Economic downturn, will it impact on Bar Billiards

[specialone]

How will the present economic situation affect our sport?

For most on this forum the answer will probably be not at all or not very much.
The fanatical golfer will always find his membership fees, and the lifelong angler will manage rejoin his club and find the cash for bait etc.

Some might be cutting out the odd open or playing in fewer competitions.

However a lot of players just enjoy a night out, and Bar Billiards is just one of a number of their hobbies, maybe number three on their list after fishing and golf. These people may be faced with a choice over the next couple of years.

As the marathon of last season ended, I myself felt a sense of relief that I was going to be about £100 a month better off.

A lot of teams would struggle or fold with the loss of 2 or even 1 player.

Should we be giving more thought to the casual player, in order to preserve the numbers in our sport?

Thespecialone.

Good sentiment, Shaun, but unfortunately not having a crystal ball, I for one cannot predict the effect with much accuracy.

I do however worry for young married couples trying to start out on the housing ladder. And those who cannot get on the first rung, who have to pay £700 minimum to rent a flat or a one-bedroomed house.

It's one of life's ironies that you only acquire the money to do what you want to do in life once you're too old and infirm to enjoy it.

Single youngsters can probably afford to go out drinking every night of the week, married ones not so. Is this perhaps why the average age for a bar billiards player is now 50 plus - that only those with expendable income can afford to play the game.

If you think about it, bar billiards is a relatively cheap hobby to have - the only equipment needed is really your cue, and there are no huges fees like in golf. Club membership can be as little as a fiver a year if you find a good club, so the only outlays are the team registration to the league, tables money and money collected each week for sandwiches.

Most of the outlay is in travelling and drinking, which you don't have to play bar billiards to do anyway !

What does concern me, however, is the threatened decline in the pub trade. The tax on alcohol is sky-high and if people want a really good session it's cheaper to do it at home with booze bought at a fraction of the cost at the supermarket. Pubs I know that were once packed to the rafters are deserted mid-week during the evenings. Many leagues (Eg Redhill. Horsham and Mid Sussex) have more clubs than pubs in their Leagues. I'm a non-smoker myself, but I really think the smoking ban hasn't helped: it's nice for me to go home with clothes not reeking of smoke like they used to, but the remaining smokers using pubs are treated like pariahs, and it's pityable to see them keep disappearing outside for a quick drag.

So I agree with your concerns, and pose the rival question: how much longer can the pub trade survive ?

[specialone]

We seem to have this thread to ourselves Tommo,
Would like to add a more positive spin to this thread. A few years ago a social club in Haywards Heath turned down the chance of a team, this season they will have one. These days the chance of 10 extra drinkers once a fortnight is not to be sniffed at.
Over the years the odd table has been removed from pubs to accommodate another dinning table, Green Man for example. These pubs might want the teams back over the next couple of years.
In the short term it is the players, more than the venues that concern me.
Shaun

[Matt]

As a "cohabiting" male in his 20's renting a £700 flat, I dont see it affecting us whatsoever. As mentioned, cost is irrelevant, purely as it will cost between £2 and £20 dependant on alcohol consumption for the evening!!! ;)
My team is all in their 20's or early 30's. We would normally have a couple of nights per week down the local (exc w/ends) and this would take the place of one of them as we try and squeeze in the bar billards around our drinking!

If one is playing in several leagues, this may pose a different matter as petrol will greatly affect it

Im also a fanatical golfer and have had to cut down on golf. Golf costs me (non member) around £80/month now down from £150 last year when electricity/petrol etc was not too expensive.

If its gets too expensive, i will have to cut back on giving my other half her pocket money!

Matt