Hereford Charity Pool League Statement

Last week our Chairperson Mark Farmer received a phone call from Mr John Murray of the Golden Cross. During that conversation John told Mark that following reports that came back to him after the League AGM, and because of his personal objection (and those of “his teams”) to some new rules on the playing format that were voted in to place during the meeting, that he had decided to start an alternative pool league in Hereford.
It should be noted at this point, and in no uncertain terms, that no representative from the Golden Cross’ two teams, or Mr Murray himself, attended the AGM to voice their democratic opinions on anything, and that due to the closeness of the vote, had they had done so, the particular rules that Mr Murray purported to have took offence to would almost certainly not have been passed.

A letter from Mr Murray had/has been circulated to his chosen venues and captains showing his intentions regarding the start of a new pool league. 
This intention is not any of our business, it is his prerogative, anyone has the right to start their own pool league if they want to. What we do not agree with is some of the rather misleading wording and comments made in the letter, chosen it seems to put a rather one sided and quite inaccurate view.

We’ll try and touch on a few of the points made in Mr Murray's letter and respond where we think necessary.  

Rule changes:
At the AGM it was voted that Divisions 1, 2 and 3 would change to two sets of 6 singles, forgoing the previous 3 Pairs, 6 Singles and a wildcard pair. This was democratically voted in by the captains from Divs 1, 2 and 3 that were in attendance with a 5-3 majority, after a full discussion on the possible formats to move forward with, including the option for the format to remain as it was. 

Mr Murray in his letter flippantly mentions that it was voted in by “Premier teams and 8 others” as if the 8 others were somehow not relevant, they are.
He also uses the words “in the absence of lower league teams” when his pub’s teams didn’t send anyone at all. As a committee we are not quite sure what more we can possibly do to get teams to turn up to meetings, every captain received an invitation, every captain was reminded 3 times about the date and time of the meeting.
After all that it seems a little off to belittle those that did turn up to have their say and vote democratically. To also blame those 8 people for the format change is nonsensical, particularly when no effort was made by Mr Murrays own establishment to attend themselves.

The real truth of the matter is that no Premier league team had a vote on this format change as the floor decided that it was better for Div 1, 2 and 3 to decide their own fate as it were. The “8 others” were the teams from Divs 1, 2 and 3 that made the effort to turn up to a democratic meeting and vote.
The intimation in Mr Murrays letter is that being democratic is somehow wrong and those that turn up to meetings cannot make proper decisions, quite obviously we strongly disagree with that sentiment.
The HCPL is very proud of our democratic policies and processes, our meetings have always been democratic and always will be, the committee does not make rule or format changes, the floor at any given meeting does, we make no apologies for being democratic.

We are not quite sure where the idea came from, but another inaccuracy put forward was that only six players would be able to play on the night of a match. The formats of two sets or three sets of six players does NOT mean only six players can play on the night, obviously captains can play whichever 6 of their signed on players that he/she wants to play in each set. Conversation was however had around reducing the number of required players for a team, and it was agreed that the minimum number should not change. There was no conversation around the upper limit of players.

New & Young Players
Mr Murray mentions that having the doubles in the match format is a way of developing young or new players. While we do acknowledge that there is some comfort for a new player to be placed in a doubles with someone to support them through the frame, it is not the only way for them to learn. It’s a personal view perhaps, but then again, will a new or young player learn better by playing half of one frame of doubles or playing more singles frames each week? Youngsters nowadays are spending more and more time in the local pubs and clubs playing pool, joining singles leagues and playing multiple frames each time. They like playing the frames, they want to be playing pool.

In addition to this, we are constantly moving with the times to ensure that people are getting the best version of the pool scene at any given time. When Blackball rules became popular and the players wanted to move to them we listened, voted, and adopted them. The same with World and International Rules – they were voted in and seem to have been a big hit with the large majority of players. In listening and acting upon suggestions like this we are, as a byproduct, encouraging the youths and new players of today to join the league. With pool becoming more and more popular and regularly televised we see the HCPL as very much encouraging grassroots pool. If we had never moved with these changes, as Mr Murray would have preferred, we would end up with a stagnant league that does not attract new players.

