved accommodation and facilities provided by Barceló Hotels. At present this would mean that the maximum tour fees would be £639 for Challenge and £839 for Pro. This equates to less than £17 extra per tour stop, per player. Full details of 2010 tour fees, instalment amounts and dates will be posted soon on our website and e-mailed to all members.
The committee is working hard on obtaining additional revenue for the tour to reduce the financial burden to GB9 members.
The tour is a not-for-profit organisation, meaning that we are bound by our constitution to distribute surplus monies to members, which we would seek to do by reducing annual tour fees and/or by contributions to the prize fund.
2010 HOTEL ACCOMMODATION
For 2010 all GB 9 members will be required to stay at the tournament hotel. This is required to ensure the financial viability of this move. Shared occupancy is priced at £39 per person, per night bed and breakfast, and single occupancy at £62.50. Hotels are all 4 Star, with extensive leisure and dining facilities. A special GB9 discounted menu will be available and drink prices will be subsidised. We are delighted that Barceló are able to offer these discounts to GB9 members, friends and families.
We hope that the venues provided to us will also be more attractive to the families of GB9 members who wish to attend events. The Committee are also investigating the possibility of organising planned activities for partners and / or families of players in the local area, during the Saturday of the tournament weekend.
WHAT DO WE NEED GB9 MEMBERS TO DO NOW?
We need GB9 members to commit to the tour for 2010 and renew their membership. The financial viability of these developments depends on your support. We have extended the deadline for renewals to Sunday 20th December 2009. Players are required to fill in a renewal form and pay a deposit of £50. This can be done at http://www.gb9balltour.com/onlineapp_renewal.htm
For this season only, in recognition of your support, we will also guarantee a 2010 tour spot to all members who rejoin by the deadline (subject to the tour’s usual terms of membership), regardless of whether you are in a relegation position or not.
We very much hope that all existing GB9 players will renew their membership, but if any tour player who has already renewed and paid their deposit would now prefer not to rejoin GB9, we will offer a full refund if you contact us by 25th November 2009.
Regardless of whether you rejoin GB9 we are always keen to hear your feedback so if you have any comments, complaints or suggestions about GB9 please send them by e-mail to yourfeedback@gb9balltour.com . Your comments will be routed to all the GB9 Committee for consideration.
NOT A GB 9 BALL TOUR MEMBER ALREADY?
If you want to qualify for the GB 9 Ball Tour for 2010 you need to enter one of our 3 qualifying events (November 22nd Solihull, November 29th Barnsley, December 6th Shepherds Bush).
