News from the editor's chair

Welcome to this first edition of the new Amateur Billiard Player, the official magazine of the English Amateur Billiards Association, it's not by coincidence that we've chosen a name for this publication very similar to that of the magazine once edited so ably by Richard Holt and renewed for its comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the three ball game.

You will all be no doubt aware of Tom Terry's decision to discontinue the Billiards Quarterly Review, a publication that became the de facto mouthpiece and forum for all billiards related topics, both amateur and professional, With coverage ranging from world championship reports to the more parochial world of local, league achievements the BQR occupied a unique niche in the billiards world and was instrumental in keeping enthusiasts worldwide in touch with what was going in the game and, more importantly, ensured that dedicated players and casual observers alike were aware that their game was indeed alive and occasionally kicking! Billiards in general and the amateur game in particular owes a debt to Tom and the Amateur Billiard Player will aim to continue and hopefully build upon the excellent coverage provided by the BQR.

In the wake of the void created by Tom's withdrawal when the possibility of a new publication was already being discussed by the committee of the EABA I offered to contribute the odd article and ended up being asked to edit the magazine! For those of you that don't know me I've been knocking around the amateur billiards world for the last 25 years or so apart from a brief 5 year sabbatical when I gave up the game in favour of lawn bowls and returned to find the game overrun by teenagers from Teesside who had turned accepted billiards theory on its head. In my youth older players had always told me that billiards was just not like snooker and that it was simply impossible, without serving a lengthy apprenticeship into early middle age, to acquire the skills needed to challenge for major amateur honours, a fact that seemed to be reinforced by the Dagley/Close stranglehold on the amateur game. Trying telling that one to Messrs Russell, Gilchrist, Chapman, Causier et al!! So surprised and heartened by the game's renaissance at youth level, in Middlesbrough at least, I have returned to the fold and will do my bit to keep the wheels of information turning because without a mouthpiece to keep people informed and allow an exchange of ideas the continuing, albeit small, resurgence in the amateur game would be at risk.

All of which leads me and probably you to the inevitable question why bother?? Even the most ardent enthusiasts among you must be aware that billiards is about as minority a sport as one can get these days and yet for all its images of a bygone age it continues to hold a strong, in some cases fanatical, attraction for its devotees that goes way beyond what any neutral observer would expect to find.

How many sports in a world dominated by the media and money could hope to run a national championship with competitors travelling the length and breadth of the country at their own expense for a title that carries no prize money? And yet that is exactly what is happening in this year's national amateur championship. Anyone who cannot understand such a phenomenon has fundamentally missed the point about what billiards at grass roots level is all about. For let's be honest, even the most successful professional billiards player in terms of total potential prize money would be ill advised to give up the day job. No, there must be something else that keeps the vast majority going, amateur and professional alike, and money it most certainly isn't! The Amateur Billiard Player will try to nurture this elusive attraction and welcomes your views on what makes the die-hard enthusiast tick; my own personal view is that it is deeply rooted in that particularly British yet enduring capacity for eccentricity on a grand scale but that's probably verging on heresy!

With this consideration in mind, the objectives of the Amateur Billiard Player will be to continue providing comprehensive coverage of the amateur game at both national and regional level and will endeavour to maintain a supply line of articles relating to those more idiosyncratic aspects of the game in which true enthusiasts tend to take such delight, students of Riso Levi's books will know what I mean! We will also try to maintain a focus on the professional game given that it will always retain the spotlight in terms of headline making breaks and averages, but the amateur game will be our main consideration unless you tell us otherwise.

The decision to launch a new journal and this was unanimously and quickly endorsed by the committee of the EABA and, as already mentioned, yours truly was invited to fill the editorial chair. Our primary objective at this stage is to get something kicked off in order not to lose the momentum created by the BQR so please be patient! If you find the layout, style or production not quite up to scratch then give us time and we'll crack it, what's important is that we keep people in touch.

I'm aware that this has been a very wordy introduction but from now on the success or failure of this venture depends on the readers and contributors. Our intention is that this first edition will be free of charge to gain your reaction and that thereafter we will operate on a similar basis to the BQR. Please give us feedback on what you would like to see covered and we will try to incorporate it. I'd like to thank Albert Hanson, Phil Davis, Jack Karnehm, Mark Wildman, John Smith, Phil Welham and Derick Townend all of whom have provided contributions to this initial edition and have promised their support in the future.

Latest on the political front

Many of you will no doubt be surprised that it has taken several paragraphs before politics is mentioned and yet rear its ugly head it must because without the establishment of a forward thinking controlling body with the future of the amateur game at heart and prepared to promote, fund and more importantly encourage the game at youth level the game has at best a very dubious future. The Amateur Billiard Player has been informed that the current state of affairs as we go to press is that the EABA will run this year's English Amateur championships and, in the absence of any new billiards driven initiatives from the WPBSA, will continue in this role for the foreseeable future, having as a short term objective the re-establishment and/or continuation of other amateur events such as the Grand Masters, the Inter-County and the British Boys and Juniors. This is not to say that future reconciliation of the two bodies is out of the question but the basis of any such agreement would have to be in the interests of the amateur game and not some quasi professional/amateur alignment. The Amateur Billiard Player has no problems with open tournaments for amateurs and pros but the English championship with its long tradition should remain sacrosanct unless and until it becomes a totally unviable proposition due to lack of interest and support, a situation that patently does not exist today, in fact quite the opposite.

See Albert Hanson's secretary's report for further details on the situation.