Tourneys
Topic: Another Poor BPPPA Comp

Just returned from the BPPPA comp at Stafford and again we see that no improvements are being made.

Following on from the racking of the balls that was posted earlier, this is just 1 of many problems that is being ignored.

The BPPPA has now been in existance for approx 3 years and we have seen nothing done since day 1 to make things better, but heard a lot of excuses about why they can't be done.

I think that the BPPPA is now probably the worst tour in the UK as far as conditions for the players are concerned, other tours ie the Empire Tour have already made a number of improvements that the players have been crying out for, simple things like updating the draw sheet so we know who we are due to play, timing of matches so that we are not hanging around for hours on end, payment of entry fees upfront so that we dont have to turn up 1st thing in the morning. We have been told numerous times that the balls cannot be tapped as Riley's wont allow it, the 1st Empire comp at Stretford saw the balls tapped, it was'nt an issue with Rileys.

We are made to come back on a Sunday, travel and pay for another nights hotel only to go away with nothing if losing that 1st match! Why not play down to last 16 on Saturday?

The prize money is poor, there have been no sponsors attracted in all this time and only money paid in is paid out, The Euro Tour, Empire etc all have attracted sponsorship which means that money is added.

We are also the only tour who continues with winner breaks, draw a decent player and you can be out without having a fair chance in the game.

i think we need to put our heads together to suggest improvements ie scoreboards, they don't have to be fancy or electronic, the laminated fold over ones used in other comps will do.

The entries are begining to dwindle, it shows when the comp today was on the doorstep of a number of previous regular players who chose to stay away.

What can we do to make this tour be what we expect, I dont want to miss the tournements but it seems pointless trying to attend everyone to retain a ranking that does'nt count for much, What can we do??????

What has happened to the Simonis tables promised at each comp?

Lets get some ideas together and present them to the players council and see if improvments can be made.

get your chequebook out then!

you pay Ted a wage, and pay for all these things you want lol!

any results btw?

That is why we need sponsors that give the tour something, what do you think costs money? Most of the things that need addressing don't cost a thing. We can' comment on wether Ted gets a wage or not as that's not the issue, I do know that we all pay a lot in membership fees every year and that Riley make a payment for having the tournement at their club,this is were the money should be coming from.

Pretty much how the previous UK Tour went to be honest.

With regards to playing down to the last 16, there is no way that could happen! Unless the numbers reduce dramatically, I for one wouldn't want to stay around until 3am qualifying.

If Ted is telling you that Rileys managers won't let him tap the tables then thats the reason.

Stretford Rileys is very in touch with the tours and the sport and is also an unrefurbished club. I'm sure there are a few clubs which will happily let Ted tap tables. But on the other hand there will be plenty of new refurbished clubs, whos managers don't have a clue about the game who won't allow table tapping.

Ted has to keep the tour consistant. He can't have different rules at different events.

The BPPPA funds the youth players to go abroad and represent Britain! And I'm also certain Ted's aims always have been to promote the sport and provide a consistant tour.

He can't force people to sponsor the BPPPA! The Euro tour is huge compared to the British Tour so naturally sponsors will provide for that. The EPT is ran by Daryl Peach, just look at his past and present records and his world rankings! He will also naturally attract sponsors!

I'm sure if the BPPPA only had 5 or 6 events a year, they could up the prize money too!

If the BPPPA wasn't around, you'd have to wait months for some tournamant practise in a totally different game, or travel to Europe!

Fair enough the winner breaks is something that needs changing. Well I agree it needs changing anyway!

Quote:

I think that the BPPPA is now probably the worst tour in the UK.

It's the only regular, consistant 9 ball tour in the UK. You can't compare it to other tours which have less events per year, less entrants per event, are totally different disciplines, or have the whole of Europes top pool players competing in it.

Quote:

I think that the BPPPA is now probably the worst tour in the UK.

Come up to Scotland then and play in a SAPPA event and then you will see what the worst tour is.

