2014-15 Season

Fundraising to buy a GigerMD machine for the MSA Trust

www.snooker-league.org

A very good friend of mine Andrew Hulkes has in the past 12 months been diagnosed with MSA or Multiple System Atrophy. Here is his story and a link to his JustGiving Page. His fundraising so far has reached nearly £14,000 (as at 30 June 2014). Anything you could spare as a donation would be gratefully received not just by the MSA Trust and Andrew, but by the many other people who will benefit from the use of this machine in the future. This will benefit the people of Essex. Please pass this on to as many people as you can, if everyone donates just £1 I’m sure we can soon reach the magic target and start helping Andrew and others. Thank you, Peter.

https://twitter.com/savs147/status/483636429931962368

Andrew’s Story
I am asking for your help to raise £25,000 that being the cost of buying, importing and installing a GigerMD in the UK and training staff to operate it. You don’t have to promise all of that yourself of course, but anything, anything at all that you can give would make a tremendous difference not only to me, but to anybody who has a neurological condition of any sort. And that’s an awful lot of people who would be immensely grateful to you.

I have developed a rare medical condition known as MSA – a neurodegenerative disease that medical science can’t yet cure, treat or even slow down. Basically, MSA just munches away at one’s nervous system until there is nothing left to munch. At which point, you lose. I have had symptoms for several years but have now reached the point where working is no longer feasible.

While medical science can’t cure MSA, the GigerMD machine helps the body to reassign healthy nerve tissue to replace tissues damaged or destroyed by accident or disease. It’s not a cure, because eventually the body runs out of healthy nerve tissue to convert, but it is a way of making the very best use of what one has. Stoke Mandeville Hospital have one of the only machines in the public domain in the UK, and their Clinical Director recently wrote to me to say: “we find the GIGER to be an extremely useful part of the ongoing maintenance for health for people with neurological disability.”

I mentioned the GigerMD to Benfleet Physiotherapy, the neuro-physiotherapy practice that I attend and they, having consulted with numerous senior practitioners, were very enthusiastic about the device. So much so they agreed that if we could raise the money to buy one, they would locate it within their practice and not only offer therapy to MSA sufferers free of charge, but also provide rehabilitation services to anyone suffering with a neurological condition.

Quite apart from the treatment angle, there is also the possibility that the data obtained from treatment would have a value in MSA research, an area that needs much more support.

This is probably the most cost effective project I’ve ever been involved with. We can make a real difference to the lives of people who, up until now, have only been told there’s nothing that can be done for them. That’s got be worthwhile.

Thank you,
Andrew Hulkes

2014/15 League Season – Please Submit Your Team & Player Registration Form

www.snooker-league.org

Reminder to all team captains, the DMC Leisure Saffron Walden & District Snooker League require your team 2014/15 Team & Player Registration Form to be submitted and received by 24 June 2014.  The online form can be completed in a few minutes via the league website and automatically submits your entry to us so no scanning/emailing/posting required!

Click here to complete and submit your form now!

Should you have any queries then please do not hesitate to contact the League Secretary, Peter Saville.

Many thanks.

EASB Guide For Players Refereeing Local League Snooker Matches

www.snooker-league.org

GUIDE FOR LOCAL PLAYERS

Some tips for players refereeing in their local leagues

Author – Dan Lewis – EASB Director of Referees

Never call out the score when spotting a ball, until you have completed the task, as this is the signal for the striker to continue with his break/make the next shot.    Also, never call out the score when a ball is potted, until you are sure that no foul can result from any balls still in motion.

Never turn your back on the table (when the striker is about to make a shot) and always retain control of the cue-ball between frames and whilst it is in hand, until you are ready to continue.

You should always try to take up a position out of the line of sight of the striker & remain still whilst he/she is down on the shot. We consider the striker to be standing @ 6 o’clock, the referee should stand between 4 o’clock & 8 o’clock, whichever side affords the best view of any likely infringement of the rules. i.e. any object balls that could be fouled by the strikers person or attire, or by the path of the cue-ball.

