Molly Emma Newbold
Youngest Female Snooker Referee
2004 - This year was the starting point for my life in snooker, as I watched my first snooker championship which was the Masters in which Paul Hunter defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan to claim his third Masters title. This started the ball rolling as I watched every single snooker match on television and followed the results of the qualifiers online that season. I knew ever since I watched that first snooker match that I wanted to be a snooker referee but it wasn't until I saw Michaela Tabb that I thought I may actually stand a chance.
2006 - This was the year everything started to happen as I found my EASB coach, Dave Joyce, who taught me everything I needed to know as a snooker referee and in July I passed my Class Three examination. Everything started off perfectly as I built up my experience but with the good times, came the bad times as I got heavily bullied throughout secondary school because of it. But I knew what I wanted out of life and I was determined not to let anybody hold me back. I was going to give my career one hundred and ten percent, and hopefully I will achieve my dreams of refereeing a World Final one day.
2006-2007 - Within the first year and a half of my new life in snooker, everything was overwhelming and there were so many people who have helped me along the way, a huge thank you to those who have given their guidence, you know who you are. I had achieved more in that first year than I thought I would achieve in four or five years. I started with the Under 16's and Under 19's events in Coalville before I moved up to the Premier Junior Tour in which Dave Joyce was Tournament Director so he was able to examine and offer me advice regularly which was a massive help. After a while, I started doing a few events on the Professional Ladies Tour, I refereed my first Professional Exhibition in which Mark Allen played nine different juniors at Cueball in Derby which was organised by Roger and Sandra Stevenson-Revill, whom I owe a lot to as they helped me greatly in gaining my experiences in the first few vital months. It wasn't until I met Michaela Tabb that I found my way and for this I owe a great thank you to Neil Robertson who gave us a few hours of his time and passed on a letter to her for me. Michaela has given me so much support and with her guidance I began to realise that my dreams were now within reach. My first contact with World Snooker came much sooner than I expected, it was in April 2007, I refereed in the Junior Pot Black Championship and marked the final alongside Brendan Moore. It was an unbelievable experience and seemed so surreal as people asked for autographs and people started to recognise who I was. Throughout my time in snooker, I was never looking for anything other than being a part of this beautiful sport and yet I found love. In July 2007, I refereed my second exhibition in Cueball in Derby in which Ben Woollaston was the professional. Little did I know that a few years later, he was to become my fiancé and a huge part of my life. While refereeing regularly on the Premier Junior Tour, I met some supportive people such as Kevin Duffy and Gary Astley which led to me referee an exhibition in Chesterfield for Jimmy White and one in Liverpool for Ronnie O’Sullivan. Both of which were nervous but magnificent experiences.
2008 - I left school in 2008 with thirteen GCSE’s to my name and I never looked back. This year was a steady one compared to the fruitful last year and a half, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t have its high points. I was invited to referee for my country when I was invited to the Home Internationals and made my first visit to Pontins in Prestatyn. I also refereed my first quarter final in the Professional World Ladies Championship, I reconnected with World Snooker as I refereed my part in my second Junior Pot Black Championship and reached yet another milestone as I refereed Mark Selby in a practice match against Ben Woollaston, Mark made a 147, my first and only to date.
2009 - After a slow start to the year, my first real chance came with World Snooker when I was invited to referee at the Masters Qualifiers in October. I refereed my first five professional games which included names such as Stuart Bingham, Martin Gould, Barry Pinches and Gerard Greene under the watchful eyes on Jan Verhaas and Eirian Williams. I thought I had felt pressure on many occasions before but this made me realise this was a whole new level to snooker and with that, came five times the pressure I was used to. Although I quickly came accustomed to my new surroundings, the nerves didn’t fully vanish until the championship was over. After a fairly steady last two years, World Snooker recaptured my interest and I rediscovered my love for snooker after just one wonderful match. Another milestone soon followed the Masters as I was refereed my first match live on television during the World 6 Reds Championship in Ireland, this was also my first championship out of the United Kingdom, thank you to Geraldine for the invite and continued support. This was a brilliant new experience and something fresh for the game of snooker, it was enjoyable with fluent games and maximum breaks of 75 from a few players.
2010 - This not only brought my first two Pro-Ticket Tour finals but it kept us in touch with World Snooker as I was invited to referee Ronnie O’Sullivan’s Search for a Star tournament held in the Winter Gardens near the Crucible and organised by Rileys and World Snooker. This was a very unusual but unique mini tournament in which no full frames of snooker were played but certain shots and scenarios were set up for the eight finalists to demonstrate their skills and abilities. It was a proud moment for me being the first referee to take part in a tournament of this nature and hopefully there will be many more along these lines as it was a brilliant experience. Many thanks go to Sean Langley from Rileys who arranged my first Rileys sponsorship, offering me their support to help me go on and achieve more, I now only three goals remain.............