SBI Chairman Dylan Rees outlined at the recent SBI AGM on Saturday the 22nd of May about the decision to find a new premise to create a National Centre of Excellence and Headquarters for SBI.
This has dominated the attention of all on the SBI board over recent times and sites in Dublin, Kilkenny, Laois, Carlow, Waterford were viewed but the final decision was decided on the Carlow site. This premises used to be a car sales showroom and we are currently awaiting planning approval of change of use to allow us to start the work on our centre of excellence.
The main requirements for SBI are to have dedicated coaching zone, playing area and meeting room/office for SBI in a central location. The aim is to create a professional base for players, coaches, officials to promote the sport to a wider audience to include disability and social inclusion.
Fundraising
A fundraising committee has been set up to work alongside Sport Ireland and we hope to secure this funding in late 2021. The photos attached in this report are of a proposed layout and possible design of this SBI Centre of Excellence HQ to inform our members.
Events
We hope to bring news of future events over the coming weeks, possibly regional events allowing us to keep numbers low. It will be a slow but safe road back to full competition. We hope to hold some if not all of the categories in the National Championships later in the year with a start date to be confirmed in due course.
Hopefully there will be many more positive times ahead for all involved in snooker and billiards. We might have to be a little more creative in the way we run events going forward, however snooker will survive and hopefully flourish in the years ahead, especially if we do more to develop our game and get back to grass roots across the country.
Thank you!
Dylan Rees
SBI Chairman
