Hi All,
I have been asked to support a proposal to be delivered to all North Wales leagues who play under the NWPA by Zak Shepherd the chairman of the Welsh Eightball Federation.
The proposals will be discussed in length at a meeting arranged as below:
Venue…..
Gwersyllt workingmen’s club
Mold Road
Wrexham
Date and time……
Sunday 19th October 2025 at 12.00 noon
The meeting will be open to all who wish to attend from all leagues and players to discuss the proposals and to submit this to the AGM in December for members to vote on.
Point of discussion ……..
To discuss the current and past actions of the WPA who are intent in causing a divide in Wales with the North / South system, which is not in any other country under any organisation.
The banning / Choice policy put in place by the WPA resulting in players not being able to play pool without sanctions being imposed.
Here are the proposals in summary…….
1) Leave the WPA and self affiliate as NWPA.
2) Affiliate to the Welsh eightball federation. The NWPA will still keep all affiliation fees to support its structure.
3) Everything remains the same within the NWPA. Support from the (WEF) will be given to allow more compatible events going forward.
4) Additional IR events added to the calendar in North Wales clubs and venues including trials for all age categories each year. The NWPA will not be expected to organise these events and the clubs concerned will be contacted to arrange these events as and when required.
5) All existing WPA players offered to move to IR squads if they wish to do so. This concept only affects a small number of players in North Wales who do play international pool and a great offer if they wish to swop.
6) NWPA will be the organisation who send teams to the (BI) blackball international events in future at all squad levels with support from the (WEF).
7) Qualifiers put in place each year for squad selection at both rule sets for all age categories. This will be done in a more structured manner to allow fairness to all players.
😎 Any existing WPA players who wish to continue playing for the WPA teams can do so without any bans sanctioned from the WEF point of view. However the WPA current banning policy will impose sanctions on those players playing (IR) in Wales.
9)New super league event put in place for all league team champions in the top divisions like a champions league format at blackball rules (2027). This will be set up during (2026) and all leagues informed once organised.
10)There will be no banning / choice policy towards players wishing to simply play pool in Wales at any ruleset.
In my opinion that’s perfect for everyone with loads of options to play pool and only following the standard being set in the vast majority of other countries worldwide.
If it’s put to a vote and goes through and some leagues decide to not get involved then so be it and inter league would need to adjust to that going forward.
I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
Yours in sport
Zak Shepherd and Wayne Smith
Also check out other Meetups in Wrexham, Sports events in Wrexham.
