I have noticed more lately that when you go to an event that has an Open division and a Women's division there are many differences. One being the entry fee. The men pay anywhere between $60-$100+ to play in a weekend regional event. The women pay anywhere from $20-$50 to play in a women's division. Now I understand that there are maybe 100 men playing and only a handful of women, but why is it acceptable that a man who might just be a "field filler" pay so much and think it is okay. The women have to have such a low entry fee to even have enough players to play! Are women smarter with money and they don't want to waste money? If they aren't confident they are going to cash they don't enter? Why is there such a big difference in the thinking of men and women? I have heard so many guys say that they would gladly pay up to $100 to play against the best players. Many guys are getting ready to pay $600 to play in the US Open just for that same chance. I hope that some of the women who don't feel like they have the confidence to jump in there and play realize that it will help you get better. It took me years and years to do well in tournaments. Along the way I learned a lot though. Take the risk, who knows, you may be better than you think you are!
The second thing is the attitude of the players. This doesn't go for every area. It seems that the women in certain areas are very, very competitive and others are not. I have traveled all over the country playing in a variety of tournaments. Maybe the men have a ton of pride and are there to compete. Maybe it is the manly thing to compete to relax. Sometimes when I go to women's tournaments I can pick out the few girls that are there with that competitive attitude. Then I can look around and pick out the majority that are just there to relax and catch up with friends all while playing pool. I am not against making friends or catching up with friends but I am not going to do it while playing in a tournament match. So many times I have seen women sharing pictures or telling stories to catch up. There is plenty of time to catch up after the match. It kind of holds up the tournament and the girls are forced to play shorter races. You are supposed to put up a wall that blocks out friendship while you are playing. I'm sorry, you may be my best friend off the table but I guarantee you are my enemy while we are playing! This doesn't go for all tournaments of course, but there it is a huge difference between the men and women.
Third, the added money. I understand that you want to draw the guys so you add anywhere from $1500-$10,000 for the men, but why do you only add $500 to the women? Of course you aren't going to get a great turn-out even if you have a ton of good women players in the area (by area I mean about a 6 hour radius) if you only add a small amount of money. Most of the women's events I go to hardly cover expenses to get there and stay for a couple days. Therefore, I don't travel as much as I did in the past to play in tournaments. If you are holding a tournament somewhere and you know you have a high concentration of female players, why not add a little more money. Make it worth it for the girls to show up. I can't guarantee that tons of women will show up, but I know I would be willing to go more often.
Lastly, women are catty. I know this, I am a woman and I admit it. When I go to tournaments in other areas it is like I am the enemy. The guys don't look at someone like Shane Van Boening showing up at a weekly tournament as the enemy. They are all hyped up to get a chance to play him and learn from him. The women seem to have the attitude like "Oh well,
I know there are people reading this and saying, "quit complaining, you could always just play in the Open division." That is true and usually I do play in the Open division if I can play in both tournaments and it doesn't conflict and I do play a lot of Open events that aren't too incredibly far away.
These are just my observations. It is hard to see a sport that women have a chance to be equal with the men but yet we are still kind of held back. I am not saying anything bad about the people that go to tournaments to relax and have fun. I just don't see why the only market for women's tournaments that are held with open tournaments to be the women that either accompany their significant other or those in the immediate area. I hope that it changes. This is a sport that has a mass appeal to all people no matter what age, sex, color or physical ability. I just hope that the women can grow and be somewhat equal in the future. This is a tough sport to make a living. Please remember that the girls are paying travel expenses to get to these events too. I know everyone would like to not only win the tournament but walk away from winning the tournament with a little bit of profit!
Alright, that is my rant. I hope I didn't offend anyone. As always, I am open to comments!
these are honest questions to ask. i would not think this offensive at all.
ReplyDeletei don't know about girls, but i personally think that a lot of guys are catty in pool halls. (i think we call it by a different description though; we call it b~*y.) u may be right though that guys think a bit differently when it comes to competing. and ur right that there shouldn't be fear in a person's game. if ur gonna play then play no matter who or what, otherwise don't enter the tounament.
it's funny, however, that although the added cash is less for women, the women have a healthier pro tour. weird how that works.
true freaking that yo! its true...when guys play they get all pissy and competitive, but thats guys for you. guys wanna be tough, rule, mutilate, conquer, and woop on peeps(people), and thats normal. girls are different. theyre kinder, more caring, helping. example, hear this. i always hear girls telling each other "lets go to the bathroom", dude and they check the hair , make up, face... but you never hear a guy tell 2 other guys "yo lets go to the bathroom " .NO! guys dont do that stuff. us guys just go to the bathroom and try to be out in less than 5 minutes. basically guys dont give a rats butt about each other, (some guys), and girls, they care alot , and want to hear about each others life. but the money stuff, i have no answer. all i know is that when the viejas casino event comes up, im paying my $50 dollars to play YOU sarah, and all them other players. thats gonna be cool...well that was a good question/comment/ update. this PEZ...peace out yo
ReplyDelete......but anyways , men and women are different. dont think it strange
ReplyDeletei think i need to clarify my comment.
