After a number of refereeing seminars in both Snooker and Billiards, we now have 11 fully qualified Snooker and Billiard referees that will make up a panel within the Association going forward in our continued development in female cue sports. These referees are also part of the Referees Association and will engage with our partner Association SBI and help out at events run by SBI during the seasons ahead.
We hope to run Referees seminars later in the year ahead to build our panel of Referees to 16
The inaugural Introductory Snooker & Billiards Coaching Course was held in November 2023 with 4 new Female Coaches now qualified to help at grass roots to develop and increase participation among young girls. These coaches will play a vital role in fostering, developing and increasing the numbers playing cue sports in the months and years ahead. A further 6 ladies completed a course on 20th January 2024 bringing our coaches now trained to 12. We plan to run another course for our schools in February 2024 as part of our overall plan, this will be supported by WIS at Sport Ireland
We hope to run courses in CPR, First Aid, Manual Handling, Sports Psychology and Tournament Directors in the months ahead at very low costs. A book is currently being worked on and we hope to have it published in the coming months with all the results, information and history of Female Cue Sports here in Ireland along with information from around the World.
As we get back to our tours, we have to increase the entry fee for snooker events to €15, this will help with the rising costs of table lights and prizes for our events. This is the first time in 20 years that we have had to increase the entry fee and its one thing that is beyond our control if we are to run future events. The fee of €10 for Billiards and Pool events will remain for now but will be reviewed during the season.
We ask you to visit our website www.rilsa.ie and check out our Calendar of events which are updated on a regular basis
Here is an update on a number of items that we wish to remind our members of and future members to our Association.
A reminder that the top 16 players on both the National Amateur and Intermediate Snooker Ranking lists at the end of the 2023-2024 season qualify for their respective National Championships. Should the current National Champions be outside of the top 16 they will automatically qualify and then the top 15 players ranked will qualify. So please check out our next two ranking events and the current provisional list which was be published on our website www.rilsa.ie
Players currently outside the top 16 still have a great opportunity to make it into the top 16 with 2 events left in the season
Free membership of Female Cue Sports Ireland is available to all females within the Republic of Ireland once you have resided in the Country for over 1 year. While Membership is free, its not guaranteed, as each application is checked fully before being processed.
We have updated our competition rules and we ask everyone to read through prior to applying for membership. This is available at the bottom of the application form for free membership alternatively you can get the information by going on our website main page by clicking on Rules and scrolling down to competition rules.
The application for membership is available on our website www.rilsa.ie again just fill in the details and submit your application, its as easy as that.
Many new initiatives have been introduced since 2010 to encourage participation by females into both snooker and billiards. Many young girls play cue sports within our member schools etc with some making it out of the school system to participate in competition on a National basis which is very encouraging indeed.
The Griffith Pin award is presented to any female who participates in 30 events either in snooker or billiards or 40 if you combine both. This pin award entitles the wearer of the pin to free entry to the Griffith Pot Black Competition where the winner receives free entry to all RILSA Snooker events for 1 year.
The International Cap Award has been introduced to honour all of those women who have represented their Country over the years since 1976. We have a certificate and pin to acknowledge their representation. A Bronze pin with cert for 10 International Caps, A Silver pin and cert for 15 International Caps and a Gold pin and cert for 20+ International Caps.
The National Ranking Card Certificate is awarded each season for players on the main tour who finish in the top 8 Amateur and on the Intermediate tour the top 4. On our Billiards tour the top 2 in both Amateur and Intermediate receive a National Ranking Card.
The free scholarship for 4 females was introduced 3 years ago where free table time along with free coaching in both snooker and billiards is provided for the duration of the scholarship. This is a fantastic opportunity for females to improve their skills and advance the standard of play. We will commence the Scholarship in May 2024 at the start of our new season 2024-2025
Jennifer Earle is the first recipient in cue sports in Ireland to achieve both the Bronze and Silver Gaisce Presidents Award for her attendance and participation in the RILSA Scholarship.