Sponsorship is'nt something that i am aware is forced by anyone, it is a case of talking to pool related companies and local business in order to offer advertisement/promotion of their products in return for a fee.
What we are suggesting does'nt need a load of cash, the tapping of the tables is to be done at ALL of the EPT events so i can't agree with what you are saying. The EPT has already attracted similar numbers to the recent BPPPA tournements and i guess we will begin to see a shift of numbers away from BPPPA (we are already seeing it).
Waiting for months for a tournement? there is a tournement almost every week if you look for one without travelling to europe.
Ask yourself why these other comps are attracting the big names in pool.

With regard to Bucksters reply about it being the same as the previous tour, i cant agree. While there were problems, especially towards the end of Doug's tour you were always guaranteed a pick up should you have to return on Sunday, the tournements that did'nt have as many entries as expected still paid out a reasonable amount and money was added. We could also send in a cheque in advance and call or text doug for a time slot, in many cases you could travel to the comp the same day and avoid the Friday night stop over. We are not going to solve things overnight but if we start now then maybe we can at least get the ball rolling.

what other comps? only other comp is the EPT! Which is a totally different discipline, is ran by the World Number 17 and British number 1 in the sport! and all of the 6 events are held at Rileys with managers who are in touch with the sport or appreciate it at least.

The BPPPA has 25 events on it's calendar! They cant have some events using tapped tables and alternate break, and other events using untapped tables and winner breaks!

Also.. I am quite aware what sponsorship is and how it works. I was quite simply implying it's not as easy and straight forward as asking a company and them saying yes!

And if you would prefer to play against nobodys at 10 entrant local Rileys competitions, and win a crate of budweiser then go ahead! But without the BPPPA it would be hard to find such good competition with fantastic players on such a large and regular scale!

Really just referring to the fact that you saw a dramatic decrease in numbers on Doug's Tour, seems as though the BPPPA is having this aswell right now from people's comments.

Danny, you really do seem to be missing the point, what we are trying to do is make improvements to raise the profile of the tour to attract more big names and to make it more cost effective for the players. We don't want to play in 10 man comps at Riley's but it couldcome to that if more and more people keep deciding to do other things rather than playing. It is with the EPT tour, APN tour and the new tour Cuesports tour which has announced 5 dates that we need to protect the BPPPA and not lose what has already been acheived. There is no critisism of Ted or anyone else within this thread and i am sure that the time he spends on the main tour, juniors, women, seniors and wheelchair events are appriciated. If Ted does'nt have the time or has been unable to attract sponsors then I am sure that there will be a lot of players who are willing to help. I am impressed that you know all of the managers at all of the Rileys clubs that the other events are being run at, and also that you know all of the Riley managers that arn't in touch as you say.

What is the new Cuesports Tour? Not heard of that.

It's quite clear which clubs are in touch with the game and which aren't! From attending events, reading what goes on at certain events and from past talks of changing clubs for this exact reason!

I don't claim to know all the Managers from all the Rileys clubs. But I do understand that it is hard to find a Rileys manager who's priority is Pool! or who know anything about the game (other than whats on the rules sheets given to every member of staff)

And please don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the BPPPA is perfectly run, and has no faults in any way! You're quite right that things need to change, it needs to be promoted.

But don't state that the reasons Ted gives people are simply excuses! If Ted or other BPPPA staff could do anything to improve the tour, if it was that easy, they would have done it a long time ago!

Anyway Mav! Any results from this weekend?

The new Cuesports Tour is the same people as the EPT.

I beleive it is being ran by Mark Mills and flyers were being given out at Stafford, there is a new website to come with news, player profiles etc and 5 events have been announced whitch include Euro Tour Qualifiers, Ring events and ladies 8 & 9 ball tourements, they also i beleive have already attracted sponsors and are also sponsoring Lynette Horsburgh.

Daryl Peach runs the EPT as you know, i don't beleive he has any connection with the Cuesports tour.

They have the exact same website! And Mark Mills also runs EPT along with Daryl.

Maybe Daryl has no input on the Cuesports Tour! But as far as I know the sponsors are all the same!

Mav!!! Any Results From This Weekend?

No results, sorry.

I want to know how Gary Stewart has done!