UNIVERSITIES POOL COUNCIL
PRESS RELEASE
The Universities Pool Council is delighted to announce that pool at university level in the UK has taken yet another massive step forward with the decision of the British Universities Sports Association to recognise pool as a fully fledged university sport.
Although it’s the off-season for pool at university level, the Universities Pool Council (UPC) has been working hard on behalf of student players throughout the country to secure recognition for pool by the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA), the national governing body for all sports at university level in the UK. From next season BUSA will fully recognise the main National University Eight-ball Championships run by the UPC and assist with the distribution of information about all the other UPC events meaning that pool joins the BUSA family of sports.
Success in the Championships now means that universities can earn BUSA Championship points that go towards deciding the best sporting university in the UK...
For student pool players, it means that funding may now be available from their institution to help finance taking part.
The UPC would like to thank the English Pool Association for their help with the bid, without which this result could not have been achieved. Also to be thanked are the universities that supported the bid, namely: Abertay, Birmingham, Bolton Institute, Canterbury Christ Church, Central England, Durham, Essex, Glasgow, Gloucestershire, Lancaster, Manchester Met, Middlesex, Northumbria, Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth, Southampton, Southampton Institute, Strathclyde, Teesside, Trinity College Carmarthen, Warwick, Winchester, Wolverhampton and York.
Iorwerth Griffiths, Executive Chair of the Universities Pool Council, said that ‘as a student focussed organisation, the UPC works for the benefit of student players. This is a great result for pool at university level and should be an immense benefit to the players and clubs. I would like to thank the EPA and all the universities that have supported our bid. This means that the sport of pool at university level will continue to grow in popularity above and beyond the large numbers that already take part and we are looking forward to next season and the first competition under the BUSA banner’.
All players and clubs are now urged to join their Athletic Union to benefit fully from this development if they are not already members.
27th July, 2005
For further information contact:
Iorwerth Griffiths, Apartment 8, 14, College Gardens, BELFAST BT9 6BQ. Tel: 07814520477. Email: ig_griffiths@yahoo.co.uk