Female Cue Sports Ireland is currently promoting a weekly lotto, where members can join for €10 per month where they avail of special rates at our new Academy in Newbridge. This is not compulsory and anyone who joins can drop out at anytime they so wish.
Rates for our members at our Academy are set between Female Cue Sports Ireland and the management of the club. A €8 per hour rate is available to all our members and for those supporting our weekly lotto, we have a special rate of €7 per hour which is much appreciated by the members. Table rates for our many events are pre agreed by the Board of Female Cue Sports Ireland and the club involved.
Our Annual General Meeting is a great opportunity for our members to become more involved with the organisation, where they can put forward their ideas in the form of motions or proposals. The AGM and the members in attendance decide on a plan for the upcoming season. Decisions regarding prize money and prizes such as medals are made at our AGM. Members are reminded that once decisions are made and the Board of Female Cue Sports Ireland are tasked in the running of the Association, that these cannot be changed unless an Emergency General Meeting is arranged in accordance with our Constitution.
Members are reminded that decisions made at our AGM and by the Board from time to time are for the greater benefit of you our members. We encourage our members to attend our AGM and put forward ideas, proposals and motions where they will be discussed and voted on.
The Board of Female Cue Sports Ireland are volunteers and Female Cue Sports Ireland itself is a non profit organisation. The Board of Female Cue Sports Ireland do not receive any form of payment for their services to the Association such as travel expenses to meetings etc. Our volunteer referees do not receive payment for their work at Female Cue Sports Ireland events during the season. The Tournament Director of all our events in both snooker and billiards does not receive payment, its completely volunteered. On behalf of the membership we thank them so much for everything they do to keep this organisation afloat.
Since 2015, with the introduction of our Annual International Irish Open, RILSA, over 5 years provided fantastic competition and attained €8,500 in prize money. At National level we provided prize money for the National Championship and Maureen Butler Cup since 2017 which totals to €1,200, unfortunately 2020 and 2021 was a complete wash out due to restrictions and lack of fundraising for our Association. We see 2024 as the year where we will see fundraising commence once again. We ask you our members to get behind any fundraising events and support them.
We are delighted with our National Academy at Sharkx Newbridge and extend out appreciation to the National Lottery and the Sports Capital Programme who provided the much needed funding to improve the standard of playing conditions and equipment that females will now have full access to in the years ahead to aid improvement in their overall standard and increase participation.
When we introduced a number of playing levels in 2015 to cater for all females regardless of their skill and ability, it was met with full approval by everyone involved. Participation is the name of the game and with full acceptance and catering for all, we will see females improve and develop to higher levels in the sport. Our organisation supports all our players regardless of their ability as we are fully aware that many females just want to enjoy the sport and if they wish to remain at beginner level so be it and if the wish to improve to a higher standard we are there to help and support them all no matter what.
International selection criteria is explained in our competition rules on our website. As a reminder to all our members, we only select amateur standard players for EBSA, WWS and IBSF events such as our National Amateur Champion and Irish number 1 on the Amateur ranking list. In the event we are asked to supply teams we select Amateur players only but in the event that we are requested to supply B Teams in the future we may look at the National Intermediate Champion along with the top two on the National Intermediate Ranking list, also we may look at the highest ranked Intermediate player on the Amateur ranking list, in other words these selections are entirely up to the Board of Female Cue Sports Ireland as outlined in the rules. The Female Cue Sports Ireland Board may also select a wild card/s if they wish to fill places for future International events.
Our Ranking system is explained on our website www.rilsa.ie under competition rules. The ranking system in place is a fair system that has worked well since 2014. It’s very important that we ensure all levels of ability are catered for and our current system includes everyone. Remember you only receive ranking points for playing in events.
We intend to change the entry system for events after the Championship in May 2024 whereby members will have to pay their entry fees prior to the event either by revolut or through the RILSA Account, draws will then be completed on WhatsApp more to follow on this soon
If anyone of our members have any questions, please contact us on email at rilsasnooker.com