Pressure to Win:
Mr Murray alludes to an imposed “massive pressure to win” in the HCPL.
We have no understanding of what this means or implies.  Does anyone pick up a pool cue and try to not win? 
There is no pressure whatsoever, teams from the top of the Premier Division to the bottom of Division 3 all enjoy their pool on a Thursday, they enjoy seeing and socialising with their team mates no matter their league position, no “massive pressure” required. Nobody wants to take away the enjoyment of playing pool and socialising.

Timed Games:
Timed frames was voted in for Premier Division teams only, just to help along the longer format of 3 sets of 6 singles used in the Prem. It is a quite relaxed rule that is used very successfully at every HCPL Finals Night with zero issues. It does not affect teams from Divs 1, 2 or 3 in any way.

Enjoying Pool Nights:
An implication was made that in some way the new rule changes are going to impact people’s enjoyment of a pool night or that enjoyment is “slipping away”. Again, there is nothing to back up this spurious claim.
It certainly isn’t the feedback that we have received during the season, in fact we received much more positive feedback in the last two or three seasons than we ever have. We believe it is due to the efforts of the players and teams and the committee showing a willingness to listen to the thoughts of our teams and players that has helped achieved this.

People were accused of being “elitist”. Trying to do well and trying to win is not elitist, it is a natural by-product of playing any sport from tiddlywinks to the World Cup Final. Trying to win should be commended and encouraged while also applauding good sportsmanship. Trying to win at all costs should certainly not. We accept that not everyone has a competitive nature, so for those who do not have the drive to win, we are happy that they choose to come out and play all the same. We would never criticise them for that. Everyone should enjoy pool, whatever their participation means to them.

Summer Seasons:
Not directly used in the letter, but it was mentioned during the initial phone call between Mr Murray and the current Chairperson, is that there would probably be no summer seasons in the HCPL going forward. This is another gross inaccuracy. It was one of a multitude of topics talked about on the night of the AGM, it was not entered as a motion and not voted upon. For reference, and as mentioned at the meeting, the format of the next Summer season is on the agenda for the next meeting, following feedback from some lower division players.

Online Contact:
A remark was made about using WhatsApp to communicate with captains. Saying that “if you aren’t on WhatsApp forget it” and “Not what I regard as good for pool in Herefordshire”, along with a comment implying that we have removed the list of captains’ contact details.
We find those statements confusing and a little bewildering.

A list of team captains is available through RackEmApp and can be found by scrolling down to “Contacts” on the home screen. 
The truth of the matter is that most teams love the accessibility of WhatsApp and also that of the RackemApp platform that we also use for tables, news, statistics, calendars etc.  We also use our Facebook page as a third method of communication and news sharing.  We do have captains who choose not to join the WhatsApp groups, and they not only receive the information via these other channels, but they also have direct contact with members of the committee. We have not received negative feedback from any of those people choosing not to be a part of the WhatsApp chats.

We make communication just about as easy as it possibly can be today. We are happy to look at any other ways that people may suggest, but we make no excuses for moving with the times.
If the worst really came to the worst then the committee can be contacted and details can be given, or people can ring the venues that teams play from (the old-fashioned way).

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Closing Statement:
The Hereford Charity Pool League is extremely proud of its achievements in the 30 years or so of its existence The amounts of monies raised by our pubs, clubs, teams and players for mostly local charities has been truly outstanding and continues to this day.

The HCPL values are that of a democratically run League. All decisions about the running of the league, its format and rules must be made by those teams, captains and players that take part. You are the people that discuss your thoughts and then vote on them democratically at meetings.

The HCPL does not believe in autocracies.
A question we ask is simply this; If somebody doesn’t like the decision of a democratic rule change, do they up a start a new league, or do they attend meetings and have their say and a vote in achieving what they would like?

The HCPL committee will never tell you what you should want or like, we strongly believe that teams and players should always be the ones telling us what you would like implemented in the pool league. You give us your ideas, then discuss them and vote democratically at meetings.
We have recently set up a suggestion form via our RackemApp website, where people can suggest new ideas or thoughts on anything pool related if they want to. If relevant, then these ideas and suggestions will be added to the agenda to be discussed at meetings.  You can find the Suggestion Box under the Information section.

We hope that your trust in us over the past years continues, and that we can carry on repaying that trust by improving the Hereford Charity Pool League as best as we can.

We wish all teams and players the very best and we hope to see you all at the end of Summer Season festivities and during the up-and-coming Winter season.

Yours faithfully
The Hereford Charity Pool League Committee