Leitrim to host Ireland’s best in Wheelchair Champion Cup Pool competition

The first annual Wheelchair Champion Cup pool competition is set to take place in Leitrim next month. The event will be held at the Leitrim Pool Association Pool Hall in Drumshanbo, chosen as it is the home club of the current world wheelchair pool champion, Eddie McGowan.

Longford man Andy Smith is organising the competition, which takes place on Saturday, March 7. His son, Shane Smith, competes in wheelchair pool, and Andy has noticed a gap in opportunities for players. “When I was going to tournaments and meeting all the other wheelchair users I noticed there was a kind of gap there,” he said.

The main motivation, however, is to focus on the players, those already involved in wheelchair pool and those interested in joining, to make the sport more visible and accessible. 

“Behind it totally is attempting to lift the profile a little bit and trying to get more people involved in it. There must be more wheelchair users out there who are pool players who are maybe not aware that there are competitions,” Andy explained.

The event also aims to honour Eddie McGowan, who was awarded World Champion of Wheelchair Pool and crowned Leitrim Sports Star of the Year last year. It is intended that each year the competition will be hosted in honour of the champion player for that year, in the venue of their choice.

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The event kicks off at 12pm on March 7 and runs until 5pm. Each player who attends will be accommodated, with around eight to ten people currently interested. Once final numbers are confirmed, it will be decided whether the competition will be run on a knockout or league basis.

The general public is welcome to attend. “Hopefully some people will be interested to come along and see the standard of play. The standard of play is pretty awesome,” added Andy.

Organisers are also seeking sponsors, individuals or companies, to help Irish wheelchair pool players compete, either as a team or individually, especially for tournaments that are financially difficult to reach. “That would be the hope, that we would create a situation where we can have an Irish team or send Irish representatives abroad to represent us in wheelchair pool competitions,” he added.

Andy also highlighted the need for further development locally and nationally. “Domestically we need to improve it here as well in relation to facilities and thinking about the needs that each individual would have,” he said, noting that every wheelchair user has different needs.

Everyone is invited to join at the Pool Hall in Drumshanbo on Saturday, March 7, from 12pm to 5pm to enjoy the skills of the best wheelchair pool players from across Ireland.

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Johnny Quaid, Liam Casey, Shane Smith and Kevin Flynn, who were semi-finalists in last year's All-Ireland Wheelchair Pool Tournament.