ReplyDeletealthough there're many guys that are b~*y, these guys don't necessarily represent all the male pool players. it comes down to individuals. for all the b~*y guys in a PH, there are just as many catty girls. these catty girls don't represent girl players as a whole. i think it's poor practice to try to generalize any one group. and my earlier comment certainly wasn't aiming for male-bashing.
personally i believe we should all strive for a higher standard of conduct, male AND female. only then can we ensure the legitimacy of pool.
good post sarah and some really good questions and observations. i'd be interested to read what some of the amateur women out there think about these things.
ReplyDeletej.
I can't agree with you more. Why men continue to get more credit at almost everything is unnerving to me. I play against the best guys in my city, and beat them regularly. I don't have sponsors. For me to get to any of the tournaments, I have to spend more money than I make in a week at my job. I don't have expendable income, but luckily a cool employer that will let me leave a lot. I live in podunk little Ridgecrest CA, and I'm coming out of my skin excited, that I just found a tournament that is close enough in Hollywood CA on Feb. 13-14. I play BCA League and will be playing the national 8-Ball in Vegas in May. These are the closest locations. I'm a pretty decent player and so is my fiancee. We are on a male dominated league that has already discussed sending the women's team to nationals. The way they handled it at our meeting (of which I am the secretary and my fiancee is the Vice President)..."well we won't have enough good women, so why don't we look into sending two men's teams." Thank God that the women's team no longer has to be a "core" team anymore, because there just aren't enough women available. I think that if women were taken more seriously, competition-wise, and payout-wise, there would be. The men in our league even look at it like "Damn, you're a great female player," not that I am a great player in general. And, even as a man, my fiancee feels that we women get the shaft in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteMy fiance and I are going to find a way to tour - we want to tour - but just can't afford to do it just yet. If my payout was enough to cover expenses, and it wasn't riding all on him, it would definitely be a little more equaled out, in our household at least.
Thank you for writing a blog. I read your blog because it helps keep up my moral. It reminds me that you're a regular person like me and that I can do this. I will keep rocking it for now and with more practice I will make it. My fiancee keeps riding me on my lack of keeping up with my drills and I do need to. My enthusiasm was totally boosted when I found the Hollywood tournament, and there is one in Colorado in March too!! This gets my ball rolling, and with any luck and some hard work, I will be meeting you and the other top players and shooting against you one day, heck in a friendly game even!!
Thanks for all of the comments. I was worried a bit when I wrote this that it would be considered a little bit out of line. I'm glad some people think it is valid. Jenny, good luck to you. It takes a lot of love and determination to go after your goal but it is cool to say that you gave it a try, even if you are broke for a little while! Not many people get a chance to say they gave something a try. Sounds like you hit the jackpot with your fiance, besides the drill nagging (don't worry, my boyfriend does the same to me!). Keep working hard and do what you can. You will make it. I will keep a lookout for you. Oh and the best way to teach the guys that you are a good player, not just female player, keep beating on them. It is a lot of hard work to get respect in the pool room but it can happen!
ReplyDeleteI think your observations are good, but in a way, you answered your own questions. First off, no one gets rich just from playing pool....Mika is what, $100K this year and he's almost double the amount of the next player? Take out expenses, taxes, etc., not that much, and that's at the top. Pool is a difficult sport for spectators, so prize money generally comes from the players and/or the facility/sponsors, and so, unlike golf, prize funds are usually low, and as you mentioned, even the travel expenses sometimes makes it not worth going to a tournament. And then, there just are not that many true female competitors in pool, and with few exceptions, most do not match up with their male counterparts. There recently have been some women moving deeper into the male tournaments, such as Jasmine, Allison, Karen, but overall, males dominate both in number of players, prize money, and ability. (I'm not by any means trying to be discriminating, just truthful). I agree with you, if you are not ready to win, why bother entering a tournament. But for some people, a tournament is more social. So you have to rely on your own ability to talk for you. Oh, and one other little thing....the best male players in the world? They are scared to death of being beat by a woman!! :)
ReplyDeletewell, since the subject of money is brought up, i did write a post about pool & its financial aspects. check it out if you're interested.
ReplyDelete