"I worry about the future of the game, not just in Kilkenny but all over Ireland"

With the World Snooker Championship currently taking place in Sheffield, now seems like the perfect time to pen a little piece on the sport of snooker.

As a 28-year-old, I still hold great memories of the snooker club on Blackmill Street in Kilkenny City, which has since been bulldozed to make way for apartments.

Yes, it wasn’t the most glamourous sporting venue in terms of facilities, but it was kept afloat by people who loved the game and it was always brimming with characters.

READ NEXT: Inside the Kilkenny manor that recently sold for €1,250,000

As a young child going in with my father, you’d ascend a steep set of stairs, and it suddenly felt like you were on the threshold of another world.

There was a long window running down by the counter, and you just saw darkness inside the main snooker hall, with a pathwork of green tables illuminated by fluorescent lights.

I never had my own snooker cue at that age so I used to always pick one from the rack, and it was always fun learning which cues reacted best.

For non-snooker fans who’ve never seen a full size snooker table in real life, it tends to surprise people by how monstrously large it is.

When you’re a child, there are certain shots you can’t even reach, and I looked forward to landing on these shots.

There’s something hugely satisfying about potting snooker balls in succession and it was also so disappointing when the lights at your snooker hall table were shut off by the timer.

I was born just a year before Ken Doherty won the World Championship in 1997, the first and last man from the Republic of Ireland ever to do so.

I used to be stuck to the television hoping I could see him repeat that feat, just so that I could remember it.

That possibility came devastatingly close in 2003, when he lost in the World Championship Final to Mark Williams on a scoreline of 18-16.

I was only five years of age (nearly six, mind you), but I remember watching that match and Ken coming from 10-2 down to 11-11 with it all to play for.

READ ALSO: Kilkenny GAA: 'It's something you can't afford to do ever' - Derek Lyng

I also remember being so excited a few years later when Kilkenny man Davy Morris made it onto the professional tour back in 2006.

It was mad thinking that somebody from my own city, who played in the same snooker hall that I did, could go on and make it big in the professional game.

These days though, I often worry about the future of the game, not just in Kilkenny but all over Ireland.

Snooker halls are closing down at a rampant rate, not helped by the huge overheads involved in running them.

It saddens me that young people in Kilkenny won’t be able to share the same experiences that I had growing up.

It also makes me wonder how many talented potential local cueists are slipping through the cracks.

If we ever do get a new multi-purpose sports venue in Kilkenny City, perhaps we should consider using it to help revive our county’s outstanding snooker heritage.

FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS, CLICK HERE