Snooker league

A snooker league is a form of sports league; specifically, an organisation, often local and informal, which schedules, arranges, scores and maintains statistics of amateur individual and team competition in snooker. Such leagues are very similar to pool leagues, dart leagues, trivia leagues, and other such group competitive activities centered around pub-based pastimes.
Snooker leagues in the United Kingdom
Snooker leagues are common throughout the UK, probably more so there than anywhere else in the world. How many there are is uncertain, because there is no single directory. According to the BBC website, the county of Lancashire is home to twenty-eight snooker leagues alone. The population of Lancashire is approximately one and a half million (3% of the population of the UK), therefore an estimation can be made that there are up to 800 snooker leagues in the UK. Generally, a league consists of between one and seven divisions of snooker teams that are based on a specific geographical area. There are usually eight to twelve teams in each division, who play each other home and away in a season, often during the winter months. The teams are based at a club, usually a workingmen’s or social club, although actual snooker clubs participate within the leagues. Each team generally consists of between three and six players, who play a single of snooker against an opponent during a on a weekly basis. Alongside the league matches there are many knockout competitions throughout a season, which involve teams, individuals and doubles players. Many players take part in the leagues because it gives them a chance to enjoy competing and socialising on a regular basis. An estimation is that there are between 100,000 and 150,000 players participating in UK snooker leagues each year.
Isolation and lack of information
The major problem with snooker leagues in the UK is that there is little or no communication that takes place between these leagues. Often league participants do not know what is happening within their leagues, this being information such as league tables, fixtures, results, news and much more. The typical source of information is the local newspaper that often displays vague information about a snooker league, and often does not print information from a snooker league on a regular basis. The UK League Snooker Community - http://www.leaguesnooker.co.uk was created in March 2003 to combat the above problems. In July 2007, the Leamington & District Billiards & Snooker Association set up its own website at http://www.ldbsa.co.uk to allow all participating clubs and players to obtain up to date information on the league.
Further back, in September 2002, the Milton Keynes City Snooker League set up its own web site at http://www.mkcsl.co.uk to combat this lack of information for their local league.
In September 2008, the North London Snooker league entered the digital age by setting up its own website at http://www.northlondonsnooker.co.uk to provide up-to-date information to both current and prospective members.

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