What determines if a player is a professional or an amateur?

By The Monk

To this date, no one has really defined or classified what a professional player is. The only real pro tour we have is the woman's tour. The men's tour changes from year to year so it is hard to define who is a professional player. It may be better to classify what is an amateur player.

At one point the BCA classified a professional player as one who paid a three hundred dollar entry fee and made it to the money. That would include most of the players who entered the US Open. We know that many true amateur's play in that event. This is a vague definition of a player who falls into the professional ranks.

The governing bodies will do well to adopt The Monk's classification of an amateur vs a pro.

1. Any player who plays this game as a hobby is an amateur.
2. Any player who plays this game to make a living is a professional.
3. If you play in six or more of the cue sponsored open tour events, during one calendar year and play in a pro event, you will be considered a professional player.
4. An amateur player is one who is training for the pro tour.
5. An amateur player is one who belongs to a weekly league.

The purpose of separating the amateur from the professional is to protect the amateur from being outclassed in an event. Without the separation, many of our big tournament events would be taken over by the road traveling professional players. The amateur events are training grounds for those who aspire to move on to the pro ranks. Without this program, we would not have a healthy pro tour. Often times the governing bodies punish those who do well. For instance, if an amateur player trains, works hard, qualifies for the amateur opens and does well in other events, he/she is bumped up to the masters even though they qualified before they received the special training. This is a big mistake. Reward those who work the hardest. We must not punish a player for winning.

For instance, if a player wins the BCA masters three years in a row, and still plays this game as a hobby, he/she should be allowed to continue playing. It is important to stay consistent with our definition of what is an amateur and what is a professional. The skill level should not be the determining factor. If the tournament directors are not consistent the players will not trust them. The governing bodies should never suggest that improving your skill level gets you kicked out of the tournament. Winning or losing should be left up to the players.

There are some great players who chose to be amateurs. We should honor these men and woman. They should be welcomed in our events. If every amateur event used The Monk's five rules, players would develop a trust in the programs they desire to join. They would know where they stand. Our players today sacrifice a great deal to improve their game. The spend money for books, videos, training and cues in the hopes of winning a tournament. We should be consistent with what we offer them.

Make sure we are clear about who is an amateur and who is a professional player.

 

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