Whenever there is a possibility of a “Miss” occurring, the Referee should ask the player to allow him/her to view the exact line of the shot & to take a mental image of the cue-ball and object balls positions. This is especially important where only a thin shot is available or the player is playing a thin contact (across a ball) or in any occurrence where the Cue Ball is Snookered.

All attempts to escape from a “Snooker”, must be played with sufficient strength to reach the ball on, either directly or indirectly, failure to strike the Cue Ball with sufficient strength to reach the/a ball on will always result in a “Miss”. The “Miss” rule and how to apply it within your league(s) is attached separately – this has been applied successfully in the SWDSL for 20 years!

In an Impossible to escape snooker situation, the only criteria is that the player strikes the cue ball with sufficient strength (in a direct or indirect line), so as to reach / contact the/a ball on – in which case no Miss will be called – regardless of the difference in scores.

A player can ‘nominate’ his intended ball by his stance, but should this not be immediately obvious then the referee should ask the player to “Declare” which ball he is playing (state clearly – Please Declare). It is a foul if the player plays without first replying to this request. The striker does not have to declare/nominate, unless specifically requested to do so by the referee.

When balls are almost touching, the striker is allowed to declare that ball but he must make only the thinnest possible contact when so doing. You only state “Touching Ball” if that ball is a “ball on” (which should be followed immediately by “Please Declare”), and any movement of that ball is a foul unless it moves because of the vagaries of the table; i.e. moves forward into the space vacated by the cue-ball or settles onto an uneven spot.

N.B.     When there is no Referee (such as in a social or local competition), the opposing player will be regarded as such for the purposes of these rules.   Remember that we play for fun as well as to win, so all decisions should be made within the spirit of the rules.

Revised August 2014 – version 4.

EASB Guide To The Miss Rule For Local League Application

www.snooker-league.org

GUIDE FOR LOCAL LEAGUES

THE MISS RULE  –  A SUMMARY for Local League Application

Author – Dan Lewis – EASB Director of Referees

A         A Miss shall be called, if, in the opinion of the ‘Referee’, the Striker has not made a genuine attempt to hit the ball on (or any ball that could be on). To judge this, use the criteria of whether you, as a player of similar ability, could (would expect to) do better. Hitting the intervening ball by playing a swerve shot should always result in a Miss being called, missing after playing a swerve shot is a judgement call.

B          If the Striker can see any part of any ball on (in a straight line), and fails to make first contact with a ball on, a Miss shall be called.

N.B.    For either A or B above, a Miss shall not be called if the difference in scores is equal to the value of the balls available or penalty points are required (by either player)- either before or as a result of the offending shot.

C         Should the Striker be able to see any Ball on “full ball” (not both edges but centre to centre contact) and fails to make first contact with a Ball on, a Miss shall be called (unless on the first occasion the above note applies).

If a Miss is called and accepted, the balls are replaced and the Striker plays again. If the foul shot is repeated, again a Miss shall be called (this time regardless of the difference in scores, as a count has already commenced).

Should the non-Striker request that the shot be replayed after the 2nd foul, the Referee shall warn the Striker that a third consecutive offence will result in the Frame being awarded to his opponent. Where points are recorded as part of the match, etc., the total number of points available at this time shall be added to the non-offenders score and the offenders score shall be reduced to zero.

1          The Miss rule is a rule of Snooker and must be adhered to at all times but should be played with common sense and due consideration for the striker’s ability.

2          In the best traditions of Snooker, a player should call a Foul on himself for any accidental touching of a ball or similar offence.

3          The Referee should consult both players about the replacing of balls after a Miss has been called, after which the Referees decision will be final – if either player touches a ball during this process, that player will be penalised 7 points but the order of play is not changed (the striker remains the striker).

4          Players refereeing matches should be vigilant at all times and should first ascertain whether a ball can be seen, prior to the next shot, where a possible rule infringement may result from that shot.

Revised August 2014 – version 4