By Elliott West
“It’s the biggest step forward we’ve ever had in snooker that I can remember!”
Reanne Evans responding to the announcement that the World Women’s Snooker Tour is now a natural qualification path to joining the World Snooker Tour.
Introduction
The USA has traditionally been the hardest country to succeed in whether it be in music or sport. As for snooker, you might as well be speaking a foreign language when you mention this game in this far-flung land. It is true that there are a number of snooker clubs dotted across the country and governing bodies exist such as the United States Snooker Association and the Pan American Billiards and Snooker Association. These organisations do put on a number of tournaments but they still remain obscured in the shadow of the dominant fist of pool.
Green Shoots
Amongst this pessimism, lies hope and we have already seen several snooker markers already making themselves known in the media. Keanu Reeves recently visited the Arizona Snooker Academy near Phoenix and Judd Trump played a snooker exhibition at the Ox Billiards Club in Seattle after taking part in a pool tournament, the US Open. If snooker is ever going to break into the US market, these seismic shocks are vital and will be critical in giving the snooker train traction in this long but critical journey to expand the global snooker market.
This positive work has been bolstered by the news that the same club where Judd Trump played his snooker exhibition, the Ox Billiards Club in Seattle will host the US Women’s Snooker Open this August. This is fantastic news for snooker and especially for the Women’s Tour. The pathway has already been opened up with the WWS becoming a qualification route to the World Snooker Tour and a number of female players are now playing on the main tour through this process. Reanne Evans was recently interviewed after this announcement, clearly excited and enthused, Evans described pressure as a ‘privilege’ and a move that would help dispel the myths that even her daughter believed, that women could only become snooker referees. With that myth firmly out the window, her daughter is now coming down the club with her Mum and perhaps could follow in her footsteps.
Coming to America
The US Women’s Snooker Open is a landmark tournament, the second of the 2022-23 World Women’s Snooker Tour and provides women and girls from the Americas region the opportunity to compete without having to travel to Europe or Asia. This has already become a popular event with many international players expressing interest to take part in it. Rebecca Kenna who has just joined the World Snooker Tour has already sealed a sponsorship deal with Ox Billiards the host of the tournament and Alan Morris, the Executive Director of the USSA praised the announcement, saying:
“This is a major and exciting moment for the development of snooker in the United States, to have the opportunity to stage a prestigious World Women’s Snooker Tour event”.
America is definitely a hard cookie to crumble but these small steps in driving snooker forward in this vast country should be applauded. A major means of expanding snooker is down to exposure, education, sealing sponsorship rights and venues that produce ticket sales through promotion. This will be a slow process and with American Football and Baseball as the main sports in America, it is important that a foot is never taken off the brakes and determination is the key to success. The WWST begins at the end of July with the UK Women’s Snooker Championship taking place at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds and marks a massive turning point in the women’s game with many exciting and new opportunities in prospect.
